LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِJuly
15/2010
Bible Of
the Day
2 Corinthians 3:18
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being
transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this
comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Today's Inspiring Thought: Transformed into His Image
If we truly desire to be a reflection of God's glory, we must take off the veil
and look at ourselves in the mirror with all honesty. When we see ourselves as
we truly are, and likewise behold the glory of God, the Holy Spirit can do his
work of transforming us. Oswald Chambers said, "Let other things come and go as
they may, let other people criticize as they will, but never allow anything to
obscure the life that is hid with Christ in God. Never be hurried out of the
relationship of abiding in Him. It is the one thing that is apt to fluctuate but
it ought not to. The severest discipline of a Christian’s life is to learn how
to keep 'beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord.'
Free Opinions, Releases,
letters, Interviews & Special Reports
What Muslim Scientific
Achievements?/By: Andrea Billups/July
14/10
Obama Cleanses the Terrorism
Glossary/By: Rowan Scarborough/July 14/10
Lebanon/Airport
security, or lack thereof/By: Aline Sara/July
14/10
The Islamic Revolution is still
alive/By: Tony Badran/July
14/10
Latest News
Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for July 14/10
Israel Tests Anti-Rocket System
Designed to Repel Rockets of Hizbullah, Hamas/Naharnet
U.S. Sources Rule out
Hizbullah-Israel War/Naharnet
STL Postpones to September Decision
on Sayyed's Request for Access to 'False Witnesses' Records/Naharnet
Syria on Ban's Report on UN
resolution 1701: Bias Threatens Achievements Made in Lebanon/Naharnet
March 14: Airport Incident Calls
for Single Legitimate Security Authority/Naharnet
Lebanese
Cabinet to Debate Cameras, Electric
Wire Fence as Yasser Mahmoud Becomes Acting Airport Security Chief/Naharnet
Berri: Security Agreement with
France Won't Be Adopted Without Lebanon's Definition of Terror/Naharnet
Hezbollah obstructs Lebanese-French
security deal/Ya
Libnan
U.S. Supports Renovation of
Judicial Training Institute/Naharnet
Qassem: We Are Not Accused, We Are
Dealing with the Tribunal with Accuracy /Naharnet
Palestinian Rights in Tatters as
Lebanese Parliament Scheduled to Debate Issue Thursday/Naharnet
Should journalists 'fess up?/Washington
Post
Lebanese general seeks court record
in Hariri case/The
Associated Press
Iranian-backed Shia terror group remains a threat in Iraq: General Odierno/Long
War Journal
Israel assesses Hezbollah's rhetoric/UPI.com
Israelis sue Al-Jazeera over
Lebanon war reporting/The
Associated Pres
Lebanon to boost airport security
after body found inside plane's wheel bay/The Canadian Press
Syrian opposition activist says ordered to leave Lebanon/AFP
Aoun defends airport security chief/Ya
Libnan
New UN report cites lack of progress by Israel and Lebanon on key
obligations/UN News Centre
Lebanon court hands death sentence
to spy for Israel/Malaysia
Star
Mystery hangs over reported clash in
Lebanon/Hurriyet
Daily News
Southern Lebanon unstable as
villagers turn on UN troops/Ha'aretz
Aoun, Nasrallah Stress Continued
Coordination to Serve National Interest /Naharnet
Lebanon's FM,
Al-Shami to Visiting British
Minister: We Hold Onto Implementation of 1701/Naharnet
Jumblat Hails Shuqeir's
'Unprecedented Move,' Says 2008 Events Were a 'Misunderstanding /Naharnet
Israel/Father of suspected Druze
spy arrested/Israeli news
New UN report cites lack of progress by Israel and Lebanon on key obligations
UNIFIL troops at work observing Section 83 near the Blue Line on the border
between Lebanon and Israel
13 July 2010 – While Israel and Lebanon have enjoyed the longest period of
stability in their recent history, not enough progress has been made on key
obligations under the Security Council resolution that ended the hostilities of
2006, according to a new United Nations report released today.
In addition to bringing to a close the conflict that took place between Israel
and the Lebanese group Hizbollah four years ago, resolution 1701 also calls for
respect for the so-called Blue Line separating the Israeli and Lebanese sides,
the disarming of all militias operating in Lebanon and an end to arms smuggling
in the area.
“Although the parties remained committed to the full implementation of
resolution 1701 (2006), a number of violations occurred and no progress was
recorded with regard to key obligations under the resolution,” Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon writes in his latest report on the issue.
He voices concern about ongoing air violations committed by the Israel Defense
Forces (IDF) through almost daily overflights of Lebanese territory, as well as
ground violations of the Blue Line that have occurred in recent months.
“The inherent risk of escalating the security situation that these incidents
carry cannot be overstated,” he warns.
In addition, he stresses that Israel must withdraw its forces from the northern
part of the village of Ghajar and an adjacent area north of the Blue Line, in
accordance with the resolution, and urges the Israeli Government to expedite the
withdrawal of the IDF from the area without further delay.
He adds that amid allegations of continued arms transfers to Hizbollah, in
violation of the resolution, “a perceptible increase in tension between the
parties was recorded during the reporting period,” which covers developments
since his February report.
“That raised the spectre of a miscalculation by either party leading to a
resumption of hostilities, with potentially devastating consequences for Lebanon
and the region,” he says.
This tension, he writes, once again illustrates the importance of control by
Lebanon over its borders and of respect by all Member States for the prohibition
against the transfer of arms and related materiel to entities or individuals in
Lebanon without the consent of the Lebanese State, which are key elements of
resolution 1701.
The report notes that the UN regularly receives reports and specific allegations
that Hizbollah maintains “a vast arsenal and a significant military capacity,”
but it does not have the means to verify this information independently.
The presence of armed groups in Lebanon operating beyond the control of the
State is also a concern, Mr. Ban says, as they challenge the ability of the
State to exercise its full sovereignty and control over its territory.
“I continue to believe that the disarmament of armed groups should be carried
out through a Lebanese-led political process that would result in bringing all
arms under the control of the State.”
The Secretary-General stresses that it is the responsibility of the parties to
focus on all outstanding issues so that they can reach a permanent ceasefire and
a long-term solution, as envisaged in resolution 1701.
“At the moment, they are not doing enough in this regard,” he writes.
Noting that the partnership between the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and
the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) is critical to the implementation of the
resolution, Mr. Ban calls for increased support for the LAF.He also calls for ensuring the full freedom of movement for UNIFIL within its
area of operations, while voicing concern about recent incidents impeding the
work of the Force.
Lebanon: Security Council calls for freedom of movement of UN peacekeepers
U.S.
Sources Rule out Hizbullah-Israel War
Naharnet/U.S. sources ruled out a war between Hizbullah and Israel, saying any
future conflict would be expensive and shake the economic and social
infrastructure of the Shiite group.
The sources told Kuwait's al-Rai newspaper that there were two reasons behind
the latest skirmishes between southerners and U.N. peacekeepers.The first was
Hizbullah's attempt to stir a media crisis to remind people of its presence in
the south amid dwindling chances of war. The second reason was attempting to
remind the international community to turn away from the operations of the
Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Beirut, 14 Jul 10,
Israel Tests Anti-Rocket System Designed to Repel Rockets of Hizbullah, Hamas
Naharnet/Israel has carried out "successful" tests on its "Iron Dome"
anti-missile system, designed to provide a response to the rockets fired at
Israel by Hizbullah and Hamas, Radio Israel said Wednesday. "A series of tests
on the anti-missile system for short-range missiles have been successfully
carried out," the radio said. The system can intercept short-range rockets and
artillery shells. Israel hopes it will provide it with a means to dealing with
rocket fire from Lebanon and from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Palestinian
militants have fired thousands of home-made rockets into southern Israel,
prompting Israel's devastating assault on the Gaza Strip on December 27, 2008.
