LCCC NEWS BULLETIN
MARCH 29/2006

Below news from miscellaneous sources for 29/03/06
UN encouraged over Lebanon-United Press International
A victory over terrorist media-Washington Times
Future of Lahoud and Hezbollah: two questions standing in the way-AsiaNews.it
Al Khartoum and Arabic Medicine-By: Ghassan Charbe- Dar Al-Hayat
LEBANON: Poultry sector suffers despite absence of bird flu-Reuters
Syrian opposition activist released from detention-Khaleej Times
Fugitive seen in Syria video-Chicago Tribune
Below news from the Daily Star for 29/03/06
Siniora, Assad shake hands, 'agree' to hold meeting
Smuggling at north border alive and well
Berri calls for question and answer session
Two final dialogue issues interlocked
Moallem: Don't abandon the resistance
Choice of new president hot topic for talks
Feltman: Lebanon is 'living on borrowed time' economically
Lebanon's poultry sector shrinks by 50 percent
Casino du Liban spins the profit wheel
Rana Qoleilat claims innocence in TV interview
With gas prices high, taxi drivers turn to 'the bottle'
Hamas joins the ranks of the world's unpopular leaders
In Khartoum, the refrain of Arab failure
Arab leaders allot funds to AU but nothing new for refugees
 

Al Khartoum… and Arabic Medicine
Ghassan Charbel Al-Hayat - 28/03/06//
The average Arab citizen needs no explanations, for experience is the best teacher. It is hard to believe that this same citizen falls victim of hope as soon as the summit, whether regular or extraordinary, convenes. It has been a long time since he wagered on Arabic medicine, because he neither trusts the accuracy of the diagnostic, nor the skill of the scalpel. He fears the extraordinary sedating powers that would only elongate the coma. There is no doubt that the Arab citizen is in pain, from Baghdad to Jerusalem and from the Shebaa farms to Darfur; he tosses and turns at the stake of terrorism and occupations, and moves along civil war drums, unemployment, poverty and the official rhetoric describing his hopes and pains. However, it remains true that the days of Arabic medicine are long gone, and he must now wager on American or international doctors, and on a different kind of clinics and terminologies.
Today, when Arab leaders gather in Khartoum, they will not need a reminder of the end of the Arabic medicine era. They already know that the president of the Iraqi delegation did not come to seek aid in chasing the foreign military out of his country. In reality, he believes that were these troops to leave early, all hell would break loose and civil war would rampage the country, making it a fatally attractive regional spot. He might even level with them on the fact that Iran has become a fixed player on the Iraqi scene, and its consent is now a necessary step to be taken before the formation of a government or the imposition of security. He might allude that the Iranian role extends from Teheran to southern Lebanon. He will definitely not need to remind them that the Iraqi future would be on the American-Iranian negotiation table, which might pave the way for a major deal that cures the nuclear hunger by admitting Iran's chief role in the region. It is only obvious that Jalal Talabani's despair with the Arabic herbal infusion of decisions only mirrors Prime Minister Ibrahim al Jaafari's despair, who is a man of different tastes than these herbs.
Early on, Mahmoud Abbas discovered the incompetence of Arabic Medicine. He saw for himself that this branch of medicine was enough to preserve your title as defender of a cause, but not to actually solve the issue in question. He is well aware that Ehud Olmert does not tremble with terror awaiting the resolutions of the summit, and that the ink shed at Khartoum is not going to reverse the course of events. His utmost request is to protect the Palestinian Authority from declaring its complete and utter financial bankruptcy. Another demand of his is to receive help in persuading "Hamas" that the post-1967 defeat "Khartoum refusals" are not valid for the Khartoum summit, held after the misfortune became wide-ranging.
On another level, President Emile Lahoud suffers a different problem that medicine might be unable to cure. His problem lies in Beirut and not Khartoum. He suffers from American, international and Lebanese "No"s and still, he resists the proposed treatment. The majority of ministers, members of parliament and Lebanese in general are against him while he is currently treating himself with a dose of "Hezbollah's" strategic calculations and General Michel Aoun's presidential ambitions, instead of the "unity of track" herbs that were previously enough for him.
There are examples aplenty. The Western Sahara issue has been poisoning the Moroccan-Algerian relations and the spirit of cooperation in the Maghreb for decades. Our Somali brothers have taken the sole responsibility for showing the failure of all kinds of medicine: neither do they rescue their country, nor do they let anyone else rescue it.
We do not wish to say that Arab summits are unjustified; we are only after controlling the level of hope, which would finally decrease the already-high level of disappointments. Moreover, we wish to say that all the Arab citizens must exchange all necessary concessions to salvage their respective countries, before taking their misfortunes to the Arab League clinic, which dried out its assurance and herb supplies. The charisma of Amro Moussa alone does not suffice to rescue Arabic medicine when all he finds in the clinic are sedatives and generalities ink.

