LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
November 21/2012

Bible Quotation for today/Repentance and Penances
Luke 19/01-10: " He came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now a man there named Zacchaeus, who was a chief tax collector and also a wealthy man, was seeking to see who Jesus was; but he could not see him because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house." And he came down quickly and received him with joy. When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying, "He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner." But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, "Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost."

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
The Fuel for the Flames/By: Dennis Ross/New York Daily News/November 20/12
A source of condemnation, not pride/By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat/November 20/12

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius Meets Miqati: France Will not Interfere in Lebanon's Affairs
Naharnet/French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius reiterated on Tuesday that France will not interfere in Lebanon's domestic affairs, but fully supports its stability.
“France does not interfere in Lebanon's internal affairs, but we fully back stability in Lebanon,” he said after holding talks with Prime Minister Najib Miqati at the French Foreign Ministry in Quai d'Orsay in Paris. “We encourage you to return to dialogue and back the policy of dissociation adopted by your government in order to evade Lebanon the regional repercussions,” he told the premier.
On the Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Fabius praised the efforts exerted by the Lebanese government in that regard, saying: “We realize the efforts you exert to aid the Syrian refugees in Lebanon and we fully support you.”Emphasizing the friendly relations between the two countries, the French foreign minister said: “The friendly relations between Lebanon and France have and will always remain strong as will support the mission of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.”On his part, Miqati stressed that Lebanon will adhere the policy of dissociation to spare Lebanon the repercussions of the Syrian crisis.
Discussions also touched on the Israeli aggression on Gaza and the endeavors exerted in that regard to reach a ceasefire.

Jumblat Coordinates Efforts with Suleiman to Reach Initiative to End Political Deadlock
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat's initiative to end the political deadlock in Lebanon between the rival March 8 and 14 camps is being coordinated with President Michel Suleiman, reported As Safir newspaper on Tuesday. His efforts are taking place with the “complete coordination” Suleiman, he told the daily, with a PSP delegation set to visit the presidential palace later on Tuesday. “We believe that dialogue is the basis for tackling the crisis because problems cannot be solved through a boycott,” he explained. He revealed that the proposal will encompass all political powers, civil society organizations, and syndicates. Meanwhile, Social Affairs Minister Wael Abou Faour, of Jumblat's National Struggle Front bloc, told As Safir that all powers will receive a political document, which would be announced beforehand by the MP, that will include the initiative. The document will be delivered to the political powers after the Independence Day celebrations on November 22 and upon Suleiman's return from a visit to the Vatican scheduled for the end of the month. Al-Joumhouria newspaper reported on Tuesday that a PSP delegation that includes Ministers Ghazi al-Aridi, Alaeddine Terro, and Abou Faour is scheduled to meet with Suleiman at the Baabda Palace on Tuesday. Sources from the party said that the initiative to end the crisis will be based on “dialogue with all sides and openness to the other.”The delegation is set to hold talks with a number of political powers during the next few days, added the PSP sources.
“How the other powers choose to deal with the proposal is up to them and they therefore will assume the responsibilities of their decisions should they be negative,” they stressed.
Jumblat said on Monday that he would not personally make contacts with March 8 majority and opposition members as part of the PSP initiative to resolve the country's political crisis.
He confirmed that the PSP and National Struggle Front would launch an initiative to lure back the March 14 opposition alliance to the national dialogue table and seek the formation of a national salvation government.Lebanon plunged in a political crisis on October 19 when Internal Security Forces Intelligence Branch chief Brigadier General Wissam al-Hasan was assassinated.
March 14 boycotted the parliament after it blamed Prime Minister Najib Miqati's government for the killing and said it would not sit at the same dialogue table with Hizbullah.

