LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS
BULLETIN
May 08/08
Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to
Saint John 17,11-19. And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in
the world, while I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name that
you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are. When I was with them
I protected them in your name that you gave me, and I guarded them, and none of
them was lost except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture might
be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you. I speak this in the world so that they
may share my joy completely. I gave them your word, and the world hated them,
because they do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world. I
do not ask that you take them out of the world but that you keep them from the
evil one. They do not belong to the world any more than I belong to the world.
Consecrate them in the truth. Your word is truth. As you sent me into the world,
so I sent them into the world. And I consecrate myself for them, so that they
also may be consecrated in truth
Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
Questions by a
journalist. By:
Lawson Kass Hann 07/05/08
Iran and the New Offer-Abdallah
Iskandar 07/05/08
John Bolton: US should bomb Iranian camps-Telegraph.co.uk
07/05/08
A Tsar in the Custody of the Supreme Leader. By:
Ghassan Charbel 07/05/08
Letter from the Middle East-By Daniel Williams.International
Herald Tribune 07/05/08
Latest News Reports From
Miscellaneous Sources for May 07/08
Hitting age 60, Israel gets nostalgic for the old days-The
Associated Press
Survey lists most world's most repressive regimes-The Associated
Press
Sfeir Supports
Government Stand on Hizbullah Communications-Naharnet
Kouchner: Hizbullah's
Network is a Bad Indicator-Naharnet
Hizbullah Marshals
Supporters for Anti-Government Protests-Naharnet
Opposition Workers Call for Beirut Demonstration, Majority Unions Boycott,
Tension Escalates-Naharnet
Lebanon airport official removed over alleged Hezbollah ties-The
Associated Press
Lebanon raises wages on eve of strike-AFP
Aoun Agrees with PLO on
Rejecting Naturalization-Naharnet
Aoun's FPM: The
Government Declared War-Naharnet
Mufti Qabbani Warns
Against Renewed Violence-Naharnet
Hizbullah: We Aren't Operating Outside Lebanon-MEMRI
Lebanon's political tension spills out on the streets - Feature-Earthtimes
(press release)
Hizbullah Vows to Fight
Government over Telephone Network-Naharnet
Labor Unions Insist on
Strike: Will it be a Replica of Black Tuesday?-Naharnet
Syria's Intelligence
Operates Through Hizbullah Lebanon Communications-Naharnet
Tueni For Saniora-Sponsored Dialogue to
Tackle Jumblat's Charges-Naharnet
Cabinet Approves Pay Raise, Removes Shqeir, Labels Hizbullah Telephone Network
Illegal-Naharnet
U.N. Probe Committee
Arrests Suspect in Hawi Murder-Naharnet
Yemeni Court Reduces Prison Sentence of
Suspected Fatah al-Islam Member-Naharnet
Tension Running High as Government,
Opposition Appear to be on Collision Course-Naharnet
Pro- Anti-Government MPs Adopt Butros'
Electoral Law-Naharnet
Lebanese-American Man's Supporters Want
Apology from McCain's Campaign-Naharnet
U.S. Confirms Hizbullah Training Iraqi
Shiites in Iran-Naharnet
Aoun for Demonstration to Topple
Government, Supports Hizbullah in Kesrouan and Byblos-Naharnet
Mirza Probes Alleged Hizbullah Cameras
Near Airport-Naharnet
Senior U.S. Diplomat Inspects Control of
Northern Borders With Syria-Naharnet
Tashnag Party Wants Relations with All
Lebanese Factions-Naharnet
Jumblat: Hizbullah Distributes Weapons to
Gangs and Mini-Militias-Naharnet
Wahab Attacks Riyadh, Its Lebanon
Ambassador and Allies-Naharnet
Geagea: No One is Permitted to Threaten
the State-Naharnet
Qabalan Defends Iran, Warns Against
Doubting Shqeir-Naharnet
Beirut cabinet challenges Hezbollah, tension rises-Reuters
A Syria-Israel thawing in the works?Middle East Times
Peace at any price-Ha'aretz
Siniora, Hezbollah Wage Ad War to Win Hearts, Minds in
Lebanon-Bloomberg
Approves Pay Raise, Removes Shqeir, Labels Hizbullah
Telephone Network Illegal
Naharnet/The Lebanese government approved after a marathon meeting on Tuesday to raise
the minimum wage to LL 500,000. It also decided to remove airport security chief
Brig. Gen. Wafiq Shqeir over his alleged links to Hizbullah.
