LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
February 10/08

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 5,27-32. After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, "Follow me." And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him. Then Levi gave a great banquet for him in his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were at table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes complained to his disciples, saying, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus said to them in reply, "Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners."

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
No Arab breakthrough in Lebanon crisis. By: By SANA ABDALLAH. 09/02/08
Syria and Lebanon between the French Presidency and Foreign Policy.By: Randa Takieddine 09/02/08

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for February 09/08
Moussa Succeeds in Calling for 'Further' Talks -Naharnet
Geagea For White House Talks in March -Naharnet
France for Speedy Election of Suleiman President -Naharnet
Germany, Saudi Call Syria To Facilitate Election of Lebanon President -Naharnet
Aoun Rejects Berri's Concept. Moussa's Mission Kicked to Feb. 24-Naharnet  
Moussa prolongs Beirut mission after initial talks show signs of progress-Daily Star
New panel may continue work of Winograd-Daily Star
UNIFIL, Israeli officers meet to discuss killing-Daily Star
Fadlallah champions right to street protests 'when they are peaceful-Daily Star
Lebanese Paper: Nasrallah, Aoun To Remove Support From Sleiman-MEMRI
Saudi Arabia 'plans $1 billion deposit' at Banque du Liban-Daily Star
AUBMC offers new stroke therapy-Daily Star
Hariri memorial near completion - with Syrian stone-Daily Star
Downtown security beefed up for February 14 rally-Daily Star
Lebanon's indomitable wedding industry-AFP
The US Elections under Lights in the Area-Voltaire Network
Work under way on Iran's second nuclear plant - envoy-Daily Star
Jumblatt decries Nasrallah & Aoun encounter : Love kills-Ya Libnan
Half-Plus-One Option Surfaces Again-Naharnet
Moussa Succeeds in Calling for 'Further' Talks-Naharnet
France for Speedy Election of Suleiman President-Naharnet
Germany, Saudi Call Syria To Facilitate Election of Lebanon President-Naharnet
Jumblat Criticizes 'Romeo' Nasrallah and 'Juliet' Aoun-Naharnet
Shohaieb Slams Qatar-Naharnet
Mossad: Iran Arming Hizbullah, Syria-Naharnet
Hariri For Confronting 'Black Scheme' by Syria, Iran-Naharnet
U.N.-Israel Meet over Border Incident-Naharnet
Conflicting Reports on Success of Moussa's Mission-Naharnet