Netanyahu: If diplomacy fails, I won’t hesitate to act
By TOVAH LAZAROFF 11/20/2012 /
US Secretary Clinton to arrive in Israel for cease-fire talks.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned that if cease-fire efforts failed he would not hesitate to take further military action against Gaza.
“I prefer a diplomatic solution. I hope that we can get one, but if not, we have every right to defend ourselves,” he said during a meeting with German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.
IAF strikes 4 terrorists hiding in media building'Ceasefire unlikely in coming days, but progress made'Israel has held off from sending ground forces into Gaza to give diplomacy time to work.
The two men discussed the ongoing cease-fire efforts in Cairo, with the help of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and the backing of US President Barack Obama. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton departed for Israel on Tuesday, and was expected to arrive in the evening. Clinton will meet with Netanyahu on Wednesday.
White House deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes told reporters that the message of Clinton's trip will be that it is in nobody's interest for there to be an escalation of military conflict in Gaza. He added that Hamas must end rocket attacks into Israel and that Egypt can be a partner in helping to resolve the conflict in Gaza.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday called for an immediate cease-fire and said an Israeli ground operation in the Palestinian enclave would be a "dangerous escalation
"Immediate steps are needed by all to avoid a further escalation, including a ground operation which will only result in further tragedy," he said, before adding that Israel has "legitimate security concerns."
Ban spoke at a news conference in Cairo after talks with Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby. Later on Tuesday, the UN secretary-general will travel to Israel for talks with Netanyahu.
Westerwelle arrived in Israel Monday night after a meeting with the European Union Foreign Affairs Council, which also backed the cease-fire efforts.
Germany has a constructive role to play in ending the conflict and achieving a long term arrangement that stop the flow of “terror weapons” into the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu said.
“As you know, we seek a diplomatic unwinding to this, through the discussions of cease-fire. But is the firing continues we will have to take broader action, and we won’t hesitate to do so,” said Netanyahu.
Westerwelle pledged his country’s support both to Israel’s right to defend itself and its basic demand that Hamas stop firing missiles.
“There is one key condition for everything else, and that is the stop of the missile attacks against Israel,” Westerwelle said. “This is a clear message, not only of the German Government but this is also the message what the European Foreign Minister yesterday sent out,” he said.
He added, “I’m here to underline that Germany stands by our friends in Israel, and Israel has every right to defend itself and protect their own citizens against these missile attacks from
Gaza into your country,” Westerwelle said.
In a meeting with President Shimon Peres in the President's Residence on Tuesday, Westerwelle confirmed his frequently voiced stance that Israel has the right to defend herself against rocket attacks from Gaza.
In welcoming Westerwelle, Peres said how much Israel appreciates Germany's efforts "to bring an end to an unacceptable attack on civilian life and to renew hope for peace in the Middle East."
Peres denied that there was any siege against Gaza other than that of arms and aggressive weapons such as missiles smuggled from Iran. Food, building materials and other products can pass through freely, he said.
On Monday night, Westerwelle met with Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, before heading to Ramallah to meet with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Cease-fire or ground operation?
Israel’s diplomatic and security cabinet met late Monday night to discuss the latest cease-fire initiatives. The government agreed to briefly hold off on sending ground forces into Gaza in order to allow time for cease-fire efforts in Cairo to continue, an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
“Israel prefers a diplomatic solution,” the official said, but added that any agreement must provide a real solution that would erase the threat of rocket attacks against the South.
If such a diplomatic solution is not found, then Israel is preparing its ground forces to enter Gaza, the official said.
Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said on Monday that discussions to achieve a cease-fire were continuing, “but Hamas won’t succumb to Israel’s conditions.”
Hamas, he pointed out, was not opposed to a truce and is continuing to insist on the need to lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip and halt Israeli military strikes.
Israel, in turn, wants a security zone around the Gaza border and an end to the smuggling of weapons into the Strip.
Russia on Monday urged an end to Palestinian rocket attacks and what it called disproportionate Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip, and said it may propose a UN Security Council resolution on the conflict.
“We again affirm our position on the inadmissibility of firing at Israeli regions and of disproportionate strikes on Gaza,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “Moscow considers it necessary to stop the military confrontation without delay.”
Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said Moscow may propose a Security Council resolution that would envisage ceasing violence on both sides before the resumption of peace talks, news agencies reported.
Greer Fay Cashman and Reuters contributed to this report.

A source of condemnation, not pride
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Al-Awsat,
The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, affiliated to Hezbollah, recently published an important news piece. It is clear that Hezbollah sought to publish the article as a means of propaganda against the backdrop of Israeli aggression on Gaza, but the news actually serves as condemnation of the dangerous role being played by Hezbollah in the region, with the help of Iran.
The article, published the day before yesterday, revealed that “during the past few hours” a call to arms has been issued from the ranks of Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards towards all those who know how to smuggle weapons from Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Sudan (and others) to the Gaza Strip. The article then outlines that weapons are transferred from Iranian and Syrian ports to Sudan, from Sudan to Egypt - Sinai specifically - and then from there to the Gaza Strip. Here I would like to draw special attention to the words “from Sudan to Egypt - Sinai specifically”. The article also mentions how Hezbollah used to suffer from the severity of the Egyptian security services during the reign of Mubarak, and likewise from the rigorous security in Jordan. This suggests that Hezbollah’s involvement in the transfer of arms, and in smuggling them to our states, is a continuous process, with the help of Iran and the al-Assad regime before the Syrian revolution. The purpose of this is to ignite proxy wars in our region, and to destabilize the security and stability of Egypt and Jordan and others. Here we must also not forget the [arming of the] Houthis in Yemen, which is not a frontline state, which shows the extent of the aggressive intentions of Iran and its agents towards our countries.
When I say that the Lebanese newspaper’s propaganda is damning evidence of Hezbollah, which wants to drag the region into proxy wars, specifically Egypt through Sinai, this is not an exaggeration. Here it is worth considering what my colleague Abdel-Nasser Salama, editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram newspaper, wrote two days ago. He said that if a disaster occurs in Sinai, then the former Egyptian regime should be held to account for it neglected the region and reduced it to a tourist resort, whilst the current government should also be held to account for it allowed Sinai to fall into the hands of extremists and outside agents. Salama argued that the people would ultimately pay the price for such a disaster, namely the loss and elimination of the most important part of Egypt’s geography. However, he went on to say that the real catastrophe in Egypt’s modern history is the strange public silence towards what is happening, and the insulting official dealings with the crisis. There is now a reality that everyone must recognize; the fall of Sinai. Salama claimed that Sinai is now is in the grip of bullying and terrorism, and is only subject to the official state authority on rare occasions. Finally, he concluded that the situation there is getting worse every day, contrary to what is being declared officially. There are new extremists entering the region and modern weapons are being smuggled into Sinai almost on a daily basis.
By comparing Hezbollah’s propaganda to the editor-in-chief of Al-Ahram’s wakeup call, we become aware of the magnitude of the disaster being constructed by Hezbollah against our countries. The party is taking advantage of false slogans in an organized campaign of misinformation, which is influencing many, including some Arab regimes. When will this region wake up? God Knows!

