LCCC NEWS BULLETIN
APRIL 22/2006

Below news from the Daily Star for 22/04/06
Aoun, Hariri battle overshadows dialogue
Siniora: Lebanese-Syrian relations face 'major challenges'
Jumblatt to go on regional tour, criticizes attacks on Saad Hariri
Amnesty committee plans pardon for Bekaa detainees
Brammertz to interview Assad and Sharaa
Fadlallah blasts Bush for failing to offer aid
MP Atallah accuses Syria of trying to assassinate him
Palestinians form united delegation to meet officials
Newspapers in Lebanon agree to work together to promote reading
A former U.S. diplomat has ideas for a 'right of return'
Between Iraq and Israel, Jordan sees clouds with no silver lining
The spies Bush can't seem to love
Below news from miscellaneous sources for 22/04/06
Lebanon to US: Push Israel to withdraw-Ynetnews - Israel
Lebanese president opposes merging Hezbollah into army-People's Daily Online
Lebanon to Bush: push Israel on Shebaa farms-Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Syria reaffirms support for Hamas-led Palestinian govt-Xinhua
Hamas foreign minister received in Syria-UPI
Lebanon's groundbreaking tribunal-BBC News
Cardinal says government is dividing Lebanon-B.C. Catholic Newspaper
Return of international confidence to Lebanon-Financial Times
Lebanon Still Struggling One Year After Syria's Withdrawal-Voice of America
UN urges Lebanon to disband Hezbollah-Ha'aretz
Olmert blames Syria and Iran for Tel Aviv bombing-Ha'aretz
Lebanon challenges Syria on disputed border area-Reuters
Meet the Mokbels at home in Lebanon-The Age - Melbourne,Victoria,Australia

 Aoun, Hariri battle overshadows dialogue
FPM, FM war of words up the tension between parties as national talks approach
By Raed El Rafei and Maroun Khoury
Daily Star staff-Saturday, April 22, 2006
BEIRUT: Tensions mounted between Kesrouan MP Michel Aoun and Beirut MP Saad Hariri, raising questions about the fate of the national dialogue which will resume on April 28. Speaking following a surprise late night visit to Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, Aoun continued the attack against Hariri and the parliament majority for the third day in a row.
Aoun said: "As everyone knows, the majority which has been asking for Lahoud's resignation has backed down from its demands because they failed to agree." Asked about the row with the Future Movement, Aoun said: "They picked on a statement I made and whose content I reiterate. I spoke about a lack of democracy and immaturity with some and I am reiterating this statement. Hariri has said this about himself several times."
"What exactly are the sacrifices that Hariri has given for this country? I don't think he has given any more sacrifices than anyone else for him to become a dictator. His father is a martyr for the country, not for the Hariri family and taking advantage of that is unacceptable."
As to whether this is an episode in a prior struggle between him and the majority leader, Aoun said: "There was no tension or struggle. These people failed in their attempt to oust the president and now they are trying to distract the people with something other than their failure so no one will ask them: 'yesterday you wanted him out, why are you now saying he will do over someone else?'."
In a press release issued early Friday, Hariri's Future Movement attacked the head of the Free Patriotic Movement, describing his statements the previous day as "irrational" and his behavior "irresponsible."
This triggered a response from the FPM, which indirectly held the Future Movement responsible for the public debt, the economic recession, corruption and hindering constitutional life.
The Future Movement statement said Aoun was unfit for the presidency due to his "inability to control himself in front of a camera or a microphone."
It was referring to earlier statements by Aoun where he said Hariri was "politically immature" and "dictatorial."
The country cannot be run by someone suffering from a "nervous fit," it said, adding these attacks were instigated because Aoun refused to accept there were respectable and wise Maronite candidates for the presidency other than himself.
The statement strongly criticized the change in Aoun's political stance from Syria's enemy to its ally, suggesting he made a deal with the Syrian regime to secure his return to Lebanon after a 15-year exile in France.
"Aoun has become today Syria's strategic ally and its first candidate to the presidency," the Future Movement said.
The Future Movement also accused Aoun of "falsifying historical facts" in retaliation to his earlier interview with Al-Jazeera, in which he said today's majority was implementing Syria's policy in Lebanon in the past 15 years.
The statement said slain former Premier Rafik Hariri was the major victim of the Syrian regime, rejecting what Aoun said about Hariri being responsible for the oppression of Aoun's partisans on August 7, 2001.
Later on Friday, a statement released by Aoun's press office rejected these accusations and said Aoun was a leader "who knows how to bring the Lebanese together and to overcome the past and move forward."
The statement said Aoun was "impressed by the feeling of national unity spurred by Hariri's martyrdom," adding he never denied the role Hariri's murder played in Lebanon regaining its independence and sovereignty.
In his interview with Al-Jazeera Thursday, Aoun reiterated that he benefited from 70 percent of the Lebanese's support to become president, adding that if the majority continued to reject his candidacy, he would remain in the opposition.
He also said: "The next session of the dialogue will not generate any dynamism," adding the majority would be responsible for the failure of the dialogue.
In the coming round of the dialogue, politicians will be discussing Hizbullah's arms in addition to the issue of the presidency, amid the majority's refusal to link the fate of Lahoud to an agreement over who the next president would be.
Reform and Change MP Abbas Hashem, who is participating in the dialogue next to Aoun, accused the majority of preferring that Lahoud remain in power rather than Aoun becoming president.
In response to the Future Movement's statement, he said Aoun is highly committed "to the will of the Lebanese people and the project of building a real state," adding the parliamentary majority does not represent the majority of the population even according to ambassadors of countries like France and the U.S.

