LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِDecember 29/2010

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Exodus 20:12: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you".

Free Opinions, Releases, letters, Interviews & Special Reports  
Column One: The wars of 2011/By CAROLINE B. GLICK/J.Post/December 28/10

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for December 28/10
Sfeir: We are Living in Hard Times/Naharnet
Bolton: Bellemare's Indictments to be Issued Soon, He Will Accuse Syrian and Hizbullah Officials
/Naharnet
Iranian Foreign Ministry: A Tribunal that Becomes a Political Tool Loses its Legitimacy/Naharnet
Assad to Riyadh: You Should Oppose the Indictment if you Want Lebanon to Remain Strong/Naharnet
Geagea calls Sleiman’s actions responsible/Now Lebanon

Zahra: Sleiman does not need permission to act in his jurisdictions/Now Lebanon

Suleiman Inspects 5th Brigade, Meets Asarta in Tour to the South/Naharnet
Assad welcomes murderer Kuntar/Ynetnews
Israeli Air Force commander commander: We are prepared to counter all threats/J.Post
Israel's Prime minister rejects Labor’s call to punish his FM/J.Post
Al Qaeda sends Palestinian terrorists from Lebanon to strikes in Europe/DEBKA file
Cable: Syria backed embassy attacks/Aljazeera.net
Sleiman: Political bickering harming citizens/Daily Star
Commander General Jean Kahwagi says Lebanese army ready to handle any emergency/Daily Star
Iran hangs “Mossad spy”: state media/Now Lebanon
Syrian vice president discusses relations with Khoury/Now Lebanon
Fatah official: Sahmarani’s death does not have any repercussions/Now Lebanon
Israeli Air Force chief says they are getting ready for any possible attacks/Now Lebanon
State Security Seizes Weapons in Western Bekaa Farm/Naharnet
Iranian Official: Hizbullah Alone will Decide Stance from Indictment
/Naharnet
3 Fishermen Missing Off Arida
/Naharnet
Report: Suleiman Avoiding Cabinet Voting to Prevent Saudi-Syrian Initiative Setback
/Naharnet
Report: Sahmarani Killed for Personal Reasons
/Naharnet
Hamas Reveals Efforts to 'Neutralize' Refugee Camps from Repercussions of Indictments
/Naharnet
WikiLeaks: Israeli Troops would Face Leb. Army in Any Conflict with Hizbullah
/Naharnet
Barak: Hamas, Hizbullah, Iran form Threat that Needs to Be Confronted
/Naharnet
Al-Lino: Investigations Have Uncovered Sahmarani's Murderer
/Naharnet

Sfeir: We are Living in Hard Times
Naharnet/Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir on Monday acknowledged that Lebanese citizens were living in hard times and prayed to God to ease the situation."Circumstances are tough, but we have high hopes that things would be better with the efforts by our countrymen," he told visitors. Beirut, 27 Dec 10, 18:16

Bolton: Bellemare's Indictments to be Issued Soon, He Will Accuse Syrian and Hizbullah Officials

Naharnet/Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton revealed that Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare will release the indictments in the investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri soon. He said in an article published in the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat Monday: "It is almost certain that prominent Syrian officials and Hizbullah members will be accused of the crime." The U.S. official did not rule out the possibility of the eruption of a war between Hizbullah and Israel in light of the indictments, adding that it is possible that Syria would participate in the war. Beirut, 27 Dec 10, 16:29

 Israeli Air Force commander commander: We are prepared to counter all threats
By YAAKOV KATZ/J.Post
12/28/2010 17:31
Nehushtan says 2011 is a "critical year" for stopping Iran's nuclear program; "We are always tracking what is happening around us so we can be ready"; comments follow weekly training flight in South. The Israeli Air Force is prepared to counter all of the threats and challenges that Israel currently faces including those from Iran, Israeli Air Force commander Maj.-Gen. Ido Nehushtan said on Tuesday amid predictions that 2011 is a “critical year” for stopping the Islamic Republic’s race to develop a nuclear weapon.
“The IAF has an important job to be prepared for anything it might be required to do,” Nehushtan told reporters during a briefing at the Ramon Air Force Base in the South. “We are always tracking what is happening around us so we can be ready.”
Nehushtan was at Ramon for his weekly training flight like all IAF pilots in active service and the reserves who are required to fly at least once a week. His flight on Tuesday was in a F-16I – called “Sufa” (Storm) in the IAF – which he flew in a dogfight training scenario against another aircraft.
The IAF’s greatest challenge, he said, was the military buildup on all of Israel’s different fronts – by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Hizbullah in Lebanon and in Syria and Iran.
“We prepare for the different scenarios on a daily basis by analyzing the different fronts and thinking what the IAF can do to counter each one,” he said.
Asked about the recent announcement that the United States was selling $60 billion worth of military systems including over 80 F-15 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia and its effect on Israel, Nehushtan said that the IDF’s job was to ensure that it retained a qualitative military edge in the region. In October, Israel signed a $2.75 billion deal to purchase 20 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, a fifth-generation stealth fighter jet.
“A guiding principle for the IAF has been to ensure that we have a qualitative edge,” he said. “To do this, we rely on our people who provide us with that edge as well as ensuring that we receive the most advanced planes and systems that exist.”
Nehushtan referred to Hamas and Hizbullah’s military buildup and the possibility that in a future, war missiles will land in IAF bases throughout the country.
“There have been developments in the amount of missiles and rockets that are in our enemies’ hands,” he said. “We assume that in the future, IAF bases will be a target. We are aware of this and are preparing accordingly.”
At the Hatzor IAF base, for example, airmen have carried out 25 drills since the beginning of the year, compared to just 12 last year. The drills vary and include scenarios that involve missile attacks on the base’s runway, living quarters and plane storage facilities.
During Operation Cast Lead last year, a number of rockets were fired in the direction of Hatzor, which is located near Gedera, as well as at Hatzerim, near Beersheba. During the Second Lebanon War in 2006, Hizbullah also tried to target the Ramat David base in the north.


