LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
March 27/08

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 24,13-35. Now that very day two of them were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred. And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. He asked them, "What are you discussing as you walk along?" They stopped, looking downcast. One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, "Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?" And he replied to them, "What sort of things?" They said to him, "The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place. Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive.
Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see."
And he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?"Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures. As they approached the village to which they were going, he gave the impression that he was going on farther. But they urged him, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them. And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Then they said to each other, "Were not our hearts burning (within us) while he spoke to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?"
So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem where they found gathered together the eleven and those with them who were saying, "The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!" Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
The world has betrayed the Israelis and Palestinians who want peace-The Daily Star- 26/03/08
International Christian Concern/Thousands of Christians Protest Church Attack in Pakistan/26.03.08

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for March 26/08
Egypt and Iran / The struggle over 'Arab policy'-Ha'aretz
Kuwait questions two members of dissolved parliament over ...International Herald Tribune
Prosecution grills Abdulsamad, Lari-Kuwait Times
What the Arab papers said on March 25:Middle East Times
Gazans' Perpetual Cycle: Victimhood and Violence-Wall Street Journal
Hezbollah Leader: Israel Can Be 'Eliminated'-New York Sun
Israelo soldier arrested for "handing intel to Hezbollah"-International Middle East Media Center
Lebanon to boycott Arab summit in Damascus-Daily Star
Lebanon government to boycott Arab summit - source-Reuters
Clashes break out between Amal, Future-Daily Star
Fadlallah slams 'backward' gunfire following speeches-Daily Star
NGO urges Arab states to sign UN anti-torture protocol-Daily Star
Israeli authorities nab 32 kilograms of heroin-Daily Star
Jewish state arrests soldier for spying for Hizbullah-AFP
Kuwait grills Shiite ex-MPs over Mughniyeh rally-Daily Star
China calls on Lebanese to 'double efforts' to elect president immediately-Daily Star
Sayyed's lawyer calls for Rizk to be put on trial-Daily Star
Moody's raises Lebanon's credit ratings to stable, cites 'impressive resilience-Daily Star
Hamdan calls for committee on Ain al-Hilweh-Daily Star
US raps Lebanon over money laundering-Daily Star
Mubarak seals atomic energy deal with Russia-AFP
UNDP wraps up projects in Burj al-Barajneh-Daily Star
Sadr threatens civil revolt as Iraqi, US troops battle Mehdi Army-AFP
Calm Nasrallah Reassures Followers that Israel Would Cease to Exist-Naharnet
Final Decision on Summit Participation Tuesday, Moussa Urges Lebanon to Attend-Naharnet
Cheney: Iran, Syria Fomenting Trouble Through Hamas, Hizbullah-Naharnet
Jumblat's Plan to Prevent Lebanon's Collapse-Naharnet
Israeli Soldier Suspected of Spying for Hizbullah-Naharnet
U.S. Navy Confirms Suez Canal Shooting-Naharnet
Media: Mubarak Eying Russian Nuclear Technology, Arms-Naharnet
Emir Of Kuwait to Participate in Damascus Summit-Naharnet
Syria tightens controls on Internet users across country-The Canadian Press