Chidiac back to work in 3 months
Daily Star staff-Saturday, April 22, 2006Lebanese news anchor May Chidiac announced Friday that she would return to Lebanon within three months to start a political talk show and resume work at the daily Naharkom Said television program and to broadcast the news to "quench her thirst," as she said. According to reports, Chidiac made her first steps with artificial limbs recently after the assassination attempt against her life in September 25, 2005 which led to the amputation of her left leg and arm. Chidiac announced that her health is improving now that she has undergone surgery 24 times. She said being awarded UNESCO's World Press Freedom Prize is a recognition by the international community that the freedom of the press in Lebanon was violated. Chidiac said reporters are divided into two kinds: those who remain neutral and those who fight in defense of their country's freedom, adding that she paid a heavy price for her opposition to occupation.

Cloudy weather, 32 degrees for the weekend
Daily Star staff-Saturday, April 22, 2006- The Civil Aviation Meteorological Department said the weather will be partly cloudy during the weekend, with temperatures reaching 32 degrees along the coast Saturday. In a statement issued Friday, the department said temperatures will reach 29 degrees in the mountains and 21 degrees in the Cedars and humidity will range between 55 and 75 percent. The wind speed will vary between 8 and 25 percent. The statement added that temperatures will gradually drop Sunday.

New book examines Lebanon's intelligence services
Daily Star staff-Saturday, April 22, 2006-A seminar was held Thursday by Dar an-Nadwa to discuss the new book by An-Nahar journalist Nicolas Nassif. The seminar was attended by former Ministers Elias Saba, Sami Khatib, Karim Pakradouni and Adel Halawi and former MPs Rafik Chahine and Beshara Merhej, as well as other cultural and political figures. The book entitled "The Intelligence Bureau, a Governor in Shadow," talks about the mandate of President Fouad Chehab and the role of the intelligence services in Lebanese political life.

NLP praises international community
Daily Star staff-Saturday, April 22, 2006- The National Liberal Party thanked the international community Friday for supporting Lebanon's rights, calling on participants in the national dialogue conference to put the country's interest as top priority. In a statement released following its weekly meeting, the NLP expressed gratitude to U.S. President George W. Bush for being ready to provide assistance to Lebanon and promising to assist in Israel's withdrawal from the Shebaa Farms. The NLP also expressed condolences for the relatives of the victims of the Qana massacres in 1996, stressing that Lebanon has suffered enormously and should be given the chance to overcome its ordeals by allowing citizens to choose national unity. Finally the NLP congratulated Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir for leading the Maronite Patriarchate for 20 years, wishing him luck in his efforts to defend national principles.