The cabinet also labeled "illegal and unconstitutional" a private communications
network set up by Hizbullah on Lebanese territory.
A statement read by Information Minister Ghazi Aridi at the end of the meeting
around 4:30 am said the cabinet also agreed to cancel customs on main food
staples.
The daily An Nahar said Finance Minister Jihad Azour warned that he would resign
when the government suggested to raise the minimum wage by over LL 500,000,
arguing that this would hurt the treasury.
On the Hizbullah telephone network issue, Aridi said the government decided to
refer the dossier, which shows Iran's involvement in the case, to the Arab
League and international community.
The government also dismissed claims by Hizbullah which said the network was
essential for the group's security.
Aridi said the government authorized security forces to pursue the "abnormal"
issue and arrest all those involved in setting up the network, labeled a
"violation of Lebanese laws."
Regarding Shqeir, An Nahar quoted ministerial sources as saying he would rejoin
the army command.
The sources said official sides received "direct threats" from forces within the
Hizbullah-led opposition warning them against messing with the Hizbullah network
or with Shqeir's post.
Druze leader Walid Jumblat has demanded the "sacking" of Shqeir, accusing him of
allowing Hizbullah to place cameras in the airport area to "monitor the arrival
of Lebanese or foreign leaders, to kidnap or assassinate (people) on the airport
road." Beirut, 06 May 08, 07:14
Labor Unions Insist on Strike: Will it be a Replica of Black Tuesday?
Naharnet/The General Federation of Labor Unions (GFLU) called for a massive strike
throughout Lebanon on Wednesday to protest against the modest increase of the
monthly salary.
GFLU said the strike would witness sit-ins and possibly closure of the airport.
The GFLU has warned the government it would go on strike if the cabinet did not
approve a pay raise by 63 percent. The GFLU has demanded increasing the minimum
wage to LL 960,000.
The cabinet on Tuesday approved to raise the monthly salary from LL 300,000 to
LL 500,000.
The private sector was apparently split over the salary issue. While some
favored a modest pay raise, others argued that they prefer to lay off their
employees than heed the demands of the GFLU.
Fears ran high that Wednesday's strike could be a replica of what has become
known as "Black Tuesday" when at least 29 people were wounded in riots between
anti and pro-government factions Jan. 23, 2007 as a general strike called by the
GFLU developed into a bloody confrontation.
The daily An Nahar said Finance Minister Jihad Azour warned the government
during its marathon meeting on Tuesday that he would resign when the cabinet
suggested to raise the monthly salary by over LL 500,000, saying such a move
would hurt the treasury. Beirut, 06 May 08, 10:03
Hizbullah Vows to Fight Government over Telephone Network
Naharnet/Hizbullah has warned the Lebanese government against "playing with fire" and
vowed "tough resistance" against anybody who stands in its way.
"Hizbullah will deal with those who interfere with the network as if they were
Israeli spies" and warned that "they will face a ferocious resistance,"
Hizbullah's deputy chief Sheik Naim Qassem said Monday.
Qassem stressed that the network was "identical" to Hizbullah arms and "part of
its security."
Beirut, 06 May 08, 08:40
U.N. Probe Committee Arrests Suspect in Hawi Murder
The U.N. committee investigating the assassination of former Prime Minister
Rafik Hariri has detained a man in Beirut's Wata Museitbeh neighborhood on
suspicion he is involved in the killing of Lebanese politician George Hawi.
The daily As Safir on Tuesday, citing witnesses living in Wata Museitbeh, said
U.N. investigators in a huge convoy visited the area on April 14 and raided the
house of N.G. who lived opposite Hawi's residence in Jabal al-Arab street.