Thousands of Christians Protest Church Attack in Pakistan
International Christian Concern
www.persecution.org. Contact Jeremy Sewall,
Policy Analyst, 1-800-ICC (422)-5441, jeremy@persecution.org.
(March 25, 2008) The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) www.persecution.org has just learned that thousands of Christians staged a demonstration on March 19, 2008, that blocked the main highway through populous Gujranwala District, Pakistan, after land grabbers assaulted a church in a Christian neighborhood during Holy Week.
On March 18, a mob of people who wanted to seize a community center that belonged to a church in Garjakh, a largely Christian neighborhood in the city of Gujranwala, reportedly started tearing down the church's walls.
However, the pastor of the church, Sharif Bhatti, and a group of Christians gathered to defend the church building. When the pastor arrived, the mob physically assaulted the pastor and the people with him, and started throwing stones at the church. When the Christians in the neighborhood heard what was happening, a large group of them gathered and approached the church, causing the mob to flee.
Word of the attack spread quickly, and the next day, thousands of Christians from across the city of Gujranwala staged a protest to demand that those responsible for the attack on the church be arrested immediately and brought to justice. They urged the authorities to provide protection to religious minorities and to their places of worship.
The protestors proceeded to block the Government Transport Road at Gondlanwala Chowk, a major intersection, by parking tractors laden with garbage across the road. The demonstrators blocked traffic while chanting slogans against the land grabbers for more than two hours.
Pastor Sharif Bhatti, Pastor Sabir and other Christians and labor union leaders threatened the local government that they would demonstrate outside the offices of senior officials if the police did not arrest the culprits within the next 24 hours. Finally, police arrived and promised the protestors that they would bring justice to those who attacked the church, and the demonstration dispersed peacefully.
Local Christian leaders then submitted a written complaint to the police station. However, the police had not registered this case nor had they arrested any individual at the time this report was written.
ICC Policy Analyst Jeremy Sewall said, “Unfortunately, the Christians in Gujranwala were given empty promises to make them quiet down. Pakistani officials ought to take note, however, of the scope and speed with which Christians gathered to protest this attack. Thankfully, the demonstration was a peaceful one. But Pakistani officials might have bigger problems on their hands if they continue to give their Christian citizens empty promises.”
Please contact the Pakistani embassy in your country and ask them to protect the rights of Christians and all religious minorities.
Pakistan Embassies:
USA: (202) 243-6500, info@embassyofpakistanusa.org
Canada: (613) 238-7881, parepottawa@rogers.com
UK: 0870-005-6967, hoc@phclondon.org

Clashes break out between Amal, Future
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Daily Star
BEIRUT: A clash erupted at around 8:00 p.m. on Monday between supporters of the Amal and Future movements in the Ras al-Nabaa neighborhood of Beirut.The confrontation, which started as a verbal altercation but quickly devolved into a physical confrontation, resulted in the injury of Ibrahim Kamal al-Din, who is close to Amal. The Lebanese Army and security forces were able to control the situation and restore order. Shortly after the incident, fighting broke out in neighboring streets between the Barbour, Mar Elias and Al-Ziadiyeh neighborhoods in Beirut, but the Lebanese Army had brought the situation under control by 10:00 p.m. Similar clashes occurred in late February in the Ras al-Nabaa neighborhood between pro-government and opposition supporters.

Fadlallah slams 'backward' gunfire following speeches
Qalaban warns of Israeli 'distortion'
Daily Star staff-Wednesday, March 26, 2008
BEIRUT: Senior Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah criticized on Tuesday the "backward practice" of firing weapons when religious and political figures make media appearances. "Such practices express an abnormal mentality, as it expresses the culture of [spreading] noise and scaring others," Fadlallah said.
He said Lebanese leaders should assume the responsibility of preventing such practices "with all pressure methods."
The cleric also said politics should not interfere in the judiciary, nor should it exert pressure on it in any way.
Meanwhile, Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir called on the Lebanese on Tuesday to find a way out of the crisis the country is witnessing.
Sfeir also met the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, General Michel Suleiman, who visited the patriarch in Bkirki on Tuesday afternoon.
Speaking before a delegation from the Islamic-Christian National Dialogue committee, Sfeir said: "We are having difficult times these days, where all official institutions are paralyzed starting with the presidency, then the government and Parliament."
"All this calls on us to think of a way out of the impasse we are living in," he added.
"We have 18 sects in Lebanon who are meant to benefit the country and not harm it," Sfeir said.
Sfeir also met on Tuesday with Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh and former Premier Najib Mikati, who congratulated the prelate on the occasion of Easter. The patriarch also received a phone call from Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani.
The patriarch, in his speech to mark Easter Sunday, said he hoped the deadlock in Lebanon would be resolved, "and the general mood of pessimism will soon evaporate." "We urge all local, regional and international groups to adopt a wise and calm attitude when dealing with Lebanese affairs," Sfeir said, adding that the persisting and widening divide had stripped Easter of its festive atmosphere.
The patriarch also offered prayers for peace in Lebanon and the Middle East. Sfeir asked that "God remove this black cloud that lingers over us ... and bring home the people who migrated to distant lands." Sfeir said he hoped that Lebanon would return "to days of good, affluence and happiness." He added that he hoped the Lebanese diaspora would return to their homeland as one family of different religious affiliations living "in a nation of faith, love and peace."
Sfeir said nearly one million Lebanese have left Lebanon since 1970, and Lebanon was left with only four million of its "children," a number equivalent to a small street in Cairo or New York. "Yet people continue to migrate," he added, "and migration is not categorically negative, especially if the migration is to Arab countries in order to support one's parents, but migration to Australia or Canada or the United States has slight hope of return to Lebanon."
Also on Tuesday, Higher Shiite Council vice president Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan warned against Israel's attempts to "distort" the image of Muslims and Arabs in the world. "The Zionists spread corruption in societies and diffuse strife among people, while distorting historic facts and accusing Arabs and Muslims of terrorism and backwardness," Qabalan said. "They are the ones practicing organized terrorism on the level of the state." - The Daily Star

