LCCC NEWS
BULLETIN
May 10/2006
Below news from
miscellaneous sources for 10/05/06
Syria reasserts its influence in Lebanon-Financial
Times
News In Brief: Hezbollah must disarm: Jumblatt-Peninsula
On-line
Jumblatt: Hezbollah should disarm-Middle
East Online
Lebanese delegation heads for talks in Syria over border problems-KNA
Sigmund Freud and Michel Aoun-Hazem Saghieh
-Dar Al-Hayat
Union Committee Forges Ahead with Anti-Government Protest Wednesday-Naharnet
Bush Extends U.S. Sanctions Against Syria for Interfering in Lebanon-Naharnet
Justice Minister Rushes to Work in Jogging Suit?!Naharnet
Controversial U.S. Intellectual Noam Chomsky in Lebanon-Naharnet
Lebanon Among Contenders for 47-Member U.N. Human Rights Council-Naharnet
Lebanese Canadian Bank eyes $100 mln in IPO-Reuters
Canada
Noam Chomsky visits
Lebanon-Ya
Libnan
Hill stays silent on human rights vote-Australian
Bush Extends US Sanctions Against Syria-DefenseNews.com
Damascus opens doors to Palestinian refugees on border-Reuters
Below news from
miscellaneous sources for 10/05/06
White House renews ban on exports to Syria
Political tensions rise ahead of civil servants'
demonstration
Siniora says Blair will help on Shebaa
Chomsky raps Western intellectuals for 'cowardly
subservience'
Syria, Lebanon agree to remove berms
Consultant green-lights power lines
Salloukh: Lebanon not seeking to overpower Syria
Abul-Aynayn: Fatah taking control of arms
Siniora says world has 'duty' to help Lebanon recover
Lebanon's reform program: toward achieving the
economy's potential
Demonstrations against economic reform won't
kick-start the economy
Lebanese delegation heads for talks in Syria over border problems
BEIRUT, May 9 (KUNA) -- A Lebanese delegation, headed by Governor of the Beqaa
Judge Antoine Sleiman, headed Tuesday for Syria to start talks with the Governor
of rural Damascus over the sand barrier in the village of Arsal in Beqaa.
A source close to the Lebanese delegation told KUNA that this visit comes in
implementation of the Lebanese cabinet's decision to tackle the issue of the
sand barriers placed by the Syrians in Lebanese lands on claims of preventing
any weapons smuggling activity. The source added that
the delegation is carrying official maps, and that Sleiman will be presenting
the facts and documents to the Syrian governor.
The Acting Lebanese Minister of Interior Ahmad Fatfat recently declared that the
Syrian border guards placed sand barriers in Arsal village ranging between one
and four kilometers deep within Lebanese territory.
Jumblatt: Hezbollah should disarm
Lebanese MP says government must have control over all weapons, territories to
enjoy semblance of peace.
Middle East Online: CAIRO - Prominent Lebanese MP Walid Jumblatt said Sunday
there was no justification for Hezbollah fighters to continue bearing arms
because Israeli troops have long ago withdrawn from Lebanese territory.
"That's unacceptable," the anti-Syrian Druze chief told reporters in Cairo after
a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the situation in Lebanon and
ties with its neighbor Syria.
"Why should Lebanon alone continue to be an arena for Arab-Israeli conflict?"
Jumblatt asked.
Lebanese leaders are divided over the disarmament of the military wing of the
Shiite fundamentalist group Hezbollah, whose fighters were widely credited for
bringing about Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000 after 22 years
of occupation. Jumblatt suggested that Hezbollah
fighters be integrated into the Lebanese army, saying "the Lebanese state must
have control over all weapons and territories... It's time Lebanon enjoys a
semblance of peace."
But Prime Minister Fuad Siniora suggested last month that Hezbollah's
disarmament should only come after the withdrawal of Israeli soldiers from the
disputed Shebaa Farms area at the convergence of Syria, Israel and Lebanon.
"If the US and friendly countries help us achieve the withdrawal of Israel from
Shebaa Farms, this would make it possible for the Lebanese forces to be the sole
owner of weapons and arms in the country," Siniora said in an interview with The
Washington Post newspaper and Newsweek magazine.
Hezbollah has vowed to carry on a guerrilla war to free the Shebaa Farms, which
Israel seized from Syria along with the Golan Heights in 1967 but is claimed by
Lebanon with Damascus's approval.