Siniora: Lebanese-Syrian relations face 'major challenges'
By Majdoline Hatoum -Daily Star staff
Saturday, April 22, 2006
BEIRUT: Lebanese Premier Fouad Siniora said Friday that Lebanese-Syrian bilateral relations are currently facing "major challenges," and added that the issues of reaching an agreement over demarcating borders and establishing diplomatic relations with Syria "should not be underestimated." Addressing the UN Security Council on Friday, Siniora said: "It is a major challenge to put the Lebanese-Syrian relations on the right footing. The scars left by the dramatic developments of the past 19 months, and the heavy-handed interference in Lebanese domestic affairs by the Syrian security establishment for many years, are not easy to heal."Siniora added that a positive response by Syria, on two pending issues - the demarcation of borders and establishing diplomatic relations, both of which are decisions made in Lebanon's national dialogue - will be an indication that Syria "is beginning to accept the idea that good relations are possible between Syria and an independent Lebanon."
Siniora also said that an Israeli withdrawal from the disputed Shebaa Farms area, which Beirut regards as Lebanese territory, is "a priority national issue.""It is incumbent upon Israel to withdraw from it, hand over the Lebanese detainees in its prisons, submit the maps of the landmines it left in the South, and stop its infringements on Lebanese sovereignty," he said.
"We look forward to an active role by the UN in helping us achieve those demands," Siniora added.
The Lebanese PM also informed the UNSC of decisions made by the country's national dialogue, and said that after "many years of civil strife, Israeli occupation and Syrian presence - during which most major policy issues were being either managed by non-Lebanese or were in some cases considered too sensitive to tackle - the Lebanese started to engage in real and serious debate over all policy matters."
Syria's UN deputy representative Milad Atieh responded to Siniora's speech by reiterating Damascus' willingness to demarcate the borders, although he said this could not be done in the Shebaa Farms area because the area "is under Israeli occupation."
"Israel must withdraw from the occupied territories before our two countries can demarcate their borders," Atieh said.
On the issue of diplomatic relations, he said: "if there is mutual will ... that matter can be considered."
Siniora, who was heading a Lebanese delegation that concluded its visit to the U.S. late Friday night, met with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan for one hour, after which he held a  news conference where he mentioned the formation of an international tribunal to try assassins of former Premier Rafik Hariri, and said Lebanon wants to see this tribunal in action "as soon as possible." Justice Minister Charles Rizk had said earlier that documents regarding the international court are almost completed.
"We are in a hurry to complete this agreement," he said. He said once the text is drafted, the accord will need to be approved by Cabinet and Parliament and then signed by the Lebanese government and United Nations. Meanwhile the U.S. administration urged Syria on Thursday to negotiate with Lebanon on the future of Shebaa Farms.
"A settlement could have a wide effect on peacemaking in the Middle East," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. "We will call for a negotiated solution among all the parties under the auspices of the UN," he said. "And we would also call upon Syria and Lebanon to establish normal diplomatic relations."
Both the UN and Israel consider Shebaa Farms to be Syrian occupied land. However, Lebanon is contending its Lebanese, and is currently trying to prove this before the UN. In the meantime, Hizbullah remains in southern Lebanon in a periodic cross-border war with Israel. McCormack appeared skeptical a solution would be reached on Shebaa Farms.
He said Syria was "all too happy to let the situation stand as it is.""It is a fair assessment to say that they are the key stumbling block to resolving these issues that could lead to a resolution in a number of areas," he added.
Siniora had also addressed Lebanese-Israeli relations during a conference he held at the Woodrow Wilson Foundation in Washington late Thursday night. Asked if Lebanon can envision establishing diplomatic relations with Israel, Siniora said: "Well yes, when we achieve a peace agreement that is based on the Madrid Conference."
"Let me state it very clearly, when you talk about the ... [the Arab peace initiative], it states clearly that we'll have natural relations, normal relations between Lebanon and the Arab countries and with Israel," Siniora said. "And whenever we achieve that thing [peace] yes, there will be diplomatic relations," he added. Lebanon has repeatedly said that it will be the last Arab country to sign a peace treaty and normalize its relations with Israel.
The premier also discussed the situation of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, and said there are no plans to naturalize the estimated 400,000 refugees in the country, "because we believe they will go back home," he said. "It is the responsibility of the international community" to achieve this," he added.