The communist party's former secretary general was killed in a car bombing in
June 2005.
One witness said the investigating team asked about A.G., son of N.G. and the
minute A.G. arrived at the scene, he was arrested and asked that he gets in his
dark blue BMW car and was taken along with his father to the committee
headquarters in Monteverde.
As Safir said the father was released after a brief interrogation, while A.G.
remained in custody.
It said the suspect, in his thirties, had left shortly after Hawi's murder to
Dubai where he has been working there for nearly two years. He returned to
Beirut about six months ago to work at a restaurant. Beirut, 06 May 08, 11:05
Yemeni Court Reduces Prison Sentence of Suspected Fatah al-Islam Member
An appeals court judge in Yemen has reduced the prison term of a suspected
Yemeni member of Fatah al-Islam group that fought against Lebanese troops last
year.
Judge Mohammed al-Hakeemi says he reduced the sentence against Bashir Mohammed
Raweh Numan from five to two years imprisonment.
According to Monday's announcement, the suspect was arrested in Lebanon last
year and handed over to Yemen, where a lower court sentenced him to five years
in February.
Numan was charged with going to Lebanon to receive military training at the
northern Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared where Fatah al-Islam fought
bloody gunbattles against the Lebanese army in 2007.
Numan was not charged with taking part in the actual battle against the
troops.(AP-Naharnet)
Beirut, 06 May 08, 12:35
Tension Running High as Government, Opposition Appear to be on Collision Course
Tension ran high in Lebanon as majority Premier Fouad Saniora's cabinet and
Hizbullah appeared on a collision course over the party's private telephone
network, allegedly linked to Syria.
Forces allied within the Hizbullah-led opposition decided to take
counter-measures following a cabinet decision on Tuesday to crackdown on a
private communications network set up by the Shiite group.
The government labeled "illegal and unconstitutional" Hizbullah's private
network on Lebanese territory. It also dismissed claims by the party which said
the network was essential for its security.
The cabinet authorized security forces to pursue the "abnormal" issue and arrest
all those involved in setting up the network.
The daily Al Akhbar described the government's decision to crackdown on
Hizbullah as "weird."
It said it was the first time since the 1989 Taef Accord that any government has
adopted a position that considered Hizbullah's "security measures" as violation
to state authority.
Al Akhbar said the government has also "raised the ceiling of political
confrontation" when it took a decision to remove airport security chief Brig.
Gen. Wafiq Shqeir over alleged links to Hizbullah.
It said the opposition, particularly Hizbullah and Amal movement of Speaker
Nabih Berri, are likely to adopt counter-measures that would put Lebanon in a
critical situation.
The opposition, according to the newspaper, threatened that a general strike
called by the General Federation of Labor Unions for Wednesday could develop
into a "protest day" that can reach far beyond all limits.
Beirut, 06 May 08, 13:35
Pro-, Anti-Government MPs Adopt Butros' Electoral Law
Naharnet/Pro-government MP Ghassan Tueni and opposition MP Ghassan Mkheiber have adopted
what has been known as the "Butros Draft Electoral Law" as a formal proposal for
the 2009 parliamentary elections.
At a joint press conference on Monday, Tueni and Mkheiber said they had referred
the draft law to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
Berri, in turn, referred the draft law to a special committee for examination.
Addressing Berri in a letter read at the conference, Tueni said the decision to
adopt the law was made after "it has become essential to propose some sort of
electoral framework."
The Butros Law was named after national electoral law commission head Fouad
Butros.
Tueni uncovered that head of Parliament's Justice Committee Robert Ghanem was
going to summon committee members to study the draft law.
He denied that MPs from the ruling March 14 coalition were boycotting any
parliamentary committee meetings.
Mkheiber, for his part, stated the reasons behind his and Tueni's endorsement of
the new framework.