Analysis: U.N. encouraged over Lebanon
By WILLIAM M. REILLY
UPI U.N. Correspondent
UNITED NATIONS, March 27 (UPI) -- A senior U.N. envoy promoting implementation of a Lebanon resolution, Terje Roed-Larsen, after wrapping up a series of meetings in Middle Eastern and world capitals ending in Beirut, has been encouraged by the country charting a course to stability, urges all concerned to forge ahead in unity.
"My consultations in Washington, London, Paris, Moscow, Beijing, and Brussels, and my talks in Riyadh, Cairo, Amman and Doha, have underlined that there exists a complete consensus in the international community on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1559" passed in 2004, he said Monday.
"There remains some difficult work to do," Roed-Larsen said. "The regional situation in the Middle East is tense and certainly complicates matters here for the Lebanese. But progress has been made, and I hope that the engagement in roundtable diplomacy will continue and be extended." The envoy said, "The boat that is Lebanon is now well on its way across the ocean. All the oarsmen must continue to row together and in complete unison, for the sake of the boat's safety and successful journey."
He added, "By doing so, the Lebanese are also moving into what is truly a new historical era, that of sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, and political independence." The Lebanese would be guided by what he called the "North Star" of their Taif Agreement as well as 1559, which supports its aims. The council's measure calls for the withdrawal of all armed groups from Lebanon. Israel withdrew its forces from Southern Lebanon in 2000. Following the Feb. 14, 2005, assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Syria's troops were withdrawn. Some Palestinian militias remain.
The Document of National Accord is popularly referred to as the Taif Agreement since it was signed in Taif, Saudi Arabia in 1989. It provided the basis for ending the 1975 civil war and return to political normalcy.
It restructured the political system in Lebanon by transferring power away from the traditionally Christian Maronite presidency to a cabinet divided equally between Muslims and Christians. Roed Larsen said he was heartened by his three days of talks with senior officials in Beirut. "I am much encouraged by what I have heard and what I have seen here in Lebanon."
He also repeated his support for the National Dialogue now being undertaken in Lebanon, calling it "truly historic and unprecedented." "We all are witnesses of history in the making, as we observe the National Dialogue and the subsequent implementation of the agreements reached" and Roed-Larsen said at this juncture, the Lebanese must "look ahead to the implementation of these agreements and to the new dawn that is breaking.
"The remnants of the past must not tie them down," he said.
"I have repeatedly expressed my admiration and strong support for the initiative the Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri has taken in bringing Lebanese leaders of all colors together for a National Dialogue that is truly historic and unprecedented," he said. "Some of the leaders around the table had never even met before; some had not talked to each other for a long time.
"This is the first time that the Lebanese have come together in this manner to talk frankly with one another about issues that only a few months ago were considered taboos," he said. "For the first time, such a dialogue has taken place without a third-party presence. This is remarkable; an outstanding achievement in its own right."
He noted in particular agreements reached through the process, including on the need to delineate the border with Syria and to establish formal diplomatic relations with Damascus. "This should take place as soon as possible," Roed-Larsen said.
He also called attention to recent statements by Syrian Vice-President Farouq Sharaa that the Sheba Farms are Lebanese territory, although the U.N. Security Council in 2000 concluded on the basis of a large number of maps that the area was Israeli-occupied Syria. "If both Lebanon and Syria agree that this is not the case, and ratify an agreement to this effect through due process, which they deposit with the United Nations, then the international community will not only recognize, but also support this fact," he said. Roed-Larsen lauded the agreement on the arms of Palestinian militias outside the camps, calling it "a tremendously significant and important step towards the implementation of Resolution 1559." which among other things calls extending the Beirut government's control over the whole country.
"The matters of Hezbollah and the Palestinian militias and their arms should generally be dealt with through dialogue and consensus, guided by the Taif Agreement, which ended the infighting and communal violence among the Lebanese, and resolution 1559," he added. Roed-Larsen, who left Beirut Monday is scheduled to return to New York to brief U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and prepare a report to be delivered to the 15-member Security Council next month.

A victory over terrorist media
TODAY'S EDITORIAL
March 25, 2006
The Treasury Department struck a blow against one branch of Iran's propaganda network on Thursday, designating Hezbollah's al Manar satellite television operation as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist organization. The designation prohibits transactions between Americans and U.S. entities and al Manar, and freezes any assets al Manar may have under American jurisdiction. It constitutes a huge victory for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and the Coalition Against Terrorist Media, an organization founded by FDD in an effort to press foreign governments to impose sanctions against al Manar and to discourage satellite providers from carrying it.
Al Manar had hoped to stave off the designation as a terrorist entity by framing criticism of its connection to Hezbollah as an effort to deprive it of its First Amendment rights. But as the Treasury Department made clear, the issue is not al Manar's role as a television station but its role in facilitating the activities of Hezbollah, an organization that has killed more Americans than every other terrorist group save al Qaeda. "Any entity maintained by a terrorist group -- whether masquerading as a charity, a business or a media outlet -- is as culpable as the terrorist group itself," said Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey. The Treasury Department cited an incident in which an al Manar employee carried out operational surveillance for Hezbollah while acting under cover of employment by al Manar.
Moreover, the organization has supported Hezbollah's fundraising and recruitment efforts, and Hezbollah-affiliated charities have aired commercials on al Manar, providing bank account numbers for donations. Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah publicized an invitation for all Lebanese citizens to volunteer for Hezbollah military training on al Manar. And in addition to supporting Hezbollah, Treasury said, "al Manar has also provided support to other designated terrorist organizations, including the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, notably transferring tens of thousands of dollars for a PIJ-controlled charity." It should also be pointed out that, since the war in Iraq began three years ago, al Manar has specialized in depicting American soldiers as war criminals. The Treasury Department gets it right: Al Manar is a propaganda arm of the Islamofascists who are fighting against the United States.

