LCCC NEWS BULLETIN
JULY 8/2006

Below News From the Daily Star for 0807/06
Elias Hrawi, Lebanon's first postwar president, passes away at 80
Constitutional Council chief defends call to convene
Hizbullah risks becoming part of 'business as usual' in Beirut
EU envoy advises Beirut and Damascus to mend ties
Lebanese arrest suspect in New York bomb plot
German MP reflects on weeklong fact-finding trip to 'complicated region'
Japan donates film-making, audio-visual equipment to Culture Ministry
Lebanese troops trade fire with smugglers - again
Sudan's foreign minister blames dialogue for impasse with Syria
Proposed traffic law would bring rules to the road
Beirut plans to auction off stake in Intra
LAU president tells Byblos graduates to 'take pride'
Taamir set for complete overhaul as government tackles infrastructure
A rare leader who left Lebanon far better than he found it
Syria's serial exporters of instability.By Ammar Abdulhamid
Below News From miscellaneous sources for 08/07/06
Suspect was targeting NYC metro tunnels -Lebanon-Reuters - USA
Lebanon confirms arrest in alleged plot to bomb New York tunnel-CBC.ca
Lebanon arrests suspect in plot to bomb New York tunnel-International Herald Tribune
Qaida Operative Arrested in Lebanon in Alleged New York Terror Plot-Naharnet
Lebanon's Former President Hrawi Dies at Age 80-Naharnet
Army Clashes with Smugglers at Border for Second Time This Week-Naharnet
French Judge Says Paris 'Fully Committed' to Finding Samir Kassir's Killers-Naharnet
Head of Roman Statue Unearthed Near Baalbek-Naharnet
Four-Year-Old Boy Found After 2-Day Disappearance in Wilderness-Naharnet
Five Members of the Constitutional Council Reject Call for Meeting-Naharnet
bridge between the faiths-Chicago Tribune
Syria urges for EU role in solving Mideast conflict-People's Daily Online
Turkish envoy conveys Israeli, US messages to Syria-Jerusalem Post
Iraqi soldiers stationed near Iraq-Syria border-Blackanthem.com
Israel is intent on not giving Hamas a victory-Gulf News
Bad theology drives today's terrorism-Palm Beach Post
EU external relations commissioner to visit Lebanon-IRNA
Rice praises Turkey -- complying with US demands on Syria-New Anatolian
 

Qaida Operative Arrested in Lebanon in Alleged New York Terror Plot
Naharnet 7/7/06: Lebanese authorities, in coordination with U.S. law enforcement agencies, have arrested a Lebanese al-Qaida operative who admitted to plotting a terror attack in New York City, a senior security official in Lebanon said Friday.
The senior official said the militant's arrest was made a month ago. The suspect was identified as Amir Andalousli, but his real name is Assem Hammoud, a Beirut native, the official said. The suspect is still in Lebanese custody, he added.
A Lebanese government official also confirmed Andalousli was arrested, but gave no details.
Two law enforcement officials in Washington said earlier Friday that U.S. authorities had disrupted a plan by foreign terrorists to attack New York City tunnels. FBI agents monitoring internet chat rooms used by Islamic extremists learned in recent months of the plot to strike a blow at the city's economy by destroying vital transportation networks, the law enforcement officials said. The planning was not far along, one U.S. official said, but authorities "take aspirations of that sort seriously."
"At this time we have no indication of any imminent threat to the New York transportation system, or anywhere else in the U.S.," Richard Kolko, Washington-based FBI special agent, said in a statement to Associated Press Radio.
The senior Lebanese security official said the information exchanged between Beirut and Washington pointed to Andalousli as being part of an international network that aimed to blow up tunnels around Manhattan.
"Hammoud is a member of Al-Qaida and he confessed to this (plot) information frankly and without coercion," the Lebanese security official said.

