LCCC NEWS BULLETIN
FEBRUARY 25/2006

Below news from miscelaneous sources for 25.2.06
God's Mercy on Lahoud's Days.By: Daoud Shirian Al-Hayat 25.2.06
Below news from the Daily Star for 25.2.06
Rice's visit confirms U.S. support for Lahoud to go
Sfeir: Leaders must work for country's interests not theirs
Siniora: Effects of tutelage still prevail
March 14 Christians consider next president
Judiciary sets sights on Al-Mustaqbal over slander
March 14 boycott brings country to standstill
Khalil warns against delaying unity talks
UN examines MPs' claims they were pressured
Italy closes Moussa Sadr case
PNO: Future backing militants in Taamir
EU donates $17.8 million to refugees
March 14 forces' coalition initiates public petition calling for lahoud to step down
Abbas: Hamas is trying to halt rocket attacks

Rice's visit confirms U.S. support for Lahoud to go
By Walid Choucair - Saturday, February 25, 2006
Daily Star- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to Beirut on Thursday confirmed the existence of American and international support for the removal of President Emile Lahoud. This support, which grew through discussions with officials in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, was the main result of her visit. According to information leaked to the media during Rice's Beirut visit, the secretary is determined to support Lahoud's ousting, based on her consultations with America's international allies.
Also revealed was the fact that Rice has called on Riyadh and Cairo to convince Syrian President Bashar Assad to facilitate Lahoud's exit from Baabda Palace. Lahoud has not replied to demands for his resignation from the March 14 Forces. There is a general belief in Lebanon that the decision is not Lahoud's to make, but that the matter is in Assad's hand.
Until either Saudi Arabia or Egypt decides to apply some pressure on Damascus, Lebanon's political forces will try to seclude Lahoud in such a way as to make his stay in office impossible. The March 14 Forces are supported by Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, who will have to ask Lahoud - on behalf of both Christians and Muslims - to allow new presidential elections. Sfeir will also be given the right to choose the next president from a list provided by Christian leaders. The Prelate has stressed the need for an agreement on a new president before ousting Lahoud and refused to allow demonstrations to topple the president.
However, the efforts being made by the March 14 Forces to isolate Lahoud raise many questions about the level of consensus on the issue, and whether said consensus is enough to convince the Arabs to pressure Syria into ordering Lahoud to step down. While a Christian consensus requires MP Michel Aoun's approval, he continues to insist on his own candidacy for the presidency as a precondition to his cooperation. Toward this aim, sources within the parliamentary majority say the March 14 Forces will look to start a dialogue with Aoun in the coming days.
MPs Walid Jumblatt and Saad Hariri are expected to meet with Aoun in the coming days in an attempt to garner his support and persuade the former general to withdraw his precondition. Both Jumblatt and Hariri have decided to leave the presidency to the Christians, with the final decision belonging to Sfeir. These efforts will be followed by an attempt by Christian leaders within the March 14 camp, who gathered at the home of former President Amine Gemayel on Friday, to reach a consensus on a presidential candidate. However, observers believe that this Christian consensus - even if reached with Aoun's support - might still not be enough to topple the president should Hizbullah continue to support Lahoud.
These observers said any internal consensus requires involving Hizbullah. Resistance leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has said that all national issues should be tackled through consensus and dialogue among all parties.The March 14 sources believe Hariri will handle the talks with Hizbullah and offer to settle the resistance's disarmament through internal dialogue in exchange for the party's support in ousting Lahoud.However, the same observers believe that, even if Hizbullah agrees, internal Lebanese consensus might not be enough to remove the president if Syria insists on keeping Lahoud in office.
And if Damascus cooperates, what will it ask in return?

Sfeir: Leaders must work for country's interests not theirs
By Maroun Khoury -Daily Star correspondent
Saturday, February 25, 2006
BKIRKI: In a mass to mark the start of the Catholic holy period of Lent, Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butrous Sfeir gave an address in which he slammed Lebanese politicians, especially the Maronites. He said Lebanon is able to overcome its difficulties "only if its leaders work for the interests of the country instead of their own."
Sfeir spoke of the assasinations that have taken place in the country, saying "so many violations and crimes have taken place during the past year and no one has been able to reveal who the real culprits are."
He said that if the perpetrators had been arrested and brought to justice, "no one else would have dared to commit any more crimes."As for the socio-economic situation in Lebanon, the prelate said he was dissatisfied with the fact that there are so many unemployed, yet highly educated people. "All of these young people are traveling abroad because Lebanon doesn't know how to benefit from their competence," Sfeir said.
Sfeir later met with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, who said after the meeting that "Lebanon will soon have a new president." Sfeir also met Culture Minister Tarek Mitri, who was sent by Future Movement MP Saad Hariri. After the meeting, Mitri said that at this stage "politicians should take into consideration safeguarding the national interest."
Head of the National Bloc Carlos Edde said following his meeting with the prelate that his bloc was the first party to object to President Emile Lahoud's term extension "because it violates the principles of democracy and elections, and the extension was done in an illegitimate way."Sfeir also met with MP Samir Franjieh, former MPs Fares Said, Ghattas Khoury and Pierre Dakkash.

Siniora: Effects of tutelage still prevail
premier highlights rafik hariri's efforts to free lebanon
By Leila Hatoum -Daily Star staff
Saturday, February 25, 2006
BEIRUT: Lebanon has witnessed "decades of mandates and tutelage, which have all cost the Lebanese blood, tears, suffering and wasted efforts and opportunities," according to Premier Fouad Siniora.Siniora was speaking Friday during the launch of a series of meetings and seminars entitled "The Martyr Premier Rafik Hariri: Landmarks of the role and the meaning of martyrdom" at the UNESCO Palace, with the presence of politicians, diplomats and religious figures.
The event was held to remind the people of Hariri's efforts to build Lebanon, educate its students, and create a sovereign and capable state.The premier, who said Lebanon is a "sovereign and independent Arab country," added however that "we have not gotten rid of the effects and residues of the former tutelage (Syrian), which is why we haven't been able to advance in the national democratic project of building the state." He added that the martyr Hariri had worked "for over two decades to provide the Lebanese with a free and prosperous life," and this is the change the crowds gathering this February 14 have been calling for. Siniora also said that "standing in the face of the change which builds the safe state, the democratic state, the state of all the Lebanese, is the same as standing in the face of Hariri's project which is the dream of all the Lebanese of a free prosperous future of a sovereign state."
"For all of this, and for Rafik Hariri and his project, we will not accept to remain in the same situation; we will not be intimidated by hindrances, or the rumors of destruction and terrorism."
He added that all the perpetrators "will be taken to justice ... the Lebanese people and their will and state will stay."
Nassib Lahoud, the head of the Democratic Renewal Movement and a prominent member of the March 14 Forces, also delivered a speech during the event. Lahoud said that Hariri was a pioneer in the issue of the national consensus on liberating Lebanon from any occupation, and "was the engineer of international support for the legitimacy of the resistance."
He added: "During the years of reconstruction, Lebanon was suffering from the Israeli occupation, and strengthening our country was not only through reconstruction, but also through freeing it. That is why the national consensus was on liberating Lebanon, and this consensus remains."Hizbullah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan, Information Minister Ghazi Aridi and Maronite Bishop George Matar also delivered speeches in which they spoke of Hariri's charities and excellence in rebuilding the country.