Mkheiber, an MP from Gen. Michel Aoun's Change and Reform Bloc, said that he and
Tueni submitted the Butros Law for immediate consideration by the appropriate
parliamentary committees "since there appears to be a consensus regarding the
adoption of an electoral law so as to avoid a return to the (2000 framework)."
Beirut, 06 May 08, 10:43
Lebanese-American Man's Supporters Want Apology from McCain's Campaign
Naharnet/A group of Arab-American and Muslim leaders have said they want John McCain's
campaign to apologize for cutting ties with a Lebanese-American businessman
serving on the Republican presidential candidate's Michigan finance committee.
Ali Jawad, founder of the Lebanese American Heritage Club, was listed with five
other finance committee members on an invitation to a $2,300-per-person
fundraising dinner McCain plans to attend Tuesday in Oakland County.
Jawad and his supporters said during a news conference Monday that he was asked
to resign from the committee after Michigan blogger Debbie Schlussel wrote that
he had ties to Hizbullah. They said her comments were based on rumor and
innuendo.
"We do not want a president who makes a decision ... based on false
information," said Osama Siblani, president of the Arab American Political
Action Committee and publisher of the Arab American News. "This is an insult to
every Arab-American and Muslim-American in the country."
Besides an apology, Siblani said Jawad's supporters also want McCain to ask the
businessman to rejoin the finance committee. Jawad said it would be premature to
say whether he would accept such a request.
Jawad told The Associated Press Monday evening that the accusations by Schlussel
were false, including any links to Hizbullah. On one particular trip to Lebanon,
he said, he met with the U.S. ambassador, who arranged all his appointments with
the president and members of parliament.
"This is our country by choice," he said. "We're patriotic Americans, as much as
anyone else."
McCain plans to be in Michigan for Tuesday's fundraiser and plans to hold a town
hall meeting with supporters Wednesday morning at a local university. There are
over 300,000 people in southeast Michigan who trace their roots to the Middle
East.
Monday's news conference was held at the Lebanese American Heritage Club in
Dearborn, a Detroit suburb widely considered to be the center of Arab America.
Jawad is president of Dearborn-based Armada Oil and Gas Co. He moved to the
United States in 1976. A Republican, he said he has contributed to Republican
candidates as well as Democrats such as Michigan Sen. Carl Levin.
Schlussel said among her concerns about Jawad were two federal cases involving
him and his company: He was convicted in 1997 in U.S. District Court in Detroit
for insurance fraud and sentenced to probation. His company was convicted the
same year of mail fraud and was ordered to pay more than $250,000 in fines and
restitution.
She also alleges that he has met with Hizbullah leaders and Hizbullah-allied
members of the Lebanese parliament on two trips to Lebanon.
"John McCain did the right thing by asking Ali Jawad to leave," she said.
For his part, Jawad said he was not forced into resigning. He asked to be
removed from the committee after receiving two calls from the McCain campaign
inquiring about the allegations and questioning his "integrity and loyalty to
this country."
Siblani said McCain is "starting off on the wrong foot" with Arab- and
Muslim-Americans with this decision, and if the candidate stands by it he could
lose many of its voters.
"This shows you (McCain's campaign) doesn't care about our community," he said.
"This group is essential to the war on terror. We need to work with the
government hand in hand."(AP)
Beirut, 06 May 08, 10:25
U.S. Confirms Hizbullah Training Iraqi Shiites in Iran
Naharnet/Iraqi Shiite extremists are being trained by Hizbullah members in camps near
Tehran, a U.S. military spokesman has said, confirming a report by The New York
Times.
Iraqis are receiving the training at camps operated by the Quds Force, an elite
unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps that has been accused of training and
funneling weapons to Shiite extremists in Iraq.
The group is also known as the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps-Quds Force, or
IRGC-QF. Al-Quds is the Arabic name for Jerusalem.
The Quds Force is believed to operate overseas, helping to create Hizbullah in
1982 in Lebanon and to arm Bosnian Muslims during the Balkan wars.
"We have multiple detainees who state Lebanese Hizbullah are providing training
to Iraqis in Iranian IRGC-QF training camps near Tehran," Air Force Col. Donald
Bacon, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, told The Associated Press Monday.
