LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِMay 17/2010

Bible Of the Day
Luke 12/49-59" “I came to throw fire on the earth. I wish it were already kindled."
What does God's fire mean? It means simply the passion of love and when we know that God is love things become very clear and understandable. God's fire does not burn, but cleanses and purifies. God's fire does not destroy, but endows life that Satan can't touch or threaten. God's fire give immunity against all kinds of temptation. God's fire and love open heart, eyes, spirits and consciences on the truth and ignites in him courage and knowledge to witness for the truth. This is the fire Jesus spoke about in Luke 12/49-59" “I came to throw fire on the earth. I wish it were already" kindled.
Elias Bejjani

Free Opinions, Releases, letters, Interviews & Special Reports
The U.S. Government Knows that Iran Helps al-Qaida But Does Nothing About It/By Barry Rubin/May 16/10

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for May 16/10
Sfeir from Akkar Urges Lebanese to Renew Trust in Each Other and Their Country/Naharnet
Hariri Begins Arab Tour from Riyadh, Heads to Damascus on Tuesday/Naharnet/
Geagea: Just solution to Palestinian cause comes down to one strategy/Now Lebanon
Iranian cleric wants creation of 'Greater Iran'/The Associated Press
Israel's military aggrandisement/Khaleej Times
Beware of Small States: Lebanon, Battleground of the Middle East by David Hirst/The Guardian
Jihad on Camera: Hatred at UCSD, Lars Vilks Attacked/EuropeNews
Otari Advises Israel Not to Attack Syria: Jumblat's Return to Damascus Proves Its Right Stance/Naharnet
Baroud Stresses Need to Combat Drugs: No Area Off-limits to State's Reach/Naharnet
Aoun Slams 'Those Who Engage Too Late in Liberation Battles'/Naharnet
Suleiman Meets Morin, Hopes France Continues to Support Just Causes/Naharnet
Gunmen Kidnap Four Lebanese Workers in Nigeria/Naharnet
Qassem: We Have the Right to Own All Sorts of Arms to Carry Out Our Obligations/Naharnet
Suleiman Discusses Regional Issues in Phone Conversation with Assad/Naharnet
Hariri Meets Assad Tuesday Before Talks with Obama on May 24/Naharnet
Jumblat Warns Lebanese Not to Trust Israeli Assurances, Aridi in Damascus Monday/Naharnet
Israeli Deputy Chief of Staff: Calm Should be Cautiously Enjoyed/Naharnet
17-year-old Tears Tires of UNIFIL Employees' Vehicles in Tyre/Naharnet
Akkar Awaits Sfeir's Visit Amid Massive Preparations/Naharnet
Zgharta: Franjieh Considers Electoral Battle is Settled in his Favor in 25 Towns
Sidon: Consensus List Turns into an Electoral Battle List/Naharnet
Berri to Aoun: I Will Not Interfere in Jezzine Polls/Naharnet
Ministry of Economy Seizes Five Tons of Expired Foodstuffs/Naharnet
Palestinians in Lebanon Mark 'Nakba Day'/Naharnet
FM chides Russia after Medvedev meets with Meshal/Ha'aretz

Sfeir from Akkar Urges Lebanese to Renew Trust in Each Other and Their Country
Naharnet/Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir urged on Sunday the Lebanese to renew their trust in each other, their nation, and the future of their country.
He also called on them to "unite their national will over the principles of solidarity, freedom, sovereignty, balanced development, and respect for human rights."
The Patriarch made his statements during his trip to Tripoli's Maronite Parish. He hoped that "Akkar would remain an example of national unity and mutual respect within the values of justice and equality." Prior to heading to the Parish, Sfeir arrived in Halba where he met with Akkar Mufti Oussama al-Rifai, who said: "Lebanon cannot rise without its Christian and Muslim wings as Prime Minister Saad Hariri said yesterday." He praised Sfeir's "unifying national stands and his wise steps towards reaching a unified Lebanon." Sfeir was accompanied throughout his visits by Tripoli's Maronite Pastor, Archbishop Georges Abou Jawde, a number of religious officials and businessmen, and William Mjalli, the general manager of the Issam Fares Foundation. The Patriarch will then head to Tleil and then the town of Qbeyyet where he will set the foundation stone of the first Maronite archbishopric center in Akkar. The center is set to take up 40,000 meters, will occupy the highest hill in Qbeyyet and overlook several villages in Akkar. The Maronite Patriarch will then hold the Sunday sermon at Qbeyyet. He will then head to the northern village of Baino at an invitation from former Deputy Prime Minister Issam Fares where he will be welcomed by Fares' business associate, Sajii Atieh. In Baino, Sfeir will be given a tour of Fares' developmental projects in the village. Beirut, 16 May 10, 13:48