Syria has refused international calls to draw its nebulous border with Lebanon,
saying it cannot be done in the Shebaa Farms area because the territory is under
Israeli occupation.
Hezbollah was formed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards after Israel invaded
Lebanon in 1982.
Washington considers Hezbollah a "terrorist" organization because it has been
linked to numerous attacks on Americans, including a 1983 Beirut truck bombing
that killed more than 200 US Marines.
Thousands of active militants belong to the group, which is also a key provider
of social, cultural and educational services to traditionally impoverished
Shiites.
Hezbollah is also a powerful political movement that sat in the previous
legislature, and garnered a large bloc of seats in the May-June 2005 parliament
vote along with Shiite ally Amal.
News In Brief: Hezbollah must disarm: Jumblatt
Web posted at: 5/8/2006 4:50:10
Source ::: Agencies
cairo Prominent Lebanese MP Walid Jumblatt said yesterday that there was no
justification for Hezbollah fighters to continue bearing arms because Israeli
troops have long ago withdrawn from Lebanese territory. Thats unacceptable,
the anti-Syrian Druze chief told reporters here after a meeting with Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak on the situation in Lebanon and ties with its neighbour
Syria. Why should Lebanon alone continue to be an arena for Arab-Israeli
conflict? Jumblatt asked.
Bush for closing Guantanamo
berlin US President George W Bush said yesterday that he would like to close
the US-run prison at Guantanamo Bay, a step awaiting a Supreme Court ruling on
where suspects held there might be tried. Of course Guantanamo is a delicate
issue for people. I would like to close the camp and put the prisoners on
trial, Bush said.
Sudan may okay UN Darfur force
khartoum Khartoum indicated that it may be ready to accept UN peacekeepers
taking over from African Union troops in Darfur following a peace deal between
the government and a rebel movement.
Members of UN's new rights body elected
May 9, 2006 -The UN General Assembly elects the
first members of the new UN Human Rights Council, which it created in March to
replace the discredited UN Human Rights Commission.
Sixty-four countries have put forward their names for the council's 47 seats.
Election is by secret ballot and contenders must get at least 96 votes - an
absolute majority of the General Assembly's 191 members - to win.
Some UN officials are predicting the balloting could go on for several days if
some candidates repeatedly come up short of 96 but refuse to withdraw and let
others step in.
After the initial election, winners will be awarded terms of one, two or three
years, as determined by the drawing of lots, so that beginning in the council's
fourth year, a third of the council will be elected each subsequent year.
Council members are limited to serving two consecutive terms.
The seats are allocated by region, with 13 set aside for Africa, 13 for Asia,
six for Eastern Europe, eight for Latin America and the Caribbean and seven for
the regional grouping known as "Western European and other states" - a bloc that
includes, among others, the United States, Canada and Israel.
Here are the candidates by region:
Africa: Algeria, Cameroon, Djibouti, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mauritius,
Morocco, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia and Zambia.
Asia: Bangladesh, Bahrain, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan,
Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Saudi Arabia,
Sri Lanka and Thailand.
Eastern Europe: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary,
Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovenia and Ukraine.
Latin America and the Caribbean: Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala,
Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
Western Europe and other states: Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland and Britain.
Sigmund Freud and Michel Aoun
Hazem Saghieh Al-Hayat - 09/05/06//
Only in composition tests for children would one find a problem question such
as: 'Whoever has anything to offer the nation should seek high positions and not
be afraid of showing their ambitions. Explain and comment.'
In later stages of life, a person might learn more complicated values such as
responsibility, and the person is told: 'An individual's ambition should be
reconsidered if it is going to meet certain obstacles', or 'an individual's
ambition should be abandoned if it is going to bring about harm to the group'.
These words, which may seem somewhat old-fashioned, were not said on the 150th
anniversary of Sigmund Freud's birth, the founder of modern psychology, who
attributed people's behavior and desires to childhood development. These words
were instead used in reference to General Michel Aoun's endeavors to become
president of the republic, come hell or high water in regards to what is
happening inside the republic. Perhaps that is why the man, who is growing old,
is shouting and foaming at the mouth in threats.
In such a frantic desire for the presidency, what is happening in Iraq and
Palestine, developments of the US-Iran confrontation, and whether there is a
chance to form a homogenous team that could eradicate Lebanon from its current
problems; are no longer of any importance. What makes the man's problem a
serious and public one is that it the problem intertwines with a couple of
predicaments.