The U.S. Embassy in Beirut would not comment on the matter.
Naharnet 7/7/06: "We have seen the reports," an embassy spokesperson said. "We are in touch with the government of Lebanon on the case," the spokesperson added.
The spokesperson also said that both Lebanon and the United States are developing solid cooperation in the areas of law enforcement and counterterrorism. "Preventing terrorist attacks is in the interest of both of our countries," the embassy official said. The planning for the tunnel attacks was first reported by the New York Daily News in its Friday editions, on the first anniversary of the attacks on the London transportation system that killed 52 people.
The Daily News reported that the plotters wanted to blow up the Holland Tunnel, the southernmost link between Manhattan and New Jersey, in the hopes of flooding New York's financial district. A U.S. government official with knowledge of the investigation said while the alleged plot did focus on New York's transportation system, it did not target the Holland Tunnel. It is unlikely that any plan to flood the financial district would work because it is above the level of the Hudson River.(AP) (AP photo shows U.S. police officers standing by as New Jersey-bound traffic streams into the New York entrance of the Holland Tunnel) Beirut, 07 Jul 06, 15:45

Lebanon's Former President Hrawi Dies at Age 80
Naharnet 7/7/06:Former Lebanese president Elias Hrawi died of cancer Friday at the American University Hospital in Beirut at the age of 80, hospital officials said. Having overseen Lebanon's emergence from 15 years of civil war in 1990, Hrawi served as president from 1989 to 1998 before being succeeded by the current head of state Emile Lahoud.
A Maronite Christian from the eastern city of Zahle, Hrawi was an obscure MP before rising to the presidency with Syrian backing in 1989 following the assassination of his predecessor Rene Moawad after just two weeks in power.
He came to office following the 1989 Taef accord that put an end to Lebanon's civil war.
Hrawi oversaw the rebuilding of state institutions from the ruins of civil war and the launch of a multi-billion-dollar reconstruction process later entrusted to five-time premier Rafik Hariri, who himself was killed in February 2005.
It was during his first year in office that Syrian forces drove out Gen. Michel Aoun from the presidential palace in Baabda, from where he was leading a revolt against Syria's military presence in Lebanon. Hrawi then oversaw the disarmament of most of Lebanon's war-time militias. Syria intervened on the political front in 1995 to extend Hrawi's term by three years.
He was accused by critics of having put Lebanon under the total control of powerful Syria. It was under his tenure that on May 22, 1991 Lebanon and Syria signed a treaty of fraternity, cooperation and coordination treaty. Syria's almost three-decade-long military domination of Lebanon only drew to a close in April 2005, two months after the assassination of Hariri in which a U.N. investigation has implicated Syria. Hrawi had five children from two marriages.(AFP) Beirut, 07 Jul 06, 17:09

Army Clashes with Smugglers at Border for Second Time This Week
Naharnet 7/7/06: The army on Friday clashed for the second time this week with smugglers in the western Bekaa near the Syrian border but no casualties were reported, LBCI television said. The station said smugglers opened fire on an army patrol as it was closing illegal crossings along the border near the town of Majdel Anjar. The troops returned fire and the assailants fled, it said. On Tuesday, a Syrian trafficker died in a similar confrontation in the village of Ayah in Rashaya province.
These border incidents come amid heightened tensions between Lebanon and Syria since Damascus withdrew its forces from the neighboring country in April 2005. In May, at the request of the Lebanese government, troops from both sides of the border dismantled sand mounds erected by the Syrian army inside Lebanon. Damascus had said that the barriers were meant to stop smuggling operations. Beirut, 07 Jul 06, 12:29

French Judge Says Paris 'Fully Committed' to Finding Samir Kassir's Killers
Naharnet 7/7/06: French anti-terrorism judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere, heading an inquiry into the murder of An Nahar journalist Samir Kassir who holds dual Lebanese and French citizenship, has said that Paris was "fully committed" to finding his assassins.
"Samir Kassir was enormously respected in Lebanon and France," Bruguiere told reporters Thursday after meeting Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Saniora. "It was an atrocious crime and it is our duty, the duty of French justice, to do everything possible to identify the perpetrators and their accomplices in this attack."
French authorities have also launched a probe into the June 2, 2005 death of Kassir, a prominent columnist at An-Nahar who wrote many scathing articles against Syria's domination of Lebanese political life.
Bruguiere declined to provide details of the current status of his investigation but stressed "what is important is that we are fully committed" and that Paris and Beirut were "working together to reveal the truth." The judge, accompanied by a French team of anti-terrorism experts, also held separate talks with Lebanese Justice Minister Charles Rizk and Prosecutor General Said Mirza with whom he discussed coordination between the Lebanese and French inquiries.
Bruguiere is on his first visit to Lebanon since Kassir's widow, Gisele Khoury, last year requested a French investigation into her husband's murder. The probe was launched in July 2005.
Khoury, herself a prominent journalist with the Dubai-based al Arabiya Television network, said in July last year that "the Lebanese-Syrian police state" was responsible for Kassir's death in a car bomb explosion outside his home in the Beirut district of Ashrafieh. Kassir's assassination was among a string of attacks, which started in Oct. 2004, targeting anti-Syrian politicians and journalists. The bombings included the Feb. 14, 2005 blast that killed ex-Premier Rafik Hariri and 22 others.
Syrian officials and their Lebanese allies have been blamed for the attacks. Both parties deny the allegations.
Kassir played a major role in organizing the mass protests that followed Hariri's killing and ended with Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon in April 2005, after 29 years of political and military domination.(AFP-Naharnet)
Beirut, 07 Jul 06, 08:59