Hariri Begins Arab Tour from Riyadh, Heads to Damascus on Tuesday
Naharnet/Prime Minister Saad Hariri is expected to arrive in Riyadh Sunday where he is set to hold talks on "bilateral ties and regional and international issues of joint interest."
Sources told the daily An Nahar Sunday that Hariri is also expected to visit Damascus on Tuesday, to be followed by other regional countries, including Turkey. They added: "The tour emerged as a result of the very dangerous situation the region is going through, which requires regional states to assume their responsibility towards it." They continued: "Hariri is better off heading to the United States with Arab and Turkish backing of Lebanon's stand that the United States should pressure Israel to end its threats of war and shift its attention towards peace.""Hariri is garnering as much influential stands as he can so that Washington may take them into consideration," the sources said. Meanwhile, Hariri said Saturday that Christians and Muslims would stop being Lebanese if division of power between them was lost. "The Lebanese Muslim is no longer Lebanese without division of power between Christians and Muslims," Hariri said during a ceremony marking the 14th anniversary of the Antonine University.The same applies to Christians, he added. Hariri stressed the importance of preserving coexistence and dialogue, saying division of power means both religions have responsibilities towards each other regardless of numbers. He explained that the need to safeguard the value of coexistence goes beyond Lebanon, adding that "our success in preserving coexistence is in the interest of the Arab world and the world as a whole."About the list that won last Sunday's municipal elections in Beirut, Hariri said: "The list that we backed in Beirut had no competition. It was competing for our heritage and political program against all that contradicts with coexistence in Beirut." "This competition wasn't with one list or political party. It was between all sectarian slogans and things that could subject division of power to a deficiency," the premier said in his speech. Hariri also stressed on dialogue, saying national unity stems from it.

MP Oqab Sakr Says His Letter to the Iranian Embassy is Aimed at "Cooling the Air"
Naharnet/P Oqab Sakr condemned on Sunday the recent invitation by a member of Iran's Mission to the United Nations, Sayed Karimi, to Israeli political expert, Avner Cohen, for the Jewish state to invest in the Islamic Republic by sending a letter to the Iranian Embassy in Lebanon.
The MP told the daily Asharq al-Awsat that he sent the letter out of "wonder, concern, and condemnation of Iran's step, which could lead to catastrophic results in the already tense Arab-Iranian ties."He added that the invitation may also have negative repercussions in the Islamic world and that it may be easily exploited by sides aiming to create instability.
He clarified that he sent the letter to the Iranian embassy in an independent step that was not coordinated with Prime Minister Saad Hariri or the Future Movement.
Commenting on Karimi and Cohen's exchange, the MP said that one cannot remain quiet over the "surreal" exchange that was recorded on video, voicing his "wonder that the Iranian leadership had not yet issued a statement to clarify the matter."Some sides may interpret the lack of a statement as a sign of Iranian content with the situation and the consequent "unpleasant" reactions on the Islamic and Arab front. Sakr added: "We are not demanding a reply from the Iranian Embassy in Beirut, but one from the Iranian administration that is obligated to take a stand on this issue before matters escalate and take a negative turn." The MP noted that Karimi's invitation may harm Iran's credibility over its repeated statements that it refuses to negotiate with Israel and its adamant support for resisting its occupation. Some sides may start believing that Iran's statements over the resistance may just be a front, while in reality negotiations may be taking place behind the scenes between the two states at the expense of the Arab world "in a dramatic and catastrophic turn of events", he stated.
He defended his action of sending a letter to the Iranian Embassy saying that he did it out of the interest of maintaining Arab-Iranian ties and the unity of the Islamic world and before it takes on a sectarian-Arab-Islamic turn. "The way the Iranians handle the situation will determine the way people will react to it. It will either stun the administration and its ties with the Arabs, or it will be contained, and it will only be looked upon as a mistake that can be overcome," Sakr concluded. In addition, he said that he will continue to send messages to the embassy through all possible means in order to cool the air and contain damning media reports, as well as propose solutions to the issue. Beirut, 16 May 10, 12:31