Assad to Riyadh: You Should Oppose the Indictment if you Want Lebanon to Remain Strong

Naharnet/Syrian President Bashar Assad has reportedly informed Saudi Arabia that if it wanted Lebanon to remain strong, it should reject the indictment that will be issued by the international tribunal in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination case. "If you want Lebanon to remain strong, the indictment should be rejected and we should work together to stop its release," informed sources quoted Assad as telling Riyadh during the "strenuous negotiations." Assad reportedly said that the Saudi-Syrian initiative had reached semi-final results but the delay in the announcement came as a result of Saudi King Abdullah's illness and his travel to New York. The sources told As Safir newspaper that the Syrian president also said that confronting the "politicized indictment" would be an achievement as important as the collapse of the May 17 Agreement of 1983, which was a failed U.S.-backed attempt to create peace between Lebanon and Israel. Assad also reportedly had conditioned his visit to Beirut along with Saudi King Abdullah on an agreement to postpone the release of the indictment, the daily said. During his phone conversations with Abdullah to inquire about his health following his back surgery in New York, Assad was avoiding to discuss the settlement of the Lebanese crisis over fears of U.S. wiretapping, As Safir reported. Assad was addressing the king with codes whenever he wanted to propose a political solution, the newspaper added.
As Safir said that the two leaders held a long telephone conversation on Sunday. Premier Saad Hariri's visit to New York came after the phone call, it said. According to the newspaper, Abdullah will inform Hariri about the stage that dialogue with Damascus has reached. Well-informed sources also told As Safir that the Lebanese prime minister's trip to New York hints that improvement was made in the Saudi-Syrian initiative. Beirut, 28 Dec 10, 07:59

Suleiman Inspects 5th Brigade, Meets Asarta in Tour to the South

Naharnet/President Michel Suleiman on Tuesday inspected Lebanese army troops deployed in southern Lebanon and met with UNIFIL commander Maj. Gen. Alberto Asarta Cuevas there. Suleiman was accompanied by Army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji and top officers when he met with fifth brigade commander Brig. Gen. Bassam al-Daoud and several officers at their headquarters in the border area of Bayyada. He then headed to the coastal town of Naqoura where he held talks with Asarta and other peacekeeping officials. "Suleiman expressed the appreciation of the Lebanese people for the peacekeepers, particularly that there is consensus on supporting UNIFIL," said a press released issued by UNIFIL's Public Information Office.
Asarta welcomed the president to UNIFIL, saying that his visit was "a demonstration of Lebanon's support and commitment to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 and to our strategic partnership with the Lebanese Army," according to the press release. "The achievements reached so far are testament to the excellent relations and cooperation that exist between the Lebanese Armed Forces and UNIFIL," the press release quoted Asarta as saying. The UNIFIL commander briefed Suleiman on the work of the peacekeepers and stressed the importance of the ongoing coordinated operations between UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army. He stressed that "UNIFIL will continue working in pursuit of the common shared mandate for peace and security in southern Lebanon." Media reports had said that Suleiman was expected to reiterate Lebanon's commitment to U.N. Security Council resolution 1701 during his tour of the south.As Safir newspaper said that Suleiman would stress "commitment to resolution 1701 with all its details and the importance of preventing any side that is hurt from stability from seeking to thwart Lebanon's commitment to international resolutions linked to the conflict with Israel." Beirut, 28 Dec 10, 17:02