U.S. and Iraqi forces have for the past six weeks battled Shiite extremists in
Baghdad and the southern city of Basra. Hundreds of people have been killed in
the fighting against members of so-called "special groups" that have broken away
from Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.
Iran said Monday it would not hold a new round of talks with the U.S. on
security in Iraq until American forces end their current assault against Shiite
militias.
A five-member Iraqi delegation was sent to Tehran last week to try to choke off
suspected Iranian aid to militiamen. They met with Gen. Ghassem Soleimani,
commander of the Quds Force, but no clear details emerged from the meeting.
The first reports of Hizbullah training emerged in March 2007, when U.S. forces
captured Qais Khazali, the senior Special Groups leader for Iraq, and Ali Mussa
Daqduq, a senior Hizbullah commander captured along with him. The arrests took
place in the Shiite holy city of Karbala.
"Ali Mussa Daqduq confirmed Lebanese Hizbullah were providing training to Iraqi
Special Group members in Iran and that his role was to assess the quality of
training and make recommendations on how the training could be improved. In this
role, he traveled to Iraq on four occasions and was captured on his fourth
trip," Bacon told The AP in an e-mail.
Since then, Bacon said "we have captured other Iraqis who have discussed their
training in Iran and who state many of their instructors were Lebanese Hizbullah."
Citing U.S. interrogation reports, The New York Times on Monday said the account
of Hizbullah's role was provided by four Shiite militia members who were
captured in Iraq late last year and separately questioned by U.S.
interrogators.(AP-Naharnet) Beirut, 06 May 08, 09:27
Aoun for Demonstration to Topple Government, Supports Hizbullah in Kesrouan and
Byblos
Free Patriotic Movement leader Gen. Michel Aoun called for demonstrations on
Wednesday to topple Premier Fouad Saniora's government, praised Hizbullah's
weapons and said monitoring Beirut airport is not a security violation.However, he stressed: "Rioting is banned. Security forces are responsible for
banning riots, not preventing demonstrations."Aoun, talking to reporters after the weekly meeting by members of his Change and
Reform Bloc, said calls to elect a president prior to agreeing on a general
elections law "be they made by secular or religious" circles are tantamount to
"conspiring against the Christians and seeking to marginalize them."He was referring, among others, to Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir who had
repeatedly said electing a president is a priority.
Achieving a quorum of two thirds of MPs for electing a president is conditional
to acceptance by the majority of giving the Hizbullah-led opposition veto rights
in the new government.
"Two thirds for 11+19," Aoun said in reference to the formation of a future
government.
He warned against electing a president by simple majority saying such a practice
is tantamount to "a coup that would be confronted by another coup."
Aoun also defended Hizbullah's private communications network, claiming, "there
are other private communications networks than Hizbullah's." He did not name
them, however.
"Finding a camera on airport road is not a security penetration," Aoun said.
"The road to Bekfaya is full of cameras and they monitor us all the time," he
added.
He also said the "crisis that Lebanon faces is … where the government is based."
"We would not leave the nation as it was in the past three years," Aoun pledged.
Aoun defended Hizbullah's activity in Kesrouan and Byblos (Jbeil) provinces,
noting: "Lebanese Forces exist in Rmeish and Qleiaa (south Lebanon) and they
move freely. Why Hizbullah shouldn't move in Kesrouan and Byblos?" he asked.
He launched a vehement attack on Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid
Jumblat for having disclosed that Hizbullah's communications network has reached
Kesrouan and Byblos provinces.
"Who is Walid Jumblat to provoke Kesrouan and Byblos? Jumblat is factional and
bloody," according to Aoun.
"Has the army been penetrated so that its reports can reach Jumblat and
(Communications Minister Marwan) Hamade?" Aoun asked.
Aoun launched a vehement attack on the leading daily an-Nahar claiming it has
abandoned its "ethical principles and does not deserve to be read anymore. It
has become a propaganda bulletin for March 14."