Future of Lahoud and Hezbollah: two questions standing in the way of inter-Lebanese dialogue
by Youssef Hourany
Arab League summit tomorrow to discuss Syria-Lebanon relations. Siniora, following a visit to Saudi Arabia, affirms his will to visit Damascus to tackle the questions dividing the two countries.
Beirut (AsiaNews) – Politics today in Beirut revolved around the questions of the future of the country’s president, the pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud (thanks to whom the fourth phase of inter-Lebanese dialogue was postponed to Monday), Hezbollah disarmament and relations between Lebanon and Syria, on the eve of the Arab League summit. For the second time in recent weeks, the “Dialogue” among the 14 Lebanese political leaders was opened and immediately adjourned. The main question on the agenda was the country’s presidency. “No result was achieved,” parliamentary speaker, Nabih Berri, said, “and this point remains on the agenda for the next session.”Meanwhile, Lahoud has confirmed his participation in the annual summit of the Arab League, to be held in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, which will also be a venue for discussion on relations between Lebanon and Syria. Lebanon’s prime minister, Fuad Siniora, will also take part in the summit: he announced today, on the heels of his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, that Lebanonese-Syrian relations were the focus of his meetings with King Abdullah, saying to reporters that “we have the same viewpoints and principles regarding these relations.” Siniora also said that he was “willing and ready” to visit Syria to build good relations and resolve all the pending issues between us.” But he also stated that he wanted to study the visit to its fullest before announcing it.
As for Lahoud’s future, General Michel Aoun, a like-minded candidate to succeed the current head of state, said that there were only two paths available to the parliamentary majority: “accept the current constitution and therefore President Lahoud’s continuation as head of state, with the need to change the current government, or reach an agreement on a successor, who must be representative.” The new president, he said, “must have popular, national and humane-ethical credentials which enable him to lead the country at this critical juncture.”For his part, the head of Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea espressed “faith in dialogue so far” and reinforced the need to continue efforts that bring President Lahoud to step down. He said that he feared a “grey” result, “which would mean the protraction of this period of crisis” and renewed his call for a popular sit-in. On the qualities of a new president, Geagea said he was favourable to a “first-rate president, a politician par excellence.”
According to journalistic sources, disagreements exists between Geagea and his ally, Saad Hariri, on the name of a new president, the latter being categorically against the election of a Lebanese Forces man, such as Georges Adwan, the Forces’ deputy commander, accused of massacres during the civil war, and between Geagea and Cornet Chehwan, who is pushing for one of his men, such as lawmaker Boutros Harb.
Along with the problem of Lahoud’s future, the Dialogue is also at a standstill on the search for a solution to the problem of disarming armed movements, in particular pro-Syrian Hezbollah, as required by Security Council Resolution 1559, dated September 2004. On this, UN special envoy Terje Roed-Larsen said yesterday, while leaving Beirut, that the use of force was out of the question. “Our aim,” he explained, “is to integrate Hezbollah into Lebanese armed forces.”

Fugitive seen in Syria video
Slain UIC student's family seeks action
By Josh Noel and David Heinzmann
Tribune staff reporters
Published March 28, 2006
Investigators have believed for months that a fugitive wanted for the slaying of a University of Illinois at Chicago student is hiding in Syria, and a video found recently on the Internet confirmed their suspicions, law enforcement sources said.
Muaz Haffar of Burr Ridge jumped bail and fled after being charged in the July 9 slaying of Tombol Malik, a UIC student who was bludgeoned to death with a bike lock near the Near West Side campus.
Because Haffar has family in Syria and Egypt, investigators have long suspected the former Benedictine University student might be in one of the countries.A video that appears to show him dancing in a Damascus nightclub appears to confirm the suspicions, law enforcement sources said. A friend of the Malik family first saw the video and alerted the family Feb. 6, said Sati Malik, Tombol's brother.Family members alerted the U.S. Marshals Great Lakes Regional Task Force about the video. Investigators who have viewed the images believe it is Haffar, sources said. Authorities have been trying to arrange help in Damascus in arresting Haffar, but poor diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Syria have made the process difficult, sources said.The stalemate is frustrating for the family. "They know that he's in Syria--and that's very frustrating," Sati Malik said. Haffar and co-defendant Mantas Matulis are accused of killing Tombol Malik, 23, in the early hours of July 9 just south of the UIC campus.Police and prosecutors have said that Malik and a friend offered help after noting that Matulis was bleeding from a head wound. Haffar is accused of fatally beating Malik with the victim's bike lock. A judge set bail for both men July 10. Haffar disappeared soon after."This whole bond-jumping was an open wound, even before we saw this video. Now it's like there's salt in the wound," Sati Malik said.

Syrian opposition activist released from detention
(DPA)28 March 2006 -DAMASCUS - Samir Nashar, a leading Syrian human rights activist, was released from custody late Monday after being detained at the weekend in Aleppo province in northern Syria, according to a Tuesday statement by a fellow human rights activist Ammar Qurabi.Nashar, a member of the Committee for Reviving the Civil Society and the interim committee of the Damascus Declaration, the broadest opposition group in Syria, was freed after three days in detention, the statement said. Qurabi said Nashar was arrested for having participated in a conference for the Syrian opposition in Washington DC last month. Security officials took him into custody from his office in Aleppo, 355 kilometres northwest of the capital Damascus on Saturday, according to Qurabi. The detention could not be confirmed with the Syrian government, which does not issue statements on domestic security issues as a matter of routine.