Moussa prolongs Beirut mission after initial talks show signs of progress
Berri 'convinced him to stay' following 'considerable headway'
By Hani M. Bathish -Daily Star staff
Saturday, February 09, 2008
BEIRUT: Arab League chief Amr Moussa said "more time was needed" to resolve Lebanon's political logjam after he brought feuding parties together on Friday in a four-hour-long marathon meeting in Parliament. He added, however, that progress had been made on several issues during the meeting.
The meeting chaired by Moussa brought together parliamentary majority leader MP Saad HaririSaad-Hariri-Profile Sep-07 and former President Amin Gemayel from the ruling March 14 Forces coalition and Change and Reform Bloc leader MP Michel Aoun from the opposition March 8 camp.
Sources close to Speaker Nabih Berri told The Daily Star that the February 11 parliamentary session to elect the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), General Michel Suleiman as president still stands in view of "encouraging signs" from Friday's meeting.
Moussa, who had been expected due to leave Lebanon Friday night, decided to stay after meeting with Berri later that day, saying he would continue his mediation efforts. "The speaker convinced him to stay and told him that he had made considerable headway in the meeting and that he ought to continue these efforts," the source said.
The majority had shown "flexibility" on the issue of a national unity government during the meeting, the source said. "If there is a major breakthrough tonight or tomorrow the next meeting could be held within 24 hours and enlarged to include other leaders and Speaker Berri as well," the source added.
Quoting a source from Moussa's entourage, AFP said his decision to stay was to give Berri a chance to contact "other opposition leaders" to help resolve sticking points over the formation of the new government. The Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC), which is close to March 14, said Aoun had gone beyond discussing distribution of ministers in a new Cabinet and stuck to his "basket of conditions," even adding new terms.
LBC also reported that Hariri told Aoun and Moussa in the meeting that if the opposition agrees to a 13+10+7 distribution of Cabinet posts, giving the opposition 10 ministers and the president seven, "the election can take place tomorrow."
Moussa said all parties had reaffirmed their commitment to electing Suleiman president. "There are points of agreement and points that need more discussion in a friendly mood and with a common desire to reach a solution," Moussa told a news conference in Parliament Friday.
He described all points put forward for discussion on Friday as sensitive and requiring further discussion, describing talks as "serious and very significant."
Moussa denied suggesting a 9+11+10 distribution in a new national unity government, which would see the president get the blocking third of 11 ministers, while the majority get 10 and the opposition nine.
"It's a fabrication and completely false," Moussa said.
"The tone of the discussions was sharp from all sides, I hope that it can go back to a tone everyone can understand," the Arab League chief said of the ongoing political bickering, adding that in general verbal exchanges between rival camps had deteriorated and become rude and insulting.
"It is something we have to remedy," he said.
Early Friday Moussa met separately with Aoun in Parliament. Aoun was quoted by the pro-opposition Al-Akhbar daily as being worried that Moussa's mission "is to end the [Arab] initiative and [Moussa] wants a way out that would allow him to say that one party blocked the initiative, and he wants to pin the blame on the opposition."
Berri received Friday in Ain al-Tineh MP Ghassan Tueni who left without any comment other than saying that "Speaker Berri is more optimistic."
The United States has warned the Hizbullah-led opposition that it "will not stay hands tied" if the current political crisis in Lebanon continued, according to a report in the London-based Al-Hayat daily Friday. It said the warning was made in a letter delivered by US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch to Moussa.
Moussa responded to the report during his news conference after the four-way meeting by denying the issue was ever discussed.
"We never spoke of this matter and the issue of internationalizing [the Lebanese crisis] did not enter into my discussion with Welch," he said.
The paper quoted "well-informed sources" as saying that "Washington, given that it is a world superpower, will certainly do something; and internationalizing the crisis is one option." The sources said Welch, during his meeting with Moussa in Cairo on Thursday, expressed strong resentment over the failure of the Lebanese Parliament to elect a president as well as the failure of the Lebanese to implement the Arab League initiative.
"The continuation of the Lebanese crisis is a source of concern for everybody in the region and overseas, particularly for the Lebanese themselves," Welch said after meeting Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu al-Gheit.
Meanwhile, as if to illustrate Moussa's expression of regret about the tone of the debate, Democratic Gathering leader MP Walid Jumblatt issued a highly inflammatory statement mocking what he referred to as the "love tragedy" between Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Aoun, whom he referred to as "Romeo and Juliet" respectively. He was commenting on Nasrallah's and Aoun's joint televised interview on the Free Patriotic Movement's Orange TV Wednesday night. "On the eve of Saint Valentine's day the Lebanese were impressed by the ... love tragedy," said Jumblatt, who is known for rhetorical excess, adding that for an instant the Lebanese thought they were watching Romeo and Juliet.
"We hope you give some of this blind love to a state that you have smashed at its base, assailed its principles, targeted its security and stability, shut down its institutions, burned its roads and occupied its public squares," Jumblatt said, concluding by saying that "some love kills."

Aoun Rejects Berri's Concept. Moussa's Mission Kicked to Feb. 24
Naharnet/Who Represents the Hizbullah-led opposition in discussions with Arab league Secretary General Amre Moussa to facilitate election of Gen. Michel Suleiman president in line with the Arab Initiative?
The focal question was asked by political circles Saturday following contradiction of viewpoints presented to Moussa by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun in separate talks Friday.
Moussa reportedly told Aoun, in the latter's capacity as opposition negotiator, and majority representatives, ex-President Amin Gemayel and Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri, during a meeting at the house Friday that Berri proposes a tripartite power sharing concept for the formation of a new cabinet after Suleiman's election president. Aoun replied by saying he was "not aware" of such a concept being adopted by the opposition.
After making telephone contacts from outside the conference room, Aoun came back to say he insists on pre-agreement on the forthcoming prime minister, the new army commander and directors of security agencies.
The condition was rejected by Majority representatives and Hariri asked Moussa to note in the minutes of the talks that the March 14 majority approves the Arab League Chief's original proposal of forming a cabinet along the lines of 10 seats for the opposition, 13 for the majority and seven for the president.
"Why do you insist on holding blocking (veto) powers in the government?" Moussa asked Aoun.
Aoun Replied: "Why won't they give us blocking powers in the cabinet at a time are blocking the presidency, parliament and the cabinet without being held responsible for that?" Gemayel intervened in the conversation, addressing Aoun: "We congratulate you for being proud of punishing the Lebanese people."
Moussa, apparently upset by the lack of progress, announced that he would leave Beirut and stated that further talks are needed.
However, Berri tried to salvage the mission later in the day and asked the Arab League chief to postpone his departure pending last minute efforts by the speaker, that have apparently failed to mend fences. An-Nahar daily quoted Moussa as saying the quartet talks would convene anew on Feb. 24.
The newspaper said Moussa would leave Saturday after failure of Berri's efforts. Beirut, 09 Feb 08, 09:33