He defended Hizbullah weapons as "subject to good conduct certificate."He reiterated that the killing of two Phalange Party members in Zahle is "an
individual crime and not politically-motivated. It happened between two armed
men." Beirut, 05 May 08, 17:07
Senior U.S. Diplomat Inspects Control of Northern Borders With Syria
Naharnet/U.S. Chargé d'Affaires Michele J. Sison visited north Lebanon and met officers
of the combined force entrusted with controlling the borders with Syria.
Sison noted that the United States has provided the force with a
seven-million-dollar worth system of "secure communications.""I am impressed with the efforts being made to secure Lebanon's borders. Through
secure borders, it will be possible for Lebanese citizens to build better
lives," Sison said.
Since 2006, the United States has committed over 371 million dollars to the
Lebanese Armed Forces. The United States also supports the Internal Security
Forces with a grant of 60 million dollars. Beirut, 05 May 08, 19:45
Syria's Intelligence Operates Through Hizbullah Lebanon Communications
Naharnet/Hizbullah has linked its private telephone networks to the Syrian Army's
communications system as well as to Syria's mobile telephone network allowing
Syrian intelligence to operate freely in Lebanon and avoid Lebanese controls,
al-Mustaqbal's Faris Khashan wrote Tuesday.
Internal Security Forces Commander Gen. Ashraf Rifi and Director of Military
Intelligence Brig. George Khoury were assigned by the government more than a
month ago to discuss the issue with Hizbullah, Khashan added.
However, Hizbullah's security chief Wafiq Safa and the party's international
relations official Nawaf Moussawi informed Rifi and Khoury that "anyone who
touches the network would be treated the same way we treat the Zionist enemy,"
he wrote.
Khashan labeled Hizbullah a "militia," noting that Hizbullah is not registered
with the interior ministry as a political organization operating in Lebanon.
Khashan said police counter-terrorism expert, Maj. Wissam Eid, has been
assassinated because he managed to detect the serial assassinations committed
against March 14 figures to the Hizbullah telephone network.
He reported that Hizbullah sped up work on extending the network after Eid's
assassination, "which means that the killing was aimed at destroying evidence on
previous assassinations, including one that appears linked to Hizbullah."The crime also aimed at creating "safe communications criteria for further
assassinations," he added.
Khashan urged the government to speed up efforts aimed at separating the
Hizbullah network from the Syrian networks, lodge complaints with the U.N.
Security Council and the International Telecommunication Union against Syria,
Inform the International Investigation committee of the development, allow
municipalities to interrupt the Hizbullah network in their respective
jurisdictions and link the network to the public telephone network.
Hizbullah should be asked to choose either to give up its illegal network or be
declared an "illegal organization," Khashan concluded. Beirut, 06 May 08, 12:55
Tueni For Saniora-Sponsored Dialogue to Tackle Jumblat's Charges
Naharnet/Lebanon's leading columnist, MP Ghassan Tueni, urged Premier Fouad Saniora to
sponsor dialogue aimed at tackling charges made by Progressive Socialist Party
leader Walid Jumblat against Hizbullah.
National sovereignty "is the essence of Jumblat's charges and the charges made
by the defense and interior ministries and would probably be made by the justice
ministry," Tueni wrote in an-Nahar.
He called for revealing the truth regarding what has happened and "adopting
punitive measures against those responsible for what has happened … be they
administrative, security or military officials."Tueni concluded by warning Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri that if he persists
with "lagging," he and his supporters would be accused of collaborating with
those who violate state sovereignty, or at least covering up their acts.
Beirut, 05 May 08, 14:27
Iran and the New Offer
Abdallah Iskandar -Al Hayat - 05/05/08//
In light of the new offer made by the six great powers to Tehran to halt uranium
enrichment, it is possible that the testing period for Iran's intentions
regarding the nature of its nuclear program has reached - or almost reached -
its end. Despite the secrecy imposed by the foreign ministers of the US, Russia,
China, Britain, France and Germany on their agreement in their Friday meeting in
London, and although the offer does not include a deadline for resuming
negotiations, leaks indicate that it includes a more generous and detailed
development of the previous offer. At the same time, the ministers refrained
from using the threatening and intimidating language of sanctions in case Tehran
was not responsive.