Otari Advises Israel Not to Attack Syria: Jumblat's Return to Damascus Proves Its Right Stance
Naharnet/Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Naji al-Otari said that "Lebanese PM Saad Hariri's visit to Damascus halted all bids to separate between the two countries."
In an interview, Otari clarified that his country "doesn't fear the verdicts of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon," noting that "the return of Democratic Gathering leader MP Walid Jumblat and others to Damascus proves the correctness of the Syrian stance." The Syrian premier ridiculed "the accusations against his country of arming Hizbullah with Scud missiles," wondering in this context "how would weapons of such size be transferred at a time they control airspace and seas." He stressed that extending U.S. sanctions against Syria would not affect its economic situation, warning Israel against "waging any aggression" against Damascus. "We do not advise Israel to carry out its threats because it will be extremely agonized by the Syrian retaliation," Otari warned. "Syria has all the capabilities to retaliate and we also have all determination and permanent preparation to face such a probability," Otari added, noting that "Israel knows that very well." He stressed that "the Syrian leadership has expressed Syria's aspiration to establish just and comprehensive peace … but the problem is that Israel doesn't want peace."
Otari called on Arabs to "unify their efforts in order to face this threat," noting that "the nation's powers and capabilities are vast, but it needs a resolution and not to submit to the pressures practiced by some influential parties."As to his country's stance regarding the "Iranian influence and nuclear program," Otari strongly defended his country's close ties with Tehran.
"I don't think that there are Iranian nuclear programs seeking to use nuclear energy for non-peaceful purposes, and it is clear that the objective is to create animosity between the Arab people and Iran as an alternative to the Zionist enemy, and we in Syria don't feel that there is a problem with the Iranians in the region," Otari added.
He also strongly defended the direction to establish and strengthen "a regional conglomeration necessitated by geography and common interests, aiming at protecting the peoples' interests and gathering four parties: Syria, Turkey, Iran and Iraq."

Aoun Slams 'Those Who Engage Too Late in Liberation Battles'
Naharnet/Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun on Saturday slammed "those who engage too late in liberation battles after liberation and independence have been accomplished."Addressing student delegations from several schools at his Rabiyeh residence, Aoun urged them "to rise above feudalism and sectarianism."
He called on the students to put their aspirations in a party that represents their hopes, urging them to unify their efforts "in order to create change."
As Aoun reminisced the motto "Freedom, Sovereignty, Independence", he noted that "after we had achieved these slogans, we have a bigger and harder challenge: free will. Because without free will we can't build the country and if we liberate ourselves, we will liberate the country from corruption.""If you want your country to remain free … you have to build the State. Our cause is not to achieve independence anymore, because we have achieved it, but we rather have to 'clean' this independence in the (Lebanese) interior."The first cause that induces youth to migrate is the failure of the State, but we will remain in our land if we believe that we have the cause of building the nation: the cause of roads, water, electricity, living conditions, freedom of expression and forming a free independent opinion instead of subordination." Beirut, 15 May 10, 21:22