US warships turn around toward Israel for possible evacuation of Americans
DEBKAfile Special Report November 20, 2012/The US has ordered three amphibious warships with 2,500 Marines aboard back to the eastern Mediterranean to remain on standby off Israel’s shore in case they are needed to evacuate American citizens. The USS Iwo Jima, the USS New York and the USS Gunston Hall, were sailing west of Gibraltar on their way to back to Norfolk, Virginia, when they were turned around. debkafile: The United States have never before evacuated American citizens from Israel. The US notice does not say whether a possible evacuation would include the US forces posted in American bases in Israel. A mass evacuation would entail a Marine shore landing in order to lead the evacuees to the amphibious craft.
The Iwo Jima is a helicopter carrier, while the New York, one of the newest vessels of its kind in the US Navy, is a primary class of amphibious transport dock.
Although a decision to evacuate nationals was defined in the CNN report as a “remote contingency,” our sources stress that it is extreme enough to be taken only when a war situation is envisaged capable of endangering Americans. This step negates the expectation articulated widely in Israel Monday, Nov. 19, that a ceasefire with the Hamas is within reach. It rather indicates that Washington sees the situation surrounding the Gaza Strip in a far different light, more like a situation holding the threat of a general conflagration beyond the confines of the Israel-Hamas contest in Gaza.
According to the same report, the US military also maintains three to four ships off the coast of Israel that are capable of shooting down ballistic missiles. That deployment has stretched for some months in the face of a potential ballistic threat from Iran.

March 14 might attend speech in Parliament
November 20, 2012 /By Van Meguerditchian
The Daily Star
BEIRUT: March 14 MP Serge Torsarkissian said Monday that the opposition coalition would attend the Parliament session next week to hear the speech of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan on condition that Cabinet members do not attend. Torsarkissian also called on Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to make an appropriate decision and keep the Cabinet out of the assembly to avert a boycott of the session by the coalition’s members. “We are ready to go down to Parliament next week if the government stays away from the assembly. We don’t have a problem attending the scheduled session if the government is not present,” Torsarkissian told The Daily Star. “The government should not be there. According to protocol, this session is an occasion for the country’s Parliament during which a visiting president will address MPs,” he said. “The president is visiting Parliament and the government doesn’t have any business in that meeting. [Prime Minister Najib] Mikati’s government can have its own meeting with Sargsyan.” The Beirut MP added: “These are the conditions of our participation.
“It is up to Berri: If he fails to take the right decision, our boycott will be his responsibility.” Sargsyan will pay an official two-day visit to Lebanon starting next Monday, during which he will meet with President Michel Sleiman, Mikati and Berri. He is also scheduled to make a speech to Parliament. Following the Oct. 19 assassination of senior security official Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan in a car bomb in Beirut, the March 14-led opposition has said it will boycott Cabinet and any parliamentary activity it is involved in. The March 14-led opposition has repeatedly called for the formation of a neutral-salvation government. The opposition has accused Syria of being behind the killing and has also held Mikati’s Cabinet responsible. According to Torsarkissian, the visit of Sargsyan to Lebanon is an important one that will be recognized by all Lebanese citizens. Torsarkissian added that “the March 14 coalition will have its own meeting with President Sargsyan.” But Ali Hamdan, an adviser to Berri, said that the assembly is open to all state officials and will not exclude specific groups. “Invitations are sent to diplomats, ambassadors and all state officials, including ministers,” Hamdan said. “This session – dedicated to a speech by the Armenian president – was scheduled at least two months ago and has not been recently prepared,” he added.
“If March 14 MPs don’t want to attend, that’s their problem. There has, as yet, been no discussion on who should be participating.” Hamdan also said that the majority of MPs will attend to hear the speech, and there will be no problem in ensuring the necessary quorum. March 14 MP Marwah Hamadeh said earlier that the opposition would boycott the parliamentary session. “We will not attend the parliamentary session called by Berri on Nov. 27,” Hamadeh told Voice of Lebanon radio station, according to a statement from his press office. But Hamadeh denied that the threatened boycott was intended as a snub to the Armenian president. “Boycotting the parliamentary session in the presence of the Armenian president is not a move against our guest,” Hamadeh said. Separately, an Amal Movement source told The Daily Star that Berri would not call for a parliamentary meeting over the crisis in Gaza, and added that the March 14 coalition had read too much into the speaker’s remarks on the matter. “The March 14 coalition’s accusations that Berri was setting them a trap to attend a Parliament session in solidarity with Gaza are unfounded,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “The speaker has no intention to call for a Parliament session concerning the situation in Gaza,” he said. Media reports over the weekend indicated that Berri was thinking of convening Parliament in order to voice solidarity with the Gaza Strip, which has been under bombardment from Israel since last week.
Opposition lawmakers believe the speaker is trying to corner them into attending the session and thus break their decision to not attend the legislative branch’s meetings involving members of the government.
According to the source, the March 14-led opposition has made accusations based on assumptions rather than facts, “which proves that the group has become politically bankrupt.”
In remarks published Monday, Berri slammed accusations by the March 14 coalition suggesting that he planned on tricking the opposition by holding a parliamentary session to voice support for Gazans.
“What is Nabih Berri’s crime and what is the trap he is trying to set for the opposition?” Berri asked An-Nahar newspaper. “Is it a crime for me to call for a parliamentary session in solidarity with the Palestinians?” he added. Berri said he had been surprised by the opposition’s reaction to media speculation suggesting he was considering calling for Parliament to gather, and accused the opposition of employing double standards when it came to their shunning of the Cabinet. “How can they boycott the Cabinet while [Future parliamentary bloc leader] Fouad Siniora calls Prime Minister Najib Mikati to discuss the developments in Sidon? “How can they contact [Progressive Socialist Party leader] MP Walid Jumblatt?” Berri asked.