State Security Seizes Weapons in Western Bekaa Farm

Naharnet/State security seized machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades during a raid of a farm in the western Bekaa town of Hawsh al-Harimi on Tuesday. Also Tuesday, fishermen found old weapons off Mina in the northern port city of Tripoli. Navy divers are working to bring the arms back to shore. Beirut, 28 Dec 10, 14:45

Report: Suleiman Avoiding Cabinet Voting to Prevent Saudi-Syrian Initiative Setback

Naharnet/Sources close to President Michel Suleiman said politicians welcomed his latest stance that the constitution compels him to encourage consensus within the cabinet and resort to voting as a last option. The sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat in remarks published Tuesday that Suleiman made it clear through this stance that his role and his authority compel him to be keen on political unity. "Why would he be conditioned to put the issue of false witnesses up for voting if there was still no consensus on it?" the sources wondered. "He believes that there is still time to (achieve) consensus even if it takes more sessions." Suleiman is keen on avoiding to make steps that would target the Arab initiative that was launched during the Saudi-Syrian-Lebanese summit held at Baabda palace last July, the sources told al-Hayat. Any division as a result of voting inside the cabinet would lead to a setback for the Saudi-Syrian initiative, they said. Beirut, 28 Dec 10, 08:57

Geagea calls Sleiman’s actions responsible

December 28, 2010 /Now Lebanon
President Michel Sleiman is acting responsibly in his handling of the current Lebanese impasse, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said following his Tuesday meeting with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir in Bkirki. “We feel that the president is bearing proper responsibility for the first time in 20 years,” he told the press, in reference to Sleiman’s recent on comments on the “false witnesses” issue. On Saudi-Syrian talks to resolve the Lebanese political crisis, Geagea asked “with what logic do Lebanese parties throw their problems on foreign states and expect a solution from [nowhere]?”“What kind of logic is it to obstruct the national dialogue sessions [with the excuse of] waiting for the outcomes of Saudi-Syrian talks?”
“The logic of threatening [others against the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL)] is over…. I do not have any information about the date of the issuance of the STL’s [upcoming] indictment.”The LF leader called on the Lebanese to commit to state institutions.In an interview with As-Safir newspaper published on Monday, Sleiman rejected being instructed by anyone regarding the parties calling on him to put the issue of “false witnesses” up for a vote in the cabinet.The cabinet has met once since its November 10 session and has not tackled institutional work in depth as March 8 and March 14 ministers have been deadlocked over how to resolve the issue of the witnesses who gave unreliable testimonies to the international probe into the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.Tensions are high in Lebanon amid reports that the STL may soon indict Hezbollah members in its investigation of the Rafik Hariri murder, a move the party repeatedly warned against.-NOW Lebanon

Zahra: Sleiman does not need permission to act in his jurisdictions

Now Lebanon/December 28, 2010 /Lebanese Forces bloc MP Antoine Zahra said on Tuesday that President Michel Sleiman does not wait for permission from any domestic or foreign political party to exercise authority in his jurisdictions, according to a statement issued by the LF’s press office. A solution to any Lebanese problem must be an all-Lebanese solution, Zahra said, adding, however, that Lebanon is not isolated from the world. The LF and the March 14 coalition will not accept transforming Lebanon into an arena for struggles or allow it to be used as a tool for any regional schemes, the MP also said. In an interview with As-Safir newspaper published on Monday, Sleiman said “I do not accept being instructed or controlled by any party,” in response to figures calling on him to put the issue of “false witnesses” up for a vote in the cabinet. The cabinet has met once since its November 10 session and has not tackled institutional work in depth as March 8 and March 14 ministers have been deadlocked over how to resolve the issue of the witnesses who gave unreliable testimonies to the international probe into the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Tensions are high in Lebanon amid reports that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) may soon indict Hezbollah members in its investigation of the Rafik Hariri murder, a move the party repeatedly warned against. Saudi and Syrian officials have reportedly been communicating in efforts to reach a compromise that would resolve tensions.-NOW Lebanon

Syrian vice president discusses relations with Khoury

December 28, 2010 /Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported on Tuesday that Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa discussed bilateral relations and means to improve them with Secretary General of the Lebanese-Syrian Higher Council Nasri Khoury. Sharaa and Khoury also discussed the regional and international situation, the agency added.
-NOW Lebanon

Israeli Air Force chief says they are getting ready for any possible attacks

December 28, 2010 /Israeli Air Force (IAF) Commander Major General Ido Nehushtan said on Tuesday that the air force is getting ready to face Hezbollah and Hamas in case Israeli military bases are attacked, NOWLebanon’s correspondent Amal Shehadeh reported on Tuesday.-NOW Lebanon