Hizbullah also fired some 4,000 rockets into northern Israel during the 2006
war. Beirut, 14 Jul 10,
March 14: Airport Incident Calls for Single Legitimate Security Authority
Naharnet/The general-secretariat of the March 14 forces said the security breach
at Beirut airport requires military and judicial follow-up by the Lebanese
government to control the situation. "The credibility of the state would be hit
if things remain the way they are," the general-secretariat said in a statement
following its weekly meeting.
The state would be seen "as incapable in carrying out its responsibilities," it
added about the discovery of the body of a man on the rear tire of a Saudi plane
that had taken off from Beirut airport. "The breach at Rafik Hariri
International Airport proves once again that security cannot be split and that
it can't be kept at a certain spot in isolation of its surroundings," the
statement said. "There should be a single security authority that has (state)
legitimacy," it added. On the occasion of the 4th anniversary of the Israel-Hizbullah
war, the conferees hoped there would be permanent peace in the south and the
state would expand its authority over all Lebanese territories. They said it was
necessary to go ahead with diplomatic efforts aimed at pressuring Israel to stop
its violations of Security Council resolution 1701 and withdraw from the
Lebanese side of the border village of Ghajar. The statement believed that
attacks on U.N. peacekeepers in the south "would weaken Lebanon's diplomatic and
military cards in the face of continuous Israeli threats."Attacks would also put
Lebanon in an "unjustified" confrontation with the international community and
friendly countries that have contingents in UNFIIL, the general-secretariat
said. Beirut, 14 Jul 10,
Cabinet to Debate Cameras, Electric Wire Fence as Yasser Mahmoud Becomes Acting
Airport Security Chief
Naharnet/The cabinet will on Wednesday discuss a proposal to expand cameras at
Rafik Hariri International Airport and erect an electric wire fence around the
facility to prevent infiltrations into the airport runway, An Nahar daily said.
The newspaper said the cabinet will discuss the issue from outside the agenda
during a session at the Grand Serail.The proposal was made by Interior Minister
Ziad Baroud on Tuesday during a meeting headed by Premier Saad Hariri at the
airport following the resignation of airport security chief Brig. Gen. Wafiq
Shuqeir over the death of a man who sneaked onto the runway undetected and hid
on the tire of a Saudi plane. The cameras and wire issues were discussed by the
Central Security Council ahead of Tuesday's airport meeting and Baroud took the
recommendations with him to the Hariri-led talks. Meanwhile, An Nahar said that
the Council not only approved Baroud's proposal to grant Shuqeir a one-month
furlough pending outcome of the investigation into the airport incident, but
also gave the green light to appoint his deputy Brig. Gen. Yasser Mahmoud as
acting airport security chief. However, due to Hammoud's travel abroad, the
Council handed over the mission temporarily to the airport police chief Elia
Obeid. Beirut, 14 Jul 10,
Qassem: We Are Not Accused, We Are Dealing with the
Tribunal with 'Accuracy'
Naharnet/Hizbullah deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem has said the party would
deal with accuracy with the Special Tribunal for Lebanon which reportedly will
issue a ruling against "uncontrolled" Hizbullah members in September. "We have
decided as a party to deal with the issue of the international tribunal with
accuracy," Qassem told al-Binaa daily.
"If it was politicized then we will have a stance. If it was judicial based on
tangible evidence then we will have another stance," he told the newspaper.
"We are not accused either as people or as a party," Qassem stressed. .In an
other interview with An Nahar daily, the deputy secretary-general of Hizbullah
ruled out war with Israel although he reiterated that the party was preparing
itself as if war will erupt tomorrow. While stressing the need to implement
Security Council resolution 1701, Qassem said the latest skirmishes between U.N.
peacekeepers and southerners were the result of UNIFIL's lack of respect for its
rules of engagement. He said Hizbullah was committed to the implementation of
the resolution. Asked about spy rings in Lebanon, Qassem said: "We are waiting
for the results of the investigations with telecommunications spy Charbel Qazzi.""We
call for unveiling the truth and finding out those cooperating with Qazzi and
punishing them," he added. Beirut, 14 Jul 10,
Berri: Security Agreement with France Won't Be Adopted Without Lebanon's
Definition of Terror
Naharnet/Speaker Nabih Berri has warned that a security agreement with France
would not be adopted unless the Lebanese definition of terrorism was included in
it.
"Lebanon defines terrorism differently than France. We believe Israel is the
heart of terror and those who help it and support the occupation of Arab land …
contribute to terrorism as well," Berri told An Nahar in remarks published
Wednesday. "We either add the definition of terrorism based on the Lebanese
understanding or we cancel the clause," the speaker said. "Or the entire
agreement would not be adopted." A meeting of joint parliamentary meetings on
Tuesday was postponed after a quarrel between Hizbullah and March 14 MPs over
the security agreement and the definition of terror. Berri denied rumors that MP
Walid Jumblat's proposals on granting civil rights to Palestinians will not be
discussed during a parliamentary session on Thursday. "Tomorrow's session is on
and this is what I have announced a month ago," Berri said. "I didn't call for
its postponement." "There are 13 suggestions including 4 that have not been
amended so far and are on the agenda" of Thursday's meeting, he said. "The civil
rights of Palestinians … should not be shoved into internal political bickering
and the entire parliament should be responsible," he told An Nahar. Beirut, 14
Jul 10,
Aoun, Nasrallah Stress Continued Coordination to Serve National Interest
Naharnet/Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun and Hizbullah chief Sayyed
Hassan Nasrallah agreed during talks to continue cooperation "to face all
possibilities."The National News Agency said Wednesday that Aoun visited
Nasrallah along with Energy Minister Jebran Basil. Hizbullah officials Hussein
Khalil and Wafiq Safa attended the talks.
The two sides discussed the latest political developments in Lebanon and the
region in addition to draft laws and proposals on the parliament agenda, NNA
said. The agency added that Aoun and Nasrallah also held discussions on the
Special Tribunal for Lebanon. The two allies stressed "continued understanding
and full coordination between the two sides to face all possibilities and serve
the national interest." Beirut, 14 Jul 10,
Palestinian Rights in Tatters as Parliament Scheduled to Debate Issue Thursday
Naharnet/A parliamentary session scheduled for Thursday will discuss the issue
of the controversial rights of Palestinians amid lack of agreement among March
14 members over their proposals. "My responsibility forces me to discuss
proposals" presented by MP Walid Jumblat during the session, Speaker Nabih Berri
told An Nahar daily. Asked about a series of draft laws and suggestions on the
Palestinian rights, the speaker said: "I have nothing to do with what goes on
outside parliament." He said he has discussed with MP Nuhad Mashnouq about the
proposal prepared by al-Mustaqbal bloc and Lebanese Forces MPs. "My duty is to
welcome any proposal from MPs, particularly if they deal with the humanitarian
rights of Palestinians." Berri told An Nahar that he urged Mashnouq to refer the
proposal to the administrative and justice committee for discussion. However, he
waited in vain for the MP's submission of the proposal till Monday noon.
Mashnouq did not submit it because al-Mustaqbal and the LF were not able to
reach a deal with the Phalange party over the type of rights that should be
granted to Palestinians. Despite Berri's confirmation that Thursday's session
will discuss Palestinian rights, An Nahar daily said that Jumblat did not mind
to delay discussions on the issue. The Druze leader traveled to Ankara on
Tuesday night and will return to Beirut on Wednesday. Beirut, 14 Jul 10,
U.S. Supports Renovation of Judicial Training Institute
Naharnet/A ceremony on the occasion of the inauguration of the U.S.-funded
renovated Judicial Training Institute was held on Wednesday, the U.S. embassy
said in a statement.