Sfeir: U.N. Obliged to 'Restrain" Situation, Hizbullah is a 'Problem'
Naharnet/Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir said Hizbullah is "a problem. The state cannot bear two armies because that leads to a substitute state in Lebanon," declaring that it is the United Nations "obligation to introduce restraints."Nasrallah made the remark in an interview with the weekly al-Massira. He sounded the alarm, declaring that "Syria's return to Lebanon is possible if its has (factions) that facilitate such a return … known tools open the gate for Syria that has the means to respond and avenge." "The United Nations is obliged to introduce restraints if the situation remains loose. They might appoint a ruler" for Lebanon, Sfeir said.
He launched a vehement attack on "tools of foreign powers" without mentioning them by name, stressing that "they are known" and accused them of seeking to "fragment the nation. There is no president, parliament and government are absent, they neither want an army commander nor an army."
"It is obvious that they want to maintain the army, but stripped of any power on the terrain to set the stage for fragmenting the country," Sfeir added.
"If they changed their stand, Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman would be dropped as a consensus presidential candidate," he noted.
He was obviously referring to the Hizbullah-led opposition. Sfeir added that the "problem is not restricted to the Christians. A side operates in line with the will of Iran or Syria and a side is linked to the west, especially France and the United States. "Each side has its style of intervention. The west cares for style. Others interfere openly with money, influence and weapons."
He renewed his objection to the election of a president by simple majority. Sfeir also denied reports that he intends to resign his post. Beirut, 09 Feb 08, 10:52

Geagea For White House Talks in March
Naharnet/Lebanese Forces Leader Samir Geagea will hold talks with U.S. President George Bush's administration in Washington early in March.
The daily an-Nahar said Geagea would make the several-week visit to the United States at an "official invitation."The Lebanese Forces leader would hold talks with officials at the white house, the state and defense departments and the National Security Council, the report added. Geagea also would meet other U.S. officials tasked with the Lebanon situation, the report added. The visit would also include calls on members of the Lebanese community in the United States. Geagea visited France in 2005 and was received by former president Jacques Chirac.

Moussa Succeeds in Calling for 'Further' Talks
Naharnet/Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa held lengthy talks with leaders of feuding Lebanese factions Friday in an effort to work out a settlement to the ongoing political crisis, only to announce that further talks are needed. Moussa, who flew in Thursday, held four hours of talks at Parliament with opposition representative, Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, and majority representatives, ex-President Amin Gemayel and Mustaqbal Movement leader said Hariri. He also held separate talks later with Premier Fouad Saniora and Parliament speaker Nabih Berri. Following the quartet talks at the house, Moussa said: "agreement was reached on some points, but we need to have more discussion.""We need to meet again," Moussa added. Moussa said he has to leave Lebanon, pledging that he would return at a later date for further talks. However, the state-run National News Agency quoted sources close to Berri as saying after the talks with Moussa that the Arab League chief has decided to stay in Lebanon and proceed with his mission. No reason was given for the conflicting decisions, however. Berri's sources said Moussa was hoping to work out an agreement between the opposition and majority on the formation of National Unity Government, which if achieved, could facilitate the election on Monday of Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman president. Moussa, talking to reporters upon arrival at Beirut airport Thursday, said Suleiman remains a consensus candidate for president.  After the quartet meeting at Parliament, Moussa was asked if he carried a new interpretation of the Arab initiative. He said: "There are no two interpretations of the Arab initiative." He stressed that Suleiman "is still the consensus candidate and participants in today's meeting agree to this."

France for Speedy Election of Suleiman President
Naharnet/French Charge D'affaire Andre Parrant on Friday called for speedy election of Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman President.
Parrant, in remarks to reporters after talks with ex-President Amin Gemayel, also called for working out an agreement on forming a national unity government "within the framework outlined by the Arab initiative." He said Paris was ready to help Lebanon cope with social and economic difficulties the nation is facing due to the ongoing political crisis.