March 14 Christians consider next president
'All political factions agree on the need for lahoud to resign'
By Hadi Tawil and Majdoline Hatoum -Daily Star staff
Saturday, February 25, 2006
BEIRUT: In an attempt to reach an agreement over who will succeed President Emile Lahoud to Lebanon's top post, leaders of March 14 Forces held a meeting Friday in the house of former President Amin Gemayel. Talking following the meeting, Gemayel said: "We are living in a crisis where the national and constitutional life is passive because the presidency, which is supposed to be symbol to all Lebanese, is passive." The meeting was attended by the country's top Christian leaders, including Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, MPs Ghassan Tueni, Nayla Mouawad, Butros Harb, George Adwan and former MPs, Ghattas Khoury, Gabriel Murr, Fares Soueid and Nassib Lahoud, who is viewed by many as a strong contender for the presidency. "The beginning of a solution for our crisis is through electing a new president, who can give back the presidency its true international and local value," Gemayel said.
He added: "The positive thing about what is happening is that all political factions agree on the need for President Emile Lahoud to resign, but the problem lies in the way to topple Lahoud and who will replace him."
Asked whether the March 14 Forces were in contact with Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, Gemayel said: "I personally spoke with Aoun on the phone yesterday in addition to sending a delegation headed by Karim Pakradouni to visit him over this issue." He added: "We will be in constant coordination with the FPM." Gemayel also said that after consultations, March 14 Forces decided Lahoud could be ousted through securing a two-thirds majority in Parliament.
However, Aoun, who is also a strong presidential candidate, told The Daily Star over the phone that he opposed ousting Lahoud in the way March 14 Forces were proposing. Aoun said: "If they think they can oust Lahoud through providing a majority of two thirds, we can arrange a mechanism to prevent them from having the two-third majority to topple the president.""Where would they bring the two-thirds from, the moon?" he asked.
Tueni, who answered questions by the media following the meeting, also stressed the need to topple Lahoud, saying: "The prolongation of Lahoud's mandate was forced on us by a foreign country." Asked by The Daily Star about Hizbullah's Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah's warning of using public demonstrations as a tool to topple
Lahoud, Tueni said the March 14 Forces rejected any threats over this issue, and added: "Nobody wants to use the street as a tool, but if we go on demonstrations, they will be peaceful. We never used weapons in our demonstrations."
Gemayel also said the national dialogue called for by Speaker Nabih Berri, should take place in the Presidential Palace.
"But due to the absence of an active role for the president, Speaker Berri was forced to open the Parliament for a national dialogue." The meeting of March 14 Forces had been preceded by another meeting between Geagea and Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir during the day. Following his visit to the prelate, Geagea said he did not know how long the process to oust Lahoud would take. "But I can assure you that we are determined to end this issue very soon, and we will not discuss any other issue until we elect a new President," he said. "Lebanon will have a new president soon. A constitutional president."
When asked that if Lahoud's term is unconstitutional, then Geagea's freedom would be too (since Lahoud had to sign the decree), Geagea said: "I don't care. I will go back to prison if it means the country will have a new president."
He added that several names are being discussed right now to replace Lahoud, but refused to mention any of them, admitting at the same time that Aoun was a "serious and strong candidate" for the presidency.
Geagea also reasserted that the March 14 Forces were going to use "all democratic means necessary" in order to topple the president, and rejected accusations by some political factions in the country of hiding behind an American agenda.
"I suffered for 11 years in prison because I rejected foreign interference," he said. "If the American agenda happens to coincide with our agenda now that's another issue," he added. "But the decision to topple Lahoud is 100 percent Lebanese."
Talking to The Daily Star, Hizbullah MP Nawar Sahili said that the way March 14 Forces were dealing with the issue of toppling Lahoud was "unacceptable."
"We are not opposed to the idea of choosing a new president, but everything should happen through dialogue," he said, and added: "Even Lahoud is not alienated to the idea of stepping down, but he wants to ensure there is an agreement over the person of the president," he said. Sahili, who visited Lahoud during the day, added: "If we are to change Lahoud and choose a new president, it should happen with the agreement of all the Lebanese."
"The post of the presidency is for all the Lebanese and not just for the Maronites," he said, but stressed that the blessings of the prelate was very important.

Judiciary sets sights on Al-Mustaqbal over slander
Daily Star- Saturday, February 25, 2006
The Lebanese judiciary has started legal procedures against late Premier Rafik Hariri's Al-Mustaqbal (Future) newspaper and all those who appeared in the Future TV broadcast and "slandered the president," according to a Justice Ministry statement.
The legal procedures will not include the ministers and MPs who also appeared in the footage and also slammed President Emile Lahoud because they enjoy ministerial and parliamentary immunity.
State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza opened investigations into two cases related to the slandering of Lahoud, after the newspaper published an article on Friday slamming Lahoud. On Thursday, Future Television broadcast live footage of March 14 supporters insulting Lahoud. Al-Mustaqbal and Future Television are two anti-Syrian media outlets.
According to Article 22 of the Lebanese Publication Code, any media outlet that publishes material insulting the person of the president, or the person of a foreign president, is punished by closure until the trial is over.
According to a statement released on Friday, Mirza opened investigations into the article published in Friday's issue of Al-Mustaqbal written by journalist and political talk show host Fares Khashan titled "Johnny Abdo tells all about Emile Lahoud." Khashan, who is currently residing in France for security reasons, interviewed the former Lebanese ambassador to France and former Intelligence Chief Johnny Abdo about Lahoud. The investigations will be based according to the provisions of the Publications Law. When contacted by The Daily Star, Future Television, Lahoud's media office and Mirza refused to comment.
Abdo said "under Lahoud's mandate, the Presidential Palace was turned into an unsuitable place to hold dialogue, and Lahoud's presence violates the Constitution, because the Constitution says the president is the symbol of unity."
Abdo added that he "is surprised how Lahoud agrees to become a commodity put up for auction and have his allies sell him at a price convenient to them."
Commenting on Lahoud's "accomplishments-scandals," Abdo told Khashan that Lahoud had his private budget for gifts (LL 1.5 billion annually) he squandered on politicians he needed favors from to achieve his political dreams."
Further, Mirza has examined a videotape of the footage that was broadcast live by Future Television, on Thursday, that showed youth and supporters of the March 14 Forces insulting Lahoud and initiated legal procedures against all the people shown in the footage and has asked that they be arrested on charges of verbally attacking Lahoud.
In 1998, while Lahoud was giving his inaugural address when he was elected president, he pledged no journalist or media will be oppressed during his term, nor will freedom of speech suffer. Throughout Lahoud's term, several journalists have been hounded, including Future TV presenter Zahi Wehbe, as well as institutions shut down - such as Murr TV. This past year alone was the worst for journalists, with leading anti-Syrian journalists killed and targeted by car bombs.

March 14 boycott brings country to standstill
By Adnan El-Ghoul -Daily Star staff
Saturday, February 25, 2006
After placing their noose around the president' neck, this week's decision by March 14 ministers to boycott Cabinet sessions will paralyze all state institutions, including the Parliament, judicial system and security apparatus.
Legislators cannot pass a law or decree without the ratification of the government and president, who is also the commander in chief of all security organs. With the government effectively closed for business, Lebanon can say good-bye to a proposed international donor's conference, administrative reforms and the remaining state appointments.
"The only way to avoid the upcoming power vacuum will be to hold the dialogue conference on time," said Development and Liberation bloc member MP Anwar Khalil. Khalil said that any delay of the proposed March 2 dialogue would bring a further escalation of the ongoing negative and contradictory political campaigns.
"At this rate, the unprecedented deterioration in the political climate would destroy the constitutional institutions and put them in the center of the storm," Khalil said. The March 14 Forces have dug in their heels in response to a political escalation from the opposition, and continue to insist that they will oust President Emile Lahoud from office by March 14.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's surprise visit to Beirut after tours in Egypt and Saudi Arabia this week indicates that the U.S. has secured an Arab consensus over the need to remove Lahoud.
Lahoud's fate is no longer the epicenter of the national quarrel, but centers rather on how to achieve this goal and name a successor. Moreover, some majority figures have said the March 14 deadline is only symbolic, but have not refused to announce a retreat as their rivals had hoped. The question remains how long the majority can continue to appear steadfast and resolute and refuse to compromise on the opposition's condition that Michel Aoun be the only candidate to replace Lahoud.
Observers say the only feasible option for the majority is to "keep the date and lose the post," meaning the March 14 Forces should actively participate in the national dialogue to be convened by Speaker Nabih Berri Thursday and reach a consensus through discussions.
Future bloc MP Hadi Hobeish said during an LBCI morning talk show on Friday that the majority will continue to press for a candidate of its choosing or call for "free elections in Parliament, in which Aoun would not be the only candidate."
If the majority stands firm on this point, the political stalemate will only continue, as the majority still needs two-thirds of Parliament to achieve its goal, particularly after the opposition has reasserted its unity following rumors of possible political penetrations in Aoun and Berri's parliamentary blocs.
According to the speaker, if the dialogue is held on time and witnesses the full participation of the country's leaders, the round-table discussions will reach a conclusion within 10 days.
The country can afford to wait 10 more days, but not indefinitely. Social and economic problems are mounting and the Lebanese people have gotten the message; they are split into two camps. Nevertheless, the people are looking for solutions, not more fiery speeches or million-man rallies.

