LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
January 19/08

Bible Reading of the day
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 2,1-12. When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it became known that he was at home. Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them, not even around the door, and he preached the word to them. They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Child, your sins are forgiven."Now some of the scribes were sitting there asking themselves, Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming. Who but God alone can forgive sins? Jesus immediately knew in his mind what they were thinking to themselves, so he said, "Why are you thinking such things in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise, pick up your mat and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority to forgive sins on earth"--he said to the paralytic, "I say to you, rise, pick up your mat, and go home." He rose, picked up his mat at once, and went away in the sight of everyone. They were all astounded and glorified God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this."

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for January 18/08-Naharnet
Opposition, Majority Meet for First Time in 3 Months under Moussa Supervision-Naharnet
Bishops Pray to Enlighten Minds-Naharnet
Franjieh Willing to Stop Tit for Tat with Sfeir-Naharnet
Lebanese Customs Seize Big Cocaine Haul-Naharnet
Lebanon Will Have a President on Monday if Moussa-Sponsored Meeting is Successful, Official-Naharnet
Denmark Arrests 13, Including Lebanese, in Gangland Crackdown-Naharnet
FBI Experts Inspect Karantina Blast Scene-Naharnet
Lebanon Heading to Further Deterioration-Naharnet
Dormant Terrorists in Sidon Could Wake UP!-Naharnet
Arabs Should Define Syrian-Lebanese Relations Prior to Settling the Presidential Crisis-Naharnet
Moussa brings Aoun and Hariri to dialogue table-Daily Star
March 14 delegations stand by Sfeir after diatribe by Franjieh-Daily Star
March 14 Christians Warn Against Syrian Scheme..Naharnet
FBI team arrives to aid in probe of Karantina blast site-Daily Star
Feltman says attack on embassy vehicle was directed against Lebanon -Daily Star
International community works to ban cluster bombs as US insists weapons aren't bad-Daily Star
Analysts weigh in on draft law to change election system-Daily Star
Lebanon earns average marks in quality of life poll-Daily Star
Suicide bomber hits Iraqi Shiite mosque ahead of Ashura-AFP
Moussa brings Aoun and Hariri to dialogue table-Daily Star
Lebanon earns average marks in quality of life poll-Daily Star
Translating the Party of God into English-By Jim Quilty
EU body slams Egypt over human rights record-AFP
Sfeir: 'Father, Forgive them, for They Don't Know what They're Doing-Naharnet
Moussa Schedules another Opposition-Majority Meeting 'after Damascus Talks-Naharnet
Moussa Sponsors Opposition-Majority Meeting-Naharnet
March 14 Christians Warn Against Syrian Scheme to Subjugate the Lebanese-Naharnet
Mirza-Bellemare Exchange Information About the Hariri Crime-Naharnet
Feltman Hopes to Congratulate Lebanon's President in Two Weeks
Geagea Demands 'Answer' from Opposition, Not 'Dialogue'-Naharnet
Lebanese opposition and parliament majority meet-Jerusalem Post
Russia 'strongly condemns' Beirut attack-Focus News
What the Arab papers said on Jan. 17:-Middle East Times
 

Opposition, Majority Meet for First Time in 3 Months under Moussa Supervision
Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said after a four-hour meeting between the warring political camps that the Arab plan was clear such as it does not give the majority half-plus-one government seats nor does it give the opposition veto power. Moussa told reporters on Thursday after the meeting with opposition representative Gen. Michel Aoun, majority negotiator ex-President Amin Gemayel and al-Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri, that he has scheduled another round of consultations to be held after his return from Syria. The daily An Nahar said the quartet meeting was likely to take place on Sunday when Moussa arrives back from Damascus. The Arab League chief was expected to visit the Syrian capital on Friday. After the meeting at the parliament building in downtown Beirut, Moussa told reporters they discussed topics related to the Arab initiative aimed at electing a new president and forming a national unity government. He refused to go into details of the discussion, saying the meeting dealt mainly with implementing the Arab initiative. In answering a question about differences in interpreting the initiative, Moussa said: "there is a clear interpretation of the initiative's second clause …the majority does not get half plus one (government seats) and the opposition does not take one third plus one." He did not say whether such an interpretation was accepted during the talks, the first between the opposition and the majority in three months. "There were some agreements on some topics and this makes me optimistic," Moussa said. Hariri and Aoun held several meetings last year, including one in Paris in October. The Hizbullah-led opposition has named Aoun as its representative in any meeting with the majority -- a move that was rejected by the pro-government March 14 alliance. "The horizons are opening up," Moussa said after a Thursday meeting with Prime Minister Fouad Saniora. "We are doing all we can to reach a solution." Beirut, 18 Jan 08, 08:41