LEBANON: Poultry sector suffers despite absence of bird flu
28 Mar 2006 13:28
BEIRUT, 28 March (IRIN) - Local poultry farmers and shop owners say they are experiencing major drops in sales due to a lack of public awareness on how bird flu is contracted, despite the fact that no cases of the H5N1 virus have been confirmed in the country. "Sales are down 80 percent at least since news broke of the disease," said Ali Daw, a poultry farmer who sells chicken products in Beirut's Chiyah market. "People are afraid of bird flu, so they're cutting down on poultry consumption."
Daw added that, while he used to sell up to 50 chickens and about 30 egg cartons per day, he now sells less than half of that. "The money I'm making is barely enough to feed the chickens in my farm," he said. "If things don't get better soon, I'll have to close the business." According to Jean Hawa, head of the Poultry Farmers Union and owner of one of the country's biggest chicken farms, the poultry sector had lost some US $30 million as of 15 March. "And the damage is ongoing," he added.
Hawa explained that the main reason for the losses was the fear of bird flu, despite the fact that the virus cannot be contracted through cooked poultry and that there have been no reported cases in the country so far. Bird flu spreads to humans through contact with infected birds.
"Business is remarkably subdued," Hawa said. "Prices went down severely, and our losses are growing as the disease gets closer to Lebanon." He added that, although poultry farmers have cut production to less than half of capacity, they were still losing money. Local consumers, meanwhile, say they are not prepared to take risks, despite reassurances: "It won't kill them to stop eating chicken and eggs for a while, until the danger is gone," said Mariam Haidar, a housewife and mother of three.
In the Middle East, only Iraq and Egypt have declared fatal human cases of avian flu, with two deaths in each country. Neighbouring Israel, meanwhile, has detected evidence of bird flu in thousands of turkeys and chickens, found dead in the south of the country. According to the latest figures published by the World Health Organization (WHO), the H5N1 strain of the disease has killed 105 people since early 2003, mostly in South-East Asia.
According to Hawa, the government had set aside a sum of $800,000 to distribute on poultry breeders who choose to kill their chicken in order to cut down on production as demand is low at present, and thereby balance the prices of poultry products in the market. "If there is less product offered in the market, the prices will rise a little," Hawa said.
"That is why one of the conditions to be able to get the compensation is to dispose of the chicken without selling it after it is killed," he added, and explained that each farmer was getting $1 for every chicken killed.
"These are healthy chickens however, and the only reason we are doing this is to balance prices in the market," he added.
He explained that the union was still holding out for more compensation. "We understand people's fears, but we also assure them that the poultry sector is taking all precautions necessary to avoid the disease," Hawa emphasised, "and we've been successful at this so far."
In a bid to bolster the flagging industry, Minister of Agriculture Talal Sahili assured the public it was safe to consume poultry products. "I eat chicken, and so can everyone, without fear," Sahili said. "We've taken pre-emptive measures such as banning hunting, sending inspectors to villages to check on the birds… we have 13 specialised groups taking daily samples of dead birds and other birds to analyse them in specialised laboratories," the minister added.
Sahili went on to say: "We're taking all precautions. If there's a case of bird flu, we'll know instantly and counter it before humans are infected."
Abdel-Salam Weld Ahmad, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation representative in Lebanon, said that the agency was assisting the government in spreading awareness about the virus. "We're working hand in hand with the Lebanese government and concerned ministries to spread awareness," Ahmad said. "We've provided them with the guidelines being used worldwide to counter the disease."

Siniora, Assad shake hands, 'agree' to hold meeting
By Nada Bakri and Nafez Qawas
Daily Star staff
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
BEIRUT/KHARTOUM: Leb-anese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Syrian President Bashar Assad decided Tuesday to meet in Damascus in the near future, after the two officials held a meeting on the sidelines of the Arab League summit in Khartoum. "I told President Assad I want to schedule a meeting with him and Syrian officials in Damascus to discuss demarcating the borders and establishing diplomatic relations," Siniora told reporters.
Assad, whose relations with the anti-Syrian coalition dominating the Lebanese Cabinet are strained over the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri, welcomed the idea, according to the premier.
Siniora quoted the Syrian president as having responded: "we should carefully prepare our agenda before we meet."
However, Syrian sources in Khartoum denied any such agreement, saying Assad and Siniora "simply shook hands" in their first encounter since July 2005.
Siniora said upon his arrival in Khartoum Monday night that he would seek a meeting with Assad after Lebanon's leading politicians decided the premier should follow up on recent decisions made during an ongoing national dialogue in Beirut.
The relevant agreements pertained to demarcating the borders and the occupied Shebaa Farms.
Siniora, who attended the summit despite the presence of President Emile Lahoud "for more adequate Lebanese representation," did not participate in the opening session. The premier had said the night before that he would attend the event.
His presence in Khartoum could not stop Arab leaders from adopting in their final declarations a statement that stresses the right of the resistance (Hizbullah) to liberate the occupied Lebanese territories from the Israeli enemy. Sources in
Khartoum told The Daily Star that Siniora tried to intervene to remove the word "resistance" as the issue is "still blocked within the national dialogue."
Also, reports emerged Tuesday that Siniora had asked that he not be seated at the same table as Lahoud's delegation, and was refused.
When asked why he did not attend the opening ceremony, Siniora said he was preparing for a closed-door meeting on Lebanese-Syrian relations and for meetings with Arab leaders.
He denied any friction within the Lebanese delegation, insisting Lahoud represents Lebanon, while he was there to follow up on decisions made during the national talks.
Siniora later met with the heads of state of Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Libya and Tunisia, as well as Qatari, Iraqi and Moroccan foreign ministers.
Political sources said Monday that Assad told Lahoud that Damascus was ready to provide Lebanon with "all it needs to enhance its stability."
"President Assad expressed his government's willingness to provide Lebanon with anything it needs to protect its unity, sovereignty and independence," sources close to the Lebanese presidential delegation told The Daily Star.
"The Syrian president also said he was interested in the outcome of the Lebanese national talks, and added that an united Lebanon strengthens both Beirut and Damascus," the sources said.
Although Lebanon's parliamentary majority urged Arab leaders to boycott Lahoud during the summit, deeming his mandate unconstitutional, the president's schedule included meetings with several Arab presidents and delegations heads.
The president held talks with Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Jordan's King Abdullah II, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and Turkish Premier Recep Tayyep Erdogan.
The president's talks with Arab officials were reported to have focused on the latest developments in the region.
Lahoud also met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who thanked the government for its concern over the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Abbas said he was confident the strategy to deal with weapons inside and outside of the country's 12 refugee camps would succeed, and expressed his satisfaction with the ongoing dialogue.