According to Russian foreign minister Serguei Lavrov whose country opposes the
policy of sanctions against Iran, this generous offer requires the suspension of
enrichment only during the negotiations phase. There are also reports that the
offer includes the possibility of supplying Iran with nuclear technologies for
electricity generation as part of cooperation in the energy field in addition to
trade, investment, and national security benefits. This means that the five
permanent member states at the Security Council and Germany wish to reassure
Tehran regarding its right to benefit from nuclear energy as well as its right
to development and security.
However, the question remains whether or not Iran wants to grab this new
opportunity to prove that its enrichment program does not have a military
dimension as it claims.
Previous experience and repeated Iranian statements, it seems that Tehran is not
interested in any offer related to uranium enrichment, which it considers to be
its unequivocal right. Yet, it also shrouds its nuclear program in such secrecy
and ambiguity that prevents the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to
rule out its military dimension. Moreover, Tehran still withholds essential
information from IAEA inspectors that can determine the nature of its nuclear
program beyond any doubt.
Iranian officials have repeatedly stressed the fact that possessing the
enrichment cycle technology does not satisfy the process of activating nuclear
reactors but also constitutes one of the pillars of national independence and
pride from great power, a slogan. so dear to the Islamic revolution in Iran. The
decision-maker in Tehran can no longer retreat with respect to the enrichment
program, especially not after all the national mobilization and the accusations
of betrayal and collaboration with the west against anyone calling for
moderation in negotiations, and after the parliament enacted a law that
prohibits the government from compromising over enrichment.
In this sense, the enrichment issue has become one of the main tools in the
current conflict for power, not only between the conservatives and reformists,
but also among the conservatives in power. This was revealed in the changes
inside the national security council and the team in charge of the nuclear file,
along with the repercussions of all this on the last legislative elections
campaign.
In parallel, it seems that Tehran is striving to link negotiations over its
nuclear file to its regional position and interests, particularly in Iraq. This
is what Moscow alluded to after Tehran's announcement that it will be offered
ideas for solving its problems, during the discussions of a Russian delegation
that visited Iran last week. It is likely that this announcement was a
preemptive step by Tehran before the outcomes of the London meeting over its
nuclear file two days ago. This implies that Iran may be preparing to make a
counterproposal to the western offer, allowing it to stall and gain the time it
needs to impose on its western negotiators the fact that it has crossed the
point of no-return with respect to its nuclear project.
Such calculations, however, may be valid at times when the six great powers are
divided, but no longer work with the new offer marketed by Tehran's allies
within this group, namely Russia and China. Lavrov expressed this by assuring
that "the offer is most sincere" and called upon Iran to "carefully study all
its aspects
Getting the message out for Hezbollah and rivals
Letter from the Middle East
By Daniel Williams- Bloomberg News
Published: May 6, 2008
BEIRUT: In an austere office in south Beirut, members of Hezbollah are plotting
a campaign.
It's not for combat with Israel, Hezbollah's opponent in a war that lasted 33
days in 2006, or for bombing Lebanese civilians, which the U.S. government says
is a Hezbollah specialty. It's an ad campaign.
Five artists and writers leaf through U.S. advertising yearbooks looking for
catchy ideas and Iranian books on calligraphy to provide an Oriental touch. The
goal: to produce billboards, leaflets and television spots on May 25 to
commemorate the eighth anniversary of the withdrawal by the Israeli military
from south Lebanon, which it occupied for 17 years.
Lebanon has its own battle for hearts and minds, and it's being played out in
slick promotions reminiscent of the ones that sell energy drinks and MP3
players.
"The dominant style is American," says Zeina Maasri, a graphic-design professor
at the American University of Beirut. "It's a kind of communication you can't
escape. They sell politics as a commodity."