Bishops Pray to Enlighten Minds
The Council of Maronite Bishops refrained from issuing a statement following their extraordinary meeting Friday and said they will continue consultations the next day. We discussed "national issues and we will continue talks tomorrow," said Bishop Samir Mazloum after an extraordinary meeting presided by Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir in Bkirki. Mazloum also urged the Lebanese to join Sfeir and the Bishops in their prayers to "enlighten the minds of everyone."
Sfeir on Thursday responded to the vehement verbal attacks on him by quoting the Bible verse: "Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they are doing."
"This is not the first time and will not be the last," he told reporters from Bkirki. His remarks were apparent response to Marada Movement chief Suleiman Franjieh and Free Patriotic Movement leader Gen. Michel Aoun who have strongly attacked the prelate. Franjieh on Wednesday urged Sfeir to resign, while Aoun had dubbed him "just an ordinary citizen who has the right to express his opinion." Beirut, 18 Jan 08, 12:48

Lebanese Customs Seize Big Cocaine Haul
Lebanese customs authorities at Beirut port seized 38,000 kilograms of cocaine coming from south America, a statement said on Friday.
The statement by the Lebanese customs said the cocaine was packed in 766 plastic tubes concealed in wooden boards aboard two containers.
"All those involved have been arrested in Lebanon and interrogation is still underway," the statement added. Beirut, 18 Jan 08, 11:43

Franjieh Willing to Stop Tit for Tat with Sfeir
Key opposition member and former cabinet minister Suleiman Franjieh said he was willing to stop his verbal campaign on Bkirki if the Maronite seat follows suit.
"We don't want to escalate. We want to stop that bickering," Franjieh said at a press conference from his hometown of Bnashii in north Lebanon.
Franjieh on Wednesday continued his attacks on Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, urging him to resign "because archbishops who reach the age of 74 are asked to quit." Franjieh also accused Sfeir of working as a "cover for a critical scheme." "Statements by Bkirki and the archbishops are not less decent than those (made) by some politicians who are known for their street talk," Franjieh told NBN television. Friday's press conference came as the Council of Maronite Bishops was holding an extraordinary session in Bkirki. No official statement was issued after the meeting and Bishop Samir Mazloum announced that there would be further consultations. "We're not seeking trouble with Bkirki," Franjieh stressed in a quiet tone. "But if he (Sfeir) wants to talk politics, he will hear politics," Franjieh said.
He said Bkirki dealt "positively" with his remarks on NBN, warning that pro-Sfeir demonstrations would be met by pro-Franjieh protests.
Franjieh's interview with NBN had caused public outrage, sending hundreds of sympathizers to Bkirki in support of Sfeir. Beirut, 18 Jan 08, 12:53

Lebanon Will Have a President on Monday if Moussa-Sponsored Meeting is Successful, Official
An official close to the Hizbullah-led opposition said that if a meeting held late Thursday between the feuding political parties under the supervision of Arab League chief Amr Moussa was successful Lebanon would have a President on Monday. "If the meeting between the opposition and the majority is successful it could lead to the election of a president on Monday," the official told AFP. He was referring to a parliamentary session scheduled for Jan. 21 to try for the 13th time to elect a new president. The official said that if Moussa fails in his latest mission to broker an accord, Monday's parliament session will probably be cancelled.
Lebanon has been without a head of state since Emile Lahoud stepped down on November 23 with no successor elected because of a dispute between the majority March 14 coalition and the opposition. Syria, which held sway in Lebanon until it was forced to withdraw its troops from the country in 2005, has been accused by Washington and its allies of standing in the way of a solution to the current political crisis. Damascus has leveled similar charges against the United States.
A three-point Arab League plan being touted by Moussa calls for the election of army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman as president, formation of a national unity government in which no one party has veto power and the adoption of a new electoral law. Although the ruling coalition has given the Arab plan its full backing, Hizbullah insists that the opposition be granted a third of the seats in a new government so it can have veto power. Moussa's visit comes amid high tension in Lebanon following a car bomb attack on Tuesday against a U.S. embassy vehicle that left three people dead and 26 wounded.(AFP-Naharnet) (AFP file photo shows a Lebanese commando guarding a street leading to the parliament in Beirut) Beirut, 18 Jan 08, 10:05

Denmark Arrests 13, Including Lebanese, in Gangland Crackdown
Danish security forces have arrested 13 members of rival gangs, including a Lebanese, wanted for drug trafficking, police said. "More than 100 police officers took part in the operation following an investigation into a violent shooting in December between two groups involved in drug trafficking," Bent Isager-Nielsen, police inspector at Albertslund west of Copenhagen, told Agence France Presse on Thursday. Those detained -- 12 men and a woman aged between 19 and 32, are of Iraqi, Lebanese, Moroccan, Pakistani, Somali and Turkish origin but have Danish citizenship. They were charged with attempted murder and violating Denmark's legislation on the use of firearms. In a massive shootout on December 11, "at least 88 bullets were fired from nine different weapons" between the two gangs in the Taastrup neighborhood, 25 kilometers (15 miles) west of the Danish capital, but no one was hurt, said Isager-Nielsen.On Thursday police seized firearms, bullet-proof vests and millions of kroners (hundreds of thousands of euros/dollars), he said. Gang members had been fighting over the control of the cocaine market. More arrests could be made in the next few days, police said.(AFP-Naharnet) Beirut, 18 Jan 08, 10:08