President Michel Sleiman speech to stress stability
November 20, 2012 /The Daily Star
President Michel Sleiman’s Thursday speech on the 69th anniversary of Lebanon’s independence will lay out a number of points Sleiman considers important for the country, focusing on stability – on the political, economic and security levels. Baabda Palace sources say the president believes stability on these fronts will attract increased foreign investment, and that economic development has a major role to play in revitalizing the nation’s economy. Honorary guests at the speech will be the newly appointed members of the Higher Judicial Council, and so Sleiman will stress the importance of an independent judiciary in Lebanon. Sources say he will call on judges to free themselves of political ties and make their rulings according to what is just, whatever the cost.The sources add that the address will discuss the conditions Sleiman believes necessary to protect the country’s independence. The president will voice support for fighting foreign occupation and the need to impose the country’s full sovereignty on all state institutions and territories. Sleiman will also use the opportunity to discuss the value of holding parliamentary elections on time, in the spring of next year. He will call for transparent and democratic polls, without voter intimidation. As for the National Dialogue that the president has headed for the past few years, sources say he is not optimistic that the next scheduled session will take place. The March 14 coalition has been boycotting the Dialogue since the assassination of Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan last month, saying it will not return until Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s Cabinet resigns.
A session is still set for next Thursday, and Sleiman plans to praise the efforts of politicians who have been trying to bring parties back to the dialogue table. The latest initiative of this sort is by Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt, who has been quietly talking to March 8 and March 14 members about renewing talks. The president will also address the upcoming gathering of Christian parties at the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkirki, stressing three major points: uniting Christian stances on major issues; making these stances effective in the country’s decision-making processes; and reducing the rhetorical fire exchanged between rival Christian parties.

STL prosecutor outlines evidence in Hariri killing
November 20, 2012 /By Willow Osgood/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Of the four Hezbollah members indicted by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, only one is allegedly part of a six-member hit squad the prosecution claims directly oversaw the killing. In a pretrial brief made public Monday, STL Prosecutor Norman Farrell outlined five mobile phone networks – called the Red, Green, Blue, Yellow and Purple Networks – whose members he argued had played different roles in the planning and execution of the 2005 bombing. The crux of the prosecution’s case depends on the phone networks, using information gathered from witnesses, analysis of frequently called numbers, SMS content and data showing cellphones users were in the same location, to tie individuals to personal phones used in the networks and the crime. The six members of what Farrell called the “Assassination Team” allegedly used phones in the Red Network. This network, whose members were in contact almost exclusively with each other and stopped all activity two minutes before the attack, are said to have tracked Hariri’s movements in the month running up to the assassination, as well as the day of the bombing.
“On Feb. 14, 2005, [Salim] Ayyash and other members of the Assassination Team positioned themselves in locations where they were able to track and observe Hariri’s convoy at Qoraitem Palace, Parliament, and his return as far as the St. Georges Hotel, enabling them to execute the attack,” the brief said.
But the prosecution’s summary of the Red Network includes no names other than that of Ayyash, who has been charged by the U.N.-backed court with committing a terrorist act and premediated murder. The rest are identified as Subjects 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9. The prosecutor presents Ayyash, who allegedly used phones in the Red, Green, Blue and Yellow Networks, as a key coordinator who oversaw the plot. Two other members of the Red Network were part of the Blue and Yellow Networks, suggesting they also helped coordinate the different networks.
Farrell maintains that these two individuals, identified as Subject 6 and Subject 8, were in communication with each other and other members of the Assassination Team, some near St. Georges Hotel – the crime scene – or in the vicinity of Parliament – where Hariri’s convoy left from – in the hour before the bombing.
Mustafa Badreddine, who faces the same charges as Ayyash, was not part of the Red Network but the prosecution argues that he maintained close contact with Ayyash using Green Network phones, helping monitor Hariri as well as help purchase the truck that was eventually used by a suicide bomber. Farrell argues that there were at least 50 days of surveillance of Hariri, beginning at the latest on Oct. 20, the day he resigned as prime minister. “By observing relevant locations, as well as Hariri’s movements and those of his security team, Badreddine, Ayyash and the Assassination Team determined the most suitable location and method for the attack, which they then executed,” the brief says.
The in-absentia trial for the four men is tentatively set to start March 25. According to the pretrial brief, the prosecution intends to call 557 witnesses and there are 13,170 exhibits on the exhibit list. They estimate it will take over 450 hours to present. The defense has until January to file its pretrial brief. The brief provides details of the evidence the prosecution will use to try to tie the four indicted men to the networks, and in some cases providing glimpses of their domestic life. Farrell links Badreddine to a specific phone because, in addition to other forms of evidence, it received seven messages of birthday greetings on April 6, 2004 and 2005, his birthday. The prosecution will try to tie Ayyash to one phone, because of a road accident he was in and the subsequent rash of phone calls he made to have his car repaired. A second phone linked to the networks was allegedly used to call a medical clinic on the day Ayyash’s wife had an appointment.
The other two men named in the indictment, Hussein Oneissi and Assad Sabra, are purportedly members of the Purple Network. They accused them of finding an individual to make a false claim of responsibility for the attack, and for contacting news agencies to disseminate the claim directly following the bombing.
Oneissi also allegedly participated in the “disappearance” of the man, Ahmad Abu Adass, who was seen in a video claiming responsibility for the assassination on behalf of a nonexistent militant group.
None of the “biological material” collected at the crime scene could be tied to Abu Adass, according the prosecutor’s brief, and his fate is unclear.