UN examines MPs' claims they were pressured
Saturday, February 25, 2006
BEIRUT: Terje Roed-Larsen, the UN special envoy for the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559, said the UN is examining a petition signed by former and present MPs who claimed they were pressured to support the 2004 extension of President Emile Lahoud's mandate.
Larsen said UN Secretary General Kofi Annan had informed the Security Council that there was a general feeling in Lebanon that "the election (of Lahoud) was implemented with the direct interference of Syria."
He stressed that "this is a Lebanese issue that should be solved in Beirut through the existing democratic institutions."
Larsen further revealed that his contacts with Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Defense Minister Elias Murr have confirmed that "(Iranian) arms were indeed transferred from Syria to Hizbullah in Lebanon recently."
In a speech delivered on Wednesday in New York before the Foreign Affairs Council, a research foundation based in New York, the envoy said "there is no proof whatsoever" of Lebanon's ownership of the Shebaa Farms, which he alleged "are occupied by Israel as part of the Israeli occupation of Syrian territories."
Larsen said that Lebanese claims to the farms serve Hizbullah's interests, as they corroborate the group's identity as a resistance.
According to Larsen, in 2000 the Security Council examined 81 maps from Russia, France, the United Kingdom, Lebanon and Syria, including 25 maps from Lebanon and Syria, which all showed the Shebaa Farms as Syrian territory, except for one map "with questionable credibility."
He further said that over the past 30 years UN peacekeepers in the Golan Heights have run the Shebaa Farms as occupied Syrian territory, and that "no single protest was made by any party" until the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000.
As for ongoing investigations into the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri, the UN official said "there is a hypothesis pointing to Syria's involvement in Hariri's assassination, but so far no order has been given to arrest anyone."
"I do not wish to speculate about it," he added.
Larsen described his personal relations with Syrian President Bashar Assad as being "characterized by honesty," and stressed that he believed the Syrian president was in control of his government.
Commenting on regional developments, Larsen said that Iran's development of nuclear weapons will curb the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty and begin a dangerous race of rearmament in the Middle East. - The Daily Star

'March 14 forces' coalition initiates public petition calling for lahoud to step down
Saturday, February 25, 2006
BEIRUT: A new petition demanding that President Emile Lahoud step down was put out for the public to sign yesterday, with March 14 ministers and MPs being the first to sign.
Signing the petition at the Freedom Tent in Downtown's Martyrs' Square, Acting Interior Minister Ahmad Fatfat said he hoped that "not one million, or one million and a half, but more than three million" would sign the petition.
"This is a petition open to all the Lebanese who want to see a free and independent president," Fatfat said.
Talking to The Daily Star, Minister of State for Administrative Development Jean Hogaspian said the petition will eventually be raised to the United Nations, in order to reassert to the international community that the Lebanese public opinion refuses Lahoud as a president.
"This petition is another step in our moves to oust Lahoud," he said. "We know that it has no legal effect, but it has a moral one and it goes to show that the Lebanese people refuse to be ruled by the likes of Lahoud," he added.
Nader Naqib, the head of the Future Youth Movement, told The Daily Star the petition was another step in a series of peaceful steps to oust Lahoud and compared it to the petition calling for an international tribunal in the murder of former Premier Rafik Hariri last year.
"That petition was signed by more than a million Lebanese, and presented to the UN; the result was the international community's agreement over the need to form such a tribunal to uncover the truth behind Hariri's death, and the process to establish it is underway right now," Naqib said. "We hope the same will happen now."
However, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun told The Daily Star that such public petitions would lead nowhere. "What do they intend to do with such a petition," Aoun said. "We cannot, and should not humiliate the post of the presidency with such petitions. If they want the president out of power, they should try to resort to constitutional means, not to the street and to public petitions," he said. Aoun reiterated previous calls for a national referendum on the issue.
"If they (March 14 Forces) are ready for a public referendum to determine Lahoud's fate and choose a new president, I have no problem with it," he said. - M. H.

Rice in Lebanon: pressure on Syria and for Lahoud deposition
by Jihad Issa -Damascus is talking about an “international plot”, accusing France and the USA, defending Hezbollah and further strengthening ties with Iran.
Damascus (AsiaNews) – “A prelude to the deposition of the filo-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, and the application of the UN Resolution 1559”. This is how political analysts in Lebanon and the Middle East interpret the unexpected visit of the US Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, to Beirut yesterday. Meanwhile, in Damascus, there was immediate talk of an “international plot” and links with Iran are being welded. Resolution 1559, adopted by the United Nations more than a year ago, calls for the disarming of the Hezbollah, the Shi’ite group linked to Syria and Iran. Observers say talks held by Rice with many political and religious authorities in Beirut and the fact they excluded President Lahoud, provided a further opportunity to “press on Syria”.
The Syrian press agency, Sana, considers the visit of Rice as part of an “international plot, geared towards bringing Syria to its knees, after the positive development marked by sincere collaboration of Damascus with the new president of the UN International Commission of Inquiry, Serge Brammertz, who had many fruitful meetings with Syrian leaders”. Yesterday Brammertz was in Damascus for meetings with Syrian authorities about investigations into the murder of the former Lebanese premier, Rafic Hariri, on 14 February 2005.
Sana blames France and the United States for Lebanon’s difficult position and confirms the stand of the Syrian government to remain by the side of “Lebanese and Iranian friends, describing as a ‘false hypothesis’ the support expressed by the US Secretary for the Lebanese population”. The move has been seen as interference in the internal affairs of an independent state and member of the United Nations, and the agency called on “free” Lebanese not to let down the hopes of many “friends of Lebanon”.
On its pages, Sana reported criticisms leveled by the Secretary General of the Party of God, Hassan Nassrallah, about the visit of Rice: “You must not believe what Rice says in front of everyone, you must be well informed, instead, about what she said to the authorities.” Nasrallah then went on to criticize the approach of the US minister with regard to President Lahoud, who remains a state symbol. The Syrian agency once again launched criticisms against Saad Hariri, Walid Joumblatt, and the commander of the Lebanese forces, Samir Geagea, who “has become dependent on his patrons, after 11 years of imprisonment which he deserved”, for he was responsible for the murder of the Maronite Christian leader, Dany Chamoud, son of the former president, Camille, with his wife and daughter, and the murder of the former premier Rachid Karame.
“I have already met Lahoud in the past,” said Rice. “My message was that it is his responsibility, as president of Lebanon, to be concerned about the situation in the country.” Before stopping over in Beirut, the US Secretary of State was in Cairo and Riyad. “The scope of the mission is that of expressing support to the Lebanese and the government in their efforts to seek to fully recover their sovereignty and to reform the country,” she told the press. In Bkerke, Rice met the Maronite Patriarch, Nasrallah Sfeir. Later, in Beirut, it was the turn of the Druze leader, Walid Jumblatt, and of Saad Hariri, son of the slain ex premier, who leads the parliamentary majority. After that, came the parliament speaker, the Shi’ite Nabih Berri, Michel Aoun, and finally the premier, Fouad Siniora.
Meanwhile, yesterday, Syria and Iran signed a series of trade agreements, to which they added the commitment to create a Syro-Iranian bank in Damascus and the opening of road and train links, as well as oleoducts, between the two countries. The series of agreements must be seen in the context of ever stronger links between the two states, which are under international pressure. In a joint press conference, the Syrian prime minister, Naji Otari, and the Iranian vice-president, Parviz Davoudi, described ties as a “strategic and profound relationship, rooted in the history of the two countries, founded on cultural, civil and historical patrimony and on the desire of both peoples to expand the space for their collaboration.” On the same occasion, Damascus reiterated its “support for the Iranian right to acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.””

Rice Finds No Anti-HAMAS Support from Cairo, Riyadh
By Foreign News Desk, Istanbul
Published: Friday, February 24, 2006
zaman.com
US State Secretary Condoleezza Rice failed to obtain Saudi Arabia's support after a similar response from Egypt in the frame of her Middle East tour aimed isolating HAMAS (Islamic Resistance Movement).
The Riyadh Administration rejected joining America's struggle to limit international support for the Palestinian government established by HAMAS.
Yesterday, Saudi Arabian Secretary of Foreign Affairs Suud al-Faisal met Rice and said Palestinians need humanitarian aid and international support. Like Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, al-Faisal noted the world should not approach HAMAS with prejudices. Aboul Gheit said, "It would be ill-timed to stop support and aid for the Palestinian government immediately," during Rice's Cairo visit, and emphasized Egypt will continue to finance the new Palestinian government.
According to high-ranking American officials who preferred to remain anonymous, Saudi Arabia informed the United States Wednesday that it will continue to send $15 million in monthly aid to Palestine. Rice also referred to Iran's efforts to help HAMAS during a news conference she organized with al-Faisal. The US Secretary of State said Iranian contributions to HAMAS will not be enough for Palestinians to experience major improvement. Iranian authorities can promise whatever they want, but Palestinians need more help than what Iran can provide. Rice explained that this is not a simply the matter of aid; there is a need for cooperation with Israel in order for the survival of the Palestinian people.
Tehran hosted HAMAS's Political Bureau Chief Khaled Mashaal, and signaled they would definitely provide financial assistance to Palestine under the HAMAS administration in order to help them withstand US cruelty.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on a visit to Indonesia made a statement yesterday calling on Muslim countries to help Palestine. According to US statistics, the Palestinian Authority needs $1.9 billion to be able to operate.
International society, in particular the European Union, Japan and the Arab word, meet $1 billion of this amount.
China announced that upon Palestine's request they would help the Palestinian Authority. Beijing noted the Chinese government hopes to develop their relations with a HAMAS led Palestinian Authority.
Surprise visit to Beirut
The US Secretary of State, who was expected to pass to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from Saudi Arabia, made a surprise visit to Lebanese capital Beirut yesterday. Rice held a news briefing after meeting Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and announced she would not meet with pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud. Rice also asserted that her country supports the changes in Lebanon, adding Lebanon needs a president who looks at the future, not at the past.