Shohaieb Slams Qatar
Naharnet/MP Akram Shohaieb on Friday criticized Qatar for withdrawing its contingent serving with U.N. Peacekeepers in south Lebanon saying it contradicts Arab efforts to salvage Lebanon. Shohaieb, a member of Walid Jumblat's Progressive Socialist Party, said timing of the Qatari move, which had not been announced in advance, raises many questions."It coincided with an Arab Initiative backing of which is a duty because it exits Lebanon from its ongoing political crisis," Shohaieb said in a statement distributed by the state-run National News Agency. Did the Qatari Move "signal the beginning of a regional plan to finish off UNSCR 1701, or it signals the beginning of a security era that follows aborting the Arab initiative?" he asked. "Such questions await answers from a state (Qatar) that we had hoped it would be in harmony with Lebanon, not with the Syrian criminal regime," Shohaieb added. Beirut, 08 Feb 08, 17:48

Syria and Lebanon between the French Presidency and Foreign Policy
Randa Takieddine Al-Hayat - 08/02/08//
http://english.daralhayat.com/opinion/OPED/02-2008/Article-20080208-f9f338ad-c0a8-10ed-01dd-6f8254e80748/story.html
A The New York Times article on French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner's inflamed and exposed his dispute with secretary general of the French Presidency
Official circles in US, Arab states and France were aware of the dispute that had until recently been out of the media. The US had repeatedly raised questions about Gueant's relation with Syria and Arab ministers have referred to the dispute between the minister of foreign affairs and the secretary general of the presidency. This situation, however, does not represent a new development in France where previous presidencies repeatedly sought to manage diplomacy with the foreign ministry following suit except when opinionated foreign ministers stood up to that.
At the end of the Chirac era for example, France's foreign minister was Philippe Douste-Blazy, but it was the consultant to the president Maurice Gourdault-Montagne, now France's ambassador to the UK, who effectively ran the French diplomacy. It was Gourdault Montagne that State Secretary Condoleezza Rice called or negotiated with over serious matters at the time. While he was not her counterpart, the US administration was fully aware of who called the shots.
In the Nicolas Sarkozy era, Kouchner who has strong character and enjoys massive popular support is no Douste-Blazy and he did not hesitate to join the cabinet although this cost him his membership at the Socialist Party.
On the other hand, Gueant is closer to the president since he was behind the formation of Sarkozy's presidential team and the selection of the president's advisors. Competition between the two characters, therefore, is only natural since they have worked on the same foreign challenging and critical issue, the French relations with Lebanon and Syria.
Kouchner believes that his experience with Syria and its policy in Lebanon is long-standing, rendering him aware of its maneuverings. He had visited Lebanon and served in humanitarian missions during the civil war, not to mention that he has major friendships in the country. Gueant, on the other hand, wished to score a diplomatic success for his president along the lines of what he did with Libya. He and his team tried to patch things up with Syria only to confront complications as Damascus repeatedly showed leniency and willingness to cooperate while relying on its allies in Lebanon for inflexibility and stiffness.
In all cases, Sarkozy's announcement in Cairo that talks with Syria were ended because it failed to respond to France's calls was decisive. On top of this, Sarkozy said in Saudi Arabia that King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz, was right regarding Syria in reference to the futility of any efforts to convince Syria to change its approach in Lebanon. Sarkozy later made the same remark to his friend Jordan's King Abdullah II.
Even the last attempt by Qatari Prime Minister, Hamad bin Jassem, with his friend Sarkozy ended in failure. The Qatari official informed the French presidency that Syria has vetoed the nomination of General Michel Sleiman and tried to propose another name. Sarkozy, however, settled the matter decisively upon asking close Lebanese parties about their stance and was told that they were committed to Sleiman's nomination. Sarkozy and Gueant then adopted this position because the French presidency had from the beginning announced that it that it supported a conciliatory candidate for the Lebanese presidency. Kouchner expressed his disappointment with this proposal to the Qatari prime minister in Davos, when he informed him that his proposal contradicted the Arab initiative which enjoys France's full support.
While differences in the viewpoints of officials with different political orientations are not surprising, it is hoped that France's efforts to pull Lebanon out of its crisis will continue, especially that it is the only country that can talk to all sides