Lebanon foils bid to launch rockets at Israel
November 19, 2012/The Daily Star/SIDON, Lebanon: Two katyusha rockets aimed at Israel and set to launch were discovered Monday in the southern region of Mazraat Halta, near the occupied Kfar Shuba Hills, a security source told The Daily Star. The source said the rockets were defused by security forces. According to the source, attempts to launch rockets from Lebanon to Israel occur every time there is an aggression against Gaza. Launching rockets from Lebanon to Israel is usually done as a message of solidarity with Gaza, the source said. Security sources told The Daily Star the rockets could reach 7 kilometers into Israel if launched in full power. The sources said that the two rockets were placed 4 kilometers away from the Lebanese-Israeli borders. Hours later, the Army said a military patrol unit discovered the rockets Monday afternoon and that a military expert dismantled them. "An Army patrol unit discovered this afternoon in the area between the village of Halta and Mari in the qada of Hasbaya two 107 mm Grad rockets set to launch," the Army said in a statement. A probe had been launched into the incident, it added.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati : Lebanese elections to be held on time
November 20, 2012 /By Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Monday the government was determined to hold next year’s parliamentary elections on time in an attempt to dispel growing fears of a possible postponement over security concerns. “The government is committed to holding the elections on time, out of respect for democratic rules and the principles of power rotation,” Mikati told reporters after speaking with his French counterpart Jean Marc Ayrault in Paris. Mikati, who arrived in Paris Sunday for a three-day official visit, said three factors are crucial for Lebanon’s stability: Maintaining calm in southern Lebanon, promoting the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and continuing the government’s policy of disassociating with the 20-month-old bloody conflict in Syria, according to a statement released by his media office.
The prime minister underlined the significance of France’s participation in supporting the government’s plan to bolster the Lebanese Army’s military capabilities and providing it with equipment to enable it to maintain security in the country. Mikati thanked the French government for its decision to support and shore up the capabilities of the Lebanese government, the statement said.
For his part, Ayrault praised Mikati’s efforts to protect Lebanon from the reverberations of the unrest in Syria.
He renewed “France’s solidarity with Lebanon and support for its constitutional institutions so that the country can stay away from the current conflict in Syria,” the statement said.
The French prime minister restated his country’s commitment to ensure stability in south Lebanon via the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon. He demanded that the safety and security of French soldiers serving with UNIFIL be ensured, the statement added. Last year, two roadside bombings targeted French peacekeepers in south Lebanon, wounding 10 soldiers. Six Italian peacekeepers were also wounded in a similar roadside attack in the south. Ayrault said France was ready to support the Lebanese Army and revive security cooperation programs between Lebanese and French institutions.
During a short visit to Lebanon on Nov. 4, French President Francois Hollande said that France’s participation in UNIFIL and its military support for the Lebanese Army were part of Paris’ efforts in ensuring peace in the Middle East. France has an estimated 1,100 soldiers serving with UNIFIL.
Mikati, accompanied by a number of ministers, is scheduled to hold talks with Hollande at the Elysee Palace Wednesday on the political crisis in Lebanon amid the opposition March 14 coalition’s calls for the government’s resignation and the formation of “a neutral salvation Cabinet.” How to protect Lebanon from the repercussions of the Syrian conflict on Lebanon will also figure high in the talks.
On the eve of this visit, Mikati, who has rejected March 14 calls to step down, offered to cooperate with the opposition in an attempt to explore a solution for the political crisis sparked by last month’s assassination of police intelligence chief Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan. Mikati’s visit to France came amid rising concerns for stability in Lebanon. The March 14 coalition announced a total boycott of the government and all Cabinet-related meetings in Parliament as part of its moves to pressure the government to resign. The prime minister’s commitment to holding the elections in 2013 came amid warnings that security threats and the failure of the March 8 and March 14 parties to agree on a new electoral law might lead to postponing the vote.
Energy Minister Gebran Bassil said in a interview this month that there would be no parliamentary elections next year if they were held on the basis of the 1960 electoral law. The law, used in the 2009 elections, adopts the qada as an electoral district and is based on a winner-takes-all-system. Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun has also warned that the security situation in north Lebanon – the scene of Syrian violations on the Lebanese border and armed clashes between pro and anti-Assad supporters – would affect the holding of elections in the country.
Meanwhile, March 14 MPs reiterated the coalition’s demand for the formation of a neutral salvation Cabinet before attending any National Dialogue session, which President Michel Sleiman has been trying to convene in an attempt to find a solution to the political crisis. “There will be no dialogue session on Nov. 29 before the current Cabinet is changed,” MP Marwan Hamadeh told the Voice of Lebanon radio station. Beirut MP Ammar Houri from former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s parliamentary Future bloc said the March 14 parties will not participate in National Dialogue. He also rejected the idea of forming a national unity Cabinet representing the March 8 and March 14 parties. However, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt renewed his call on all parties to attend National Dialogue sessions to discuss Sleiman’s proposals on “how to benefit from the resistance’s arms aimed at defending the country and to close ranks in this difficult and sensitive time in the region.”