Rice snubs Lebanon's pro-Syrian head
Secretary of state says it wouldn't upset White House if its allies toppled President Lahoud
By CAM SIMPSON
Chicago Tribune
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - Amid a deepening crisis that threatens the power of Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flew into Beirut unannounced Thursday and snubbed the pro-Syrian president while posing before cameras with some of his leading political opponents. Rice also made it clear that the Bush administration would not shed any tears if reinvigorated efforts by its Lebanese allies succeeded in toppling Lahoud's presidency.
"You need a presidency that looks forward, not back — and that defends Lebanese sovereignty," Rice told journalists traveling with her to Lebanon. Her tour of the Middle East is expected to end today.
Despite the strong words, America's top diplomat also clearly sought to avoid criticism that Washington is meddling in Lebanon's internal affairs, declaring at a news conference, "It is up to the Lebanese people to decide who is going to govern this country." Lahoud is closely allied with the Syrian government. His term was extended by the parliament, under Syrian pressure, just before former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated Feb. 14, 2005.
Lahoud's political war with the country's slim, pro-Western majority has created a political stalemate that is crippling the fragile land on several fronts. Efforts to oust him have come up short, although Rice landed squarely in the middle of a new push Thursday. Although Rice and senior members of her staff did not brief reporters about her private talks with Lahoud's adversaries, those politicians seemed to receive some support from her visit.
Lahoud's opponents boycotted a Cabinet meeting just hours after Rice left for Abu Dhabi, reinforcing their vow to see the president's imminent removal, according to Lebanon's Daily Star newspaper. The Cabinet was denied the quorum it needed to meet, as Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamade declared, "Emile Lahoud is finished."
Rice spent about four hours in Beirut under tight security.
Her first meeting was with the Maronite spiritual leader, Nasrallah Sfeir, a powerful political figure who could play a role in picking a future president. Rice met separately with Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, who is perhaps Lahoud's toughest political opponent. She also held a joint session with Saad Hariri, son of the slain former prime minister, and Walid Jumblatt, the Druze leader who is yet another vocal critic of Lahoud. The junior Hariri ran on an anti-Syrian platform in last year's elections and stunned many when his allies gained a parliamentary majority. Rice saw Lahoud when she came to Lebanon last summer, leading her to declare curtly Thursday, "I've met with him."
She also made a brief, unscheduled visit Thursday with Nabih Berri, the parliamentary speaker who is widely viewed as a friend to Syria and a potential broker. Lebanon began assuming a leading role in the Bush administration's regional foreign policy after Rafik Hariri's assassination. His murder sparked domestic and international outrage, creating political pressure that quickly led to the stunning withdrawal of Syrian forces that had occupied the country for almost three decades.
But ancient sectarian tensions, and scars carved by a brutal civil war that ended only in 1990, quickly re-emerged as Syria withdrew. The extraordinary series of events has given the White House a chance to pursue several key goals in the Middle East simultaneously, including rallying the world against its adversaries in Syria while creating conditions it hopes could lead to the weakening of Lebanon's Hezbollah.
After she left Beirut, Rice resumed the primary mission of her journey: trying to gain support from Arab allies for U.S. diplomatic efforts targeting the militant group Hamas, which swept to power in Palestinian parliamentary elections last month, and Iran's nuclear program. She met in Abu Dhabi with the six foreign ministers whose nations make up the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Lebanese gov. session canceled due to absence of ministers
BEIRUT, Feb 23 (KUNA) -- Lebanese Ministerial Council's session on Thursday was canceled due to the absence of a group of ministers called "March 14 Alliance". Secretary-General of the Ministerial Council Suhail Bouji told reporters that Prime Minister Fuad Al-Siniora informed President Emile Lahoud over the phone that some ministers decided to boycott the session, and so it would be rescheduled. The five ministers representing Hezbollah and Amal movements, in addition to two other ministers, arrived to the Presidential Palace to attend the ministerial session, while all ministers of the "March 14 Alliance" did not show up.
The Lebanese government is formed of 24 ministers.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Minister of Telecommunications Marwan Hmadeh told reporters in the Freedom Square that the "March 14 Alliance" ministers will not attend Ministerial Council sessions in the Presidential Palace, demanding Lahoud to resign "as he is no longer the president of Lebanon". Hmadeh added that "as a president, Lahoud is over", calling for his resignation and asserting that the government will remain intact. Acting Minister of Interior Ahmad Fatfat said in similar statement that the Ministerial Council will continue performing its duties but without sessions in the Presidential Palace.
Fatfat added that "Lahoud should respond to the demands of the Lebanese people and announce his resignation" to allow the chance for establishing a sovereign Lebanon. The alliance ministers gathered in Shuhada Square after postponing the ministerial session and sent messages to Lahoud through the Lebanese media demanding his resignation. Youth groups supporting the "March 14 Alliance" also announced that their activities will continue until March 14 to make Lahoud resign.

Shiites protest in Lebanon
Friday, February 24, 2006 (Beirut):
Lebanese Shiite Muslims beat their chests in mourning and shouted slogans against the United States in a rally to protest the bombing of a sacred Shiite shrine in Iraq. The bombing of the shrine and bloody reprisal attacks by Shiites that followed have underlined the rising tensions between Shiites and Sunnis across the Mideast.
Leaders of both communities have called for calm and tried to shift attention and blame to the United States.
"Let's not blame each other. We shouldn't give them that opportunity. We should limit the accusations against the American occupation, its agents and murderers," said Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah leader.
Nasrallah described US President George W Bush as a "killer" and ridiculed his offer to rebuild the shrine's Golden Dome.
"I tell him: don't destroy our sanctities and don't rebuild them. You are destroying our sanctities. Who are you fooling?"
Bush had earlier said that the United States was serious in its commitment to help rebuild the Golden Mosque.
"We understand its importance to Iraqi society and we want to stand side by side with the government in making sure that the beautiful dome is restored," Bush said. (AP)

New UN Hariri probe head makes first Syria visit
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
The new head of the UN inquiry into the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri made his first visit to Syria on Thursday where he met with Foreign Minister Walid Moallem, Syria's official news agency said.
Serge Brammertz's visit lasted a few hours, his spokeswoman Nasra Hassan said, but she gave no details on what he discussed.
One of the issues that Brammertz is likely to have raised is the commission's request to interview Syrian President Bashar Assad, who is alleged to have threatened Hariri in a private meeting several months before the Feb. 14, 2005, assassination.
Assad, who has denied threatening Hariri, has so far indicated he is not prepared to be interviewed.

Lebanon Sinks into Political Turmoil after Anti-Lahoud Ministerial Walkout
Lebanon plunged into a deeper political crisis Thursday when opponents of Emile Lahoud refused to attend the weekly cabinet meeting at the Baabda Palace, insisting they would not appear at the seat of the Lebanese Head of State as long as the current President remained in office. Seven out of the 24 members of cabinet heeded the calls for a meeting at Baabda, denying the President and the Prime Minister a quorum for convening a meeting. Instead of going to Baabda, Lahoud's opponents headed straight to the Downtown Liberty Square to renew their call for the President's immediate ouster. Speaking one after the other, Maronite, Sunni and Druze members of the cabinet insisted they would no longer set foot in Baabda until Lahoud's departure.
The dissent deepened the schism on the political scene in Lebanon less than an hour after the Secretary General of Hizbullah insisted that the only way out of the political crisis is a broad national dialogue that has been called for by Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hizbullah ally. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the Hizbullah chief, called in a rally in support of Iraq for easing the fiery rhetoric that has marked Lebanon's politics since the Feb. 14 first anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, when more than a million mourners took to the streets to demand an end to Lahoud's term in office.
Nasrallah took a swipe at western powers which had called for the disarming of his Party under UN Security Council Resolution 1559. He sarcastically challenged the United States to bring its navy to the shores of Lebanon to do the job. Simultaneously, he vehemently opposed bringing down Lahoud in street riots.
Thursday's development were set to further paralyze the executive authority in Lebanon and overshadowed what would have otherwise been a strong message of support for Lebanon by the United States embodied in the 4-hour visit to Beirut by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as part of a tour in the region that had included Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Beirut, Updated 23 Feb 06, 22:56