Fatah official: Sahmarani’s death does not have any repercussions

December 28, 2010 /Head of the Fatah military wing in Ain al-Helweh refugee camp Colonel Mahmoud Abdel Hamid Issa, also known as “Lino”, said on Tuesday that the murder of Jund al-Sham leader Ghandi Sahmarani does not have any repercussions on the security of the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp and its surrounding. Issa also said that those accused of the explosion that took place on Sunday in the camp will be handed to the Lebanese security authorities, the National News Agency (NNA) reported. NOW Lebanon’s correspondent reported on Sunday that an explosive device detonated at 5 a.m. in the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp in Saida.Sahmarani was found shot dead execution-style on Saturday in Ain al-Hilweh.
-NOW Lebanon

Iran hangs “Mossad spy”: state media

December 28, 2010 /Now Lebanon/
Iran on Tuesday hanged a man found guilty of feeding Israeli spy agency Mossad with Iranian military secrets and information on its missile program over a period of six years, news agency IRNA reported. Ali Akbar Siadat was hanged in Tehran's Evin prison after being condemned to death for "working for Mossad," IRNA quoted the Tehran prosecutor's office as saying.
Siadat was found guilty of having had links with Mossad for six years. "He had received 60,000 dollars to give classified information to the Zionist regime," the state news agency said.
IRNA said Siadat had been sentenced to death on charges of "strengthening the Zionist regime, opposing the Islamic republic and [spreading] corruption on earth."
Siadat had acknowledged having established contacts with one Israeli embassy overseas and that he had been giving information "about missiles belonging to the Revolutionary Guards."
He was also transferring information "to the enemy of military bases, fighter jets, the number of training flights, airplane accidents and air systems of the Revolutionary Guards," the report said. The Revolutionary Guards, Iran's powerful ideological army, controls the country's sensitive missile program, including the Shahab-3 missile which Tehran says can reach Israel and US bases in the Gulf. Three years ago Siadat had received a computer and other equipment for his work. He used to meet his contacts from the Israeli intelligence service in hotels in Turkey, Thailand and the Netherlands, IRNA said. It added that he was found with 29 pages of classified information when arrested two years ago with his wife while trying to leave Iran.
Iranian media on Sunday announced that another Iranian had also been sentenced to death for working as a spy for Israel.
In November 2008, Iran executed an Iranian telecom salesman convicted of spying for the Jewish state. In the same month Iran said it had busted a ring of Iranians who spied for Israel after being trained in Tel Aviv. It was unclear whether Siadat was among those arrested in November 2008. Iran routinely accuses arch-foe Israel of carrying out hostile activities against the Islamic republic, including espionage against its armed forces and its nuclear programs.-AFP/NOW Lebnaon

Report: Sahmarani Killed for Personal Reasons

Naharnet/Initial investigation into the murder of Jund al-Sham leader Ghandy Sahmarani at Ain el-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp revealed that the militant was killed over a personal dispute, well-informed Lebanese security sources said. They told As Safir daily in remarks published Tuesday that other militant groups in the camp could have killed Sahmarani for personal reasons because there was no tension after the discovery of his body in a garage inside the camp. Lebanese security forces have previously questioned the militant and discovered that he had no major information about several terrorist activities, the newspaper said. The security situation in Ain el-Hilweh remained calm following the murder and the Lebanese army took standard measures at the camp's entrances, As Safir added. Beirut, 28 Dec 10, 09:39

3 Fishermen Missing Off Arida

Naharnet/The Lebanese navy is scouring the sea off the northern coastal town of Arida after three fishermen went missing along with their boat, the National News Agency reported Tuesday. NNA identified the fishermen as Haitham al-Salloum and his son Mohammed from Arida and Massoud Iskandar from Hekr al-Dhaheri border village. The agency said the navy until now found no sign of them or their boat. Beirut, 28 Dec 10, 10:13

Iranian Official: Hizbullah Alone will Decide Stance from Indictment

Naharnet/Iranian Deputy Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Ali Bagheri has said that Hizbullah alone decides how it will confront the indictment that will be released by the international tribunal. "Lebanon's enemies are targeting the stability of Lebanon. As for Hizbullah, it alone will decide what decision and stance to take," Bagheri told a news conference at the Iranian embassy in Damascus following talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad. "The party said its word to the court and its decision," he said.
He said "stability in Lebanon depends on consolidating national unity and the Resistance.""Any attempt or act to harm this national unity or the Resistance is an advantage to the enemies," he added. Beirut, 28 Dec 10, 07:59

Assad welcomes murderer Kuntar
Roee Nahmias Published: 12.27.10, 17:14 / Israel News /Naharnet
Syrian President Bashar Assad warmly welcomed Monday an unusual guest at his palace – Samir Kuntar, who murdered an Israeli family and was released from prison in 2008 in the framework of the swap for the bodies of IDF soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. Media outlets in Damascus reported that Assad and Kuntar discussed the latest political developments in Lebanon ahead of the publication of the Hariri probe conclusions, as well as "the role of the resistance in defending Lebanon against the dangers threatening its security and stability." The two stressed the importance of "the resistance mode of thinking as a basis for regaining Arab rights." During the meeting, Kuntar gave the Syrian president a copy of his book, "my story," which details his life in the 30 years he spent in Israeli prisons. The visit marked Kuntar's second trip to Damascus since being released by Israel. In the first meeting with Assad, held a few months after Kuntar's release, the Syrian president honored the Lebanese killer with a prestigious Syrian distinction and praised him, saying "Kuntar was not only the most senior prisoner during his time in jail, but also the most senior free and honorable man."