Hariri Says Division of Power Prevents Christians, Muslims from Losing their Identities
Naharnet/Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Saturday that Christians and Muslims would stop being Lebanese if division of power between them was lost. "The Lebanese Muslim is no longer Lebanese without division of power between Christians and Muslims," Hariri said during a ceremony marking the 14th anniversary of the Antonine university. The same applies to Christians, he added. Hariri stressed the importance of preserving coexistence and dialogue, saying division of power means both religions have responsibilities towards each other regardless of numbers. He explained that the need to safeguard the value of coexistence goes beyond Lebanon, adding that "our success in preserving coexistence is in the interest of the Arab world and the world as a whole."About the list that won last Sunday's municipal elections in Beirut, Hariri said: "The list that we backed in Beirut had no competition. It was competing for our heritage and political program against all that contradicts with coexistence in Beirut.""This competition wasn't with one list or political party. It was between all sectarian slogans and things that could subject division of power to a deficiency," the premier said in his speech. Hariri also stressed on dialogue, saying national unity stems from it. Beirut, 15 May 10, 13:45

Qassem: We Have the Right to Own All Sorts of Arms to Carry Out Our Obligations
Naharnet/Hizbullah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said Saturday that accusations of Syrian transfer of Scud missiles to Hizbullah were part of U.S. attempts to give support to Israel.
"The objective behind bringing up the issue of the Scud missiles is not to promote war. It is an American incitement that comes as part of support loads sent by Americans to Israel," Qassem told al-Nour radio station. "It is our right as a resistance to own arms that we see appropriate to carry out our obligations … We won't surrender to explanations that they are obliging us to give," the Hizbullah deputy secretary-general said. He reiterated that the Shiite party was in full readiness to face any Israeli surprise attack. "Hizbullah is always ready to any Israeli surprise and any Israeli stupidity. The party is ready for war whether it was preplanned or it came as a surprise," Qassem told his interviewer. He added that Israeli authorities were ruling out war with the Shiite group to reassure the Israeli society

Baroud Stresses Need to Combat Drugs: No Area Off-limits to State's Reach
Naharnet/Interior Minister Ziad Baroud stressed Saturday that there will be "no area off-limits to State's reach, although it is hard to reach some geographical regions, but it's not impossible."
At a press conference on the arrest of one of the major drug dealers in the Bekaa border town of Britel, Baroud noted that "this detainee is wanted on hundreds of arrest warrants, and he was arrested after a long tracking by the security forces, and that resulted in the arrest of tens of drug dealers and abusers, even though the judicial police is working with limited capabilities."
"It is clear that the detainee had no political cover, given that the security forces managed to arrest him, and it is definite that the Judiciary will take strict measures against him," Baroud said, stressing that drug crimes are among the most dangerous. The interior minister noted that this arrest has many indications, "most importantly that the biggest criminal is not larger than the State, and he is smaller than the State's ability to perform its duties in protecting the citizens." "Another indication is that the State doesn't neglect (its duties)," Baroud said, highlighting the role of security forces in combating crime. On the other hand, Baroud said that drug abuse is against the law, "but despite that, it is an obligation to treat the drug abusers."
"All concerned ministries: Justice, Health and Social Affairs ministries have to coordinate their work and perform an integrated work in order to curb this social phenomenon and treat drug abusers," Baroud added, stressing the need to impose maximum penalties on drug dealers, "given the harm they cause to the society."
The interior minister stressed his confidence in the Lebanese Judiciary, noting that the civil society organizations which are active in this field are the partners of the State at the level of raising awareness. Baroud noted that civil society organizations have not limited their role to following up on the work of the State, but they have rather started to present solutions and treatments. He stressed that the State must have special places for the treatment of drug abusers. As to alternative crops, the minister said that combating drug dealing is going in parallel with combating hashish cultivation, noting that the social situation of the farmers must me considered through helping them in the issue of alternative crops that can secure them proper living conditions.
Baroud called on the Lebanese to remain vigilant regarding this issue "because drugs can enter every house and every university." Beirut, 15 May 10, 17:40