Israeli soldier arrested for "handing intel to Hezbollah"
Tuesday March 25, 2008 01:38 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies
Israeli online daily, Haaretz, reported on Monday that the Israeli police and northern district command, arrested an Israeli soldier last month after suspecting that he handed intelligence information to the Lebanon-based Hezbollah party. The detained soldier is suspected of transferring information regarding military patrols along the Israel-Lebanon border. The information includes the number of soldiers stationed at the border. According to the Israeli police, intelligence information provided by the soldier was used in facilitating trafficking across the border. The information was released on Monday after a gag order was lifted. The suspect is a 30-year old resident of Nazareth. Haaretz added that two other suspects were arrested during the investigation and that they are apparently part of a drug a smuggling ring which traffics drugs from Southern Lebanon into Israel. The two are from Nazareth and Tuba town in the Galilee.
Sources in the Israeli Police department in the Galilee reported that the smuggling mainly took place in the Ghajar town which is divided by the Israeli-Lebanese border. The commander of the Galilee region central police unit, Superintendent Shmuel Boker, said that the two other suspects are believed to be involved in recruiting the main suspect to help in smuggling drugs since "he has ties with drug dealers in Israel" and is believed to have ties with Hezbollah members and other figures on the Lebanese side.

Hezbollah Leader: Israel Can Be 'Eliminated'
By BENNY AVNI
Staff Reporter of the Sun
March 25, 2008
UNITED NATIONS — Echoing Iran's threat to wipe Israel off the map, the leader of Hezbollah said yesterday that his organization's targeting of civilian centers has made it possible for the Jewish state to be "eliminated."
Threats against Israel from Iranian-backed organizations — Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza — should not be taken "lightly," Israeli and American officials said. Israeli military and civilian alert levels were raised in the aftermath of Sheik Hassan Nasrallah's speech yesterday, delivered 40 days after the killing in Damascus of Hezbollah's operations commander, Imad Mughniyeh, which Arab leaders have blamed on Israel.
"There is evidence that Hamas is supported by Iran and Syria, and they are doing everything they can to torpedo the peace process," Vice President Cheney, who met yesterday with Prime Minister Olmert before leaving Israel for Turkey, said.
Hamas and Hezbollah "are betting on Iran as a broker bets on a hot stock," a former official in the Israeli Foreign Ministry, Jonathan Dahoah Halevi, said. "People in the region assume that as soon as Iran gets a nuclear bomb it will become a regional superpower, which makes it a hot commodity." Both Jerusalem and Washington have ruled out dealing with Hamas, and officials of the American-backed, Fatah-led Palestinian Authority scrambled yesterday to distance themselves from a reported pact between Fatah and Hamas. The authority's chief peace negotiator, Ahmed Qurei, told the Israeli Web site Ynet that the Fatah official who signed an agreement in Yemen over the weekend to begin negotiations with Hamas, Azam al-Ahmed, was not authorized to do so by President Abbas.
Sheik Nasrallah said yesterday that Hezbollah changed the regional balance of power with Israel's 2000 withdrawal from Lebanon, which many in the region saw as a victory for the organization over the strongest army in the region. "Until then, there were those who said that whoever fights the Zionists is crazy," he said.
The Hezbollah leader addressed a crowd of thousands in his Beirut stronghold, Dahyieh, appearing from an undisclosed location on large video screens. Since Hezbollah proved fighting Israel was possible, the question has been, "Can you end this entity?" he told the crowd.
In the 2006 Hezbollah-Israel war, he added, Israelis could not withstand the bombing of their cities. "Let them be frightened and worried. Let them taste the fear and fright which they inflicted on our people," he said. "Can Israel be eliminated? Yes and a thousand yeses, Israel can be eliminated."
"This subject of the intention to attack Israel in the wake of Mughniyeh's death isn't something we should take lightly," Israel's defense minister, Ehud Barak, said yesterday in a statement. Arab leaders, meanwhile, who are expected to meet in Damascus for an Arab League summit over the weekend, also are concerned about the rise of organizations like Hezbollah, Hamas, and others who use images of suffering Palestinian Arabs to promote a pan-Islamic caliphate that would replace established states, Mr. Dahoah Halevi said. "In the past, the plight of Palestinians was used as a tail to be wagged by the Arab leaders, who were top dogs," he said. "Now the Palestinian tail wags the dog."