Israel's Prime minister rejects Labor’s call to punish his FM

By GIL HOFFMAN /12/28/2010 00:48
J.Post
Despite being upset over Lieberman’s public statements on PA and Turkey, Netanyahu says ‘we won’t cause coalition chaos.’ Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu does not intend to take any disciplinary action against Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman for expressing independent views about the Palestinians and Turks in speeches at the Foreign Ministry and the UN, sources close to Netanyahu said on Monday. Netanyahu’s associates revealed that he was upset by Lieberman’s speech to Israeli diplomats at the Foreign Ministry on Sunday, in which he dismissed any chance of achieving a peace accord with the current Palestinian leadership and mocked recent anti- Israel statements by the prime minister and foreign minister of Turkey.
They said the remarks rekindled anger sparked by a controversial speech Lieberman delivered at the UN General Assembly in September.
But they said the prime minister would not accept the request of Labor cabinet members and the advice of critics of his administration to warn Lieberman that he and his Israel Beiteinu Party could face consequences for continuing to cross red lines. “We know there are many people who want there to be chaos in the coalition, but we don’t intend to supply it,” a Netanyahu associate said. “The prime minister is not happy about Lieberman’s statements, which are not helpful, and he would be happy if Lieberman spoke differently, but there are coalition realities.”
Sources close to Netanyahu denied that a factor in the prime minister’s restraint toward Lieberman was Attorney- General Yehuda Weinstein’s pending decision on whether to indict the foreign minister for corruption.
“It’s not because he thinks the investigation will get rid of him,” a Netanyahu associate said. “No one is building on that. Lieberman says things we don’t like, just like [Defense Minister] Ehud Barak and [Interior Minister] Eli Yishai do. This couldn’t happen in the American political system, but here in our coalition system, it can.” When Channel 10 asked Netanyahu about Lieberman in an interview on Monday night, he said, “Everyone knows that what matters are the views of the prime minister.”The Labor faction issued a statement condemning Lieberman’s statements, which it said were incorrect, did not represent the view of the government and its coalition guidelines, and did great damage to Israel when they came from its foreign minister.
Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer went further, calling Lieberman’s statements “crazy” and saying that Netanyahu must “deal with the Lieberman problem.”
“Lieberman is consistent,” Ben-Eliezer said. “The problem is with Bibi, who appointed him foreign minister. The foreign minister is supposed to speak for the country. He doesn’t speak for me. If I were prime minister, I would tell Lieberman, ‘Enough is enough. It’s not a circus.’”
Opposition leader Tzipi Livni told Army Radio that Netanyahu was not correct in saying that the foreign minister did not represent the government’s position. Rather, she said, Netanyahu was responsible for Lieberman, and his refusal to take action against him indicated that Israel required a more courageous leader.
Lieberman responded to his critics at a meeting of the Israel Beiteinu faction, saying that his speech had been at a Foreign Ministry forum in which several politicians were summoned to explain their personal belief system.
He defended his criticism of the Palestinian and Turkish leadership and vowed that Israel would not absorb blows from either one.
“One can say that you don’t have to respond to everything loudly, but by the same token, you shouldn’t ignore everything and allow yourself to become a punching bag,” Lieberman said. “We hear the other side can get away with everything and that we can’t do anything and that we have to be quiet. At this rate, we should invite the British Mandate back.”
Lieberman said that everything he said in his speech on Sunday was part of the coalition agreement Israel Beiteinu had signed with Likud.
“We are not looking for reasons to create a crisis, but we will not give up on the interests and constituency we represent, or our beliefs,” he said. “I stand behind every piece of paper I have ever signed. I hope no one is looking for reasons for complications and problems.”
**Rebecca Anna Stoil contributed to this report.