The Lebanese delegation returned to Beirut late Tuesday.
Smuggling at north border alive and well
Illegal traffic called last resort
By Adnan El-Ghoul-Daily Star staff
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
NORTH LEBANON: The smuggling of commodities and basic provisions across the northern Lebanese-Syrian border has diminished over the last year, but economic hardships continue to spur residents to discover new means and routes by which to circumvent government authorities.
After years of flourishing trade in all manner of merchandise, the main items smuggled across the border today are cement and other minor building materials from Lebanon, and diesel fuel, cooking gas and as food provisions from Syria.
The few Lebanese residents along the border with access to capital continue to trade in cement and diesel, in addition to hiring cheap laborers as needed. A Lebanese customs official, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Daily Star that only 15 percent of the area's original traders remain engaged in smuggling, and that they employ less than 15 percent of the thousands of unemployed laborers.
Wadi Khaled, in Akkar, contains fertile land rich with water, but farmers have given up hope in the agrarian sector.
"Since the smuggling business dropped to its lowest level, many citizens tried to cultivate their land to compensate for the loss of income. They failed and incurred great losses, ending up in debt and bankrupt," the customs official said.
After the Syrian withdrawal in 2005 the Lebanese Army was ordered to deter smuggling activities and block all illegal points of entry into Lebanon. "It is hard to block all roads," the official said. "The smugglers keep opening new roads and monitor army patrols to avoid them as they move."According to the official, no army has enough personnel to monitor their entire border, especially at night and on such rough terrain.
He noted that Syria was having the same difficulty controlling the flow of illegal goods across its borders.
One or two stores selling small motorcycles to Syrian farmers and workers can be found in almost every border village in Wadi Khaled. Buyers ferry their newly purchased transportation across the Nahr al-Kabir, or Grand River, and ride across the fields away from Syrian patrol bases. "We sell the bikes at $400 a piece. We make good profits," one store owner said. "However, every trader wants to take part in the same business and competition is becoming disgusting."
The store owner added that he cannot sell the bikes in Lebanon, as they are bought from China and imported for export only. Lebanese customers would have to pay taxes to use the bikes inside the country. "A matching motorbike would cost $700 to $800 in the local market," he said. While conducting interviews for this story, The Daily Star witnessed an army operation closing an entry point at the Hisheh boarder village. One hour later smugglers were spotted flattening a new patch of land and constructing a wooden bridge to cross the river five kilometers upstream.
Residents of these border villages are often reluctant to discuss the illegal guns, personnel or military-related equipment often reported to be smuggled across the border. Behind closed doors, they insist that they are only smuggling construction materials and provisions, which is "morally justified in the absence of any governmental efforts to improve the people's well-being."
"You are trying to impede the last source of the area's income," said one irritated resident when The Daily Star attempted to photograph smugglers ferrying cement and diesel across the river. "That is the only thing you care about," the man said, hinting at the government's security concerns regarding the border. "You ask about smuggling arms and weapons and not how the helpless citizens put food on the table, or how they make ends meet on a daily basis."
Mohammed Koreiyem supports his wife and eight children by running a small diner that serves border traders and shoppers.
"This deserted road was once a crowded marketplace where traders exchanged all kinds of smuggled merchandise and goods in both directions," Koreiyem said, pointing to the muddy street stretching along the al-Boqeyaa borderline in Wadi Khaled.
Despite the existence of an official customs building adjacent to Koreiyem's restaurant, vehicles and people are not permitted to cross the border here. Nevertheless, residents do so anyhow, frequently. Once in Syria, the Lebanese villagers take a mini-bus or taxi to the nearest border town and village to shop for vegetables, meat and bread. Adversely, Syrians cross into Lebanon to buy motorcycles, car parts and cheap electric and electronic appliances.
Mashour Obeid is a retired social worker who formerly supervised projects sponsored by the Social Affairs Ministry. He said that Wadi Khaled inhabitants have simple needs and do not have any definite political affiliations.
"Late Premier Rafik Hariri sponsored many social and health establishments in the area after decades of government neglect and abandon," Obeid said. "Hariri granted them Lebanese citizenship and brought back to the country."
He continued: "What would we expect from impoverished families who can't even send their children to public schools and have no hospitals, clinics or economic aid of any sort?" Smuggling rations, fuel and cooking gas is essential to local inhabitants and their daily lives. To save money, they buy medication, clothes and most of their basic needs in Syria.
"Hundreds of Lebanese schoolchildren attend Syrian public schools and pay only $1.50 for registration fees, books, school uniforms and school meals," Obeid said. "When the government looks after its remote areas and provides for their basic needs these citizens will surely fight smuggling as part of their moral and patriotic duty to their country."

Berri calls for question and answer session
Daily Star staff-Wednesday, March 29, 2006
BEIRUT: Speaker Nabih Berri called Tuesday for a question and answer session to be
held Thursday. The session will include MP Nasser Nasrallah's question on the damage resulting from stone and flagstone sawing plants in Wata Mosseitbeh, MP Robert Ghanem's question on Lebanon's non-adherence to the Rome Convention, MP Anwar Khalil's questions on the 38-million-euro donation from the European Union to the minister of state for administrative development's office and the time needed to achieve construction of Dalafa bridge in Hasbaya, MP Azam Dandashi's question on the law pertaining to the classification of hospitals, MP Assem Araji's question on the payment of the salaries scale and MP Mustafa Hashem's question on the delay in the construction of Deir Ammar highways.
Meanwhile, the Index Committee pursued its meetings at the Labor Ministry headquarters where Labor Minister Tarrad Hamade headed the meeting. Hamade proposed the establishment of a tripartite committee charged with submitting a report to the ministry before April 3. Following the meeting, General Labor Confederation President Ghassan Ghosn stressed the necessity to increase the minimum wage to LL600,000. The Culture and Education Committee, convened under the presidency of MP Bahia Hariri. Speaking after the meeting, Hariri said it highlighted the need to set a test for contractual teachers. - The Daily Star