Kuwait questions two members of dissolved parliament over eulogizing Hezbollah militant
The Associated PressPublished: March 25, 2008
KUWAIT CITY: Prosecutors questioned two Shiite members of Kuwait's dissolved parliament Tuesday about eulogizing a slain Hezbollah militant and released them on bail, their lawyer said. Adnan Abdul-Samad and Ahmed Lari decided to go for questioning before they were summoned because they lost their immunity after the ruler dissolved the legislator, said Abdul-Karim bin Haidar. The men were freed on bail of 10,000 dinars (US$37,590) each, bin Haidar said. They were interrogated for more than four hours each about belonging to an alleged Kuwaiti branch of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and undermining the state, he added. Praising Imad Mughniyeh, the Lebanese Hezbollah leader who was killed in a car bomb in Syria last month, sparked an outcry in this predominantly Sunni oil-rich state in the Gulf. Mughniyeh is blamed for a 1988 hijacking of a Kuwait Airways flight and the murder of two Kuwaiti passengers.
Earlier this month, several other Shiite figures, including a cleric, who took part in the eulogy were also detained, questioned and released. The cleric's supporters demonstrated to protest his detention.
Today in Africa & Middle East
Iraqi and U.S. forces battle Shiite militiaSuspense and fear in ZimbabweSaudi king calls for dialogue among different religions
The judiciary had asked that the immunity of the two lawmakers be lifted, but the dissolution of the parliament Wednesday by the emir, Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, automatically stripped them of it.Shiites make up some 30 percent of the one-million strong Kuwaiti population. Sectarian tensions started during the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war because of Kuwait's support for Iraq under Saddam Hussein.

The world has betrayed the Israelis and Palestinians who want peace
By The Daily Star
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Editorial
The Palestinian-Israeli peace process has been unmasked, not as failed diplomacy, but as poor fiction. As a commentary in Israel's Haaretz newspaper noted earlier this week, a parade of high-profile visitors continues to wend its way through the region, all prostrating themselves in Israel in this 60th year since its foundation, some flitting through the Occupied West Bank, but few so much as casting a glance at the eyesore in the Gaza Strip. They fall over themselves in an effort to congratulate the Jewish state on its imagined good fortunes and its supposed good deeds. In so doing, they are ignoring the Palestinians, lying to themselves, and betraying those Israelis for whom they claim to have so much respect.
They all have their reasons, but none of these is worth the damage being done to all concerned. Some are rightly ridden with a sense of national guilt at the appalling crimes committed against European Jews during World War II. Others are almost as fully consumed by regret at the sickening failure of their predecessors to even acknowledge that the Holocaust was taking place, let alone to take the necessary measures to obstruct it. But these are not valid reasons to either abandon today's Palestinians or condemn tomorrow's Israelis. Then there are those with motivations so base and craven - bigotry, career, convenience, cowardice, religious fanaticism etc. - as to not merit dissection.
What all of them have in common is a failure - no, a refusal - to help the majorities of both Israelis and Palestinians who want peace but no longer have confidence that it can be achieved. US Vice President Dick Cheney marked his passage through the region by identifying Hamas and Iran as obstacles to peace. He is partly right, but how can that matter if he fails to mention why these actors have taken the positions they have? And how can his argument carry any weight when he fails to mention other impediments like the illegal colonization of occupied land by Jewish "settlers" and the overtly obstructionist designs of the cynical racists who put them there?
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon implored all sides on Tuesday to get serious about making peace, pledging that he would do everything in his power to help. The man he needs most to convince is Cheney's boss, George W. BushMBA-Presidents Sep-07 , who is scheduled to return to Israel in May to help mark the 60th anniversary "celebrations." Just a few kilometers away, Palestinians will be mourning the Nakba, or Catastrophe, that befell them as a result of the creation of the modern state of Israel. Unless and until Bush can be made to appreciate the link between the two and the urgency with which the consequences must be reversed, there will be little real cause for merriment in any part of the Holy Land. This, then, is Ban's challenge: to shake the president of the United States out of his blissful indolence or to hope that the next occupant of the White House proves his friendship to Israelis instead of simply - and fallaciously - pronouncing it.