Head of Roman Statue Unearthed Near Baalbek
Naharnet 7/7/06: The head of a statue dating back to the Roman period was discovered in an ancient well in the town of Eaat near Baalbek on Tuesday. An Nahar newspaper, in an article Friday about the discovery, quoted an official at the antiquities department as saying that the head is 35 cm long and weighs over 18 kg. Archeologists told the newspaper they are still trying to determine if it belongs to Alexander the Great or to Heliopolis, the Sun God. Other possibilities are also being examined. Beirut, 07 Jul 06, 11:02


Four-Year-Old Boy Found After 2-Day Disappearance in Wilderness
Army commando troops on Friday found a 4-year-old boy who went missing two days ago while he was on a trip with his parents to the North Lebanon district of Akkar, the National News Agency said. It said Khalil Kanaan was in "bad condition" when the troops found him trapped between rocks in the area between Fneidek and al Atika, a region of rugged countryside.
A search operation for the boy was carried out on Wednesday night, after his parents reported his disappearance.
The troops who found the boy were in the region cutting wood when they heard screaming. After the soldier managed to rescue Kanaan, they gave him first aid treatment and then handed him over to army officials in the region, the agency said. The boy will then be reunited with his family, it added. Beirut, 07 Jul 06, 13:12

Five Members of the Constitutional Council Reject Call for Meeting
Half of the members of the Constitutional Council have rejected a call by the body's president to convene next week arguing that since his term has expired he no longer has the authority to call for such a meeting.
The five members, whose mandate is still valid, issued a statement Thursday saying that Magistrate Amin Nassar "no longer has the authority to issue such a call after his 11-month absence from (the council)."
They said that under the present circumstances, the law says that only parliament and cabinet have the power to call for a meeting of the council. "Then the present members can meet to study this call and take the appropriate decision."
Nassar, whose term expired in 2003, on Wednesday urged the council's 10 members to convene in order to "put an end to the debate" about the legality of the body in an atmosphere "free of political bickering."
The magistrate requested the meeting in response to repeated calls by Gen. Michel Aoun for the council to discuss a challenge filed by his parliamentary bloc against a law passed in May to dissolve the present council and elect a new one.
The anti-Syrian majority in parliament, which sponsored the legislation, argues that the council, formed during Syria's domination of Lebanon, includes many members affiliated with Damascus.
Aoun, whose challenge of the new law is backed by Hizbullah and President Emile Lahoud, has also been asking for months for the council to convene to look into the legitimacy of the election of 10 majority MPs in the Baabda-Aley district during the May-June 2005 elections. The Constitutional Council, established according to the 1989 Taif Accords, supervises the constitutionality of laws and arbitrates conflicts that arise from parliamentary and presidential elections.(Photo shows Amin Nassar) Beirut, 07 Jul 06, 10:43