Energy Minister Gebran Bassil suspends power plant deal
November 20, 2012/By Mohamad El Amin/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Energy Minister Gebran Bassil shelved Monday an offer by two companies to build a power plant in Deir Ammar on the grounds that the price was higher than earlier expectations.
Bassil said winning bidders need to cut prices by some $160 million before they can go ahead with construction. The minister, who spoke at a news conference, said a final green light for the project had been delayed after the cost of the project increased from $502 million to $662 million. “The price hike sought by the two companies came after the government asked that the total capacity of the plant be 450 megawatts. [Instead] the two companies had offered a capacity of 525 MW,” he said following a meeting with Abener-Butec, the Spanish-Lebanese consortium that won the bid last month.Bassil pointed out at the news conference that Cabinet had decided to enter into negotiations with the two companies in an attempt to reduce prices: “Otherwise we will have to launch a new tender.”“We do not want to cancel the project because time will be wasted,” he added, stressing that up to 30 months was required to finalize the project. Commenting on the issue, MP Mohammad Qabbani said this amounted to a scandal. “In addition to violating Parliament’s request to seek international funds for funding the project, mismanagement from the minister [Bassil] and his 50 advisers resulted in overpricing the project by $160 million,” the lawmaker told reporters at a news conference.
He suggested that Abener-Butec had been the highest bidder at the tender awarded last month, but that Butec won the deal because the Lebanese company is owned by a supporter of Bassil’s Free Patriotic Movement. Commenting on negotiations between the government and the two companies, Qabbani said such talks “only happen in the most corrupt and underdeveloped countries.”
“If Bassil had worked within the framework of Lebanese law and transparency during the last three years, we would have been close to providing electricity to all of Lebanon,” the lawmaker said. Bassil said a deadline had been set for the companies to reduce prices.
“We believe they are fully capable of doing so,” Bassil said. Electricity-generating barges were also delayed, Bassil said, because payments to the Turkish provider were late.
“Last week the issue was finally settled and the sums were sent to the Turkish company,” Bassil said. In mid-July Lebanon signed a $360 million three-year contract to lease electricity-generating barges from Turkish firm Karkey Karadeniz Elektrik Uretim, a subsidiary of Karadeniz Holding. But the two barges, the first of which had been due to arrive in October, have yet to be dispatched.
The two electricity barges combined are expected to generate 270 megawatts of power, according to the deal, which stipulates that fuel needed by the vessels should be provided by the Lebanese government. The Turkish firm supplying the barges has been mired in scandal. Leading Turkish newspaper Hürriyet reported last week that two power-generating barges that were owned by the same supplier had been detained in Pakistan after their contracts were canceled earlier this month. The Pakistani government had recently decided the barges could leave after repaying a deposit of $17.2 million. But the decision was suspended after a Pakistani parliamentarian objected with the Pakistani High Federal Court, claiming that the Turkish company should pay up to $229 million for the release of the two ships. According to the Turkish paper, the company has pledged to take the case for international arbitration if the two ships are not allowed to return home.
The conflict between the government of Pakistan and the Turkish company started last year when Islamabad said the company had failed to deliver 230 MW of electricity that had been promised in its contract. The company blames disruptions in fuel for severely impeding its ability to deliver the promised amount of electricity to the city of Karachi, Pakistan.