Keeping Iran away from 'members-only' Arab club
By Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz Correspondent
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's concern about Iran's involvement in Gaza does not stem only from Hamas' growing military capabilities. Rather, his primary fear is that control over "Arab policy" - which has traditionally been dictated by Egypt and Saudi Arabia - will be taken over by Iran.
Mubarak is particularly incensed that Syria, whose close ties with Iran he had until recently refrained from criticizing, continues to thwart the Arab League's efforts, as well as his and Saudi King Abdullah's personal efforts, to resolve the crisis in Lebanon. But it is not the Lebanese crisis only that shows signs of Iranian involvement: Iraq is also under Iranian influence, while Egypt and Saudi Arabia have virtually no leverage there, and Sudan also maintains close ties with Iran. Egypt's fear is that Iran is building a web of diplomatic influence among Egypt's neighbors, and thereby building itself up as a rival to the Arab club - and especially to members of what is known as the moderate axis.
But the Arab club itself is not conducting a consistent anti-Iranian policy. In January, Mubarak hosted the speaker of the Iranian parliament, Gholam Ali Hadad Adel. There are periodic Egyptian declarations about plans to renew diplomatic ties with Iran. Saudi Arabia, for its part, maintains close commercial and political ties with Iran (Abdullah invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to make the pilgrimage to Mecca and promised to host him). Jordan, in contrast, maintains a hard line against Iran. But, unlike Saudi Arabia, it has recently improved its relationship with Syria.
Iranian assistance to Hamas, together with the dependency of both Hamas and Islamic Jihad on Syria, which "hosts" their leaders in Damascus, presents Egypt with another difficult dilemma, because the continuing Israeli sanctions on Gaza effectively turn Egypt into the only haven for Gaza residents. Officially, Mubarak continues to hold Israel responsible for the situation in Gaza, but he understands he cannot ignore what is happening there, particularly in light of Hamas' breach of the Gaza-Egypt border fence in January.
In his view, the logical solution is the establishment of a Palestinian unity government in which Hamas would participate. That would make it possible to once again deal with Gaza and the West Bank as a single unit, thereby freeing Egypt of its immediate worries about Gaza. Egypt consequently worked hard to conduct a dialogue between Hamas and Fatah and even gave its blessing to Yemen's initiative on this matter. Mubarak hopes that such a deal would restore Hamas to the Arab club and remove it from the influence of "foreign elements," namely Iran. But promoting this process requires support from Syria and Iran - and they are seeking to achieve a package deal that would also include a solution to the Lebanese crisis along the lines proposed by Damascus.
For the moment, this is a vicious circle, and all that Egypt can do to affect it is to partially boycott the Arab League summit taking place in Damascus this weekend, accuse Hamas and Syria of following policies dictated in Tehran, and thereby try to undermine both Hamas' nationalist legitimacy and Syria's Arab legitimacy.