Jumblatt to go on regional tour, criticizes attacks on Saad Hariri
By Maher Zeineddine -Daily Star correspondent
Saturday, April 22, 2006
CHOUF: The head of the Democratic Gathering, MP Walid Jumblatt, has asked that "some politicians stop attacking the head of the Future bloc, MP Saad Hariri, because he is offering sacrifices for the sake of Lebanon."
Indirectly referring to MP Michel Aoun, who has accused Hariri of being "dictatorial and immature," Jumblatt urged "those politicians to end this unjustified attack, because we all belong to the March 14 Forces and we are working to build a modern country." Speaking after his meeting Friday with Egyptian Ambassador Hussein Darrar in Mukhtara, Jumblatt said Hariri "was working to establish honest relations between Syria and Lebanon and to protect the resistance within a Lebanese framework in order to build a country based on the Taif Accord." Jumblatt expressed his support for the latest report by UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559.
Darrar said he hoped the Lebanese national dialogue would reach a positive outcome. Asked if there was any Egyptian initiative to help Lebanon demarcate its borders in Shebaa Farms, the ambassador said: "Egyptian and Arab efforts will be deployed, after the issuing of the national dialogue decisions." Speaking Friday during an interview with the Central News Agency, Democratic Gathering MP Alaeddine Tirro said Jumblatt would soon visit Egypt and other Arab countries to discuss pending issues in Lebanon. Meanwhile, the Progressive Socialist Party lashed out at President Emile Lahoud on Friday, describing him as "a tool of the Syrian regime" and stressing that he and Hizbullah have "mutual interests."
Replying to a speech delivered by Lahoud on Thursday, the PSP issued a statement in which it said: "It seems that the support of the Syrian regime to its tools in Lebanon started to yield some results, as reporters in the Presidential Palace were summoned to listen to statements, which the orator himself, can no longer believe in."
Commenting on Lahoud's rejection of the UN proposal to integrate Hizbullah into the army, the PSP said: "It is obvious that Lahoud is insisting on defending the resistance because it guarantees its presence in the Presidential Palace."
The PSP said it was "surprised that Lahoud, the former army general, said that the Lebanese Army was not strong enough and had limited skills."It also "asked about the money that has been spent on promoting and developing the army during Lahoud's mandate."MP Butros Harb also criticized Lahoud's fierce defense of the four former security officials currently detained in Roumieh prison. Harb asked the president to "let the lawyers do their job."

Amnesty committee plans pardon for Bekaa detainees
Daily Star staff-Saturday, April 22, 2006
BEIRUT: After eight months of suspended activities, the General Amnesty Follow-Up Committee in Lebanon decided to initiate visits to spiritual leaders to brief them about their new agenda and to request help to endorse a general amnesty law.
The committee also intends to visit the heads of parliamentary blocs as well as Speaker Nabih Berri away from the political limelight to avoid being labeled partisan to any specific party. For this purpose, the committee held a meeting at the Sun Palace Restaurant in Baalbek with the participation of the families of the detained and the wanted from the Bekaa.
Participant Qassem Mohammed Tleis denounced what he called "discretional justice which serves sultans and deprives others."
He said amnesty should have comprehended all the Lebanese, including the residents of Baalbek-Hermel whose crimes seem minor compared to those who were granted pardon. Last summer, only the Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and suspects in the Dinnieh and Majdal Anjar clashes, which pitted them against the Lebanese Army in 2000 and 2001, were granted pardon by the Lebanese authorities. Tanios Wehbi mocked the officials' preoccupation with the political situation: "Instead of demarcating the Lebanese-Syrian border, we call for demarcating the border between Lebanon and the Baalbek-Hermel dictatorial kingdom and opening an embassy between the country and Baalbek that is suffering the burden of a military and economic embargo." - The Daily Star