Jaja’s Wife Denies Hezbollah Connection
Saturday, May 15, 2010
By Richard Silverstein
http://www.eurasiareview.com/2010/05/jajas-wife-denies-hezbollah-connection.html
There is some question about whether Hassan Geagea’s name should be spelled ‘Jaja.’ Since it appears that there is a Hassan Jaja on Facebook (as well as Hassan ‘Geagea’) who lists as a Friend Rayan Zuayter, who is the actual wife of Geagea/Jaja, I’ve decided to change the spelling of his name to Jaja.
Thanks to some intrepid sources, who’ve done some great research for this post on the ties between Hassan Jaja and Omar Said, which the Shin Bet lamely claims dealt with recruiting the latter to spy for Hezbollah against Israel.
Jaja founded the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature, whose mission is to the repair environmental damage caused by Israel’s wars in Lebanon and Gaza. He also maintains a professional interest in farming and Arab traditional medicine and owns Sanabel, a Jordanian nursery and landscape design business. As part of his engagement with herbal medicine, he spoke at First Regional Scientific Conference on Traditional Arab and Islamic Medicine (Amman, Jordan August 8-10, 2007). Said Omar also presented a talk at the same meeting. This could be the contact the Shin Bet is lamely calling Said’s recruitment into the dastardly clutches of Hezbollah.
It just occurred to me that Israel’s spookerati would have us believe that Hassan Jaja is recruiting Hezbollah spies in Jordan under the noses of the Jordanian security services. Why, in heaven’s name would King Abdullah let that happen? Why would Jordan have any interest in allowing anything to happen on its soil that would assist Hezbollah? Is Hassan Nasrallah opening a new Jordanian beachhead in his campaign to obliterate the Jewish entity? The very notion is preposterous.
Another point of interest is that the meeting between Jamal Juma’a and Jaja which led to the former’s arrest by the S.B. took place shortly after this in October, 2007.
Hassan Jaja’s wife is Razan Zuayter. She is also the daughter of distinguished Palestinian historian Akram Zaitar. Zuayter published a letter in the Arab newspaper, Al Ghad, in which she categorically denies any connection between her husband and Hezbollah. She says that Makhoul and Said’s links with him are “professional links with the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature”.
So, one of the potential goals of this harrassment is to break any sense of solidarity between Palestinians living within Israel and those in the Diaspora.
Once again, this appears of a piece with Yuval Diskin’s long-term goal, publicly announced in 2007 of breaking the back of the Israeli Palestinian nationalist movement. I’d like my American readers to imagine a scenario in which the FBI investigated and criminalized American Jewish contacts with Israeli NGOs. We simply wouldn’t stand for it. Why should Israeli Palestinians? Of course, the difference between here and there is that our system has checks and balances and we have a Congress (or at least some members of that body) who would frown on such spook activism. In Israel, no Knesset member would criticize such persecution. Have you heard of any Jewish Knesset member who has expressed a shred of concern for the welfare of these two Israeli citizens?
A number of readers and observers of this case have remarked about their fear that the S.B. has another more damaging rabbit up its sleeve than Hassan Geagea (my apologies to Mr. Jaja for using such a metaphor but it is intended as a comment on the S.B.’s attitudes and not on him). Rechavia Berman has joked about Nasrallah’s cousin being their ace in the hole, which they’ll trot out with a huge puff of smoke. Personally, I haven’t been that impressed with the manner of S.B. investigations. They don’t seem to have that level of sophistication. Their M.O. seems to throw everything at the victim and hope something sticks. Then when it doesn’t they go after the next hapless victim.
Haaretz’s excised passage did note that the security agency did have a series of forbidden contacts with which it might charge Makhoul. I’d dearly like to know who those might be if there are indeed any others (there may not be).
Richard Silverstein is an author, journalist and blogger, with articles appearing in Haaretz, the Jewish Forward, Los Angeles Times, the Guardian’s Comment Is Free, Al Jazeera English, and Alternet. His work has also been in the Seattle Times, American Conservative Magazine, Beliefnet and Tikkun Magazine, where he is on the advisory board. Check out Silverstein's blog at Tikun Olam, one of the earliest liberal Jewish blogs, which he has maintained since February, 2003.

