LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
November 1/07

Bible Reading of the day
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 13,22-30. He passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" He answered them, Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, 'Lord, open the door for us.' He will say to you in reply, 'I do not know where you are from.' And you will say, 'We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.' Then he will say to you, 'I do not know where (you) are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!' And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out. And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last."

Releases. Reports & Opinions
Is incessant animosity between Lebanon and Syria worth both nations' downfall? The Daily Star. October 31/07

Interview from Monday Morning with MP. Pierre Dakkash
Presidential candidate: Dr. Pierre Dakkash.Monday Morning.October 31/10/07

Interview from Naharnet with Ministe Ahmad Fatfat
Fatfat Supports Armed Resistance, Opposes Armed Hizbullah and Predicts Consensus after Aoun Lost his Case. October 31/07

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for October 31/07
Hariri Heads to Paris for Talks with Aoun.Naharnet
US official plans talks with France on Lebanon.Reuters
Lebanon Leader's Threat Claim Considered.The Associated Press
Lebanon's Salameh ready to become president.Reuters
Kouchner Agrees to Meet Muallem. Did Paris-Damascus Agree. Naharnet
Hariri says he has evidence of Syrian assassination plots-Daily Star
Arab police conference tackles issue of terrorism-Daily Star
Lebanese family returns to South from Israel-Daily Star
Mikati praises Kuwait's support for Lebanon-Daily Star
Fadlallah slams Bush's pursuit of 'hellish objectives-Daily Star
UNIFIL's Finnish contingent packs up to return home-Daily Star
Lahoud, Aoun, Geagea milk cows together in Bekaa Valley.AFP
Israel warns of impending 'broad operation in Gaza' as criticisms of fuel cuts to territory mount-Daily Star
Saudi monarch begins visit to London amid protests, media backlash.AFP
Erdogan: US stance on PKK will determine future ties.AFP
Italian authorities intercept 300 illegal migrants.AFP
Islamist group demands Jordan scrap ties with Israel.Daily Star

Lebanese family returns to South from Israel
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
TYRE: A Lebanese family returned from Israel, the National News Agency correspondent in the southern coastal city of Tyre reported on Sunday. Abir Boueiri, 34, and her four children returned to Lebanon through the Naqoura border crossing. The Boueiris, like hundreds of southern families, fled to Israel after its withdrawal from the South in May 2000.

Hariri Heads to Paris for Talks with Aoun
Parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri concluded a visit to Egypt Tuesday and headed to Paris, a few hours after Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun arrived in the French capital. Sources in Beirut said Hariri is set to meet Aoun for a discussion of developments in Lebanon, focusing mainly on efforts to facilitate consensus on a presidential candidate to succeed Syrian-backed head of state Emile Lahoud, whose extended term in office expires on Nov. 24. Before leaving Egypt, Hariri met German Foreign Frank Walter Steinmeier at Cairo Airport. The two discussed "the situation in Lebanon and the need to facilitate presidential elections,' according to a statement released by Hariri press office. Beirut, 30 Oct 07, 19:27