U.S. Ambassador Michele Sison, USAID/ Lebanon Economic Growth Program Officer,
Mark Wilt, Minister of Justice Ibrahim Najjar and members of the High Judicial
Council attended the opening. Supported by USAID through its partner the
National Center for State Courts (NCSC), the justice ministry will now be able
to expand training capacity through the increased space available in the $1.3
million renovated facility, the embassy said."The upgraded facility includes
fully furnished training rooms and equipment. "Under the $8.2 million
'Strengthening the Independence of the Judiciary and Citizen Access to Justice'
program, USAID has provided technical support to the ministry of justice to
increase judicial independence, improve court administration, and encourage
long-term strategic planning for the judiciary," the statement added. Beirut, 14
Jul 10,
Al-Shami to Visiting British Minister: We Hold Onto Implementation of 1701
Naharnet/Foreign Minister Ali al-Shami reiterated on Wednesday that Lebanon
holds onto the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701 and was keen
on top cooperation between the army and UNIFIL. Al-Shami made his comment during
talks with Britain's Minister of State for Middle East Affairs, Alistair Burt.
The minister stressed on the importance of the Arab peace initiative to reach a
comprehensive solution to the Middle East peace process. Al-Shami also told the
visiting British minister that Lebanon backed calls to make the Middle East a
nuclear-weapons-free zone. Burt is on a two-day visit to Lebanon and Syria.
Beirut, 14 Jul 10,
Syria on Ban's Report: Bias Threatens Achievements Made in Lebanon
Naharnet/The Syrian foreign ministry has accused U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon of
interfering in the bilateral affairs of Damascus and Beirut through his report
on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701. In a letter delivered
by the Syrian ambassador in New York to Ban, the ministry said references to
bilateral ties "were interference in the affairs of the two countries." The
ministry said the U.N. should not be biased because "support for one side
against the other threatens achievements made by Lebanese parties, including
Syria which are keen on the unity, security, stability, sovereignty and
independence of Lebanon." The letter also criticized the report's reference to
Palestinian bases in Lebanon, which it said were an internal Lebanese issue
being discussed at the national dialogue table. Ban's latest report has said
that the presence of armed groups in Lebanon operating beyond the control of the
state is a concern. It said Syria should cooperate in dismantling the
Palestinian bases. About the report's reference to the demarcation of the
Lebanese-Syrian border, the letter said "not a single side has the right to
interfere in the issue." "If the U.N. is keen on implementing all resolutions
with all their clauses, then it has to seriously push Israel towards
implementing them," Syria said.
Beirut, 14 Jul 10,
Bahrain King, Qatar Emir in Beirut End of the Month
Naharnet/Bahrain's King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa will visit Beirut on July 28
while the trip of the Qatari emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, was
confirmed for July 31. Al-Liwaa daily said Wednesday that although the dates of
the visits by the two Gulf leaders were confirmed, it was not yet clear when
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will travel to Beirut. Media reports said
Wednesday that Ahmadinejad postponed his visit to Lebanon till after Ramadan.
Beirut, 14 Jul 10,
STL Postpones to September Decision on Sayyed's Request for Access to 'False
Witnesses' Records
Naharnet/Daniel Fransen, Pre-Trial Judge of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, on
Tuesday announced the postponement to September of a decision on the request of
former General Security chief Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed for access to certain
investigation documents, especially records related to the so-called "false
witnesses" issue. The judge asked Sayyed to re-file his request in written
format. Sayyed stressed Tuesday that the existence of "tens of false witnesses
in late premier Rafik Hariri's assassination demonstrates that a conspiracy
surrounds the tribunal."He made his statements during a public hearing at the
tribunal's headquarters in The Hague on his request for access to certain
documents connected to the investigation. He thanked in his opening statement
STL's judge for granting him the hearing, adding: "The Lebanese courts'
relinquishment of its responsibilities of trying false witnesses allowed us to
approach your court to acquire justice and evidence." Sayyed stressed: "This
hearing is not aimed at examining my wrongful imprisonment, but I would like to
remind everyone of your decision to release us from jail on April 29, 2009,
which led to this moment."
"Your decision is the first public admission of the existence of false
witnesses" he continued. The former security chief asked: "Why should false
witnesses be overlooked in an investigation that has focused on them? They
managed to deceive the court and there is no place to try them." Sayyed revealed
that he had been approached to be a false witness, but he refused, saying that
he had been told "either you hand over a victim or you be the victim."
Meanwhile, his lawyer, Akram Azouri said that his client was not requesting a
judgment against an individual, but he is asking to have access to certain
information.He stated that no investigations are carried out in Lebanon over
false testimonies and all that Sayyed had presented before Lebanese courts were
rejected, and that they were then referred to The Hague where the court
announced it would not consider them either.
He continued: "Syria, like the rest of the world, did not sign any cooperation
agreement with the court, so how can we come up with a witness from it?" "It is
necessary to remind everyone that the General was imprisoned and released
without knowing the reasons for his detention and without being able to study
his investigation file," Azouri. He concluded: "No general prosecutor can
withhold files related to evidence and his only choice is to hand over the files
to the plaintiff who will assume his responsibilities and prosecute whoever he
believes is involved." "I'm a plaintiff in The Hague (court) and not a
defendant," Sayyed told the daily As-Safir in remarks published Tuesday. Earlier
Monday, Sayyed rehearsed the public hearing with his lawyer for more than three
hours at the STL building on Dokter Van der Stamstraat 1 in Leidschendam. "We
are not after suspense," Sayyed said in a separate interview with Al-Akhbar
newspaper. "But the whole issue may contain surprises." Beirut, 13 Jul 10, 19:08
Lebanon to boost airport security after body found inside plane's wheel bay
By The Associated Press (CP) –BEIRUT — Lebanon's top security body has called for a "comprehensive survey" of
security measures at Beirut airport after a body was found inside the wheel bay
of an airliner that took off from there.
The state news agency reports the Central Internal Security Council will
investigate breaches allowed a Lebanese man to sneak onto the runway and climb
into the wheel bay of a plane heading for Saudi Arabia.
The body of Firas Haidar, 20, was discovered by maintenance workers in Riyadh
last week after the Airbus 320 from the Saudi Nasair company landed.
The council on Tuesday ordered airport security to take measures to
Syrian opposition activist says ordered to leave Lebanon
By Rita Daou (AFP)/BEIRUT — A Syrian opposition activist granted refugee status by the United
Nations said Tuesday that Lebanese authorities had ordered him to leave.
"I went to the general security bureau today to reclaim my passport, only to
find that the words 'to travel by July 20, 2010' were stamped on it," former
Syrian MP Maamun Homsi told AFP.
Homsi, 55, was arrested in Syria in 2001 and jailed for five years after a
short-lived "Damascus spring" of liberalisation when President Bashar al-Assad
first ascended to power 10 years ago.Homsi was convicted for working "to change the constitution through illegal
means."
He was released in January 2006 and has since lived in Lebanon with his wife and
two youngest sons.
On May 26, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) granted him
refugee status.
But today, he says, he has no choice but to return to Syria where he "will
certainly be jailed" for his political beliefs.
UNHCR deputy representative to Lebanon Jean Paul Cavalieri confirmed to AFP that
Homsi was accorded refugee status but said he "could not comment to third
parties about individual cases."Lebanese General Security officials were not immediately available for comment.
Aoun defends airport security chief
July 13, 2010
Following a meeting of the Change and Reform bloc, MP Michel Aoun defended
Beirut airport security chief Brigadier General Wafiq Shoucair calling him ” a
man of professional conscience”.