FBI Experts Inspect Karantina Blast Scene
A U.S. security team including FBI experts began inspecting evidence from the car bomb blast that targeted a U.S. Embassy vehicle in Beirut this week.
Authorities have cordoned off the site of Tuesday's blast in Karantina north of Beirut which killed three passers-by and wounded 26 others.
A giant white tent was placed over the scene to preserve evidence. On Thursday, U.S. investigators began a "technical survey of the scene in the presence of Lebanese forensic experts," a senior Lebanese security official said. He said the team included FBI agents who were flown in Wednesday.
Associated Press Television News footage filmed from a distance showed at least three people who appeared to be U.S. experts, one of them wearing white overalls and another dressed in dark blue. They were seen collecting evidence from the wreckage of several vehicles that were damaged in Tuesday's blast, including the armor-plated U.S. Embassy SUV -- the bomb's target. The FBI has also aided in the investigations into several mysterious bombings against anti-Syrian figures in Lebanon over the past three years. In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack had said that a joint team of agents from the department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security and the FBI would travel from Washington to Lebanon on Wednesday to investigate the incident.
The embassy, about 13 kilometers (8 miles) from the explosion site, told Americans Wednesday to avoid popular public places in case of further attacks, and departing U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman canceled a meeting and dinner in Beirut. Tuesday's bombing occurred shortly before the embassy was to hold a farewell reception in a Beirut hotel for Feltman. That reception was canceled. But the ambassador on Thursday made a farewell visit to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. He repeated that the attack would not weaken Washington's commitment to democracy in Lebanon. "This attack will certainly not weaken the international resolve for Lebanon. It will not undermine U.S.-Lebanese partnership," he told reporters. The attack -- which coincided with U.S. President George Bush's Mideast tour -- highlighted the growing chaos in Lebanon, which has descended into violence over the last three years after almost a decade of calm following its long civil war. U.S. diplomats are deeply involved in the country's fractured politics, supporting the government against the Syrian-backed opposition. A series of bombings and political assassinations targeting mostly anti-Syrian politicians and journalists have plagued the country since 2005.
McCormack said it was still unclear who was behind the attack, but stressed that the U.S. would not back down on its support for Lebanon as a result.
The embassy advisory on Wednesday reminded all Americans in Lebanon "to maintain a high level of vigilance, especially when planning travel." It added: "Americans are also advised to avoid popular gathering spots."(AP-Naharnet) Beirut, 18 Jan 08, 08:19

Muallem: Syria Would Play Constructive Role in Lebanon
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Thursday that Damascus would play a constructive role in Lebanon, as Germany held out the prospect of stronger European ties. Muallem said Syria would support ongoing efforts by the Arab League to break Beirut's presidential deadlock. Lebanon has been without a head of state since Emile Lahoud stepped down last November 23 with no elected successor because of a long-running dispute between the majority and the Hizbullah-led opposition. Muallem told reporters following a meeting with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier, that a "comprehensive and just peace" between Israelis and Palestinians and an end to the dispute over the Golan Heights were Damascus's "top priority." "It is in the interest of Syria to play a positive role to ensure security and stability in this turbulent region," he said. "With peace, security for all will be ensured. With peace, we will have economic prosperity for all as well as the answer to extremism in the region," Muallem added. Steinmeier said he was aware all sides would have to make "painful compromises" to resolve the conflicts in the Middle East. But he said Syria could count on European support if it helped remove key obstacles. "If Syria makes visible, constructive efforts that lead to less tension in a region shaken and marked by crises and conflict, Syrian-German ties and also Syrian-European ties have potential that can be developed," he said. Muallem said he was hoping for progress after a conference on Middle East peace in Annapolis, Maryland in November at a planned follow-up meeting in Moscow. At the U.S.-sponsored meeting, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to set the end of 2008 as a target date for a comprehensive Middle East peace agreement. A Syrian delegation took part in the conference despite long-standing animosity between Washington and Damascus. Germany has actively courted Syria as a crucial potential partner for peace in the Middle East. Steinmeier made a rare trip to Damascus in December 2006, a month before Berlin revived the so-called Middle East Quartet grouping the European Union, the United States, Russia and the United Nations as Germany assumed the EU presidency.(AFP) Beirut, 17 Jan 08, 21:25

March 14 Christians Warn Against Syrian Scheme to Subjugate the Lebanese
Christian leaders of the March 14 majority alliance on Thursday accused Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime of seeking to subjugate Maronites, Christians and all the Lebanese people. A statement issued after a meeting at Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea's residence in Meerab said the "campaign launched by Syria and its allies against Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir has bypassed all limits." "The Syrian regime and it allies no more hide the desire to topple the church head … in preparation to subjugate the Maronites, Christians and all the Lebanese." The Syrian scheme, according to the statement read out by ex-MP Faris Soeid, started with eliminating the presidency, targeting the army and its command during the Nahr al-Bared war, assassinating Brig. Gen. Francois Hajj, blocking the election of Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman President "and now it has reached Bkirki." Noting that the vast majority of the Christians reject targeting Bkirki, the statement said the church would "emerge stronger than before."
Beirut, 17 Jan 08, 20:05