Presidential candidate: Dr. Pierre Dakkash
Monday Morning/A doctor in politics -- such is the way one can describe Dr. Pierre Dakkash. This surgeon, who graduated from the Université St.-Joseph and who specialized at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, has long regarded politics as a means of preventing evil. A man of moderate views, equidistant from all parties, he is a person of openness and accord. Now the head of the Surgery Department of the Sainte-Thérèse Hospital and general surgeon at the Sacred Heart Hospital, Dr. Dakkash began his political career in 1972, when he was elected a member of Parliament. He has been an MP ever since, apart from one hiatus between 1992 and 1995. A man of considerable erudition, his interests are not limited to medicine; he also holds a doctorate in sociology and degrees in ancient philosophy, mathematics and astronomy. He has frequently served on parliamentary committees, notably those of Education, Health, Social Affairs, and Defense. He is currently on the committees of Human Rights and the Environment. He is distinguished by his pragmatic and scientific approach to problems of the day.
You were the consensual candidate for the parliamentary seat made vacant by the death of MP Edmond Naïm. Could this be repeated for the presidential election?
At that time it was necessary to banish the specter of division from my fellow-citizens. I made my ideas and viewpoint known, hoping that we could avoid an electoral contest which I knew would be a harsh one, possibly resulting in violence in a region dear to my heart. When I consulted the various leaders, I found that none of them wanted a battle, but each of them was influenced by his constituency.
Do you think these same leaders want a presidential battle today?
They don’t want a battle, but they’re prisoners of the stances they’ve taken.
We can compare the situation in Lebanon to a ladder with four legs, which are represented by the Presidency. Imagine that the ladder has lost its legs and that each side of it has been seized by one of the two contending parties, who are struggling for possession of it. What we must do is to reattach its legs so it can stand up by itself, without being dependent on the East or the West.
The various sides are trapped by their positions, hostages to their commitments and the concessions they’ve made to the states they refer to. To be a friend of the United States is not to be the enemy of Syria and Iran, or vice-versa. I am the enemy of a policy that destroys my country, whether it comes from the East or the West. I’m the enemy of whoever makes war on me, who wants to eliminate me. Will the presidential election take place? I do believe that when matters reach a red line and that danger becomes imminent to the point of threatening the political system, the entity and the very existence of the homeland and of the Lebanese, the full realization of the looming peril will dawn on the people, and all the Lebanese, loyalists and opposition, will be fully conscious of the urgent need to save the country.
A compromise is possible
At what moment in the electoral process will this awakening occur?
Some days before the vote. I’m sure that everyone is aware of the gravity of the situation. Right now we’re hoping to benefit from the initiative of Speaker Nabih Berri and of Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir.
Is a compromise possible?
Yes. In fact, signs of it are beginning to appear and certain leaders have softened their discourse. This means that they have, at last, realized that one side cannot overcome the other. We have to know and understand that the Lebanese situation is a fully consensual parliamentary democracy. The majority could itself one day become a minority. If it ever does, the same mistake will be repeated. There can be no majority in Lebanon, but a consensual democracy based on national accord. It doesn’t matter that I belong to the majority or the minority. The important thing for me is to be a part of the “free minorities” and that no one can impose his views or decisions on me. If democracy is the highest degree of power, consensual democracy is the highest form of democracy, and that’s the form of democracy we recommend in Lebanon. When we understand the raison d’être of this country, we will understand the meaning of consensual democracy.
Lebanon can be governed only by consensus
Are you ready to be a consensual candidate for the presidential office?
The one who is ready to shed his blood for Lebanon cannot stand back from his duty. Yes, if there is an agreement on my person, I’m ready to accept.
Will Lebanon have a consensual president?
Unified Lebanon can have only a consensual president.
So there will be a new president before November 24?
Certainly.
What would the election of a president by no more than an absolute majority signify?
It would mean the end of a unified Lebanon, and the United States would have achieved the plan devised by [former US Secretary of State] Henry Kissinger. Despite everything that’s going on around us, from Iraq to Pakistan, we still don’t realize the gravity of the situation and the danger of partition. Lebanon can at this moment be divided into four mini-states – Shiite, Druze, Sunnite and Maronite. The choice is there: either a consensual president or implementation of the plot conceived by Kissinger. I could have wished that Bkerki was not involved in this kind of problem, but we know very well that “the glory of Lebanon has been given to him”. He has a crucial role to play. He is acting so that no one will be able one day to reproach him for standing, passive and inactive, while Lebanon was partitioned. His Beatitude has several times tried vainly to deal with this crisis, but each one wants a solution in accordance with his own wishes and interests. The patriarch is continuing his efforts to remedy the situation.