Two final dialogue issues interlocked
By Adnan El-Ghoul -Daily Star staff
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Analysis

MP Walid Jumblatt's suggestion during the fourth round of the national dialogue that Hizbullah's military wing be merged with the Lebanese Army was met with a surprisingly positive response from Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, particularly as the country's political leaders were focusing on the presidency.
Jumblatt dropped the well-worn idea with the full knowledge that the remaining two issues on the dialogue's agenda - the presidency and the resistance - are linked, hoping that the participants would discuss them at the same time.
However, according to Speaker Nabih Berri, the issue of the presidency proved to pose more questions than answers. Accordingly, Jumblatt wanted to tackle the issues simultaneously in order to confront the difficulties head-on, despite holding out little hope for success.
Analysts say Jumblatt prefers to tackle the two issues as one so that, should the talks fail, both items will remain unresolved, as opposed to one being solved and postponing the other indefinitely, thus prolonging the status quo.
According to reports in the Lebanese media, Nasrallah was open to Jumblatt's proposal, saying Hizbullah would not object to any suggestion. That being said, it is widely known that Hizbullah will stand firm in its insistence to preserve the resistance and defend the country "through any workable formula or defense strategy."
Hizbullah's information officer Ghaleb Abu Zeinab told The Daily Star that "we cannot enforce our views on others, but the discussions should concentrate on how to find the best strategic plan to defend Lebanon against all Israeli hostilities."
Moreover, Hizbullah will not shy away from discussing the arms issue first because "all roads lead to Rome," and participants in the dialogue know the specific requirements of the new president in advance.
Jumblatt is aware that Hizbullah's demands are a precondition for reaching any agreement that a new president and the government must implement. Political analysts say if the political leaders succeed in resolving either of the two issues, it would mean the remaining impasse will crumble by default or in tandem within the same session.
It is equally plausible that should the negotiators fail in solving either of the remaining issues the dialogue will come to a final standstill. While Berri has refused to set a deadline for the deliberations over the two remaining issues, the parliamentary majority said it was willing to discuss the matter until the end of April.
In the meantime, local negotiators seem incapable of making a major penetration in the impasse, with everyone hoping for a miracle.

Moallem: Don't abandon the resistance
By Therese Sfeir -Daily Star staff
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
BEIRUT: In an interview with As-Safir published Tuesday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem urged Lebanon to maintain Hizbullah's arms for as long as Israel poses a threat and said neither country could claim Shebaa Farms as long as they continued to be occupied by Israel. In the interview, Moallem was quoted as saying that Lebanon should not abandon the resistance "as long as Israel is violating Lebanese airspace and the [UN demarcated] Blue Line on daily basis."
"Is it in Lebanon's interest to deploy the Lebanese Army along the borders, in the wake of the current equation? Have all the Lebanese territories been liberated from Israeli occupation?" he asked. According to Moallem, "if the army was sent to the South a conflict might occur between two regular armies. Can Lebanon afford to engage in war with Israel?"
The Syrian minister further noted that "the resistance has pledged that it won't direct its weapons against the Lebanese."
In response, the Progressive Socialist Party issued a statement asking: "Does the Syrian foreign minister have the right to ask Lebanon about the liberation of its land while his country did not carry out any form of resistance to liberate the Golan Heights from Israeli occupation?""The presence of weapons outside government control is a Syrian demand because it contributes in rendering Lebanon an open arena for Syria," the statement added.
Moallem also criticized comments made by UN special envoy Terje Roed-Larsen in Paris Monday.
"Roed-Larsen offered a big favor to Israel; he said the Blue Line corresponded to the borders demarcated upon Israel's withdrawal and then contradicted himself by saying the Blue Line represented international borders," the minister said.
"If Roed-Larsen is so interested in the issue of Shebaa Farms, he should work on proving its Lebanese identity before the United Nations," he added. According to Moallem, "Shebaa Farms are neither Lebanese nor Syrian; they are under Israeli occupation. If Larsen is really keen on Lebanon's interests, he should call on Israel to withdraw its forces from the area."
The minister also welcomed Lebanon's national dialogue. "There is a Lebanese-Lebanese dialogue going on and we have welcomed this dialogue and want it to succeed. It should succeed because a Lebanese agreement is needed to resolve all the pending issues," he said. Asked about the ongoing row over President Emile Lahoud's extended term, Moallem said: "We don't want to interfere in Lebanon's internal affairs. The Lebanese should resolve this issue through accord."
As for Syrian-Lebanese relations, the minister said the national dialogue should continue so "the Lebanese agree on what they want, and then we would be able to establish relations.""The Lebanese media became the most important media in the Arab world, but instead of contributing to filling in the gaps, some media institutions are trying to transform Syrian-Lebanese relations into a relation of enmity. This is very dangerous," he warned.
Moallem said accord between the Lebanese should start with "the creation of a new electoral law," stressing that late former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri had "constantly called for a modern electoral law.""We have always sought to establish good relations that serve the interests of both countries. Hariri used to constantly call for the settling of all problems facing Lebanese-Syrian relations," he added.