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The May 25 billboards planned for this year are bright yellow and feature
silhouettes of soldiers and civilians along with the slogan "Sun, light, wind
and freedom," from the words of a popular Lebanese song. They will be
coordinated with TV spots on Hezbollah's channel, Al Manar.
"We are trying to appeal to all Lebanese," says a Hezbollah
architect-turned-adman who declined to give his name for publication. "We are
not ashamed to confess that our ads are somewhat influenced by America."
In February, Hezbollah's media center produced human-size signs to honor Imad
Mugniyah, a military commander who had just been assassinated in Damascus. His
black-stenciled profile lined the main highway from the airport to central
Beirut, a favorite location for political ads.
"We have three messages: to encourage friends, scare our enemies and persuade
the uncommitted of our truth," the Hezbollah adman says.
Hezbollah is far from alone in its focus on public relations. Parties that
support the pro-U.S. government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, which Hezbollah
has vowed to bring down, routinely enlist professional agencies to produce
multimedia campaigns. Because eight of the parties' political leaders have been
assassinated since 2005, many pay homage to the dead.
Self-described neutral civic activists have also entered the fray with critiques
of what they view as the absurdity of Lebanon's seemingly eternal strife.
The contestants are heirs to a Lebanese history of conflict propaganda. The
country's Shiites, Sunnis, Druze, Christians and Palestinian refugees fought an
all-against-all civil war from 1975 to 1990 that killed an estimated 100,000
people. During the war, Lebanon's factions, along with the Palestine Liberation
Organization, produced reams of posters extolling their leaders, preaching their
causes, commemorating major events - often massacres - and praising their dead.
Maasri has curated an exhibit at a children's museum displaying 300 posters from
30 different factions, many produced by Lebanese artists who were well known at
the time. Some are in faded psychedelic colors, others are renditions of
editorial-style cartoons - pro-U.S. figures are inevitably dressed in top hats.
Posters of the dead are uniformly grim: Faces on black and white photos, looking
like something from a yearbook or a driver's license, stare out impassively.
Hezbollah posters from the 1980s feature portraits of Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini, the Iranian leader who was an inspiration and backer, with Islamic
motifs on backgrounds of green, a color often associated with Islam.
Now "ad agencies produce the signs, and billboards fill up the sides of
buildings and line highways," Maasri says. "The factions have their own
television and Web sites." Because ads are seen by all and not confined
physically to neighborhoods, the appeals have broadened, she notes.
Siniora's government - backed by a coalition of Sunni Muslims, Maronite
Christians and Druze - is locked in a power struggle with Hezbollah, which it
views as a tool of Syria and Iran.
Hezbollah, along with an allied Maronite party, considers Siniora a puppet of
the United States. It wants veto power over cabinet decisions and has boycotted
sessions in Parliament to elect a new president, denying it a quorum.
Allied Advertising, which handles ads for Siniora's coalition, has been in
reactive mode. "When someone gets killed, we get right out with a campaign to
celebrate their lives," says Karim Diab, 33, Allied's managing director.
Allied's campaigns are designed to encourage a sense of broad patriotism: "Never
let anyone take our Lebanon," billboards exhort. Portraits of former Prime
Minister Rafik Hariri, whose assassination by car bomb in 2005 led to the
current struggle, are a frequent motif.
The Beirut branch of H&C Leo Burnett, part of Publicis, the big advertising and
media-planning company, has tried to inject a third way, using irony and
patriotism in an apolitical approach to solving Lebanon's problems.
On behalf of 05AMAM, an independent organization that promotes reconciliation,
the agency produced a campaign to mock Lebanon's sectarian fixations. It
included signs around Beirut offering parking for "Maronites Only" and "For
Druzes, Building for Sale." The agency paraded cars with license plates labeled
with religious designations and distributed business cards at pubs on which
"Shiite," "Greek Orthodox" and "Sunni" replaced job titles.
Some people thought they were real, some thought they were funny and some were
upset, says Nada Abi Saleh, 43, deputy managing director at Leo Burnett's Beirut
office. "The goal is to create buzz, to get people thinking," she says.