Remove Lahoud from office only in accordance with the law, says Cardinal Sfeir
by Youssef Hourany -23 February, 2006
In an interview with AsiaNews, the Maronite Patriarch says he is in favour of Hezbollah’s disarmament, the pursuit of the international inquiry into Rafik Hariri’s assassination and new polls under “fair” election rules.
Beirut (AsiaNews) – In a long interview with AsiaNews, Maronite Patriarch spoke about his country’s current predicament. For him, Lebanon’s President Lahoud’s can be removed if it is done in accordance with the constitution and according to legal procedures, but no one should boycott cabinet meetings just because he chairs them. Similarly, Hezbollah should disarm; the international inquiry into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri should continue; and new polls ought to take place as long as election rules are fair. Altogether, he left few issues untouched not least Syria’s continued influence in the country. “Although people gathered last February 14 to commemorate Prime Minister Hariri’s death, we cannot agree with all their demands, including those of a political nature,” said the 84-year-old Sfeir.
At the helm of the Maronite Church for almost 20 years, the patriarch is against Christian ministers boycotting cabinet meetings when they are chaired by President Lahoud; instead, he wants a solution that is worthy of the high office. Without mentioning his name, he criticised Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea who insists on demanding Christian ministers stay away. According to the patriarch, the latter’s February 14 speech was “too knee-jerk and argumentative and I cannot share the views of those who are led by their emotions”.
Moreover, he said he was very sorry to see “tensions between members of the Lebanese Forces and the followers of General Michel Aoun.” He urged them instead to “learn from the past, from the 1989-1990 clashes that left thousands dead and forced more to emigrate”.
In comments about calls for President Lahoud’s removal from office, the patriarch reiterated what he said months ago, namely that he was “opposed to actions based on the use of force in violation of the law and the constitution”.
He did though acknowledge the need to elect a new president when a general consensus emerges. Never the less, under current circumstances many baulk at the idea of having Lahoud removed.
For the patriarch, “everyone knows what is required. With 18 religious communities in Lebanon, [the new president] must be acceptable to his community for him to be able to preside over the affairs of all communities. He must be a trustworthy man, a man of integrity, one who is willing to sacrifice himself for the country.” What is more, the “next president, when he is elected, must be chosen by the Lebanese and must satisfy their aspirations and expectations”.
Patriarch Sfeir did not refrain from criticising last year’s elections, which were conducted under “unfair” rules in his opinion. Hopefully, he said, “we shall be able to get a more representative electoral law and, perhaps, hold fresh elections in the near future.”Last but not least, the head of the Maronite Church spoke about relations with Syria, wondering whether Syria has actually pulled out of Lebanon given the continued presence of its secret services and its political influence in some parts of the country. In light of this, he reiterated the need to continue the investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and is hopeful that relations between the two countries can improve.
“Mutual respect and disinterested co-operation can renew historical ties between neighbours,” he explained.
As for the alliance between Syria, Iran and Hezbollah, Patriarch Sfeir re-stated his position that the latter “should disarm as a matter of principle because no one ought to bear arms even if they claim that their weapons are necessary to fight Israel”.

Rice Aims for Arab Initiative to Convince Syria to Oust Lahoud
Naharnet: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expecting Egypt and Saudi Arabia to push for Syria's intervention with President Emile Lahoud to convince him to step down, paving the way for early presidential elections.
The London-based al Hayat newspaper reported Friday that Rice briefed Lebanese officials about the expected Arab drive to facilitate Lahoud's removal, during her surprise visit to Beirut.
The paper quoted sources as saying that the top U.S. diplomat reassured Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir that Washington favored a peaceful scenario for Lahoud's removal as opposed to resorting to street protests.
They said the diplomatic solution would be through an Egyptian-Saudi initiative to convince President Bashar Assad to use his influence with Lahoud to convince him to resign.
Rice, who is on a regional tour, flew to Beirut unexpectedly on Thursday after holding talks in Cairo and Riyadh.
In Lebanon, she expressed strong support for the government in its attempt to achieve sovereignty. With regards to the presidential crisis, she said it was up to the Lebanese to decide who should govern them. However, Rice earlier told reporters traveling with her that the country needed a presidency that looks to the future and not the past.
In addition to the Patriarch, Rice met with Prime Minister Fouad Saniora, Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh, politicians Saad Hariri and Walid Jumblat and House Speaker Nabih Berri. She did not meet with Lahoud.
The anti-Syria coalition sees the staunchly pro-Syrian president as an obstacle to reaching political stability in Lebanon. It is seeking to depose him on the grounds that his mandate was extended in 2004 under Syrian pressure. Parliamentarians are signing a petition testifying that they were threatened by Damascus to vote in favor of amending the constitution to extend the president's term for three years.
The alliance has given the president until March 14 to step down. It is threatening to stage mass protests in case he does not comply. Al-Hayat's sources said Rice did not suggest any names as potential successor to Lahoud. They said she asked Sfeir if he had any preferences. The head of the Maronite church replied that any candidate would have to have the consent of the various political groups. Hariri and Jumblat, two pillars of the March 14 alliance, said it was up to the Patriarch to decide who would be the most suitable alternative, the sources said. Rice did not push for the immediate implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559 that calls for the disarmament of all militias in Lebanon. This is an indication that the United States is willing to give the Lebanese some time to solve the issue of Hizbullah's arms through dialogue, the sources added.
The group's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, speaking shortly after Rice's departure, took a swipe at Washington by challenging U.S. troops to land at Lebanon's shores to remove his group's weapons. Simultaneously, he vehemently opposed bringing down Lahoud in street protests. Beirut, Updated 24 Feb 06, 10:57

Lahoud Slams Future TV for Beaming Live 'Repugnant Language' by Ministers
Naharnet: President Emile Lahoud has lashed out at Future TV for broadcasting live footage of what he described as inflammatory comments against him made by ministers representing the March 14 coalition.
"This evening Future television station aired speeches made by politicians, who used repugnant language against the president," said a statement issued by Lahoud's media office Thursday. Lahoud, who is resisting international and local pressure to resign, was referring to renewed calls for his immediate ouster by some ministers who appeared on Future TV in a live feed from central Beirut's Camp Freedom in Martyrs' Square Thursday.
The Beirut-based channel is owned by former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed in a massive bombing in Beirut on Feb. 14, 2005. The March 14 leaders accuse Syria and its closest ally, Lahoud, of being behind the assassination.
The ministers' calls on Lahoud to immediately step down came shortly after they refused to take part in a cabinet session held at the presidential palace instead of the government's offices near the national museum in Beirut.
The decision to move the cabinet meeting to Baabda was made after the army and the Republican Guards Brigade said that the building housing government offices was insecure. But 15 anti-Syrian ministers decided to boycott the meeting. Instead of going to Baabda, they headed to the Camp, which was erected in December to free Lebanon from Syrian political domination.
Speaking one after the other, Maronite, Sunni and Druze members of the cabinet insisted they would no longer set foot in Baabda until Lahoud's departure. "Ministers of March 14 will not go to the presidential palace anymore as long as Lahoud resides there," Telecommunication Minister Marwan Hamadeh told the young activists at Camp Freedom.
Beirut, Updated 24 Feb 06, 14:51

