LCCC NEWS BULLETIN
JUNE 17/2006

Below News From the Daily Star for 17/06/06
Lebanese demand UN action on Mossad cell
Conference urges Arab states to preserve environment
Harb: Chirac's invitation to Siniora a snub to Lahoud
Qaddoumi praises Hariri's work on behalf of refugees
Hasbayya disassociates itself from resident Israeli agent
Jumblatt: Hizbullah attempting to monopolize decision-making
The time is right to use 1559 against Israel
Bringing Beit Mery back to life
Lebanese await official word from Israel on pullout from Shebaa Farms
Security Council extends Hariri probe, expands its mission
Murr gives army full credit for cracking terror network
Salloukh aims to address concerns of Lebanese expatriates

Below News From miscellaneous sources for 17/06/06
Arab Americans Trace Their Immigrant Roots to the 1870s-Washington File
Australian Jews Worried Over Syria Support-Arutz Sheva
Israeli Plane Detonated Bomb That Killed Two Islamic Jihad Officials, Defense Minister Says-Naharnet
Israeli Newspaper Demands Inquiry into Lebanon Jihad bombing-Naharnet
Security Council Extends Brammertz Mandate and Expands His Mission-Naharnet
Assad Agrees to Diplomatic Relations with Lebanon but Not Under Pressure-Naharnet
Olmert Tells Chirac Israel is Ready to Pull Out of Shabaa-Naharnet

As U.N. Inquiry Drags On, Syrians Ask If They Should Relax
Friday, June 16, 2006
The New York Times-By Michael Slackman
DAMASCUS, Syria, June 15 - Even as the United Nations Security Council voted Thursday to extend the investigation into the assassination of Rafik Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister, there was a sense here that the pressure was off, that Syria was no longer in imminent danger of being charged with the crime or punished by the international community.
"After 14 months, there is no concrete evidence that incriminates Syria," said Georges Jabbour, a Baathist member of Parliament. "Since the world rushed to blame Syria, I think that the damage to Syria's image is something that must be rectified by those who are responsible."
But that view was only half the picture. There was also a feeling here that Syria might simply be sitting in the eye of the storm. Officials at the highest levels fear that the new low-key investigator, Serge Brammertz of Belgium, may in the long run prove more dangerous than his high-profile predecessor, Detlev Mehlis of Germany, according to political analysts and people who work with the government.
Mr. Mehlis named names and leveled charges against the leadership's inner circle, providing a target for the government to try to undermine, which it did aggressively. By comparison Mr. Brammertz has disclosed little about what he may or may not have come up with, leaving those in power to guess where he is going.
"They are worried inside, but they are not showing it," said Marwan Kabalan, a professor of international relations at Damascus University, speaking about the Syrian leadership. "Under Mehlis, everything was clear to everybody. There were no secrets. This is why Brammertz is more dangerous."
Faced with such uncertainty, but also empowered by the release of immediate pressure, the leadership here has tried to shore up its position, bracing for the day when, or if, a damning report is produced.
The government has strengthened ties with Iran, arrested opposition leaders and sought to pacify Islamists. Perhaps most striking, it has worked to appease Washington by trying to seal the borders with Iraq and by planning to send the foreign minister to Baghdad this week, an overture being portrayed as an effort to help stabilize Iraq.
The assassination of Mr. Hariri in February 2005 was a critical moment in Syria's modern history. Even while the government insisted it did not play any role in the killing, the murder generated so much pressure that Damascus was forced to pull its troops out of Lebanon. The humiliating withdrawal fueled rumors that the government was in trouble.
The pressure intensified when the first prosecutor reported that witnesses implicated the president's brother and brother-in-law in planning the assassination, while telling the Security Council that the Syrians were defiant about not cooperating.
But the murder of Mr. Hariri can no longer be viewed as a singular act - if it ever could. It is one strand among many that have come to define the contemporary Middle East, from the election of Hamas to run the Palestinian Authority, to the bloodshed in Iraq. Those events have strengthened the Syrian government's position, even if only for the short run.
Syria's own problems with Islamic militants have also proved to be a short-term plus for the government. Earlier this month, Syria reported that its security forces killed four armed terrorists in Umayyad Square during a shootout. Diplomats and analysts in Syria have been saying for months that Islamist radicals have been debating whether to bring the fight here, and the recent shootout demonstrated that some have decided to try.
But for the government, the Islamist threat offers the government a chance to press back against efforts to undermine or oust President Bashar al-Assad and his secular Baathist government.
"Practically, for Syria, America won't be able to occupy Damascus anytime soon," said Dr. Samir al-Taqi, who serves as a health adviser to the government and is helping to build a new research organization focusing on international relations. "They won't embark tomorrow on attacking Iran. Subsequently, the major players are the regional players."
But as is the case with most of the good news for Syria these days, this is conditional.
The United Nations investigator, Mr. Brammertz, issued his most recent report to the Security Council this week, and it was immediately viewed as positive for Damascus.
But a more subtle look at the investigation also suggested that Mr. Brammertz had settled on the notion that the crime had political motivations. More ominously to Syrian officials, he appeared to be linking Mr. Hariri's killing to 14 other bombings in Lebanon, political analysts here said.
"The pressure is off but not finished," said Ibrahim Hamidi, the Damascus bureau chief for a pan-Arab newspaper, Al Hayat. "The sword is still at the Syrian neck."