Search warrants issued against Assir supporters
November 20, 2012 /By Mohammed Zaatari/The Daily Star
SIDON, Lebanon: Pressure mounted on Sheikh Ahmad Assir after Military Prosecutor Judge Saqr Saqr issued search warrants Monday against 24 gunmen seen in Sidon during the funeral of two of the preacher’s supporters who were killed in clashes earlier this month. Senior political sources told The Daily Star that pressure on Assir would increase after a number of officials agreed to withdraw their support of the sheikh’s movement, which according to the sources has brought tension to the southern city of Sidon. “The recent pressure is the beginning of a campaign to end Assir’s phenomenon of confrontation with Hezbollah,” the sources said. “Most of Assir’s backers have started to withdraw their support, including Interior Minister Marwan Charbel, who is accused by Hezbollah of protecting the sheikh’s demonstrations in Sidon,” the sources added. In an interview on MTV Monday, Charbel categorically denied holding talks with Assir in Sidon last week, saying he was still convinced Sidon should be turned into a military zone, although his proposal was frowned upon by Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn. The prosecutor’s search warrants against the gunmen will be followed with legal action against the men who were seen holding AK-47s on live television as they accompanied Assir, the sources said. According to judicial sources, Sakr asked the Internal Security forces to obtain the names of the gunmen who had accompanied Assir upon his arrival in Sidon’s Al-Karama square for the funeral. Assir buried two of his bodyguards last week after they were killed along with an Egyptian passerby during clashes with Hezbollah in the Taamir neighborhood of Sidon over a dispute regarding Hezbollah’s banners in the coastal city. The fighting also left five other people wounded, among them a Hezbollah commander.
A week following the clashes, Sakr issued a search warrant against Assir’s son, Omar, for violently resisting police officers while driving a vehicle with tinted windows without any proper authorization. Omar was released by the police after a number of his supporters drove to the scene and mounted pressure on the police. Political sources also said Assir’s backers had already notified him of the repercussions of any new movement in light of Hezbollah’s warnings that it would not stand by and watch while Assir’s supporters block roads between Beirut and south Lebanon.
“The key official who conveyed this message was the interior minister, who is accused by Hezbollah of not deploying police and the Army in Sidon after the Taamir clashes.”
The sources say that Charbel’s decision, according to Hezbollah, allowed Assir to mobilize his supporters in the vicinity of Sidon’s Bilal Ben Rabbah Mosque after the deadly fight in Taamir neighborhood.
“Hezbollah realized that some in the government have decided to use Assir to ignite tension and new fights in different neighborhoods. But party officials, in agreement with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, sent multiple messages to politicians that Hezbollah’s patience has its limits,” one of the sources said.
“Hezbollah’s message also said the party was ready to take unilateral action against any group that targets it.” “The message added: ‘Don’t bet on our commitment to the government, let it collapse whenever and let the country enter a political vacuum,’” the sources added.
Political sources also said that Hezbollah even threatened to withdraw Charbel’s vote of confidence in Parliament. “For these reasons, many have pulled back their support for Assir,” the sources said.
Speaking to MTV, Charbel said those who had accused him of supporting Assir had apologized after they learned that he in fact did not meet the controversial sheikh during his latest visit to Sidon. In a news conference over the weekend, Assir said he was suspending a decision to form a resistance brigade in the southern city of Sidon and would consult with religious scholars on the matter.

Zahle’s former lawmaker Elias Skaff Saudi Arabia keen on Lebanon’s unity
November 20, 2012 /The Daily Star/BEIRUT: Zahle’s former lawmaker Elias Skaff said after holding talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal that the kingdom was keen on maintaining stability and unity in Lebanon and the need to insulate it from regional conflicts. A statement released Monday by the media office of Skaff’s Popular Bloc said the visit to Saudi Arabia, which took place last week, came in response to an official invitation. “The atmosphere of the meeting was cordial and constructive. The discussions touched on the situation and developments in the Arab and Lebanese arenas,” the statement said. Referring to Israel’s ongoing military offensive against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, it said: “Viewpoints were identical in condemning the outrageous war crimes committed by Israel against the Palestinian people.”The Saudi minister praised the “continued historic and distinctive relations between the Skaff family and the kingdom since the days of the late Joseph Skaff,” Elias’ father.
“The meeting was an occasion to stress that the kingdom stood on Lebanon’s side and would spare no effort to help it,” the statement said. The Skaff family, which hails from the eastern city of Zahle, has always maintained close ties with Saudi Arabia dating back to Joseph, who was elected several times as an MP for Zahle. Elias Skaff had not visited Saudi Arabia since his defeat in the 2009 parliamentary elections. Media reports said his visit to Riyadh was linked to preparations for next year’s parliamentary elections. However, this was disputed by Skaff himself. “The visit did not carry any internal electoral or political dimensions, especially since the kingdom is keen on Lebanon’s independence and the respect of its sovereignty,” Skaff said in a statement upon his return to Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency reported. He added that his visit to Saudi Arabia was “normal in the current circumstances and came in the framework of the historic friendly ties linking us with the kingdom.”
“The Saudi visit stemmed from the concern of the kingdom and King Abdullah bin Abdel-Aziz al-Saud to maintain contacts with all the Lebanese parties without exception,” Skaff said.
He added that he had felt during the visit “Saudi Arabia’s keenness on Lebanon’s stability, unity and [the need] to neutralize it from all the conflicts sweeping the region.”
Skaff’s visit to Saudi Arabia came amid strained ties with his erstwhile electoral ally, MP Michel Aoun, leader of the Free Patriotic Movement. The visit has also raised speculation about a possible alliance ahead of the parliamentary polls between Skaff and the Future bloc of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Saudi Arabia’s key ally in Lebanon.