Nasrallah Challenges U.S. To Disarm Hizbullah, Criticizes Saniora
Naharnet: Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has challenged Washington to send U.S. troops to Lebanon to disarm Hizbullah instead of pressuring the Lebanese government to do so. "Who will disarm Hizbullah? Let the U.S. forces sail to the Mediterranean Sea and come to our shores and try to take these weapons," Nasrallah said at a rally held in the southern suburbs of Beirut to protest Wednesday's attack on a Shiite shrine in Iraq. The Hizbullah leader's comments came shortly after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to Lebanon during which she called for a full implementation of U.N. Resolution 1559 that demands Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias to disarm.
During her four-hour visit to Lebanon, Rice said: "I have confidence that within the context of the transition that is going on here that the Lebanese leadership truly understands the responsibilities to the full implementation of Resolution 1559 and that includes the disbandment of militias." Nasrallah criticized Prime Minister Fouad Saniora without mentioning him by name for praising the top U.S. official's "patience," asking a clarification from the premier on whether he was thanking her for giving the government more time to force Hizbullah to disarm. Nasrallah was referring to comments by Saniora at a joint press conference with Rice during which he said: "I appreciate the show of patience that the Secretary has been showing to Lebanon and the observation that she is really giving in order to see how things are developing positively in Lebanon despite all the risks that we are facing." The black-turbaned cleric accused Washington of using double standards. "Let me ask Condoleezza Rice, who praises democracy: If early elections take place, or when elections are held after three years and a new majority is in place that doesn't support the U.S., will she remain so effusive in her praise? Or will this democracy be regarded as a terrorist's democracy?" he asked. "Let the Lebanese decide their own affairs," said Nasrallah, addressing Rice.
The Shiite leader called for toning down political rhetoric in the country and holding dialogue to discuss national affairs calmly and openly. "I am asking for calm ... and for calming the people down," he said.
"It is important not to resort to the street," Nasrallah added, saying that no political group in Lebanon can impose its will on others. "Nothing can succeed in Lebanon unless it is based on a national consensus through dialogue and agreement."
He denied his call for dialogue was because the March 14 groups were stepping up their campaign to oust President Emile Lahoud. "This is not true. I am talking about maintaining national unity," Nasrallah said. In Damascus, Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal told reporters that Rice's comments were "a flagrant intervention in the internal affairs of Lebanon and the countries of the region." Beirut, Updated 24 Feb 06, 13:53

U.N. Envoy Says No Proof that Shabaa Farms are Lebanese
Naharnet: Special U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen has said that there is no proof that the disputed Shabaa Farms are Lebanese and that claiming otherwise only serves Hizbullah's interest. In a report from Washington Friday, An Nahar newspaper quoted Larsen as saying that the United Nations has studied dozens of maps from different sources that show the farms inside Syrian territory. "Any claim that the Shabaa Farms are Lebanese and under Israeli occupation only serves one purpose and it is the description of Hizbullah as a resistance movement," Larsen said. Speaking Wednesday to the Council on Foreign Relations, a U.S. think tank, the U.N. envoy said the organization examined in the year 2000 more than 81 maps, including 25 from Lebanon and Syria that place the farms inside Syria. The others charts were from Russia, France and the United Kingdom.
He said there was one map, which he described as an "unreliable" source that showed otherwise.
Larsen also said the version of the Lebanese map reproduced on the country's national currency was used as a reference. It was examined after being enlarged. The chart showed Shabaa outside Lebanon, he said.
During the talk, he confirmed that a recent arms shipment that was intercepted by the Lebanese army after crossing the border from Syria was destined to Hizbullah. He said he had discussed the issue with Prime Minister Fouad Saniora and Defense Minister Elias Murr. "There was indeed a transfer of weapons to Hizbullah that crossed from Syria to Lebanon."
Larsen is in charge of overseeing the implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559 that calls for the disarmament of all militias in Lebanon. Hizbullah refuses to comply with the international edict, arguing it is a resistance movement that needs its arms in its confrontation with Israel, an occupying power.
The group succeeded in forcing the Jewish state to withdraw its troops from south Lebanon in 2000 after a 22-year occupation. However, Israel did not relinquish the Shabaa region, an area it confiscated in 1967 during its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights. The U.N. considers that the Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon is a full implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 425. Larsen said U.N. peacekeepers stationed in the Golan Heights for the past 30 years have always managed the Shabaa area as part of Syria."We never had a single protest from anyone," said the U.N. envoy. Beirut, Updated 24 Feb 06, 14:22

Italy Closes Probe Into 1978 Disappearance of Sadr
Naharnet: Rome magistrates have officially closed their investigation of the 1978 disappearance of Lebanon's top Shiite Muslim cleric and concluded there is no proof of Libyan involvement, the Italian news agency ANSA reported Thursday.
ANSA said the magistrates agreed with a finding by Prosecutor Franco Ionta that the investigation was complete and had turned up no evidence that Libya had a hand in the disappearance of Imam Mussa Sadr.
Libya insists that Sadr and the two aides left its territory on a flight to Rome at the end of the Libyan visit and suggests he was a victim of an inter-Shiite power struggle.
Ionta's office was closed Thursday evening and judicial officials could not be immediately reached to confirm the news report.
Lebanese Shiite political and religious leaders have blamed Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi for the disappearance of the cleric and two companions. Despite a widely held belief in Lebanon that they were killed after a dispute with Gadhafi, the Sadr family strongly believes the imam remains in a Libyan jail. In 2004, Gadhafi offered financial compensation to the family in an attempt to close the case, but the family refused, according to relatives. ANSA said Ionta's probe established that the cleric did arrive in Italy, but that from that moment on, the whereabouts of him and his aides became a mystery. The prosecutor questioned several people from that Tripoli to Rome flight, ANSA said.(AP)
Beirut, Updated 24 Feb 06, 10:14

Ghassan Tueni: Lebanon's Woes Caused by International Power Struggles
Naharnet: Since time immemorial, constitutional crises in Lebanon have been spurred by regional and international disputes, because the Lebanese always failed to address the roots of their divisions and strengthen internal unity, according to Ghassan Tueni. An Nahar's editor-in-chief wondered whether the "dialogue," which Speaker Nabih Berri is planning to sponsor next week, would offer an appropriate forum for an agreement on reforms needed to provide Lebanon the immunity it needs.
As an example of past problems, Tueni cited in his weekly column Monday the 1958 polarization between supporters of Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel-Nasser's pan-Arabism and proponents of the Eisenhower vision for the Middle East. An ensuing mini-civil war culminated in the intervention of the U.S. 6th Fleet to prop-up the American-backed regime of then-President Camille Chamoun. The veteran columnist proposed two prerequisites for the success of the Berri-sponsored dialogue:
· Creation of a senate, or higher house of Parliament that would represent the religious communities, freeing the lower house to serve national, rather than narrow interests; and Setting up the Higher Authority Council for Abolishing Sectarianism, as stipulated in Taif Accord. He dared Berri to put these two items, which had been blocked under Syria's reign, on the agenda of the dialogue set to start March 2. Tueni hoped that participants in the dialogue would not see in it "an arena for pontification or confrontation" and that they understood that in a democracy, "it is impossible to reach a consensus on every issue … as that leads to an absolute rule, or more accurately, a dictatorship." Beirut, Updated 21 Feb 06, 11:38