Aoun said Shoucair should not be blamed for the Nas Air incident but rather the
tools at his disposal”.
Shoucair, who like Aoun is closely associated with Hezbollah was one of the
reasons behind the May 2008 dispute, following which Hezbollah occupied west
Beirut and tried but failed to occupy the Druze stronghold of Mt. Lebanon.
Hundreds of people were killed during the uprising.
Palestinian rights
Aoun told reporters that Christian parties didn’t act with prejudice when the
issue of Palestinian refugees was raised. “Our stance is similar to that of the
Phalange Party and the draft law would be put to the vote of the parliament
after being studied”, he said.
Aoun stressed that he cannot agree to any law that gives the Palestinians the
right to own property.
Last month , during an extraordinary session of the parliament the Progressive
Socialist Party leader proposed a bill that grants Palestinian refugees in
Lebanon civil rights and allows them to own property. The bill was referred by
Speaker Nabih Berri to the administrative and justice committee to study and
submit recommendation to parliament .
Hezbollah and Amal MPs voted in favor of the bill, while the Phalange party ,
Lebanese Forces and Change and Reform blocs voted against it.
Aoun denied discussing politics during yesterday’s meeting with Jumblatt and
said it was ” strictly social”
Sfeir’s visit to Kesrwan
Aoun called on all his supporters to welcome Lebanese patriarch Nasrallah
Boutros Sfeir when he visits Kesrwan, but declined to confirm that he will meet
the Maronite Spiritual leader locs voted against it
Lebanon court hands death sentence to spy for Israel
BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Lebanese court sentenced a man to death on Tuesday for
spying for Israel and giving the Jewish state security information it used
during its 34-day war in 2006 with Hezbollah, judicial sources said.
Ali Mantash was sentenced on the same day that a prosecutor charged Charbel
Qazzi, an executive at Lebanon's state-owned mobile phone firm Alfa, with spying
for Israel.
Mantash's arrest and trial was part of a broad espionage investigation which has
led to more than 50 arrests since April last year. Security sources said
sophisticated communication devices were found in his possession.
Mantash, who was arrested in April 2009, is the second Lebanese to be sentenced
to death for spying for Israel.
Israel has not commented on the two cases.
Lebanon, which is at a state of war with Israel, has described the arrests as a
major blow to Israel's intelligence gathering in the country and said many of
the suspects had played crucial roles in identifying targets that were bombed
during the 2006 war.
Earlier in the day, a Lebanese prosecutor charged Qazzi, an executive at
state-owned mobile phone firm Alfa, with spying for Israel and referred him to a
military court. If convicted, he could be given the death penalty.
Qazzi's arrest last month shocked the country because of his senior position in
the company and prompted debate on how deeply Israel had infiltrated Lebanon's
telecoms and security sectors.
President Michel Suleiman, who under Lebanese law must sign a death sentence
before it is carried out, has called for severe punishment for spies. The
cabinet also agreed that death sentences handed down to spies for Israel should
be carried out.
Lebanese courts have until now handed down what were widely seen as light
sentences against nationals who worked with Israeli occupation forces and their
local militias. Israel ended its 22-year occupation of mainly Shi'ite south
Lebanon in 2000.
(Editing by Tim Pearce)
(For more news on Reuters India, click
http://in.reuters.com)
Copyright © 2010 Reuters
Mystery hangs over reported clash in Lebanon
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
ISTANBUL – Daily News with wires
Reported clashes in Lebanon between the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or
PKK, and Hezbollah and Shiite Amal militants remain shrouded in mystery due to a
lack of clarity about why, when and if the conflict occurred.
At least one PKK militant was killed and six others were wounded in the clashes,
the Anatolia news agency reported Tuesday, saying that the conflict was provoked
by allegations of racketeering.
That explanation seemed suspect to Middle East expert Faik Bulut. “Even if there
had been [a clash], it would have been over something with political weight,” he
told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. “There are almost no Kurds
living under the wings of Hezbollah in that region. There might be a few Kurdish
tradesmen in Shiite villages.”
The clash between members of the Amal Movement and the PKK was reportedly
sparked when PKK militants demanded protection money from tradesmen and
residents in Beirut’s Al-Naba’a neighborhood, which is densely populated by Amal
Movement members, the Anatolia news agency said, without supplying the exact
time of the incident. According to the agency, the fight expanded as Hezbollah
members coming out of a mosque joined the fray in support of the Amal side.
Lebanese security forces brought the armed clash, which lasted until late into
the night, under control as morning approached. Alleged PKK member Abdulmanaem
Al Haj Reşid, 37, was killed with a gun used by Hezbollah members.
The wounded alleged members of the PKK, which is listed as terrorist
organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, were taken to
Mar Yusuf Hospital under the protection of Lebanese soldiers.
A news organization believed to have links to the PKK reported a different
version of the story, however, saying that the incident took place two weeks ago
and was not a political clash between Hezbollah and the PKK.
The PKK is reportedly seeking new members and financing from Kurds living in
Lebanon. Lebanese authorities reportedly turned down a recent official
application to open an organization called the “Kurdish Red Crescent.”
Different dominions
Noting that the territories covered by the organizations allegedly involved in
the clash are quite different, Middle East expert Bulut told the Daily News that
there are Kurds from Turkey and Syria in Lebanon, but they are not in the places
where Hezbollah is active. Based on the name of the alleged PKK member who was
reportedly killed, Bulut said he might be of Syrian origin.
Bulut speculated that the clash might be related to the Party for Free Life in
Kurdistan, or PJAK, a PKK offshoot in Iran, which has close ties to Hezbollah
and Amal, but deemed the possibility slight. “I have never seen such a clash in
the region, but it might have occurred. There are Kurds who went [to Lebanon]
from Turkey and Syria and support Kurds in Iraq,” he said. “There are also ones
who went there from Turkey without political reasons. There are a few people who
went for political reasons and they are related with the Kurdish organizations
in Iraq.”
Hüsnü Mahalli, a columnist for daily Akşam, said: “I have not seen the news, but
it is not possible for Hezbollah and the PKK to have clashes due to
racketeering. Hezbollah does not collect [protection money]. No group in Lebanon
has a habit of collecting it. There are around 100,000 Kurds and something
personal might have happened. I have not seen this in the dailies of the Arabic
countries.”
What
Muslim Scientific Achievements?
by Andrea Billups
07/14/2010
One headline writer in Washington proclaimed the notion “Lost in Space.”
That’s how many reacted to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden’s comments that
he’s been directed by President Obama to reach out to Muslim nations to honor
their technological and scientific accomplishments as one of his agency’s
priorities.
Bolden, in an interview with Al Jazeera, ignited significant backlash when he
said that the President encouraged him to “find a way to reach out to the Muslim
world and engage much more with dominantly Muslim nations to help them feel good
about their historic contributions to science.”
The comments have sparked much debate in the blogosphere and among pundits but
have gained little traction among mainstream media outlets where Bolden’s
explanation of the President’s NASA goals have been underreported at best.
Opponents have questioned the administration’s commitment to space exploration
and said using the program as an appeasement for Muslim nations is a misuse of
the agency.
Daniel Pipes, director the Middle East Forum, echoed the sentiments of Obama
critics in a blog post that questioned why the administration would use a space
agency like NASA as a feel-good for foreign policy. He called Obama’s mandate to
Bolden a “farcical” and “failed” attempt to win the hearts of Muslims.
“It is inordinately patronizing for Americans to make Muslims ‘feel good’ about
the medieval contributions to science,” Mr. Pipes wrote. “This will lead to more
resentment than gratitude.”