Jumblatt: Hizbullah attempting to monopolize decision-making
Chouf Mp says resistance using Shebaa as pretext
By Maher Zeineddine -Daily Star correspondent
Saturday, June 17, 2006
BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt indirectly criticized Hizbullah Friday for what he said was certain parties' constant attempts to monopolize Lebanese decision-making through "the gate to the South and the Shebaa Farms pretext - the reason why Rafik Hariri died."
Speaking at a commemoration ceremony at the Chouf Tourism Resort in Baaqlin to mark the passing of one year since the killing of the former Communist Party leader George Hawi on June 21, Jumblatt referred indirectly to Hizbullah and the Arab states, saying: "We succeeded in resisting despotism and facing petty collaborators, but it seems Lebanon will remain stuck between the historic racist Israeli hammer and the Arab anvil, the anvil of the arrogant and malicious macro system."
Jumblatt called for the full implementation of the Taif Accord, stressing that only then will the Lebanese-Syrian relations recover their normal course.
He also lashed out at Syria, saying: "We must unite and seek protection from the plant of corruption, conspiracies and murder, this plant that resembles Chernobyl in Reef Damascus."
Meanwhile, the March 14 Forces' Follow-Up Committee said if the Lebanese Army had succeeded in uncovering an Israeli terror network then it was capable of protecting Lebanon without help from other forces.
The committee made the statement after its regular meeting at the Democratic Renewal Movement headquarters, where it indirectly hinted Hizbullah should disarm as the army was capable of protecting Lebanon.
Earlier this week, the army arrested members of a terror network linked to Israel's Mossad. One of the members confessed to several killings of Lebanese and Palestinian figures.
Speaking for the committee, former MP Fares Soueid praised the army's latest achievement, expressing full support to the government against any tampering with the country's security, stability and sovereignty.
"What happened highlights the importance of embracing this national institution and we must support it by all means," Soueid said, adding: "The March 14 Forces taking part in the national dialogue proposed a defense strategy against maintaining the resistance at the expense of building a state. These forces requested that the state alone be entrusted with the task of defending the country, both at the level of political decision-making and on the ground."
It also marked the passing of one year since Hawi's killing, recalling his pioneering experience in national resistance against Israeli occupation and in Lebanon's independence intifada.