Member of Parliament for Bsherri Sethrida Geagea
Monday Morning 24/2/06: When she recalls the years that her husband spent in prison, her eyes moisten and the tragedy of the years of unhappiness return to her mind... When she speaks of the “Hakim”, of the cause he defends, her face lights up and softens. But nothing predestined the carefree girl of the 1980s, crowned “Miss Rimal 1985”, for so many trials. Certainly life has not always smiled on her. She was 18 when her mother died, 29 when her father passed away. But who would have said at that time that this slender girl who had to attend her husband’s trial at the age of 26, was going to take up the baton, preserve his political legacy, make alliances, become a member of Parliament and liberate her man? She is a new woman now, determined, bold, sure of herself. (The interview took place before the events in Ashrafiyé on February 5, and was subsequently updated.)
After 11 years of forced separation, you and your husband are back together again. What was the most difficult thing about the separation?
Marriage as such is a mission. How could I say otherwise after 11 years and three months of separation during which I saw the “Hakim” twice a week at the Defense Ministry! In more recent years my visits would last an hour or more. But there were many things we couldn’t say to each other since our meetings were closely monitored and listened to.
I benefited from these moments to receive his advice on everything and on what I should do. As a woman, and he as a man, we were not really together.
After his liberation and during our two-month trip, I was able to tell him what I had endured during all those years of solitude, on the personal level and on that of politics and friendships. It wasn’t easy at the beginning since we had many things to say to each other. We spent a month during which we talked for hours, and even whole nights. And it’s now, six months later, that we’ve been able to resume our life as a couple.
Life, a perpetual change
Is Samir Geagea the same man as the one you married? What has changed in him and in you?
Life is a process of perpetual change and evolution. The human person too changes; his personality develops, his ideas evolve. This must be all the truer of people who have been through a harsh ordeal. Certainly Samir Geagea isn’t the same person, nor am I.
Which of you has become harder?
What I’m going to tell you will surprise you. I’m the one who has become the harder of the two. When my husband was jailed, I was 26, he was 41. Today I’m 38 and he’s 53.
A woman of from 20 to 30 years is different from one of from 30 to 40. It’s the same for a man. These are what we might call “tranches of age-development”. A woman between the ages of 30 and 40 is mature, knows what she wants and is more capable of defending herself. My ordeal was harder since I was at the very heart of the political turmoil, and you know what a harsh environment that is. I had no political experience, and it was in these difficult moments that I had my first taste of it. I’ve become harder, yes, but not bitter; I still look at the good side of things and I’m optimistic.
A double-edged love
You waited for your husband for 11 years, despite all, hoping against hope. Did you do that out of love for the man or for the leader?
For me, it was the love of the man and my faith in his cause. A double-edged love, that’s how I see things.
As a woman I loved Samir Geagea the man, but with the passing of time I became attached to the cause to which he was committed. I venerated him for that. He could have chosen another option, that of staying out of prison. In fact proposals were put to him in this sense eight months before his imprisonment: in 1993, while we were in Cyprus on a vacation, President Elias Hrawi contacted us and advised us to stay outside the country since things were getting worse. But Samir broke off the vacation and insisted that we should return to Lebanon, which we did, through Beirut International Airport.
So my wait for him arose from these two loves, which I can’t dissociate: the man that I loved and the cause of which he was the embodiment.
Did you resent the fact that he came back when he had the choice of remaining free?
Yes, at least for the first two years. I told myself: why didn’t he leave, and why did he give priority to his cause rather than to his wife? In my head I judged him to be egoistical. He had no right to play with his life; why did he marry me if his options were going to be so hard?
I have no rancor
Who do you feel rancor against?
I have no rancor since I know very well that it destroys the one who harbors it. I try to stay away from people who did me wrong; they weren’t trying to harm me personally. They had nothing against Sethrida Tok Geagea the woman. The conflict was a political one within the Lebanese Forces itself about what policy to follow in the absence of Samir Geagea. Some people thought that it was necessary to ally with the Syrians again to secure the release of the “Hakim”, while I personally, along with other comrades, thought that if Samir Geagea had wanted that, he wouldn’t have gone to prison. We decided to persevere in our convictions even if the wait was to be a long one.
They also considered that, with him in prison, I, his wife, had no right to freeze things, keeping them as they were, until he came out. They thought that life should resume its normal course, considering that “after the death of Mohammad, his people continued to live”. But this was inconceivable: Samir Geagea was still alive. The leader was not dead, God forbid, and was still a militant, though now it was with his very body. We had no right to drop him by the wayside and choose a successor and adopt a policy different from his.
Geagea and Hariri were not always in agreement
Your husband was imprisoned at a time when the prime minister was Rafik Hariri, for whose accession to office the Lebanese Forces had worked. Aren’t you afraid that he’ll be abandoned again by his son Saad, and Walid Jumblatt?
I’d say the opposite: at the time, in the 1990s, there was a disagreement between Samir and the late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. They were divided by a different political reading. The “Hakim” was convinced that priority must be given to the political dossier and that it was impossible for the country to flourish economically, or in any other way, as long as it remained under Syrian tutelage. By contrast, Mr. Hariri believed firmly that he could isolate economic affairs from the local or regional political context. For these reasons, the “Hakim” did not take part in the first post-Taef government, which he considered to be unbalanced. I believe that with the passing of time, the unfolding of events have shown that the “Hakim” was right… The Syrians imprisoned Geagea in the 1990s, and 10 years later they did not hesitate to assassinate Hariri. It was the same verdict, differing only in terms of time.
On the second part of the question, I’d like to point out an essential point: all the Lebanese contributed to the liberation of Samir Geagea from his jail, just as they did in demanding the Syrian withdrawal. Here I speak of the great event of March 14, on our part, our alliance with the “representatives” of that movement enabled us in the end to “materialize” this will.
The alliances made on the eve of the legislative elections and the policy followed -- were they decided by the “Hakim”?
At Christ the King in Kesrwan, a working group -- a sort of crisis cell – met at least twice a week to study and analyze the latest events on the ground to decide on the course to take.
At the same time, inside his prison, the “Hakim” had made his decision, since he was in possession of all the data, which were conveyed to him by his lawyers and by me.
The most comical thing was that although he was banned from reading the local newspapers and political weeklies, he was allowed to read The Economist, and so he was well-informed about regional and international conditions. It reminds me that Nelson Mandela was able to inform himself by reading the same magazine.
As a member of Parliament, have you found your political apprenticeship a difficult one?
Very difficult, since at the present time the making of decisions can perhaps lead to destruction. That’s why you need to be aware not only of the line to be followed but, also, of many other things: philosophy, the psychology of people, of economics, etc. Politics is a difficult area; it requires transparency and you have to put the public interest ahead of your own.
The ‘Forces of March 14’ hold the same discourse
With the “Forces of March 14”, the Christians fear that they will disappear as a political entity, the more so since on the level of power practically nothing has changed; they still feel marginalized, as the latest appointments to senior civil service posts demonstrate. What is your view?
Let’s look at things differently. Who would have believed that one day the Sunnite and Druze communities would reach the point of calling, through the voices of their representatives (Hariri, Saniora, Jumblatt), for a sovereign, free and independent Lebanon, demanding the withdrawal of the Syrians, the disarmament of the Palestinians, the delineation of the frontier with Syria, the exchange of diplomatic missions with Damascus, etc.?
What the Christians have called for and worked for (and paid the price) since independence, the Muslims have adopted today. The founding act of a Nation is, henceforth, March 14: a new social contract… a will to live together, a national pact.
On the matter of civil service appointments in regard to Christians, I believe it is legitimate to incriminate the two presidents of the Republic (of the post-Taef era): Hrawi and Lahoud, who have eroded the rights of the Christians.
That said, we really need more than seven months to “readjust” a situation which has existed for 15 years. Let’s start with the most important chapter: rehabilitating the Presidency by demanding the resignation or removal of Lahoud.
How long can it last? And can the Christians go on waiting?
Waiting is painful because it’s costly: how many assassinations of dear ones, how many attacks on residential neighborhoods or commercial centers, etc. (the latest in date being what happened in Ashrafiyé on February 5). The Syrians are going to continue their war. We must not be demoralized. We have resisted in unfavorable situations graver than this one. Let’s remain optimistic and, above all, in solidarity with one another. That’s our ultimate riposte. And remember, it’s been less than a year since the Syrians pulled out their army after 30 years of occupation. I say army advisedly, not their security services or acolytes.
Syrian presence not fully ended
What is the alliance of March 14 doing to combat this “security” presence?
We have to continue the “offensive”, to take or to resume the initiative once again. An urgent task now awaits the majority now in power: to work for the eviction of the last symbol of the services regime. I know that a request like this won’t please everyone. There are “parties”, notably inside the Christian camp, which are still protecting Lahoud. The consequence of their attitude is that the present state of things will continue, and therefore there will be more damage and unbalance, unfortunately.
Do the Christian ministers in the cabinet really represent the Christian “street”?
No one can claim to have a “monopoly” of the Christian representation, neither now nor tomorrow. The Christian ministers in the government represent a part of the Christian street.
How can the situation be remedied?
Only the Free Patriotic Movement [FPM, led by Michel Aoun] is not represented in the government. When a new cabinet team is formed, the FPM could, if it wishes, be represented. But there are other groupings which are not represented, so we need to consider this matter carefully.
The Taef Agreement has brought the Christians 15 years of misfortune and tragedy. What’s the way forward?
It is not the Taef Agreement that has brought about the Christians’ misfortunes; it is rather the failure to implement the agreement.
Confidence in the future
Do you fear for the future of Lebanon?
We must exercise constant vigilance and do all we can to ensure the solidarity of the Lebanese. The enemy has declared war on us and is always lying in wait for us. Our solidarity is the sole guarantee of salvation for Lebanon. I’m optimistic.
How do you conceive Lebanon?
Sovereign, free, autonomous and independent in the full meaning of these words. With equality of opportunity, of rights and obligations for everyone. A Lebanon where there will no longer be a “super-citizen” above the law, or a “super-community”.
Would a federal system be one of the solutions?
Taef is clear. It presents a consensual democracy which protects the rights of all communities. Let’s apply this agreement.
Do you share General Michel Aoun’s view that the Christian majority in Parliament should designate the president of the Republic, just as the Sunnites and Shiites name their representatives to the top state posts set aside for them in the executive and legislative branches?
The general’s proposal indirectly ratifies and justifies an error which was made. The veto of the Shiites on any candidate other than [Nabih] Berri to preside over the legislature was a gross mistake. If we must admit or tolerate such logic, it would mean that from now on we have an undeclared federal regime. So far, General Aoun has never been a supporter of such a solution. Nevertheless, if the Christians should choose the president, that person must be accepted by the other communities. He remains the president of all the Lebanese, not only the Christians.
Why should the Christians have things readjusted at their expense?
We can’t improve matters by accumulating mistakes.
The Christian ‘street’ is politicized
What is the present situation in the Lebanese Forces? Are your alliances winning over the ordinary members of the Christian community or not?
The Lebanese Forces’ raison d’être is to militate and to ensure a sovereign, free and independent Lebanon with the rights of the Christians preserved within the great concert of the communal mosaic that is Lebanon. Not being in harmony and in resonance with the aspirations of the Christians is to be immediately condemned and to run the risk of being rejected by Christian opinion.
Today this “street” has attained a maturity which enables it to discern and to focus on the political discourse that answers to its expectations. Today our partners in March 14 are calling aloud for what this street has been seeking since 1975.
The government is guilty of unpardonable negligence
What do you think of the events in Ashrafiyé on February 5?
Yet another chapter of the Syrians’ war against Lebanon. This time the Syrians made a certain innovation: instead of a targeted assassination or an explosive charge in a residential neighborhood, they wanted to repeat the scenario of Ain Remmaneh, with the history of the famous bus, a new April 13, 1975. This time they wanted to sabotage the movement of March 14. And the timing was very important: the eve of February 14. They thought they could thus plunge the country into civil war, or at least to dissuade the Christians from showing their solidarity with the movement of March 14.
What about the accusations of negligence made against the government?
Certainly the government made a serious blunder and is guilty of negligence which is in itself unpardonable. The security forces should have managed the crisis differently. For hours there was no security cordon in place to protect residential neighborhoods. I’m willing to admit that the disorders were prepared and orchestrated by the Syrian services, but the measures of riposte, of which the government has a monopoly, were regrettably absent.
What do you think of the agreement concluded between General Aoun and Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah?
We’re in favor of any agreement and understanding among the Lebanese. But is this really the case? I think the said agreement is purely a façade and hides the real intention of the two sides, Aoun and Hezballah. The Hezb wants to protect its weapons and military structure… while at the same time gaining time in the hope of what may be better factors. And Aoun for his part is seeking an ally “of weight” to help him in his campaign to reach the Presidency. The only winner in this affair is Syria, which hopes to weaken the movement of March 14 and create centers of tension in the Christian street. Unfortunately we are once again the cause of our enemies. We still haven’t understood anything.
The LF still haven’t made their choice for Baabda-Aley
In regard to the Baabda-Aley by-election, why haven’t the Lebanese Forces supported the candidacy of May Chidiac?
The Forces haven’t yet decided on their candidate. They’re in the middle of discussions and negotiations to reach agreement on a candidate who would be acceptable to everyone.
Would an understanding on Dr. Pierre Dakkash be possible?
I think General Aoun made a mistake in regard to Dr. Dakkash by naming him his candidate of entente. A candidate of entente, or general accord, is the natural outcome of negotiations among the various parties and can in no case be imposed in an ex cathedra fashion.
In any case, we greatly respect and appreciate the person of Dr. Dakkash. We need to wait for negotiations and final agreement on this matter.
How can the disagreements between the LF and the FPM be resolved?
Since leaving prison, Dr. Geagea has tried a great deal to resolve them. Everybody remembers my visit to General Aoun at the head of a delegation of 40 members of the LF, 48 hours after his return, a visit made at the request of the “Hakim”, and General Aoun’s visit to Samir Geagea in prison. They agreed that each one could make political alliances as he wished, while remaining allied in the same camp.
I greatly respect the young members of the FPM, who stood shoulder to shoulder with us. We of the LF are doing all we can to strengthen understanding between the two camps. When we were in France, Samir Geagea worked in favor of General Aoun’s accession to the presidency.
And then there’s the fact that a large number of members of Parliament close to the general are highly respected, such as Dr. Farid el-Khazen, Dr. Salim Salhab, Salim Aoun, etc., and one can be proud of this.
In the final analysis, the FPM and the LF should commit themselves to keeping up the political debate. And if we can’t reach an agreement about the Baabda-Aley by-election, we should vote in a democratic spirit.
Is the Eastern mentality hard to bear for a woman who wants to make her mark in public life?
Yes, since she has to work doubly hard in a male society.
Is politics for you a mission, a calling, a career? And do you intend to stand for election in 2009 beside your husband?
It’s still too far off, and frankly I haven’t thought about it. In any case, it matters little to me whether I’m a member of Parliament or not. The essential thing is carrying the torch of our cause and serving it everywhere by every means, whether inside Parliament or outside it.
I’m certain of one thing: if 11 years ago I had been asked if I preferred to leave Lebanon with Samir and live elsewhere, I would have said yes without hesitation. Today I would reply with a categorical no.
When you look back to the carefree years, to your election as Miss Rimal, what comes to your mind?
How far away all that seems. It was a beautiful experience for a girl of 18 and I have good memories of it. That’s all.
How did you attain to this solidity? Was it Bsherri?
I very much like this verse of Alfred de Musset: “Man is an apprentice; pain is his master …”. What has made me solid or strong is certainly life, with its train of harsh and painful ordeals. I’m not an exception; other women have endured circumstances like those I encountered, and they in turn have shown extraordinary firmness and strength.
Is there a child in your future?
Certainly. We’re thinking of it.
What do you like the most in Samir the man?
His calmness and mastery of himself.
What do you like the most in the leader?
His courage.
What do you dislike in him?
The way he thinks he has all the truth.
Do you have any regrets?
None. I consider myself very lucky.
What’s your dearest wish?
As a woman, to have a child. As a politician, to help in building the future of the new Lebanon.
Your hopes for 2006?
What all the Lebanese hope for: a Lebanon free, sovereign, independent and prosperous.
 