He added: “Muslims at present do lag in the sciences and the way to fix this is
not condescension from NASA but some deep Muslim introspection. Put differently,
accomplished scientists of Muslim origin—including NASA’s Farouk El-Baz, who is
of Egyptian origins—do exist. The problem lies in societies, and includes
everything from insufficient resources to poor education to the ravages of
Islamism.”
Pipes went on to point out that Obama has been steadily losing his
public-opinion contest with Muslims—“his popularity in majority-Muslim countries
hardly better than George W. Bush’s.”
Walid Phares, an author and senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of
Democracies, noted that the U.S. shouldn’t “be in the business of bringing
religion, Islam or other to space development.”
Said Phares: “The initial policy of dealing with international relations in
religious terms is faulty and in contradiction with international principles of
human rights and also with the U.S. constitutional principles. The Obama
Administration was very badly advised since day one on how to engage Muslim
majority countries around the world.”
Mr. Phares took issue with the notion of that the “Muslim world” was one unit,
separate from the rest of international society, noting that such a division
“plays into the hands of jihadists.” He noted that with 1.2 billion Muslims
living in 52 countries worldwide, their ranks are hugely diverse.
“The Obama narrative about addressing nation-states as one religious empire
looks more like the medieval times than the 21st Century,” he said. “The U.S.
can and should have a policy of technological support to as many countries as
possible, including all the Muslim majority countries that needs it, inasmuch as
other non-Muslim countries.
“Space exploration,” he added, “is a universal frontier, not a matter of public
relations reflecting political interests. Talking about Muslims in space is like
talking about Sunnis, Shia, Catholics, Mormons, or Taoists sent into orbit.
“This is a ridiculous concept. Those who enter a spaceship are humans not
members of religious sects. I think what lays behind this medieval perception of
space technology is a policy of partnership with Islamist regimes, most of which
are oppressive of their own people.”
On Monday, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs pushed back on Mr. Bolden’s
comments and said the space agency administrator misspoke. “That was not his
task and that’s not the task of NASA,” Mr. Gibbs said, adding that the remarks
have been addressed.
***Andrea Billups is a freelance journalist and author based in Michigan.
Obama Cleanses the Terrorism Glossary
by Rowan Scarborough
07/13/2010
President Obama and his cast of aides will lash out at Republicans, the Tea
Party, banks, oil companies and Arizona. But when it comes to radical Islam,
Obama-ites treat it with kid gloves or ignore it altogether.
Recent speeches show that—rather than identifying the enemy for what it is,
bands of Islamic extremists who use their religion to justify murder—the
administration searches for the root cause of terrorism, a "why do they hate
us?" obsession which serves only to paralyze a global war to defeat terrorist
killers.
Islamic extremists use mosques to raise funds, recruit and plan attacks. In
Pakistan tribal areas, Taliban and al Qaeda use mosques as safe havens and as
munitions stockpiles. Imams, Muslim religious leaders, use their positions to
preach hate and encourage violence, citing verses from the Koran.
When Faisal Shahzad pleaded guilty this week to trying to blow up an SUV in
Times' Square, he declared himself a "Muslim soldier."
The bottom line: Islam and terrorism are intertwined. America will never
understand its enemy, an enemy dedicated to its destruction, unless it comes to
grips with that fact.
Yet, the Obama Administration is rewriting the official terrorism glossary to
erase any Islam-terror connection.
"Our enemy is not terror because terror is a state of mind and, as Americans, we
refuse to live in fear," John Brennan, the President's closest adviser on
counter-terrorism, told an audience at the prestigious Center for Strategic and
International Studies. "Nor do we describe our enemy as jihadists or Islamists
because jihad is holy struggle, a legitimate tenet of Islam meaning to purify
oneself of one's community."
And Brennan added this: "The President's strategy is absolutely clear about the
threat we face. Our enemy is not terrorism because terrorism is but a tactic.
Moreover, describing our enemy in religious terms would lend credence to the lie
propagated by al Qaeda and its affiliates to justify terrorism, that the United
States is somehow at war against Islam. The reality, of course, is that we have
never been and will never be at war with Islam. After all, Islam, like so many
faiths, is part of America."
Then he listed an Obama national security priority: "This includes addressing
the political, economic and social forces that can make some people fall victim
to the cancer of violent extremism .... And I think there's more work we need to
do to understand the psychology behind terrorism. But a lot of times, the
psychology is affected by the environment that has those political, social,
economic factors that contribute to that."
This statement is intended to begin a debate that always comes back full-circle
to the United States—Americans did something somewhere along the historical line
to convert normal people into terrorists.
We know the 9-11 attackers in Germany were recruited and radicalized in a mosque
in Hamburg. But since mentioning the Islamic connection is now out-of-bounds,
Brennan wants us to focus on "economic and social forces" on these financially
well-off and educated mass murderers.
Brennan cleanses Muslim cleric Anwar Awlaki, the American in Yemen who
encourages murder, of any tie to Islam.
"Individuals like Anwar Awlaki, who recently released a video, demonstrated that
his rhetoric is anything but peaceful," Brennan said. "It's anything but
Islamic. It is dedicated to murder and lashing out."
Brennan is exonerating Islam of links to terrorism, thus enabling it to remain
in denial and resist the sort of reform movement that could rid it of radical
clerics.
Brennan was a long-time CIA analyst. He worked in the division at Langley that
fought against President Bush's war on terrorism and where anonymous bureaucrats
leaked all sorts of unsubstantiated charges against the Pentagon and White
House.
Before Obama's election, Brennan told me the U.S. needed to reach out to the
kinder side of Lebanese Hezbollah. Yes, that Hezbollah. The one dedicated to the
destruction of Israel, the one designated a terror organization by the U.S. and
the one supported by Syria and nuclear-wannabe Iran.
True to his word, Brennan told the Nixon Center last month the administration
wants to build up "moderate elements" within Hezbollah, which he called a "very
interesting organization."
Here is what terrorism expert Steven Emerson told HUMAN EVENTS:
"John Brennan’s comments about the existence of moderates in Hezbollah and his
definition of jihad meaning exclusively spiritual struggle reveals a dangerous
mindset that wittingly endorses the deception perpetrated by Islamic terrorist
organizations. His rationale for Hezbollah having moderate elements is based on
the fact they have lawyers and doctors in the parliament. Might I remind Mr.
Brennan that Ayman al Zawahiri, the number two in al Qaeda, is also a doctor?
Hezbollah is not divisible between the 'good Hezbollah' and the 'bad Hezbollah.'
There is only Hezbollah, a group responsible for the second largest number of
Americans killed after al Qaeda. As for the meaning of jihad, I wonder if Mr.
Brennan will now rename the terrorist group Islamic Jihad to be 'The Union of
Good'?”
And James Jay Carafano of the Heritage Foundation is likewise critical.
"I think the administration is planning on doing outreach to Hezbollah and
Hamas," he said. "I think Brennan is a B-minus. He has ill-served the portfolio
trying to give Obama what he wants, which is to have polices which appear
'anything but Bush' even if they compromise our nation’s best interests."
There is someone who liked every thing Brennan said at CSIS: George Soros, the
billionaire Socialist who helped fund Obama's political rise and compared George
Bush to Hitler.
A representative from Soros' Open Society Institute said, "Mr. Brennan, I'm
really heartened by the government's change, in terms of the language usage of
'jihadist' and 'Islamist' and was similarly heartened by your talk at NYU in
February. I wonder if there's been any thought about rethinking, frankly, the
usage of the words 'terrorism' and 'terrorist,' which, at present, seem to be
defined by the government and the media as acts of violence exclusively
perpetuated by Muslims."
The word "terrorism" may be the next to be dropped from the Obama glossary.