Brammertz to interview Assad and Sharaa
By Leila Hatoum -Daily Star staff
Saturday, April 22, 2006
BEIRUT: The UN chief investigator into the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri, Serge Brammertz, was expected to head to Syria Friday to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad. As The Daily Star went to press late Friday, however, no confirmation of Brammertz's trip had emerged. Brammertz, who is expected to meet with Assad and his deputy Farouq al-Sharaa before the end of April, is keeping the nature of his investigations and his movements completely under wraps.
On Wednesday, Western diplomats and a Baath Party official said that the UN investigators are expected to meet Assad as early as Friday to discuss Syria's alleged role in the killing Hariri. "We are hearing that the meeting will finally take place in the next few days," one diplomat said. It would be the first time UN investigators are known to have met Assad since the Hariri inquiry began. Syrian government officials refused to comment, saying that they were bound by a deal with Brammertz not to leak information. A U.N. spokeswoman in Beirut said: "Mr Brammertz said ... that the Syrians had agreed to meet with the commission during the month of April ... but we do not comment on his movements."
In a report that he presented to the UN Security Council in mid-March, Brammertz said he would be meeting with Assad and Sharaa in April. Brammertz has already made two trips to Syria, during which he met with Sharaa and Riad Daoudi, the legal advisor to the Syrian Foreign Ministry. He has also met with Daoudi in Beirut.
Earlier this week, Brammertz met with UN Chief Kofi Annan in New York and later met with the five permanent members in the UN Security Council. According to media reports the talks with the UN officials involved the formation of the international tribunal that will try the perpetrators in the Hariri case. The tribunal has been the focus of discussions due to the fact that four top security officers have been arrested in connection with the crime.
Raymond Azar, the former Military Intelligence chief; Ali Hajj, the former ISF chief; Mustafa Hamdan, former chief of the Presidential Guards; and Jamil Sayyed, former head of the General Security, have been in custody for the past eight months "without being faced with verbal or written evidence against them," according to their attorneys.
Lawyers Naji Boustani and Issam Karam called Friday for the release of the four Lebanese officers, who were detained after former UN chief Investigator Detlev Mehlis recommended their arrest based on the testimony of Mohammed Zuheir Siddiq, a Syrian witness who was proved to have been lying and later considered a suspect by Mehlis.
Both attorneys made the comment in reply to Justice Minister Charles Rizk's recent statements in which he said the fate of the officers will be determined by the special tribunal which is yet to be formed. "It is unacceptable to continue to arrest the (officers) until the end of the trial," said both attorneys.

Fadlallah blasts Bush for failing to offer aid
By Therese Sfeir -Daily Star staff
Saturday, April 22, 2006
BEIRUT: Senior Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah slammed U.S. President George W. Bush's "praise for Lebanon's freedom, that comes without offering any financial support to the country." He added: "Lebanon is the first democratic country in the region and the U.S. transformed it into a bargaining card to use for its plans in the Middle East."
Speaking during a Friday sermon delivered at Al-Imamayn al-Hassanayn mosque in Haret Hreik, Fadlallah said: "What is ironic is that the U.S. president, during his meeting with Premier Fouad Siniora, congratulated the Lebanese on their independence and said he hoped that Lebanon would regain its role in the region ... he says this as if the U.S. helped the country achieve its independence." He added: "The U.S. did not contribute in the implementation of democracy in Lebanon, which has been the only democratic country in the region since the 1940s."
Fadlallah stressed the sacrifices offered by the resistance to liberate the South from the Israelis, who he called "America's closest allies." Fadlallah said that the United States "took advantage of the country's problems" to suit its ambitions in the region. He added: "The U.S. did not offer any financial aid to help Lebanon overcome its economic crisis, while we see it granting every year millions of dollars to the Israelis to improve their military force and attack the region."
He warned against the "U.S.-Israeli-European plan to attack the Palestinian people and punish them on the economic and political levels."Fadlallah added: "We want the Lebanese to know that the United States, which supported Israel in perpetrating massacres in Lebanon and Palestine, is not honest in its calls to abide by the international resolution, such as UN Resolution 1559."Meanwhile, Vice President of the Higher Shiite Council Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan arrived to Jordan on Friday, upon an official invitation from the personal adviser of King Abdullah, Prince Ghazi bin Mohammed bin Talal.
Qabalan participated in the Friday's prayers, along with King Abdullah. In a letter addressed to the Lebanese, Qabalan stressed the need to "maintain accord and to ease tension."Qabalan also asked Lebanese politicians to "arm themselves with wisdom and to put the interests of the country above all considerations."