God's Mercy on Lahoud's Days!
Daoud Shirian Al-Hayat - 24/02/06//
With the goal of overthrowing President Emile Lahoud brought to the forefront during the current political stage in Lebanon, March 14 Forces are now mainly devising the needed mechanisms to this end. To them, ousting Lahoud coercively from Baabda palace will keep their political project vibrant in people's hearts and resolutely rally the Lebanese behind them. Two days ago, former and current MPs began signing a petition proving they were coerced into extending the term of the President of the Republic, Emile Lahoud. Though unwelcome by some political forces, such step is a turning point in this direction. Leaving emotions aside, March 14 Forces have consequently embraced the constitutional language when many parties warned against the non-political speeches delivered on the anniversary of PM Hariri's assassination. Dangerously, these speeches promote unconstitutional solutions, which presage, if implemented, a potential clash. In parallel, the Maronite Patriarch, Nasrallah Sfeir, intervened and voiced his approval to ousting the president with legal means. Hence, the parliamentary majority had to substitute the street fervor and revolutionary means for constitutional channels.
By signing the said petition and inciting the Parliament to approach this issue as if the extension law was null and the presidency vacant, the March 14 Forces unveil that the Lebanese do not all agree on toppling the president, while they seem themselves serious in avoiding the potential security deterioration. Amid the current divisions over this file, ousting the president by force appears, politically speaking, as dangerous as the Iraqi regime when toppled, especially that not all Lebanese support the post-assassination trends. Worse still, the situation grew more delicate, when the parliamentary majority clung to the international role to defuse the crisis. Accordingly, some parties expressly rejected these trends they were obliged to embrace as a result of the assassination-bred conditions and circumstances. But today, things have changed and the assassination became, in their eyes, a crime that must not be politicized.
With no doubt, overthrowing president Lahoud has been a momentous step towards unraveling the truth. But this is no longer the case now. For the crisis and its circumstances have locally, regionally, and internationally, overcome the remnants of the Syrian presence. Lebanon is now crippled with the same old domestic problems that have simply resurfaced when Syria pulled out. Therefore, whether Lahoud resigns or is toppled, the old-new heritage will not change. In addition, the row over the new president is as dangerous as the attempt to topple the one in power. On this matter, the majority is not a fair arbitrator, as it does not represent the whole people, as the Patriarch Sfeir says. But if all parties supposedly settled this question, does this mean that when Lahoud leaves Baabda palace, the same conditions will prevail as on the eve of Hariri's assassination and a consensus will be reached as to the Resolution 1559, Shebaa Farms, the relations with Syria, and the stance regarding weapons in the Palestinian camps?
Certainly, when Lahoud is driven out of Baabda palace, many masks will fall, things will be called by their real names, and old wounds will be reopened - a step so far hindered by patience and lies. It is true that his unconstitutional presence has largely changed alliances and hampered some actions that would have reshaped the political landscape in Lebanon after the assassination and the Syrian withdrawal. But if the president leaves now his post this way, he will embarrass all parties, mainly those who struggle to oust him. With his departure, all parties will have to honor their commitments. In other words, Lahoud's presence has been merciful to all - a truth they will only perceive when he leaves Baabda palace. Then, they will regret it and will implore God's mercy on Lahoud's days.