**Mr. Scarborough is a national security writer who has written books on Donald
Rumsfeld and the CIA, including the New York Times bestseller Rumsfeld's War.
Airport security, or lack thereof
Aline Sara, July 14, 2010
Now Lebanon
When the corpse of a Lebanese man was found under the landing gear of a Nas Air
jet in Riyadh's King Khaled International Airport Saturday, it caused a
political scandal here in Beirut. The man, Firas Haidar, a Lebanese from the
Bourj al-Barajneh camp in his early 30s, had stowed himself away in the wheel
well of the plane as it took off from Beirut. Rumors flew that Haidar was
mentally unstable, though his family lawyer, Mohammad Choucair, told OTV on
Monday that Haidar was desperate to find work in the Gulf and was hoping for a
free ride.
Though Haidar was not armed (though he had been carrying a backpack with him and
had cigarette butts plugged into his ears), the incident has raised questions
about the state of security at the Beirut airport, which sits in an area
controlled by Hezbollah. (Remember, there still has not been a report released
on January’s Ethiopian Airline crash off the Lebanese coast, highlighting the
ambiguity of all matters related to airport security.)
Two days after Haidar’s body was discovered, on Monday, the National News Agency
(NNA) reported that Brigadier General Wafiq Choucair (no relation to the
deceased’s family lawyer) requested that Interior Minister Ziad Baroud relieve
him of his duties as head of airport security. Choucair, who is backed by
Hezbollah, is no stranger to controversy. In May of 2008, his relation to the
Party of God was part of what sparked the violence that shut down the airport
and caused street fighting in the capital and Mount Lebanon that left over 100
dead and scores wounded.
Another scandalous aspect of the case is possible pilot knowledge of Haidar’s
presence. According to the NNA, passengers and crew members on board the plane
had spotted the man making a run for the jet minutes before takeoff. The agency
added the pilot had allegedly dismissed the situation and proceeded with
takeoff.
Indeed, although the airline has yet to make an official statement, a
representative from Nas Air told NOW Lebanon that as far as the company knows,
everything that takes place on the runway is the responsibility of airport
security. “What I heard was that the captain contacted someone on the ground,”
explained the representative, who did not disclose his name as he is not
authorized to speak to the press. On the other hand, the airport’s press officer
insisted there was no communication between the pilot and the control tower. He
also refused to comment on Choucair, stating “It’s his thing. I’m just PR.”
The incident has sparked numerous reactions from Lebanon’s political class. OTV
reported that Change and Reform bloc MP Nabil Nicolas deemed the airport “a
mess.” “If I were in the Interior Ministry, I would quit,” he said in an
interview, stressing that the Lebanese security forces deployed in the area are
corrupt. Lebanon First bloc MP Ghazi Youssef, speaking to LBCI television on
Tuesday, noted that such incidents threaten tourism as well as the local
economy, whereas Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt praised
Choucair’s decision to offer his resignation, while insisting that “what
happened in [2008] was a misunderstanding.”
Democratic Gathering bloc MP Marwan Hamadeh, who had called for Choucair’s
resignation in 2008, told NOW Lebanon that the airport is one of the country’s
most delicate subjects. “The airport is the gateway into the country, it is a
façade to our tourists and international community, and the matter must be taken
seriously, with proper investigation and prosecution.” He insisted, however,
that the stowaway incident should not be blown of out proportion, referring to a
history of such incidents in other airports across the world.
Choucair himself was allegedly upset with the wave of criticism that followed
Saturday’s incident. According to an article from Al-Akhbar, sources close to
the general mentioned Choucair had been trying to quit his post for years. The
paper added that Minister Baroud was generally happy with the security chief’s
work and decided to give him one month of paid leave. Elie Obeid was appointed
to replace him on Tuesday.
In light of the incident, Prime Minister Saad Hariri chaired an emergency
meeting on security at the airport on Tuesday. Interior Minister Ziad Baroud,
Tourism Minister Fadi Abboud, Finance Minister Rayya al-Hassan and Public Works
and Transportation Minister Ghazi al-Aridi were present, among others. According
to Aridi, Baroud gave the green light to form a commission comprised of airline
representatives and other relevant officials to revamp airport security.
Raad walks out of meeting after biting remarks from Sami Gemayel
July 14, 2010 /NOW Lebanon’s correspondent reported on Wednesday that Loyalty to
the Resistance bloc leader MP Mohammad Raad walked out of the Justice and
Administration parliamentary commission’s meeting after an exchange with Kataeb
bloc MP Sami Gemayel. It all started when Gemayel commented on Lebanon’s small
size and overpopulation. Syrian Social Nationalist Party MP Marwan Fares
responded: “let us [then] expand Lebanon’s borders. Gemayel joked back: “it is
not a problem if we are expanding toward Syria.”Hezbollah MPs objected to
Gemayel’s remark and asked the commission to scratch it out from the minutes of
the meeting, the correspondent said. The commission reconvened at Nejmeh Square
on Wednesday to discuss the issue of granting Palestinian refugees in Lebanon
certain rights.
-NOW Lebanon
Torsarkissian says Hezbollah MPs not upset after Tuesday walk-out
July 14, 2010 /Lebanon First bloc MP Serge Torsarkissian said that Hezbollah MPs
were not annoyed at Tuesday’s joint commission meeting, MTV reported on
Wednesday.
Hezbollah MPs walked out of a parliament session on Tuesday before a vote on the
Lebanese-French security cooperation agreement.
“Yesterday’s meeting was a bit tense,” Torsarkissian said, adding that they
agreed to abide by Lebanese laws as well as the Arab Convention Against
Terrorism.
According to the convention held at the Arab League General Secretariat’s
headquarters in April 1998, any violent action serving criminal ends can be
labeled a terrorist activity.
-NOW Lebanon
Ghanem wants more time for talks on Palestinian rights
July 14, 2010 /Head of the Justice and Administration Commission MP Robert
Ghanem would like two additional months to discuss the issue of Palestinian
rights, NOW Lebanon’s correspondent reported on Wednesday. The commission met on
the issue Wednesday and will likely provide feedback to the press on Thursday,
the correspondent added.
The commission did not receive the draft bill on Palestinian rights formulated
by the March 14 alliance. Democratic Gathering bloc leader MP Walid Jumblatt
submitted a proposal to parliament on June 15 to grant Palestinian refugees in
Lebanon civil rights. After the majority of Christian MPs voted against the
bill, Speaker Nabih Berri transferred the draft law to the Justice and
Administration parliamentary commission for review.-NOW Lebanon
The Islamic Revolution is still alive
Tony Badran, July 13, 2010
Now Lebanon/
A Hezbollah boy scout holds a large poster of the late founder of the Islamic
Republic Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. (AFP photo/Joseph Barrak)
The recent tension in South Lebanon, choreographed by Hezbollah against UNIFIL
under the guise of spontaneous protests by villagers, has been used by the party
to reassert its equation of “the Resistance, the people, and the army”— the
three mutually-reinforcing pillars which, Hezbollah maintains, are alone
responsible for safeguarding the country’s security. The core premise of this
mantra, however, has its origins in Iran’s Islamic revolutionary doctrine.
After its military assault in May 2008 against western Beirut and the
Druze-controlled mountains, followed by the Doha Accord, Hezbollah imposed this
line on public discourse and the current government’s policy statement. The
party has, since, elevated the formula to the status of sole acceptable
blueprint for Lebanon’s so-called “defense strategy.” In a May 25 speech,
Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah held that this equation was the basis of
Lebanon’s strength, and he accused anyone who undermined it of “working
intentionally to expose Lebanon to Israeli aggression.”