The U.S. Government Knows that Iran Helps al-Qaida But Does Nothing About It
By Barry Rubin*
May 15, 2010
http://www.gloria-center.org/gloria/2010/05/iran-helps-qaida
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Here's a story that should mark the pivotal moment in U.S. foreign policy. It should be on the lips of every White House and State Department official. It should fundamentally transform the nature of Obama Administration foreign policy.
It's that important. But it isn't that new. The basic information here was supplied almost two months ago and covered by me HERE. Yet in all that time, since General Petraeus publicly revealed this fact, there has not been one word or action that indicates the Obama Administration is responding. Indeed, a new article reveals that President Obama has known about this increased cooperation since shortly after he took office.
So what is this big development? Hard data showing that Iran has been helping al-Qaida. You remember al-Qaida, the group that staged the September 11 and many other attacks against Americans which have killed more than 3,000 of them. It is the only group in the world with which the current U.S. government sees itself at war.
Now in a detailed report, drawing on interviews with U.S. officials, Associated Press documents this relationship. Tehran is responding, in part, to U.S. pressure over the nuclear weapons' program. The message from Iran is: If you annoy us we can hurt you bad.
Al-Qaida fundraisers and the planners of terrorist attacks have been using Iran as a safe haven. Of course, Iranian officials monitor them closely and know precisely what they are doing. What do you think they are working on? Obviously, planning attacks to kill Americans.
According to AP:
"The roster of al-Qaida figures in Iran is something of a who's who for the terror group. One is Abu Hafs the Mauritanian, an Usama bin Ladin adviser who helped form the modern al-Qaida by merging bin Ladin's operation with Ayman al-Zawahiri's Islamic Jihad. Al-Qaida's longtime chief financial officer, Abu Saeed al-Masri, has been held there. So have bin Ladin's spokesman, Suleiman Abu Ghaith, and Mustafa Hamid, an al-Qaida trainer with a terrorism pedigree that spans decades."
Some of these people may nominally be under house arrest at times but they are allowed to function. Iran isn't exactly offering to turn them over to the United States for punishment. Incidentally, the AP story reveals so much about U.S. intelligence efforts to monitor them that it is hard to believe that this effort isn't compromised as a result.
Now a proper government would be building up this story, along with Iranian covert operations to kill Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan, to mobilize support among the American people and internationally for a tough policy toward Tehran. There would be recognition of the fact that Iran views itself as being at war with America. This doesn't require going to war with Iran but engaging it in this struggle on every level.
This is not, however, the path chosen by the Obama Administration which, at worst, still hopes to talk Iran into moderation and, at best, favors weak sanctions now and tough declarations later to tell Iran to behave properly.
But what happens when al-Qaida planners, with Iran's knowledge and help (at least, beneficial non-interference) stage major successful or failed terrorist operations against U.S. territory and citizens? Remember, such an outcome would be a completely forseeable policy failure, not an unavoidable surprise.
*Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), with Walter Laqueur (Viking-Penguin); the paperback edition of The Truth About Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan); A Chronological History of Terrorism, with Judy Colp Rubin, (Sharpe); and The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley). To read and subscribe to MERIA, GLORIA articles, or to order books, go to http://www.gloria-center.org. You can read and subscribe to his blog at http://www.rubinreports.blogspot.com.
 