The Christian Lebanese majority has been subjected, during the Syrian influence,
to marginalization. They only lay in wait for a 'savior' in the form of a strong
president. Intoxicated by this fantasy, these Christians no longer care about
the most prominent facts of the past few years: the historical prejudice of most
of the Lebanese Sunnis; an attitude which had traditionally dominated Christian
policies and ideologies.
Needless to say, a shift of this magnitude, considered in a responsible and
mature manner, is by all means more important than a few seats in parliament. On
the other hand, there is the radical front in the area, which stretches from
Hezbollah to Iran, passing through Syria; which is now searching for firm ground
to stand upon.
By adding Michel Aoun to the category of Moqtada al-Sadr, both of which are very
ambitious, the regional notion overpowers the local one. However, this notion
far exceeds the idiosyncrasies of both Aoun and al-Sadr, or any other person for
that matter.
But Sigmund Freud, who studied Leonardo Da Vinci among others, has taught us how
perseverance and precision could be reactions to attitudes in the individual's
formative years. Sailing in the Freudian boat, we might as well imagine a
septuagenarian speaking to himself saying, "Mom! Mom! I certainly will become
President!"
FPM Celebrates Lebanon's Liberation and Return Day in Tampa, FLorida
Date: Mon, 08 May 2006 21:39:44 -0700
Communique - For Publishing
The Free Patriotic Movement of Tampa- Florida held a the "Liberation and Return
Picnic" on May 7, 2006 marking the first memorial of the return
of General Michel Aoun to liberated Lebanon. The
event came in the first anniversary of Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, and the
sixth anniversary of the Israeli withdrawal from South
Lebanon. Free Patriotic Movement (FPM)supporters and their friends enjoyed the
barbecue and their "arghileh"under Florida's sun. FPM -Tampa distributes a
communique about the struggle of their underground group since the
Syrian final invasion of Lebanon on October 1990, until the country became free
last year.
Free Patriotic Movement From Underground Resistance to a Modern Political
Party
In 1989, the Syrian army controlled most of Lebanon with local militia forces
that emerged in the previous fifteen years and allied themselves with the Syrian
forces enjoyed controlling regions of the country over its disintegrated
political and security structure. Some of these militias started their own
states within a state, burdening people with taxes and surrendering the areas
they controlled to their instant interests. The Syrian army surrounded the
hinterland of the Lebanese interim government, which defied the Syrian forces
and declared a War of Liberation against Syrian occupation on March 14. The
people of Lebanon then found in their government hope for restoring their
freedom from Syrian occupation and their dignity from militia control.
Popular support for the Lebanese government increased until the Syrian forces
launched an offensive on the government headquarters on October 13, 1990, exiled
Premier Michel Aoun, and enjoyed full control of Lebanon.
An underground peaceful resistance started from the simple acts of defying the
occupation with young men and women discretely distributing leaflets
and spreading liberation messages on walls. The freedom movement grew
with more joining its cause and demonstrations becoming more popular every year,
especially on the anniversaries of March 14 and October 13. The Free Patriotic
Movement (FPM) defied abduction, torture, and persecution for along sixteen
years, with the slogan: "Freedom - Sovereignty -Independence." While over a
third of the Lebanese population was forced to leave their homeland, the FPM
became more organized and joined their efforts with theLebanese in diaspora and
the international political efforts of the exiledPremier. Their struggle
culminated with the popular Cedar Revolution in March
2005. The Syrian forces withdrew from Lebanon late April 2005 and the Premier,
General Michel Aoun, returned with hundreds of exiled on May 7,
2005, to a free, sovereign, and independent Lebanon. The
FPM was organized under a modern-form, democratic-style political party, with a
platform agenda of change and reform in Lebanon. The tens of thousands of
educated and intellectuals vowed to bring Lebanon to the place it deserves in
the civilized world through their expertise and dedication, just like they were
in restoring its freedom with sixteen years of commitment to liberation.
FPM Tampa, May 7, 2006
--------------------------------------------------------
Antoine Faddoul
FPM-Tampa
(813) 966 4462
tonyfaddoul@gmail.com
http://www.10452lccc.com/fpm%20releases/fpm.tempa9.5.06.htm