Jewish state arrests soldier for spying for Hizbullah
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: A specialist Israeli soldier has been arrested on suspicion of spying for Lebanon's Hizbullah, a military source said on Monday. The man, whose identity was not revealed, is suspected of passing details of Israeli military bases to Hizbullah in exchange for drugs. He was detained during a probe that led to the arrest of two Arab Israelis who are suspected of trafficking in heroin from Lebanon, Israel's Public Radio said. - AFP

Moody's raises Lebanon's credit ratings to stable, cites 'impressive resilience'
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
BEIRUT: Moody's Investors ServiceMoody-Ratings-Fiasco Sep-07 on Tuesday changed the outlook on Lebanon's ratings to stable from negative. The change of outlook applies to the government's B3 local and foreign currency bond ratings, the B3 country ceiling for foreign currency bank deposits and the B2 country ceiling for foreign currency bonds. "The change of outlook is justified by the impressive resilience of Lebanon's public finances in the face of numerous political shocks since Moody's assignment of a negative rating outlook in November 2006. "In fact, the health of the country's public finances has improved modestly during this period and the government's short-term funding needs are manageable," said Tristan Cooper, vice president and senior analyst in Moody's sovereign risk unit.
Hence, despite the possibility of further adverse political events, Moody's believes that Lebanon's sovereign ratings can withstand severe political volatility at their current low level. In November 2006, Moody's changed the sovereign ratings outlook to negative from stable because it seemed that the marked deterioration in the domestic political environment could worsen further and have a material impact on the government's repayment capacity, possibly leading to a default given the extraordinarily large public debt overhang.
However, Moody's observes that the turbulent domestic political events of the past 18 months have not had a significant impact on the government's repayment ability, which has in fact improved moderately during this time.
"Indeed, the Lebanese government's large debt burden has eased somewhat, the wide fiscal deficit has narrowed and, most importantly, local banks have remained willing and able to provide financing as their committed deposit base has continued to grow," said Cooper.
Hence, the government does not face significant difficulties in rolling over maturing debt in either local or foreign currency. In addition, external official donors have underlined their commitment to Lebanon by pledging $7.6 billion in assistance at the "Paris III" conference in January 2007, of which approximately $1.8 billion has been received. Most recently, in February 2008, Saudi Arabia gave indications that it plans to deposit a further $1 billion in Lebanon's central bank. A further reassurance is that the central bank continues to hold a large stock of foreign exchange reserves, which amounted to around $9.8 billion or 40 percent of GDP at the end of January 2008. The central bank also has gold reserves worth around $8.5 billion, although Moody's notes that it cannot liquidate them without parliamentary approval which would be difficult to obtain. "Given the resilience of the government's finances and the manageability of short-term funding pressures, it seems that all but the most extreme of political shocks would be unlikely to trigger a default," said Cooper.
Moody's is well aware of the fragility of the country's political and economic environment and the structural fiscal weaknesses. However, it believes these risks are captured by its already low ratings for Lebanon.Moody's usually reserves ratings below B3 for governments that are very close to or are already in default. - Moody's Investors Service

Cheney: Iran, Syria Fomenting Trouble Through Hamas, Hizbullah
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney has slammed Iran and Syria for trying to scuttle the peace process and interfering in Lebanon's internal affairs.
He told reporters in Israel before heading to Turkey on Monday that the two countries are playing the role of spoiler in Mideast peace talks through Hamas.
"It is clearly a difficult situation, in part, because I think it's true, there's evidence, that Hamas is supported by Iran and Syria and that they're doing everything they can to torpedo the peace process," Cheney said.
He also told ABC News in an interview aired Monday in Turkey that Iran and Syria have in the past tried to scuttle the peace process through Hizbullah.
"Hizbullah went through the dustup with the Israelis in '06. They've been completely re-supplied by the Iranians, oftentimes providing materials through the Syrians and then flying materials into Damascus and then taking them by road into Lebanon," Cheney said.
He said Hamas, Hizbullah and other militant groups have significant representation in Damascus.
"That's where they operate from," he said. "There's been a very close relationship over the years, obviously, between Iran and Hizbullah. I don't think there's any question but what Iran and Syria have no interest in seeing the peace process succeed. That's a conclusion that I arrived at not just on my own, but also from talking with people in the region."
He said he talked about Iran during his Mideast trip as a "darkening shadow" on the region because among other things the Islamic Republic supports Hizbullah and works "through the Syrians for example to interfere with the political process inside Lebanon."
"They've supported Hamas with the intention, I believe, of trying to disrupt the peace process," Cheney added.
Iran figured prominently in all of Cheney's discussions with foreign leaders in Iraq, Oman, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Turkey.
The United States says Iran and Syria are working to foment trouble in the region, re-supplying Hizbullah in Lebanon with a significant inventory of weapons since the summer of 2006 and that these weapons have become increasingly sophisticated in terms of range and accuracy. In the U.S. view, Iran and Syria in particular are operating to deny the Lebanese the opportunity to govern themselves.(AP-Naharnet) Beirut, 25 Mar 08, 04:10