A bridge between the faiths
Maronite Catholic leader helps keep balance in Lebanon
By Lyn Niemann-Special to the Tribune
Published July 7, 2006
Cheers erupted at a Lombard church this week when the visiting patriarch of Maronite Catholics spoke of President Bush and his role in the removal of Syrian forces from Lebanon.
Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, 86, is the spiritual leader for Catholics in Lebanon, the homeland of most people in the audience. He is respected as a bridge between Christians and non-Christians in the Middle East who vocally opposed Syria's presence in that country.
Sfeir's pastoral visit to the Chicago area this week was an opportunity for Lebanese-Americans to honor his 20 years of service as patriarch, as well as discuss the delicate political and religious balance in the Middle East.
"We see him as an adviser, both in political matters and spiritual ones," said parishioner John Akouri of Chicago.
The cheering broke out when Sfeir mentioned the president before mass on Monday at Our Lady of Lebanon Church, where visiting priests and congregation members had gathered in his honor. A National Security Council resolution sponsored by the U.S. and France helped spur the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon.
Before going home in 2005, Syrian forces had been in Lebanon since the government sought help from its neighbor in the gathering Lebanese civil war in 1976. Syria and its supporters in Lebanon had argued the troops were necessary to maintain peace and defend against an Israeli incursion. Many Lebanese Christians were among the strongest of the dissenting voices.
Sfeir's visit comes in conjunction with an annual national convention of the Maronite Catholic Church, a worldwide church of 14 million members whose spiritual home is Lebanon. It is an Eastern Rite church that is obedient to the Roman Catholic pope but retains distinctive liturgical rites.
The Maronite mass is similar to other Catholic masses, but some parts may be said in Syriac, or Aramaic. Other parts, including many of the traditional hymns and devotions, are in Arabic. Terminology also may vary. For instance, what is called a diocese elsewhere is known as an eparchy.
Our Lady of Lebanon Church has a congregation of nearly 500 families, 95 percent of whom are of Lebanese origin, so it was no surprise that Monday's discussion centered on Lebanon. In the Middle East, where politics is usually intertwined with religion, Sfeir has become a respected figure.
"It's always good to have him come here because he is the spokesman for all the Christians," said parishioner Joseph Naddaf of Naperville, "not only in Lebanon but in the whole Middle East. Everybody looks up to him. He's done a lot for the Lebanese since the Syrian pullout."
The main theme of Monday's talk was concern over Christians' place in the Middle East, the relationship between Lebanese Muslims and Christians, and the delicate balance Lebanon faces in being a sovereign state between Syria and Israel.
With French one of Lebanon's national languages, its capital of Beirut is sometimes called the Paris of the Middle East, and many say the country serves as a bridge between the European and Arab worlds.
But because of continuing unrest in the region and the inability to worship freely, Maronites feel it is becoming harder to maintain a Christian presence there. Lebanon was once majority Catholic, but Muslims are now the largest group.
Rev. Sami Hayek, a visiting priest from Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Church in Pennsylvania, said that although relations between Christians and Muslims living there have improved, "there is still political unrest and foreign interference in Lebanese sovereignty that accounts for Lebanese that continue to migrate."
"The Christians will stay in the Middle East if there is peace," Sfeir told the crowd. "If they migrate and go nearby to places like the Arab gulf, for instance, they can come back. But if they migrate to farther places like the United States, it is very difficult to return."
The first Lebanese Maronite Catholic Church in Chicago was founded in 1956 by Monsignor John Naffah in a house basement on Talman Avenue. Two years later the parish moved to a Frank Lloyd Wright building at 5701 W. Midway Park, where it was named the First Maronite Church of Our Lady of Lebanon. In 1973 the growing parish moved to Hillside. It bought land at the Lombard location in 2003, and the church was dedicated on Oct. 30, 2005. Now it is a home for Maronites in the area.
Sfeir and the Maronites feel that working toward democracy will encourage Lebanese citizens to invest in their former homeland or, ideally, to return home when things in the Middle East settle down. Lebanon is an important barometer for the region, Maronites say. "Lots of Muslims love to have Christians living among them and they want to continue living together without any problems," Sfeir said. "The ability to live together peacefully will involve each side letting the other worship God in his own manner," he said. "But we have to believe in democracy and in justice. Yet, as you know, there is no peace without justice. If there is justice, there will be peace, in Lebanon, the other countries, everywhere in the world."Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune

Syria urges for EU role in solving Mideast conflict
A Syrian official on Thursday urged the European Union (EU) to play a balanced and efficient role in solving conflicts in the Middle East in order to achieve a just and comprehensive peace in the region. Information Minister Mohsen Bilal made the call while meeting with Belgium Ambassador to Syria Joris Couvreur, the official SANA news agency reported.
Bilal was quoted as saying that Israel should be pressured to carry out international resolutions and stop its aggression on the Palestinian people and provocative acts against other states in the region. Situation on the Palestinian arena escalated recently as Israel launched the "Summer Rain" military operation in the Gaza Strip after Palestinian militants kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid on June 25.
Syria is under pressure from Israel, as Israel has accused Khaled Mashaal, politburo leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Haas) based in Damascus, of ordering the kidnapping and urged Syrian leaders to pressure Mashaal to facilitate the release of Shalit. Source: Xinhua

Hizbullah risks becoming part of 'business as usual' in Beirut
Saturday, July 08, 2006
Editorial-Daily Star
Of all the Lebanese leaders who have emerged over the last 20 years, Hizbullah's secretary general, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, is the only one who rose to prominence bearing good news: the liberation of the South from Israeli occupation. Nasrallah built upon this astounding achievement with a largely peaceful consolidation of Lebanese unity in the South, where it had been feared there would be a bloodbath in the wake of Israel's withdrawal, and later by negotiating the release of hundreds of Lebanese prisoners from Israeli jails.
Throughout his confrontation with Israeli occupation, Nasrallah led the transformation of what was once a secretive military group into a formidable political force. Hizbullah first joined Parliament after running in elections in 1992, but Nasrallah refused to allow the party to participate in Cabinet, saying that it would not be held responsible for the government's mistakes. Nasrallah changed course last year, when Hizbullah joined the Cabinet for the first time and became a part of the current government. Many had hoped that as a newcomer, Hizbullah, with its reputation for honesty and integrity, would energize and invigorate a failing state. But one of the inherent dangers of power is its tendency to corrupt. Having joined the government, Hizbullah now risks joining the ranks of those described in Lebanese parlance as "cheese eaters" - those who scavenge on the state with the sole aim of carving out a piece of the pie for their sectarian communities.
The potential danger of this happening is illustrated by the fact that despite all of its substantial national achievements, Hizbullah remains a strictly Shiite party. Hizbullah has not yet capitalized on its victories - which won the party popularity and respect across all sects - and forged a national agenda around which all Lebanese can rally.
As the most visible representative of the largest religious community in Lebanon, Hizbullah is in a unique position to be magnanimous and demand an end to sectarianism in Lebanon. But they can only do that by first reducing the sectarian nature of their own politics. They are also in a unique position to champion the rights of minorities.
Hizbullah's members, who are highly intelligent and motivated people, are surely capable of designing reform programs aimed at achieving this goal. They have proven their competence by generating proposals for economic and bureaucratic reform, but these ideas have only been circulated in specialized forums and have not been put forth to the Parliament or the public.
The current leaning of Hizbullah's weight in the direction of the status quo is a dangerous tendency. It is not enough for Hizbullah to simply participate in the dirty game that is Lebanese politics. The party's goal ought to be the transformation of the Lebanese state and the establishment of a clean, fair and efficient system of governance.

Lebanese arrest suspect in New York bomb plot
By Mayssam Zaaroura and Meris Lutz -Daily Star staff
Saturday, July 08, 2006= BEIRUT: A Lebanese man arrested in Beirut Friday by Lebanese security sources and the FBI confessed to an intricate plan to target metro tunnels under New York's Hudson River, according to Lebanese Interior Minister Ahmad Fatfat. Reports earlier in the day from The New York Daily News stated that a Lebanese citizen had been detained by Internal Security Forces (ISF) in Beirut's suburbs.
The suspect, originally identified as Amir Andalousi and later revealed to be Assem Hammoud, was taken into custody on April 27, but his arrest was kept secret until the paper broke the news.
A statement from the Internal Security Forces said "security forces were able to track e-mails and conversations on an extremist Islamic Web site used to recruit terrorists."
The statement added that after his arrest in April, Hammoud confessed to belonging to an "extremist organization," but he did not identify any known terrorist group.
However, security sources told The Daily Star that Hammoud was since 1994 part of a group believed to be linked to Al-Qaeda. The sources said the suspect was also "a teacher in the Lebanese International University - which is owned by pro-Syrian former Minister Abdel-Rahim Mrad."
The suspect admitted "he had sent his colleagues maps and details about the means to perpetrate the attack via the Internet and intended to travel to Pakistan soon to take part in a four-month training session and then perpetrate the attack at the end of 2006," the statement said.
The sources said that in 2003, Hammoud met with a Syrian man, who took him to Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp, to practice the use of weapons. They added that in 2005, Hammoud met with a "foreign man" who asked him to provide apartments and weapons to the mujahideen.
"This operation was discovered due to a local Lebanese effort and it was accomplished several weeks ago, but we only announced that this person was arrested today and that was for security reasons" Premier Fouad Siniora said during a joint news conference with European Commissioner for External relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
Hammoud was arrested in the area of Mosseitbeh in Beirut after a collaborative effort between the American Federal Bureau of Investigation, Lebanese ISF, and Danish police, ISF sources said.
A spokesperson for Siniora confirmed the arrest, but was unable to say whether the suspect would be extradited to the US. No extradition agreement exists between the two countries.
The New York Daily News reported that US interrogators were allowed to question Hammoud, a fact The Daily Star was unable to confirm as of press time Friday. A US Embassy spokesperson said embassy officials could not comment on an ongoing investigation.
The FBI issued a statement describing the Lebanon arrest as "a significant development" in the investigation.
It also assured that the US Department of Homeland Security will continue to share information with state and local partners, "to ensure that they have the appropriate awareness to make decisions about how to best protect their communities." - With agencies