Commander General Jean Kahwagi says Lebanese army ready to handle any emergency
Commander assures Sleiman that army is coordinating closely with UN peacekeepers

By The Daily Star /Tuesday, December 28, 2010
BEIRUT: Commander General Jean Kahwagi said Monday that the Lebanese Army was fully ready to confront any emergency situation and thwart attempts to undermine the unity of Lebanon. Kahwagi made his remarks while visiting President Michel Sleiman at the Baabda Palace, heading an army delegation to extend greetings for Christmas. “We assure you that our institution is in good condition and worthy of the confidence provided by the Lebanese people,” Kahwagi said, addressing Sleiman. Kahwagi said Lebanese Army soldiers “are as usual dedicated to performing their assigned duties, whether in confronting the Israeli enemy and uncovering its agents and spying acts, or in continuing to root out terrorist cells and nipping them in the bud.” The year 2010 has seen a nationwide crackdown on suspected collaborators with Israel. More than 150 individuals were rounded up in the campaign.
Kahwagi stressed that the army would confront any side that would try to instigate strife.
Lebanon is seeing mounting tension over the disputed Special Tribunal for Lebanon, amid fears that civil strife might break out if an impending indictment by the Netherlands-based court points the finger at members from Hizbullah, as is widely expected. The army has issued several statements assuring that it would confront any attempt to destabilize Lebanon and easing concerns over its unity. Kahwagi said that the coordination was ongoing between the Lebanese Army and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
“I assure you that coordination is ongoing in the best possible manner between the army and UNIFIL and that the relation between this force and southerners is getting more and more deep-rooted day after day,” said Kahwagi. Following UN Security Council Resolution 1701 that ended Israel’s summer 2006 war on Lebanon, the army deployed along Lebanese-Israeli borders for the first time in decades. Resolution 1701 stipulates, among other things, that no armed presence should exist in the area south of the Litani River except that of the Lebanese Army and the beefed-up UNIFIL force. Kahwagi pledged to boost the capabilities of the army. “I stress that we make all efforts possible to develop and enhance the capabilities of the institution, benefiting and capitalizing on the achievements that were made when you were an army commander, and on our own capabilities and assistance provided by friendly states,” said Kahwagi. He said he was confident that Sleiman was not sparing any effort to provide additional arms and equipment, “despite our knowledge of the difficult economic conditions the country is witnessing.” The Lebanese Army is badly in need of advanced arms and equipment. After holding talks with Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow in November, Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced that Russia would provide Lebanon with six MI 24 helicopters, 31 T-72 tanks, 36 cannons of 130 mm caliber, around half a million different munitions for medium-sized weapons and 30,000 artillery shells for free. Also Monday, Sleiman received delegations from other security and military commands who extended their congratulations. – The Daily Star

Sleiman: Political bickering harming citizens
President expresses hope that work of state institutions can resume in 2011

By Hussein Dakroub /Daily Star staff
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman warned rival factions Monday that their political bickering was harming the citizens’ interests, in an implicit call on the March 8 and March 14 camps to end differences between them that have paralyzed state institutions.
“The institutions must be allowed to do their jobs in such a way that the citizens’ interests will not be affected by any political polarization,” he said.
The president spoke during a meeting with delegations from the Army Command and the Internal Security Forces who came to deliver good wishes for Christmas and New Year’s Day.
Sleiman expressed hope 2011 would be the year of beginning work at state institutions and overcoming the political crisis, despite tensions over impending indictments in former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s 2005 assassination.
He called on the army and security forces “to double their efforts to safeguard political, security and economic security,” according to a statement released by the president’s office.
Despite the threat of instability hanging over Lebanon as a result of the indictment to be issued by the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), widely expected to implicate Hizbullah members in Hariri’s killing, Sleiman reiterated that the political crisis would be solved.
His remarks came as Saudi Arabia and Syria stepped up efforts to defuse political tensions over the indictment.
The two countries, major power brokers in Lebanon, are trying to promote a solution for the crisis acceptable to the March 8 and March 14 factions.
Political tension between the factions over the indictment have raised fears of sectarian strife and led to paralysis in Cabinet. A dispute over the issue of “false witnesses” in the UN probe into Hariri’s killing has crippled government work for over a month.
At its last meeting on December 15, the Cabinet failed to settle the issue, prompting Sleiman to defer discussions after the March 8 ministers demanded a vote to refer the issue to the Judicial Council, the country’s highest court. Both Sleiman and Prime Minister Saad Hariri oppose a vote so as to avoid a further Cabinet split.
Meanwhile, the STL appears to have collected “irrefutable evidence” after nearly six years of investigation, sources told The Daily Star.
The sources said no one except prosecutor Daniel Bellemare knows the date the indictment will be issued. “The only thing that can be confirmed is that the prosecutor general has concluded the investigation phase,” one source said.
Bellemare, according to the sources, has become familiar with all matters and information relating to Hariri’s assassination and several other assassinations that followed the February 14, 2005, bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others.
“Bellemare is now more satisfied than before with the decisive findings he has reached. These findings will help him present accusations based on strong, solid and irrefutable evidence that will be difficult, if not impossible, to challenge or overturn during the trial,” the source said.
John Bolton, the former US ambassador to the UN, said in an article in Al-Hayat newspaper that Bellemare would soon begin releasing indictments. “It is almost certain that [the indictments] will name senior Syrian officials and other Hizbullah officials,” Bolton said. He warned the indictments might lead to the renewal of the 2006 war between Israel and Hizbullah and said Syria may participate in it this time.
Bolton criticized US President Barack Obama, saying his policies had encouraged Iran to fully rearm Hizbullah and to continue arming and funding the Palestinian Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip.
Minister of Youth and Sports Ali Abdullah, of the March 8 camp, said he expected a solution to be reached by Saudi and Syrian mediators next month. “As long as there is a [Saudi-Syrian] initiative that has won the approval [of rival factions], matters will take their normal course in January,” he told the Voice of Lebanon radio station.
Environment Minister Mohammed Rahhal, from the March 14 camp, expected the Cabinet to meet shortly after the Christmas and New Year holidays. “It is shameful for the Cabinet not to meet to discuss the citizens’ affairs,” he told Voice of Lebanon.
Hizbullah MP Ali Fayyad said Hizbullah was ready to cooperate with other factions to reach a solution for the current crisis. “What Lebanon needs most these days is a positive and calm discourse, extended hands and national understanding that will converge with the Syrian-Saudi good offices,” Fayyad said in an Ashura event speech in the southern village of Mheibib.
MP Ammar Houri, a member of Hariri’s parliamentary Future bloc, said the Saudi-Syrian efforts sough to set up “a safety net to make sure that this issue will not spill over to other areas from which no one will benefit,” Houri told Asharq radio station.
Meanwhile, Sleiman will visit the south Tuesday to inspect Lebanese troops and the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL, the Central News Agency reported. It said Sleiman will be accompanied by Army Commander General Jean Kahwagi.