Israeli authorities nab 32 kilograms of heroin
Daily Star
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israeli police and army troops seized early Tuesday the largest shipment of pure heroin ever to be intercepted on the border with Lebanon, a total of 32.5 kilograms of pure heroin, worth some $8.6 million, according to a report published by Israeli daily Haaretz. Police Superintendent Ami Mualem, commander of the force's Lebanon border unit, told Haaretz that a joint police-military patrol in the Biranit area detected two men with large packs on their backs. Police arrested the two, and were shocked the find the large amount of heroin in the backpacks, Mualem said. "This was the largest quantity of heroin ever captured on the northern border," he added. The two suspects were from Israeli border village of Rama and have criminal records related to drug smuggling, police said. They stressed that the case had no connection with the recently disclosed arrest of an Israeli Army non-commissioned officer suspected of having provided classified information to Hizbullah, which allegedly compensated him with quantities of drugs. - Agencies

NGO urges Arab states to sign UN anti-torture protocol
Group highlights plight of Lebanese detainees in Israel, Syria during international gathering in geneva
By Mira Borji
Daily Star staff
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
BEIRUT: The Aman Network for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence and Torture in the Middle East and North Africa urged Arab states on Tuesday to sign the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture. The group also called for the creation of national committees tin every Arab country to organize "pressure campaigns" against torture, according to a statement issued by the organization during its participation in the seventh session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
In a news conference Tuesday at the headquarters of the Follow-up Committee for the Support of Lebanese Detainees in Israeli Prisons, Aman said its group was represented at the Geneva session by 15 activists from non-governmental organizations in seven countries of the Middle East and North Africa. The session runs from March 3 till March 28 at the UN headquarters.
"Aman called for allowing the International Committee of the Red Cross to enter Arab prisons and uncover the fate of the missing," the statement added.
The network also called for closing the file of political detention in Arab countries and liberating the "prisoners of opinion and conscience" in all Arab jails.
"The whole world should break its silence and insist on releasing all Arab and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and lifting the siege of the Gaza Strip," the statement added.
Aman chief Mohammad Safa said the session constituted a "historic opportunity for the organizations working in the field of rehabilitating victims of torture to activate cooperation with international organizations."
Safa explained that during the session, a report from the Khiam Rehabilitation center highlighted the conditions of human rights in Lebanon in 2007-08.
"The report tackled the issues of Lebanese detainees, cluster bombs, political assassinations, discrimination against women and the political and sectarian crises, as well as divisions among political parties," he said.
Safa said his group highlighted the suffering of the families of over 17,000 missing Lebanese, while the joint Lebanese-Syrian committee created in June 2005 to uncover the fate of 640 Lebanese detainees in Syria "has given no results so far, nor has it given any indications for easing the suffering of dozens of families."
Bassam Kantar, brother of Samir Kantar, the longest-held Lebanese prisoner in Israel, said the issue of the detainees was "strongly" present in this year's session "like every year."
"The detainees' case will remain present every day and every moment and their voice will always be heard by the UN and international forums," he said.
According to Kantar, this case has drawn the attention of UN officials "not because it deserves justice but because the resistance in Lebanon and Palestine is holding Israeli soldiers."
"Efforts are being deployed by the UN to organize a prisoners' swap," he added.