Lebanese await official word from Israel on pullout from Shebaa Farms
By Rym Ghazal -Daily Star staff
Friday, June 16, 2006
BEIRUT: Lebanese officials were still awaiting official notice Thursday from Israel regarding Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's bombshell announcement that Israel would withdraw from the disputed Shebaa Farms once the area is proven to be Lebanese.
Olmert made the unexpected announcement on Wednesday during a meeting with French President Jacques Chirac, saying that Israel would be ready to withdraw its occupying forces from the Farms - the first time Israel makes this declaration.
Lebanese local daily An-Nahar quoted a source in Paris as saying that during the talks, the Israeli premier offered to pull his army out of the Shebaa Farms "after Lebanon demarcates its border with Syria and declares Lebanese sovereignty over the region."
When contacted by The Daily Star, Lebanese parties and officials said they are studying the announcement carefully until it becomes "official."
"Up until now, we haven't received anything official from the French government regarding this issue," said an official at the office of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
Lebanese political leaders recently agreed during national reconciliation talks to delineate the common border with Syria to officially confirm the Lebanese identity of the Farms - which to this day remain officially recognized as "Syrian territory" by the UN and Israel.
In May, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 1680, adding pressure on Syria to respond to the Lebanese government's request to demarcate the frontier and establish diplomatic relations with Beirut.
Syria rejected the resolution, calling it international interference in bilateral affairs.
Olmert also reportedly asked Chirac to "exert pressure" on the Lebanese government to deploy troops along the border with Israel when it pulls out of Shebaa Farms, implying the withdrawal hinges on Hizbullah military posts being replaced by the Lebanese Army.
Analysts said Israel may be "testing the waters" by leaking this announcement to the media, so as to plan its next move.
"Israel is probably sending a message to Hizbullah, Syria and Iran, and is waiting to see their reactions to this announcement," political analyst Simon Haddad, who has been closely following the Shebaa Farms issue, told The Daily Star.
"I doubt it will be a unilateral withdrawal, as there has to be something in it for Israel before it withdraws," said Haddad.
"It is not really about the land, but about Hizbullah," he added, referring to Olmert's remarks about the deployment of Lebanese Army to the South.
Haddad also said that Israel is putting itself back in the "Shebaa Farms game," as the announcement follows a recent letter from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to Siniora in which the UN chief excluded Israel from the Shebaa Farms dispute.
In the letter, Annan said that Beirut should honor Israeli presence in the Shebaa Farms as long as Lebanon and Syria has not demarcated their border. - With agencies

Tueni case gets investigating magistrate
By Leila Hatoum -Daily Star staff
Saturday, June 17, 2006
BEIRUT: Lebanon's highest legal authority has appointed an investigating magistrate into the assassination of one of the country's most prominent politicians and journalists, six months after his murder. In its first official meeting following the appointment of five new members, the Higher Judicial Council agreed on Friday that Judge Jihad al-Wadi would investigate the assassination of Gebran Tueni, former MP and general manager of local daily An-Nahar.
Tueni was assassinated on December 12, 2005, in a massive car bombing that targeted his convoy as it traveled to Beirut one day after he returned to Lebanon from France, where he was staying after receiving threats on his life.
The council's work had been frozen for several months due to a stalemate over appointees to the vacant seats. The stalemate was broken earlier this week after both the president and the prime minister signed a decree appointing the remaining members to the ten-person council.
The council also relieved, upon his own request, one of its members, magistrate Suheil Abdel-Samad, from investigating the disappearance of Imam Moussa Sadr, who was kidnapped in Libya in 1979.
The council also asked that chief magistrates throughout Lebanon present suggestions on the work of the judiciary in preparation for annual judi-cial appointments.
Wadi's name was first proposed by Justice Minister Charles Rizk, who made the appointment on Friday. The decision stated that "in the case of the attack against the state's security ... which resulted in the assassination of MP Tueni and his two guards, the primary magistrate in Beirut's Court of Appeals is hereby appointed as judicial investigator."
Wadi, born in 1940, is the magistrate who investigated the murder of eight National
Social Security Fund employees in 2004, a case that resulted in the death penalty for perpetrator Ahmad Mansour.
Wadi is also the magistrate who decided to close the case against former army commander and current MP Michel Aoun in 2005 "for lack of incriminating evidence" for charges of "mutiny and usurping power."
Aoun was commander of the Lebanese Army in 1989 and was appointed premier by then-President Amin Gemayel.
Aoun launched a War of Liberation from Syrian troops in Lebanon but fled the country to exile in France in 1990 after the Syrian military attacked the presidential palace, where he had taken refuge. He returned to Lebanon on May 7, 2005, after 15 years in exile.
Meanwhile, Rizk said that a judicial committee will visit the headquarters of the International Court of Justice at The Hague by the end of June.
The purpose of this visit "is to meet with top magistrates there and discuss the basis of the international tribunal that will be formed to try the perpetrators in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri," Rizk said in an interview with Lebanese satellite television station LBCI late Thursday.
Rizk also said that he had received a letter from the UN on the matter of the tribunal and said that a team from the UN "will visit Lebanon soon" to discuss its formation.
"Hopefully [UN chief] Kofi Annan or one of his high deputies will be heading it," Rizk said.
In additional business the council agreed to hold weekly meetings on Friday mornings.