Choice of new president hot topic for talks
Sideline meetings continuing in order to reach internal solution
By Raed El Rafei -Daily Star staff
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
BEIRUT: Deciding whether to discuss potential names of candidates for the post of president during the next session of the national dialogue Monday will likely be the main topic of conversation in sideline meetings over the next few days.
While some participants, mainly Hizbullah, consider tackling the identity of the next president a priority, some March 14 Forces' members think President Emile Lahoud should be toppled before any names are proposed.
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt told The Daily Star Tuesday that "he would not vote for the next president" if names of candidates are proposed during Monday's session.
However, his allies in the Cabinet majority, the Lebanese Forces, admitted to having a list of candidates, without specifying if this list would be discussed during the next round of talks.
This past Monday's session failed to reach a decision on Lahoud's fate or the identity of the next president.
While reports have repeatedly said that participants are waiting for the issue to be resolved through Arab mediation, national leaders are continuing sideline meetings in an attempt to reach an internal solution to the presidential crisis.
A meeting was held late Monday night between Future Movement leader Saad Hariri and Jumblatt.
On Tuesday, Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun said he hoped to reach an agreement with the PSP that would not contradict his pact with Hizbullah. Aoun's comments followed a meeting with Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregorious Laham.
Earlier in the day, LF leader Samir Geagea sent MP George Adwan to discuss the matter with Aoun.
Following the meeting, Adwan said the LF is proposing a list of candidates for the presidency that includes Aoun, stressing the party had discussed the list with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir.
"It's important not to restrict the presidency to one name if agreement over one candidate cannot be reached," he said.
Adwan warned against "opening the door" to external interference, which he said would only lead to compromises over the next president. Jumblatt, on the other hand, said: "Deciding over the program of the next president and his attachment to the full implementation of the Taif Accord, which is, according to me, equivalent to UN Resolution 1559, should happen before proposing any candidates' names."
He continued: "The road map of the next president should be sending the army to the South and disarming Hizbullah. Otherwise he would only be a little bit better than Lahoud on the internal level, but would still be subject to Syrian pressure."
In an earlier interview with the BBC, Jumblatt accused Hizbullah of hampering progress at Monday's national dialogue session by serving Syrian interests.Stressing that the new president should be "free from any restraints," Jumblatt said that if the new president was not able to delineate the borders with Syria and in the Shebaa Farms, "Syria's power over Lebanon will remain forever."Meanwhile, Hizbullah MP Mohammad Raad said his party did not agree with "Jumblatt's road map."
"We are not in agreement over toppling Lahoud unless the other group convinces us that it is in the country's interest to do so," Raad said. Former President Amin Gemayel told The Daily Star that finding the mechanism
to oust Lahoud was still more important than deciding on a successor to him.
Concerning a proposal put forward by Aoun to hold early elections based on a new and fair election law, Gemayel said this was not feasible as the new election law would not see light of day anytime soon.
MP Boutros Harb said the parliamentary majority was seeking to coordinate with Arab states "to facilitate the establishment of a mechanism for moving into a new presidency, while leaving to the Lebanese people and constitutional institutions the choice of who the next president would be."Some observers feel that the Arab countries, mainly Saudi Arabia and Egypt, do not consider replacement of Lahoud a priority at the present time.
Following his meeting with former Premier Najib Mikati, Saudi Ambassador Abdel-Aziz Khoja said: "nobody can solve the problems of the Lebanese but the Lebanese themselves." Mikati said that the national dialogue would not be taking place if it weren't for Saudi Arabia's sponsorship. He added that he had asked for Saudi Arabia "to continue its strong support for the dialogue in order to reach positive results."

Feltman: Lebanon is 'living on borrowed time' economically
By Meris Lutz -Special to The Daily Star
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman addressed members of the American-Lebanese Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) about the active role the business community must take in economic and political reform during a luncheon at the Phoenicia Intercontinental Hotel on Tuesday. Finance Minister Jihad Azour also attended the luncheon, along with representatives from the U.S. embassy. Feltman was introduced by the head of the American-Lebanese Chamber of Commerce, Salim Zeenni, who spoke about AmCham's continued efforts towards reducing trade barriers, protecting intellectual property rights and securing Lebanon's accession to the World Trade Organization.
Zeenni also said the AmCham was pushing several proposals for strengthening economic ties between the U.S. and Lebanon, including a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement, which is seen as an important step towards a free-trade agreement between the two countries. Feltman opened by highlighting significant events affecting the Lebanese economy, including the 2005 Made in America trade fair and the current National Dialogue.
"These two achievements, in particular, feed my optimism about Lebanon's future," he said. "But, to sound a very familiar theme, more work is needed to realize Lebanon's full potential."
He went on to say that AmCham members need to partner with the government to oversee the implementation of a comprehensive and credible reform plan, alluding to the failure of Paris II in 2002.
"You know from firsthand experience that Lebanon's current system is not sustainable. The reality is Lebanon, economically, is living on borrowed funds and borrowed time," Feltman said. He said economic reform must not be held "hostage" to political interests. After the speeches, the floor was opened to questions from the assembled members, some of whom took the opportunity to vent their frustration with the government's inaction to Azour. "There is a long list of easy things the government could do to make it so much easier for us," said one AmCham member, who said he has run his own business in Lebanon for a number of years. "Something as simple as enforcing the traffic laws, that would give us just a small break. What are you waiting for?"