During the 1990s, the Lebanese political class robotically regurgitated
Syrian-imposed slogans, and Hezbollah is reproducing the same phenomenon today
with the “Resistance, people, army” mantra, thereby aborting any domestic debate
about its armed status. As such, Nasrallah pointed to Michel Sleiman’s
endorsement of the formulation, which the president offered on Hezbollah’s Al-Manar
TV no less. The Druze leader Walid Jumblatt has also performed the required
ritualistic profession of this mandatory article of faith.
The absence of any reference to the “state” in this formula, and its
substitution with the category of “people” is not accidental. It is useful in
this regard to recall a peculiar March 2007 encounter between Jumblatt, when he
was still hostile to Hezbollah, with the correspondent of the Iranian
Arabic-language Al-Alam TV in New York. In response to a question about
Hezbollah’s 2006 “victory” against Israel, Jumblatt replied that he had publicly
asked to whom Nasrallah would offer this alleged victory, then added that
Nasrallah’s response was “to the Lebanese people and the Arabic and Islamic umma.”
Jumblatt said that he would have preferred for the victory to be offered to the
Lebanese “state,” as the state alone must have the right to take the decision of
making war or peace.
The correspondent then asked Jumblatt, “Is the state more important than the
people?” To which Jumblatt replied emphatically, “Yes!” Jumblatt wasn’t offering
a gratuitous thought about political philosophy, nor was he mounting a defense
on behalf of statism. Rather, he understood the underlying premise of the
question, which directly echoed a central policy of the Islamic Revolution in
Iran.
Dissociating the peoples from their governments in the Arab world was and
remains a vital aim of the Iranian revolutionary regime. The Islamic Revolution
posits a leadership role for Iran as the vanguard of the “oppressed” Muslim
masses against the “arrogant” Western forces of repression and local governments
allied with them. As such, Tehran seeks to directly address the people over the
heads of governments, to imbue them with an Iranian revolutionary ethos, and,
when possible, to lend them material support or establish local organizations
that promulgate or go along with Iran’s political line and undermine local
political and religious elites and establishments.
Iran’s revolutionary regime established an institutional apparatus to support
this enterprise of exporting the revolutionary ideal. It included offices
dealing with the dissemination of Iranian cultural (not just political)
influence, such as the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, and the Islamic
Propagation Organization.
For instance, in the mid-1980s, as factional rivalries raged in Iran over
controlling the exporting of the revolution, one faction inside the Iranian
Foreign Ministry (backed by Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani) was attacked by its
adversaries for abandoning the principle of establishing relations with peoples
as opposed to governments.
In keeping with this doctrine, Hezbollah distinguishes between the “Arab system”
or “Arab regimes” on the one hand, and the “Arab peoples” or the “region’s
peoples” on the other. The former are complacent capitulationists, while the
latter embrace “resistance.” It is from this vantage point that Nasrallah, for
example, sought to address the people and armed forces of Egypt in 2009, calling
on them to rise up against the regime of President Hosni Mubarak in the name of
resistance. In other words, the armed forces should have joined the Resistance
and the people against the state.
That is the essence of Hezbollah’s formula. Much like the Iranian Revolutionary
Guard Corps (IRGC), Hezbollah operates in a parallel universe; it forms a
parallel military and presides over a parallel society, which “coordinate” with
the armed forces and interact with the state only in order to neutralize the
state’s ability to challenge the party’s autonomous, parallel existence. All of
which of course makes a mockery of those in the West advocating dialogue with
Hezbollah to encourage its further “integration” into the “political
mainstream.”
As party official Mahmoud Qomati explained in 2009, Hezbollah seeks to integrate
the state into “the axis of the army, the people, and the Resistance.” This of
course merely echoed a central theme in the thinking of Hezbollah, articulated
by the party’s deputy secretary general, Naim Qassem, in a June 2007 article in
An-Nahar revealingly titled “How Does the Rest of Society Integrate into the
Resistance?”
In also exalting the virtues of the “Resistance, people, army” concept,
Hezbollah parliamentarian Mohammad Raad declared, “We are a great people … in a
state that is still in the formation process.” According to Hezbollah’s vision,
it’s a process that prepares the foundations of the state in order to create a
parallel structure that can better control the state’s actions – the IRGC model.
Whoever said Hezbollah gave up its long-term objective and its longtime slogan
of Islamic revolution in Lebanon?
*Tony Badran is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies
Michel Aoun
July 14, 2010
On July 13, the Lebanese National News Agency carried the following report: The
head of the Change and Reform Bloc, Deputy General Michel Aoun, headed the
bloc’s weekly meeting in Rabieh. Following the meeting, General Aoun stated:
We have discussed the legal and constitutional violations of the government and
have decided to address questions to it and follow up the issue. We will not
announce these violations right away since they will be seen later on in the
questions addressed to the government. We also discussed the issue of the
displaced fund which in time became a fund for those affected by the war. If we
continue like this, the victims will come from abroad and this cycle will never
end. Therefore, we propose the separation of those who have been affected from
the displaced, the settlement of the compensation issue and the drawing up of a
schedule for payment. Afterwards, this fund would be closed. If this does not
happen, the cycle will never end because the way this situation is being handled
is not right.
We also tackled the issue of the quarries in Zahle and the way people are being
treated differently as some are exempted. I would like to mention two or three
deprived villages, i.e. Rahit, Deir Ghazal and Qosaya, which cannot get such
exceptional treatment while others are getting it in addition to protection.
This is some sort of manipulation and unjust treatment which should not
continue. Therefore, we must put an end to these practices and find solutions.
He continued: We looked into the municipalities funds. A preliminary schedule
was finally issued in regard to what we previously talked about, but until now,
the government has not yet adopted a position and the relevant ministries have
not given their answer. We may be forced to hold major meetings to make demands
although we do not wish to launch such an action. We wish to get answers from
the government before launching a massive action which will certainly be seen
throughout Lebanon. After many years, the government should now know that it
cannot do as it pleases with the citizens’ money, especially since the demands
of the municipalities all come to us. The due funds must be settled so that the
municipalities can play their role. Only then will we be able serve the regions
we represent with exceptional projects, as we cannot replace the municipalities
because they are not getting what is rightfully theirs.
We discussed the demarcation of the maritime border which is a project that is
already inside the Cabinet but is not being activated. Why was it halted? They
claim there are states which will not be pleased with such a move, but we must
maintain our interests and our rights because this is an urgent matter. All
those digging or searching [for oil] on the Lebanese border should also give us
our rights because they are technically operating in a nearby area. The same
would go for us had we been doing the searches. We are losing some of our rights
because our border is not demarcated Therefore, we hope that the demarcation of
our maritime border is not disregarded so that we do not have to reiterate our
demands.
These days, we hear a lot of talk about the rights of Palestinians. Everything
related to rights is stipulated in Lebanese law and no one has any rights
outside of the law. As for the other demands which are outside the context of
the law and require special legislation, they are not rights but ways to improve
the situation. We are willing to offer such measures to improve the social and
humanitarian living conditions of the Palestinians. However, we cannot refer to
them as rights... The legislation literally says: circumstantially allowed and
nothing more. They are welcome to work based on the country’s needs and we often
see that the murdered are pleased while the killer is not. We hope that the
expressions will be amended because each has its own meaning and implications.
During the legislative session in which the deputies of the Change and Reform
bloc protested against the urgent character of the laws of Deputy Walid Jumblatt,
Jumblatt issued his famous statement: I have never seen anyone stupider than the
Lebanese Christian right-wing. Yesterday, we saw Deputy Jumblatt in Rabieh. What
changed over these two weeks?
We were not in Rabieh. We were having dinner at a deputy’s house who is a common
friend. The occasion was social and familial and we did not tackle political
issues...