Lebanese eye net warily for banking
Matt Nash, May 16, 2010
Now Lebanon/Internet banking is not taking off in Lebanon, as few banks offer this service and customers generally still prefer banking at a branch. (AFP Photo/Joseph Barrak)
As the internet increasingly becomes a hub for banking, Lebanese still prefer to deal with a human being at their local branch. This may be because most Lebanese banks have been slow to offer customers online services, and even those banks that have made offering web services a priority are finding they have few takers.
Only around seven to 10 percent of retail banking customers at BLOM Bank, one of Lebanon’s two biggest, use its internet banking service, BLOM’s Chief Information Officer Antoine Lawandos told NOW Lebanon.
“And most internet bank customers don’t actually live in Lebanon,” Lawandos said. “[Lebanon has] an older population. They don’t want it.”
Age appears to be a factor across the board. Ronald Zirka, head of the marketing division at Banque Libano-Française, told NOW Lebanon that no more than 15 percent of his bank’s clients use internet banking.
“For BLF, the average age of our customers is a little bit high,” Zirka said. “They are not used to the internet or conducting transactions through the phone. They prefer the one-to-one relationship, the branch visit. They prefer visiting the branch manager over a coffee to discuss everything regarding their accounts.”
Lebanon sits in stark contrast with the US and the UK, where, according to a 2009 survey by the research firm Gartner, 47 and 30 percent of customers, respectively, conduct their business online. A separate 2009 survey by the American Bankers Association found that 25 percent of bank customers prefer banking online to any other way of accessing and managing their accounts.
Both Zirka and Lawandos said that in Lebanon, younger customers consistently ask for internet banking services, and they expect usage stats to climb in the next few years.
BLOM and BLF are among the Lebanese banks most focused on developing the services they offer customers through the internet, according to a recent article in Executive, a regional business magazine. The article examined the somewhat glacial pace at which most Lebanese banks have moved in developing their online banking services.
In general the market is still immature in Lebanon. Only two of the country’s top eight banks currently allow customers to transfer funds to accounts outside of their banks, according to Executive and Zirka. Banks in most of the GCC, by comparison, let customers transfer funds around the world, apply for loans and pay bills online, according to John Tofarides, an analyst with Moody’s Investors Service.
Part of the slow movement toward offering internet banking in Lebanon is the very conservative culture among bank owners. In fact, the country’s Central Bank in recent years has been bombarded with praise for enforcing conservative rules that kept local banks afloat as a global financial crisis linked to high-risk practices sank financial institutions around the world.
BLOM’s Lawandos said that the Central Bank has been encouraging banks to expand their online offerings. The largest concern in the minds of bank owners interested in offering internet banking services is safety, Zirka, Lawandos and Anthony Ussher, head of the e-banking division at Credit Libanais, told NOW Lebanon, even though they all admitted their customers have never fallen victim to fraud or theft associated with internet banking. All three are in the process of developing and launching new systems to improve safety.
Ussher said Credit Libanais will soon implement a “virtual keyboard” – essentially an application that would have users touch their computer screens to enter their usernames and passwords in an attempt to circumvent the hacking programs that steal this important data by monitoring a computer’s physical keyboard.
BLOM and BLF have plans to send customers temporary passwords in addition to their regular passwords as an extra safety measure. This beefed-up security is designed to lure more customers to online banking, which Lawandos thinks will make local banks even more profitable.
“Using the internet is cheaper for the bank than operating a branch,” he said. And customers who do use internet banking use it four to five times more often than traditional customers visit branches, he added, upping the amount of interaction between the bank and the customer.
“Every interaction is a sales opportunity,” Lawandos said.

 

Luke16:19 “Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day. 16:20 A certain beggar, named Lazarus, was laid at his gate, full of sores, 16:21 and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table. Yes, even the dogs came and licked his sores. 16:22 It happened that the beggar died, and that he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried. 16:23 In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom. 16:24 He cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue! For I am in anguish in this flame.’ 16:25 “But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But now here he is comforted and you are in anguish. 16:26 Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’
16:27 “He said, ‘I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house; 16:28 for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, so they won’t also come into this place of torment.’ 16:29 “But Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’
16:30 “He said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’
16:31 “He said to him, ‘If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead.’”
17:1 He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no occasions of stumbling should come, but woe to him through whom they come! 17:2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, rather than that he should cause one of these little ones to stumble. 17:3 Be careful. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him. If he repents, forgive him. 17:4 If he sins against you seven times in the day, and seven times returns, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”