No Arab breakthrough in Lebanon crisis
By SANA ABDALLAH (Middle East Times Writer)Published: February 08, 2008
http://www.metimes.com/International/2008/02/08/no_arab_breakthrough_in_lebanon_crisis/2332/
Escalating rhetoric between feuding politicians in Beirut proved too much for the visiting Arab League chief who failed to convince bitter political rivals to agree on a compromise that would usher in the election of a new president
After mediating a meeting that lasted more than four hours in the parliament building in Beirut Friday, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said the talks, revolving around an Arab initiative to resolve the political deadlock, were "frank and held in a friendly atmosphere."
While he told journalists that they had "jiggled" many of the details of the Arab initiative, he fell short of reporting progress that would lead to the election of army chief Gen. Michel Suleiman as president, a position that has been vacant since pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud stepped down at the end of his term on Nov. 24.
Moussa said that although there was agreement on some of the issues, another meeting was needed to resolve the remaining differences, adding there was a "desire to reach a solution" to the worst political crisis since the end of Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.
He did not say whether a parliament session set for Monday to elect the head-of-state would go ahead, after having been postponed 13 times since September.
This was Moussa's third visit to Beirut in recent weeks, as he has been trying to sell a three-point Arab plan that calls for electing Gen. Suleiman, forming a national unity government that gives an equal share but no veto power to the opposition, and adopting a new electoral law.
The pro-Western ruling majority has accepted the initiative, but the Hezbollah-led opposition, some of whom are backed by Syria and Iran, insists on assuming a third of the seats in a new cabinet that would give it veto power in major political decisions.
Both sides are not budging in their positions as they appear to have agreed to disagree on cabinet representations, and escalated their rhetoric against each other.
In a joint interview with the local Free Patriotic Movement's Orange TV this week, Shiite Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and his Christian ally, former army Gen. Michel Aoun, stressed they would not abandon their demand for veto power.
"We cannot be mere spectators within the government. It would spell our destruction," Aoun said in the lengthy interview with his party's channel. "Any attempt to evict the opposition from decision-making is unacceptable."
Nasrallah agreed, saying veto power "is the mechanism that guarantees building trust" with the anti-Syrian ruling camp.
But the ruling March 14 Coalition sees, in the opposition's attempts to amend the Arab initiative, the work of Syria and Iran trying to obstruct any solution to the crisis.
The Coalition head raised the tone of animosity to the point of threatening a showdown on the streets – something which many Lebanese dread.
Parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri on Thursday called for a massive demonstration in downtown Beirut on Feb. 14 to mark the third anniversary of the assassination of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, in a massive bombing that eventually led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon after a 29-year presence.
The young Hariri, who attended Friday's Moussa-mediated talks with his ally, former President Amin Gemayel and his rival Aoun, urged the Lebanese to "converge on Martyrs' Square from all corners of the country to speak out loud in one voice that we want a president … to say that the road to the presidency cuts through Beirut and the parliament building, not through Damascus, Tehran or any other capital."
He went further to say: "We are faced with the political terrorist presence in Lebanon of the Syrian and Iranian regimes, but we will not sit by and watch. If confrontation is our destiny, then we stand ready."
Moussa refused to comment specifically on the effect of Hariri's remarks on the discussions, but indicated that the "sharp tone" expressed by all sides was not conducive to achieving progress toward an agreement, which he said he hoped would be reached before the Arab summit convenes in Damascus in late March.
"I hope things don't stay as they are until the Arab summit, which deals with Arab action and [resolving] Arab problems; and the problems are many," Moussa said. "The summit is very important and must be well-prepared, including movement on the Lebanese front."
Arab diplomats told the Middle East Times that Egypt and Saudi Arabia have been using the card of the Arab summit in Damascus to pressure Syria to push its Lebanese opposition allies to accept the Arab plan. Otherwise, the two major Arab countries – along with the other pro-Western Arab regimes – would not attend the summit thereby guaranteeing its failure and pushing Syria away from the official Arab fold.
Lebanese commentators predicted growing pressure on Syria would take place on Lebanese soil, where quarreling regional and international forces would start settling their scores in this small Arab country in which political leaders have allied themselves with one foreign force or another.
But although Moussa declared he would leave Beirut on Friday and return at a later date, it appeared he had changed his mind after meeting separately with House speaker Nabih Berri of the opposition and Prime Minister Fuad Siniora.
Lebanese analysts said the Arab League chief's decision to stay, if true, could either mean that he saw a glimmer of hope for a breakthrough between the rivals, or that he did not want to leave the country so as not to appear that his mediation has failed for a third time.