How do you perceive the resignation of Brigadier General Wafiq Choucair?
I do not know why he resigned. An incident occurred at the airport and I think
that Brigadier General Choucair has a professional conscience and he works very
hard. When they talked about an investigation and airport security, maybe he got
tired of it all and decided to leave. If there are shortcomings, he is not
responsible for them, rather the tools at his disposal. It is as though he was
saying:
Father of suspected Druze spy arrested
Police suspect Majed Shaer of Majdal Shams involved in security-related offenses
as well
Eli Senyor Published: 07.14.10, 14:48 / Israel News
The father of a young man from the Druze village of Majdal Shams, who is
suspected of spying and aiding the enemy, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of
involvement in security-related offenses as well. His relatives were surprised
by the arrest.
Majed Shaer, the father of Fada Shaer who was arrested Sunday, was detained in
Tel Aviv by investigators of the National Unit for International Investigations.
His lawyer, Attorney Nader Hanjar, said in response: "If the father is so
dangerous, why didn't the police arrest him two days ago? Did something just
come up? Did he do anything today?"
After Fada's arrest, his father said he believed his son was innocent. "These
are just suspicions. I am sure it will all turn out to be false and my son will
return home." He said he had already been questioned on Sunday, after his son's
arrest.
Fada Shaer, a 27-year-old musician, was arrested at Ben-Gurion Airport
immediately after getting off a flight from France. He has denied all
allegations.
His lawyer, Attorney Hanjar Nabi, said following a hearing at the Petah Tikva
Magistrate's Court, "The suspect is completely innocent. We cannot elaborate due
to the gag order, but we believe it will all turn out to be a mistake."
On Sunday, riots broke out in the northern Golan village as a police force
arrived to search the man's house. A gag order has been placed on most of the
affair's details.
Report: Iran scientist heading home via third country
Shahram Amiri, who claims was kidnapped by US, heading back to Iran via third
country, Islamic Republic's Foreign Ministry says
Reuters Published: 07.14.10, 09:42 / Israel News
An Iranian nuclear scientist who disappeared more than a year ago and
mysteriously turned up in Washington is on his way back to Iran via a third
country, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman was quoted as saying by Iranian
semi-official news agency ISNA.
"With the efforts of the Islamic Republic of Iran and effective cooperation of
Pakistan's embassy in Washington, a few minutes ago Shahram Amiri left American
soil and is heading back to Iran via a third country," he said.
Kidnapped?
Iran missing scientist says escaped US agents / Reuters
Iranian television airs footage of scientist Tehran says was kidnapped by CIA.
Video shows Shahram Amiri saying he is in hiding. 'If anything happens to me,
the American government is directly responsible'
Ramin Mehmanparast said the foreign ministry would pursue the case through legal
and diplomatic channels regarding the part the US government played in Amiri's
abduction.
State Department and Pakistan embassy officials in Washington could not be
reached for comment. Iran, which is locked in a standoff with the West over its
suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons, has repeatedly accused the CIA of
abducting Amiri, who worked for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization.
Amiri, who went missing during a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia more than a year
ago, appeared on Tuesday at the Iranian interests section of the Pakistani
embassy, which represents Iran in the United States because Tehran and
Washington have no diplomatic relations.
A man identifying himself as Amiri has variously said in recent videos that he
was kidnapped and tortured; that he was studying in the United States; and that
he had fled US agents and wanted human rights groups to help him return to Iran.
Amiri was quoted by Iranian state TV on Tuesday as saying "my kidnapping was a
disgraceful act for America."
The mystery surrounding Amiri fueled speculation that he may have information
about Iran's nuclear program sought by US intelligence. In March, ABC News
reported that Amiri had defected and was helping the CIA.
What is Behind the Lebanese Opposition’s Attacks on France?
Wed, 14 July 2010
Randa Takieddine/Al Hayat
When Israel launched its brutal war on Lebanon in 2006, France was a key country
involved in halting the aggression against Lebanon and sending its soldiers to
the south as part of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which
Paris made gigantic efforts to conclude. Today, and since the recent incident
that befell UN peacekeeping troops in the south, and particularly the French
battalion, there is a new development. Some circles in Lebanon’s opposition are
once again targeting the security agreements signed by Interior Minister Ziyad
Baroud with his French counterpart, Brice Hortefeux. These agreements were
agreed to by the Lebanese president and government. Baroud, who is known for his
aptitude and professionalism, apprised all officials concerned, including
opposition ministers, of these documents. The question today is: Why these
campaigns against France? Is it because Paris, through its soldiers, protects
stability and safety of territory in south Lebanon? Why the accusations, which
France considers insulting, that it has conducted a deal with Israel in the
event it launches a war against Lebanon?
These campaigns against France by Hezbollah and its allies raise questions about
the party’s intention with regard to Lebanon’s position in the world and its
friends, such as France. France has normal relations with Hezbollah ministers in
the government. Its ambassador in Lebanon, Denis Pietton, is a leading expert in
regional affairs at the French Foreign Ministry, and he enjoys ties with
everyone in Lebanon. No one can accuse him of being biased toward any side; he
is a skilled diplomat and is well known in French and Arab circles for his
competent work.
What is behind these campaigns? Is it the beginning of an attempt to move
Lebanon away from its western friends and change its position on the
international map, to the benefit of Hezbollah’s ally Iran in its confrontation
with the international community over its nuclear weapons program? Or does
Hezbollah want Lebanon to stand alone, with Iran and Syria? Syria has good
relations with France, as Claude Gueant, the secretary general of the French
presidency, told Al-Hayat. If Iran wanted to use the Hezbollah card in Lebanon
in its confrontation with the international community, this is very worrying for
Lebanon, and the future of UNIFIL troops in the country. Paris will renew its
troops’ mandate at the end of August, but these campaigns against France are not
useful for their future, for the cause of the safety of Lebanese territory. The
units undertake social activities, in education and schools, which are needed by
the people of the south. Will Iran’s battle with the world begin on Lebanese
territory? Is there anger in the Lebanese army and government that the head of
the French battalion wants to implement his force’s mission, as part of 1701, to
the letter, and the fact that he is committed to the freedom of movement for his
soldiers, without being accompanied by the army? Ambassador Pietton said the
principle of peacekeeping troops is based on the freedom of movement for
soldiers, and no one can imagine peacekeeping troops remaining in their
barracks.
Everyone knows that the Lebanese army’s deployment to the south did not take
place for years, until 2006, and the agreement on UNSCR 1701. This was because
the Lebanese army was not sufficiently capable of performing the mission of
protecting the safety of the territory of the south, and despite the army’s
adherence to intensifying its presence on the ground in the south, UNIFIL and
France estimate that there are 3,500 Lebanese soldiers, while the official
number given by the government is 6,000.
All of this vagueness, the campaigns against UNIFIL, and the security agreement
with France, might all constitute warning messages about the repercussions of
the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and an indictment in the assassination of
former Premier Rafiq Hariri.
Lebanese opposition groups were targeting France for Iran, and there is no doubt
that this will constitute an embarrassment for Franco-Syrian relations, which
have become strong since Nicholas Sarkozy took office. Will this embarrassment
create a bigger margin of maneuver for Syria, so that its intervention is
continuously requested? This is also a possibility. As for the STL, if the
messages were directed at countries that are funding the court, they are
useless, since the tribunal has become independent and will pursue the case to
the end. Judge Daniel Bellemare is moving ahead with his mission and has said
many times that there is funding available for the STL this year. Thus, nothing
will halt the path toward an indictment. The campaigns against France and
western countries are powerless and only serve the cause of instability in
Lebanon, which is in need of tranquility and security, and good relations with
the international community, and especially traditional friends such as France.