Campaign for Judicial Integrity in Lebanon
Beirut, April 21, 2006: The Center for Democracy & Rule of Law for Lebanon (www.cdrl.org) has received the following press release issued by The Campaign for Judicial Integrity, a Lebanese policy and advocacy group and an affiliate of CDRL:
For Immediate Release
CJI calls for full implementation of the
human rights and democracy clause in Article 2 of the
Lebanese-European Association Agreement first:
Justice must come before tax increases and fiscal reform
Beirut, April 21, 2006: The Campaign for Judicial Integrity (CJI), a Lebanese policy and advocacy group active in promoting reform of the Lebanese judiciary and legal profession urged the European Union to give the highest priority for the full implementation of the human rights and democracy clause in Article 2 of the Lebanese-European association agreement before fiscal reform and tax increases. A delegation from the group called on the EUC ambassador to Beirut, Patrick Renauld, on Thursday, April 20, 2006, and handed him the following letter:
To the European Union Delegation to Lebanon
Greetings. We wish to let you know that the people of Lebanon welcome the association agreement because of the priority it gives, under its Article 2 to the principles of human rights and democracy. Hence we call for this priority to be respected and carefully translated into action at all times and in every sphere of possible European-Lebanese cooperation. If not, we believe the people of Lebanon may well turn against this agreement and reject any and all of its fruits which are not built on the cornerstone of human rights, justice and the rule of law. Fiscal reform, through more borrowing and raising more taxes, is not a national priority for the Lebanese, who look at it with grave suspicions. The priority is human rights and democracy, that can only be achieved through a major overhaul of the judiciary and the bar associations in order to enhance the rule of law and accountability. Over fifty billion dollars have been incurred as a public debt in the absence of the ru! le of law. If the EU facilitates the incurring by Lebanon of more debt in the billions then the new money will go the same way as the old money and the people of Lebanon will incur the ultimate liability but without the possibility of judicial oversight and bringing the abusers to account. 

Lebanon to Bush: push Israel on Shebaa farms
Jewish Telegraphic Agency- 21/4/06
 Lebanon’s prime minister asked President Bush to pressure Israel to leave the Shebaa Farms area.
“Israel should withdraw from all the territories that belong to Lebanon,” Fouad Siniora said this week at the National Press Club, after he met with Bush. “This would be a very important step in the process we are taking so that we reach a point where Lebanon will be liberated from all Israeli occupation." Siniora said Bush expressed “appreciation” for the request.
The United Nations, which certified Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, says the Shebaa Farms area is Syrian and properly remains a subject for Israel-Syrian negotiation. In public statements, Syrian leaders have backed Lebanon’s claim to the land, but they will not formally commit to the claim.
"Syria is all too happy to let the situation stand as it is, because in their view, there is no percentage in beginning a negotiation with Lebanon on this," said Sean McCormack, the State Department spokesman, in reaction to Siniora’s remarks. "So I think it is a fair assessment to say that they are the key stumbling block to resolving these issues."
Hezbollah, a Lebanese terrorist group, uses Israel’s continued presence in the area as a pretext to launch attacks.