Al Qaeda sends Palestinian terrorists from Lebanon to strikes in Europe
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report December 27, 2010,
The 12 Al Qaeda terrorists, whose movements have put European security authorities on high New Year alert, set out from Ain Hilweh, Lebanon, and belong to three al Qaeda-linked Palestinian groups, the Syrian Jund al-Sham, the Lebanese Army of Islam (which also operates in the Gaza Strip) and Fatah al-Islam, debkafile's counter-terror sources disclose. All its members are richly experienced in urban terror in various Middle East arenas.
Al Qaeda has taken of late to using Iraq, Lebanon and Somalia as starting points for its terrorist plots to baffle the Western agencies keeping an eye on terrorist bases in Pakistan, North Africa and Yemen.
The last bombing attempt in Europe, which took place in Stockholm on December 11, was the work of an Iraqi Arab dispatched and later claimed by Iraqi Al Qaeda. Two other groups came from Somalia: the nine men charged at Westminster Court, London, Monday, Dec. 26, with conspiracy to carry out bombing attacks on the US embassy, the London Stock Exchange and political and religious figures (12 were rounded up at four locations on Dec. 20 and three released.) and the twelve men picked up in Rotterdam for plotting Christmas attacks in Holland.
It is now the turn of Lebanon. There, an elaborate smoke and mirrors exercise was staged to conceal the next Al Qaeda assault, as disclosed here by debkafile.
On Dec. 25, Christmas day, Ghandi Sahmarani, the leader of the Syrian Palestinian Jund Al Sham's Lebanese branch, was reported found dead in a back alley of the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain Hilweh in South Lebanon with the bullet wound in the back of his neck and his hands tied with barbed wire.
The dead man had never lived in this camp which is the fiefdom of the Fatah strongman, Mounir Al-Maqda. It was therefore assumed he had been dragged to Ain Hilweh by abductors and then put to death. Later that day, journalists were invited to the Sidon hospital morgue to view his body.
However, according to debkafile's intelligence and counter-terror sources, Sahmarani is still alive. The body exhibited was that of a man who resembled him. The real Sahmarani eluded his watchers last week on the very day that 12 Palestinian terrorists went missing from Ain Hilweh. It is now believed that he was put in command of the terrorist operations scheduled to take place in Europe and the Middle East on or around the New Year and that he and the group's members are already on their way to their targets.
European sources have traced the group travelling from Lebanon to Syria and thence to Turkey, where they have split up into small sub-groups of two to three men each. Part is heading for the Balkans to infiltrate Western Europe; part is still in Turkey and may stay there or make for another Middle East destination for a multi-casualty attack.
The three Palestinian groups involved often overlap operationally and are expert at laying false trails to conceal the movements of their leaders and operatives.
In 2007, during the four-month battle Fatah Al Islam and the Army of Islam waged against the Lebanese army for control of Nahr- Al-Bared, the big Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli in northern Lebanon, stories were put out about the death of their leader Shaker al-Abssi. Then, too, reporters were shown his remains. However Abssi has proved to have more than one life; although he was reported dead more than once, he is still alive and fully active from a base in Iraq.
After of the charade at the Sidon morgue on Saturday, the Ain Hilweh chief Mounir Al Maqda confirmed that a "group of fighters" belonging to Jund a-Sham, the Army of Islam and Fatah al Islam, were no longer in the camp. Certain Middle East intelligence watchers, aware of Al-Maqda's close ties with the three Palestinian organizations and al Qaeda cells in Lebanon, don't exactly believe him. They suspect he was part of the conspiracy to conceal Sahmarani's departure on a mission of terror by faking his death.