UK voices support for Lebanon Army, Dialogue
November 19, 2012/The Daily Star/BEIRUT: Britain voiced its support Monday for the Lebanese Army and National Dialogue in order to preserve political stability. According to a statement from President Michel Sleiman, Permanent Under-Secretary of State Simon Fraser met with the latter and "relayed the British government's support for stability in Lebanon, support for the Army, the work of institutions and encouraged dialogue to preserve political stability and security."Fraser also discussed with Sleiman the issue of thousands of Syrians and Palestinians and the importance of helping the country in sheltering them and providing the necessary aid. Lebanon has appealed to the international community to help the government accommodate over 100,000 Syrian refugees who have fled violence in their homeland since the uprising against President Bashar Assad began last year. Talks also focused on the situation in Syria and Gaza as well as means to stop the violence and find sound solutions for the problems. UK Ambassador Tom Fletcher attended the meeting which took place at Baabda Palace.

Lebanese Army stands firm against internal conflict
November 20, 2012/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Army Commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi said Monday that the Army would confront internal conflicts that violated the limits of democracy and would foil attempts aimed at the country’s partition.
In his Order of the Day to the military for Thursday’s 69th anniversary of Independence Day, Kahwagi said the Army would stand against any party that tries to undermine sectarian coexistence consecrated in the Constitution. “The Army will strike any attempt [aimed] at partition, division or resettlement [of Palestinians in Lebanon]. It will protect the freedoms of all those who respect its meaning. It will confront any internal conflict that goes beyond the democratic limits and preserve the right of every Lebanese for security under the sovereignty of the law,” Kahwagi added.
Apparently referring to clashes between supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad in Beirut and the north following last month’s assassination of police intelligence chief Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan, he noted that this year’s independence anniversary came amid many local divisions and disputes some of which have touched on sanctities concerning sectarian coexistence.

Nasrallah lashed out at Arabs over Gaza inertia
November 20, 2012 /The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah lashed out at Arab governments Monday for their “inaction” over the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip.
Nasrallah said Arab countries should be working on sending arms to Gaza to support the resistance rather than just being concerned about humanitarian and medical aid.
“Arab countries are acting as if they were the Red Crescent and not political entities,” he said.
“Israel is betting that the resistance in Gaza will use all the rockets in its possession ... Arab countries should send arms to Gaza to enhance the resistance’s chances in resisting the aggression rather than just act as a mediator between Israel and the Palestinians,” he added.
“Where are the Arabs who are sending arms to the opposition in Syria? They do not have the courage to send one bullet to Gaza,” Nasrallah said, referring to calls by some Arab countries to arm rebels fighting against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
Nasrallah also criticized Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani, without naming him, over his recent statement in which he said “most Arabs have become like sheep.”
“If you think you are a sheep, then say that about yourself only without including others ... some Arabs are acting like sheep indeed, but they do not represent the majority ... there are lions who are fighting like heroes in Gaza and Lebanon,” Nasrallah said.
He added that the Qatari premier had admitted in his recent speech before Arab foreign ministers in Cairo that some Arab countries had participated in the siege on Gaza in the past few years.“An important question that comes to everybody’s minds after hearing such a statement is: How were all these rockets smuggled to Gaza? Who enabled the resistance to endure and confront the aggression through supplying it with arms?” Nasrallah said rhetorically, adding that Iran, Syria and Hezbollah had never abandoned the Palestinian resistance in Gaza.
Former Prime Minister Salim al-Hoss also responded to the Qatari PM’s comment and said “Arabs will only become sheep when they abandon the resistance and surrender.”
Separately, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt said Monday that changes in the region could work in favor of Palestinians to end the fight with Israel and achieve a two-state solution.
“If the rightful [Palestinian] goals mean that they should continue with their struggle, that does not eliminate the need for all parties to understand the emerging regional reality, especially that what has been called ‘the conducive environment’ has largely changed,” Jumblatt said in a statement.
Jumblatt was referring to the uprisings in the Arab world whose people, he said, are “committed to the Palestinian cause.” He added that Egypt is now under a new government that sympathizes with the Palestinians, saying that the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood could “create a new status quo” even if it keeps its agreement with Israel.
Jumblatt said that Cairo’s 1978 Camp David peace treaty with the Jewish state aimed at “separating Egypt from its strategic relevance in Gaza.”The head of the Progressive Socialist Party voiced his confidence in the victory of the Syrian opposition over Assad which could also impose “a new reality that changes the status quo and is conducive to ending Syria’s 1973 truce agreement with Israel.”
Jumblatt said that Palestinian goals include putting an end to Israeli settlement activity, the creation of an independent state, and a return of refugees to their homeland.
Meanwhile, Syria’s Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdel-Karim Ali said Syria stands in solidarity with Gaza and supports all Palestinian factions.
“We defend Palestine, which is the core cause of the whole nation ... Syria is with Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, Fatah and The Popular Front [for the Liberation of Palestine],” he said following a meeting with Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour. Mansour will be part of a delegation of Arab foreign ministers who will visit the Gaza Strip for solidarity Tuesday.
Ali said that Syria is currently being targeted due to the stances it has taken in support of the Palestinian cause.
“The Israeli enemy, with U.S. protection and European support, is enhancing the aggression against Syria and now, it is seeking to do the same against the Palestinian people,” he added.