EU envoy advises Beirut and Damascus to mend ties
By Leila Hatoum -Daily Star staff
Saturday, July 08, 2006
BEIRUT: The European Union "encourages Lebanon and Syria to have positive diplomatic relations," Benita Ferrero-Waldner, European commissioner for external relations and the European Neighborhood Policy, said Friday. Speaking at a joint press conference at the Grand Serail with Lebanese Prime MinisterFouad Siniora, Ferrero-Waldner told reporters: "We indeed discussed Lebanese-Syrian relations earlier this morning with the foreign minister [Fawzi Salloukh] and anything is possible as long as there is a political will to achieve it."
Siniora added his thoughts on the meeting, saying he has "always said we should enjoy an excellent state-to-state relation with Syria."During her second visit to Lebanon since she took office, Ferrero-Waldner discussed the European Commission's commitment to support Lebanon's reform program and the implementation of the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) Action Plan recently signed between the EU and Lebanon. She also signed a horizontal aviation agreement with Lebanon that will establish an official framework for the direct air transport relationship between Lebanon and the EU.
"The commission will support Lebanon in meeting the challenges ahead, and has put together a 10-million-euro [$12.8 million] package to support these reforms in the various judicial, internal security, economy, and other sectors, but Lebanon should start translating its own priorities," Ferrero-Waldner said. She added that the EU "supports Lebanon's own reform plans."
"There are no preconditions on EU help to Lebanon's reform process ... We are trying to offer our expertise to Lebanon and we will send experts who will be financed by the European commission to extend the needed help in the various sectors in Lebanon," she said.
This package forms part of the over 100 million euros committed from the EU community budget for 2000-2006.
"We thank the EU and we request more aid," Siniora said.
"We held fruitful discussions on the progress of the relations between the EU and Lebanon," he added. "We discussed the work schedule and the formation of the Lebanese committees that will execute this schedule ... we also discussed the economic and administrative reform process which Lebanon is carrying out."
According to a statement issued by the European Commission on Friday, "the ENP Action Plan lays the foundations for a deeper relationship between the EU and Lebanon. It is yet to be adopted by the EU-Lebanon Association Council, and will not only support Lebanon's own program of democratic reform, but help to boost its economic prospects through new opportunities to access the European single market."
Siniora also said that he discussed the situation of the Palestinian refugee camps with Ferrero-Waldner and they talked about means to "enhance the conditions in these camps and the EU's support to them."
Ferrero-Waldner said: "The Lebanese government and Premier Siniora were supportive of the EU's step taken towards enhancing the lives of the Palestinian refugees.
"We will be opening eight new schools and 300 new classes in the camps."
The aviation agreement signed Friday removes nationality restrictions from the bilateral air services agreements between EU member states and Lebanon. The new agreement allows any EU airline to operate flights between any EU member state where it is established and Lebanon.
"Lebanon is one of the first countries worldwide and the first country in the Mediterranean region to reach such an agreement with the EU," Siniora said.