The pros and cons of recognizing Palestine
Hussein Ibish, December 28, 2010
Now Lebanon/The diplomatic effort to secure bilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, especially in Latin America, or upgrades to the diplomatic status of Palestinian missions in the West is a net positive, as long as it does not undercut Palestinian relations with the United States.
Last week, Ecuador recognized Palestine in its 1967 borders, and Paraguay has said it will soon join what looks to become a virtually unanimous South American recognition of Palestine. Reports suggest that the United Kingdom is preparing to upgrade the mission of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the international representative of the Palestinian people, joining France, the United States, Portugal and Norway, which have all already done so.
The Latin American recognitions obviously embrace Palestine as, at least in theory, a fully-sovereign state with fully normalized diplomatic relations, and imply that it should be a member state of the United Nations. The Western upgrades to PLO missions have raised the status of Palestinian officials to ambassadorial or near-ambassadorial rank, thereby treating the representatives of Palestine as if they were officers of an established fully-sovereign state.
All of this seems to have taken Israel by surprise. If that’s the case, it only underscores the extent to which many Israelis are living in a state of denial about the viability of the occupation and the plausibility of preventing Palestinian statehood.
It is true enough that Israel has the military means to continue to deny Palestinians independence, and to colonize East Jerusalem and the West Bank, through force of arms. But what some Israelis appear to have failed to comprehend is the international stake in ending the occupation.
The world has not turned against Israel. There is still an overwhelming international consensus that it is a legitimate member state of the United Nations. Even in the Arab world the appetite for a long-term project aimed at the dissolution of the Israeli state has been relegated to the political fringes. While many Israelis mistakenly conflate outside reaction to the occupation with that toward their state, misrecognizing opposition to the occupation as “delegitimization” of Israel, the rest of the world sees the distinction more clearly than ever.
This point of view is most importantly being embraced in Washington, certainly by the administration of US President Barack Obama and also by many important members of Congress. There is a virtual consensus in the foreign policy establishment surrounding the government that resolving this conflict by ending the occupation is essential, not optional, for the United States. Many Israelis do not seem to have understood or truly processed the extent to which the United States now sees Palestinian statehood as essential to its own national interests and therefore “inevitable.”
Israeli Industry, Trade, and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer recently tried to warn his fellow Israelis that, “I wouldn’t be surprised if the US will also recognize a Palestinian state in the coming year, and then we will have to provide explanations as to how it happened.” This is probably an exaggeration as the United States will almost certainly continue to push for an agreement, but it recognizes the deep-seated American determination for the creation of Palestine.
But it is also essential that Palestinians realize this as well. Pursuing recognition in Latin America and mission upgrades in Europe is normal and positive diplomatic activity. Insofar as it causes Israel discomfort, that is largely beside the point. However, Palestinians need to be very careful to protect their relationship with the United States and the emerging American consensus in favor of ending the occupation and establishing a state of Palestine.
For a start, the United States has been the single biggest donor to the Palestinian Authority and increasingly used cash treasury-to-treasury transfers meaning that the authority has been able to use much of this aid at its own discretion. More importantly, Washington is the only country that under the current circumstances could conceivably broker an agreement with Israel whereby the Palestinian state is actually established. Palestinians will not be able to force their independence on Israel; they will have to somehow get the Israelis to agree to it. And for that, American support, cooperation and leadership is indispensable.
Thus far the Obama administration doesn’t seem to be particularly bothered by the Latin American recognitions, and earlier this year engaged in its own diplomatic upgrade of the Palestinian mission in Washington. But it did not like being put in the position of blocking PLO efforts to upgrade its status at United Nations agencies. Apparently the United States understands the need for Palestinians to pursue increased international recognition at the bilateral level, but isn’t ready to allow the issue to become multilateral, for fear that this might compromise, or supersede, the negotiations that Washington is overseeing.
The bottom line is that Palestinians need to be extremely careful here. Recognition from Paraguay and ambassadorial status in the UK is highly desirable, but the American consensus in favor of ending the occupation and establishing a Palestinian state is the only real, powerful and actionable political leverage the Palestinians have that can actually achieve the goal of independence.
**Hussein Ibish is a senior fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine and blogs at www.ibishblog.com.