Rana Qoleilat claims innocence in TV interview
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
BEIRUT: Rana Qoleilat, the Al-Madina Bank executive wanted on suspicion of involvement in a banking scandal, said she was innocent of all allegations in her first media appearance Tuesday. The fugitive alleged from her Brazilian prison cell that her ex-husband Adnan Abu Ayyash paid Syria's former intelligence chief in Lebanon Rustom Ghazaleh to have her thrown in jail.
In an interview with Brazil's Globo Television, Qoleilat said: "Rustom Ghazaleh was extorting money from rich and influential Lebanese like me."
A transcript of the interview was published in Lebanese daily Al-Mustaqbal Tuesday.
"I was jailed because I didn't pay Ghazaleh. It was my ex-husband who paid him to put me in jail," she added.
Qoleilat blamed Al-Madina's collapse on Ayyash, who she claims withdrew $490 million to invest in the stock market. "That
is when all the troubles began," she said. The couple were married for 10 years from 1992.
When Ayyash was unable to return the money, Qoleilat and her family "rushed to his aid" so that he could reimburse the bank's depositors, she added.
"When the scandal broke, they started accusing me, when I didn't steal anything. I didn't need to steal because [Ayyash] gave me complete freedom over his private accounts," she said.
"He is using his influence to keep me in prison to humiliate me," she said, adding "he threw me in a pit full of rats and garbage."
Qoleilat, who is awaiting possible extradition to Lebanon, warned that if she was brought back to Lebanon, "Ayyash will use his influence to have me killed in jail"
Qoleilat was arrested on March 12 at a Sao Paolo hotel, and was charged with attempted bribery after she offered arresting officers $200,000 to let her go free. Her lawyer later claimed the police officers had misunderstood her poor Portuguese.
Brazilian authorities said UN investigators informed them of their intention to question Qoleilat to find out whether money allegedly diverted from Al-Madina was used to finance the February 14, 2005 bombing that killed former Prime Minister Hariri and 22 others.  "I am just a normal person. I'm not a terrorist, a criminal or a thief," she said, repeatedly denying any connection to the Hariri assassination. "Rafik Hariri was the most important person I ever met in my life. He taught me everything and rebuilt Lebanon ... I could never have touched a single hair on his head," she said.
Qoleilat's interview came on the same day as a meeting of the Security Council. By the time The Daily Star went to print, the council had yet to vote on establishing the international tribunal to try those suspected in the Hariri assassination.
A UN spokesperson told The Daily Star, "it is not officially on their agenda, but it may come up during the meeting."

In Khartoum, the refrain of Arab failure
By Rami G. Khouri -Daily Star staff
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Somebody should remind the few Arab heads of state who attended the Arab League summit in Khartoum on Tuesday that we have just had our first modern slave revolt in the Arab region. Well, "slave revolt" may be too harsh a description of the actions of hundreds of mostly South Asian construction workers in Dubai last week. The workers stopped work and went on a minor rampage for two days to protest their harsh working and living conditions, low pay, delayed pay, and general lack of rights.
This should catch the attention of the few Arab heads of state who bothered to go to Khartoum, because it reflects the sad situation that defines much of the Middle East. Arab leaders have conspicuously failed to resolve any significant regional issue in the last half-century or so, while allowing their countries to degenerate into increasingly inequitable and abusive systems of exploitation and corruption, often enforced by militia power.
The revolt by the Asian workers in Dubai ironically occurred in a country, the United Arab Emirates, that otherwise has earned accolades for its sensible development and efficient modernization. It should prompt us all to look again at how we treat foreign workers in the Arab world, and to use that prism to examine how ordinary citizens are treated by their own governments and societies.
Mercifully, perhaps as a sign of God's enduring affection and mercy for the Arab people, the Arab League summit meeting was pared down to a one-day event. Nine Arab heads of state did not even bother to attend. Many of those who did attend, like the Lebanese, Palestinian and Syrian presidents, are under immense domestic and global pressure to resign, or to radically change their policies.
The defining collective characteristic of Arab heads of state is an embarrassing combination of irrelevance, their overseeing police-state autocracies, and their razor-thin legitimacy. The Khartoum gathering highlighted the profound pressures and problems that plague most Arab countries: a general lack of rule of law in systems where political, military and economic power are closely guarded in the hands of small numbers of mostly unelected, unaccountable people - often just the men of a single family. Narrow, gun- and clan-based power structures more suited to urban gangland cultures have evolved in the Arab world in the past half-century into prevailing systems of official governance.
Not surprisingly, most young people in the Arab countries these days respond to the dilemma of living in such a world with a range of startling options: a majority of youths wants to emigrate to foreign countries, finds refuge in religion rather than more fully engaged citizenship, adheres to extremist political groups or terrorist cells, goes along with institutionalized corruption and nepotism, experiments with drugs and diversionary alien lifestyles, or joins a militia.
I would guess that the percentage of young Arabs aged 14-25 that does not fall into one or more of the above categories is no more than 25 percent of the total. This is one legacy, to date, of contemporary Arab leaders who meet in increasingly delusional summits. We have transformed our children into aberrations of good citizenship and decent humanity, because we have raised them in largely lawless systems that enrich those who have and use guns - whether renegade militias or official security services and military sectors.
For the past quarter-century, since the 1970s oil boom, the Middle East region has relied heavily on millions of manual laborers and semi-skilled professionals from Asia and other parts of the Arab world. For the most part, in return for meager wages more attractive than the lower wages or unemployment at home, these immigrant workers have been treated badly in almost every aspect of their personal and professional lives: in their wages, working hours, benefits, medical care, housing, recreational and leisure habits, family unification, civil rights, education and legal protection. Some women domestic workers have been sexually and physically abused. Some others have been held in conditions that can only be called captivity.
This is not a minor issue. These immigrant workers number in the millions throughout the Arab world. The Asian workers in Dubai, other parts of the Gulf, the Levant and North Africa are not "slaves" in the strict sense of the word. But their life and work situations bring them so dangerously close to conditions of captive servitude that one could be excused for metaphorically saying that the Arab world experienced its first slave revolt last week.
The Arab leaders who met in Khartoum, and those who stayed at home, should stop wasting their time on issues that they have only mangled over the years - Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan, democracy, and common economic policies. Instead they should address issues of fundamental human rights and conditions in their own societies that are more directly under their control, and that ultimately reflect the quality of their own moral values - noble or shriveled as these may be in real life.
**Rami G. Khouri writes a regular commentary for THE DAILY STAR.