Despite everything, I am personally very optimistic that there will be a happy ending.
Bkerki cannot remain inactive
Would the Patriarchate be responsible in the event its initiatives failed?
In my opinion, everyone will kiss the patriarch’s hand and will place himself under his umbrella and his cassock, which is large enough to contain us all.
What about understanding among Christians?
We need more unity and coherence. Here I want to recall the words of Imam Moussa Sadr when I visited him: “Give me your hand, brother, and take mine. Let us bring the jar and let us mix our blood together in it. Will it then be possible for anyone to tell which drop of blood belongs to the Christian and which to the Muslim?”
The Lebanese should meditate on these words and work to make Lebanon a center of dialogue and of Islamic-Christian civilization, not a scene of the clash of civilizations.
If Muslims and Christians are capable of living together as they have in Lebanon, why should it be difficult for Christians to live in harmony together? When we can sit down together and engage in dialogue, putting our personal interests aside, we shall reach a solution.
No Sunnite-Shiite strife
What is the possibility of strife between Sunnites and Shiites?
We may thank God that reason has prevailed between Shiites and Sunnites. They have been able so far to avoid falling into the trap and the plot laid for them.
In my opinion, there are three problems in Lebanon. The first is politics without a solution, since no one wants to understand Lebanon’s raison d’être; the second is economic, the third ethical. During its entire history Lebanon has not known such a division among its people as we are seeing now. The political discourse has degraded and is foreign to our habits and usages, our heritage and our upbringing. These three problems engender dangers which threaten our parliamentary, consensual and democratic system, and thus our entity and our reason for being.
Here, I’d like to note an important point. UN Resolution 1559 stipulates a Syrian withdrawal and the disarmament of Hezballah. The Syrians withdrew and a deadline was given to the government to disarm Hezballah, a deadline that ended with the aggression perpetrated by Israel against Lebanon in the war of July 2006. Resolution 1701 was then adopted and 18,000 United Nations peacekeepers of UNIFIL were deployed in South Lebanon, and warships patrol our territorial waters under the UN’s aegis.
These forces were attacked and their security was put to the test at a time when the Lebanese Army withdraw a part of its troops from the South to ensure a buffer zone between the “enemy-brothers” in the Beirut city center, where barbed wire was installed to separate the sons of the same nation. There is no such barbed wire between us and the Israelis. Meanwhile, part of the Army was moved to the North for the battle of Nahr al-Bared, which left the South unprotected. The objective of the attack on UNIFIL was to make them pull out of Lebanon. Nevertheless, UNIFIL confirmed its continuing commitment to its mission in the South. It cannot remain inactive if its soldiers are attacked, and it may have to become a striking force. All this means that Lebanon risks becoming a new Yugoslavia.
A new Sykes-Picot agreement?
Do the loyalists and the opposition realize the seriousness of the position? Why don’t they put Lebanon and its consensual system at the top of their concerns? Today they are in power; tomorrow others will succeed them. Who can say that Lebanon can be shielded from a new Sykes-Picot agreement? The examples are Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan. The Lebanese should look at what is going on around them and act in consequence.
Do you fear a war among Christians?
Yes, because of the exchange of accusations by the two sides. When an armed man faces a reasonable man, the reasonable man can neutralize the other by the use of reason. But when two armed men face each other, a battle is inevitable.
The quorum is clear
Will you take part in an election on the basis of an absolute majority? And what is your stand on the quorum?
The quorum is clear. If we want Lebanon to be for all its people, we cannot have a president elected only by an absolute majority. The second electoral session could not be held because no quorum could be ensured. It’s a question definitively settled. I personally will attend a session fixed by the speaker of the House, but if the quorum is not ensured, I will be the first to leave the chamber.
Who do you think would be a consensual president?
I have no names in mind, but the country doesn’t lack men capable of assuming this office.
Does General Michel Aoun still have a chance of being president?
If we consider the matter of representivity, we can say that just as Speaker Berri holds his office uncontestedly, as just a Prime Minister Saniora’s position is not contested, it would be natural for General Aoun, who has the largest Christian bloc in Parliament, to be president. That’s what should have happened if everyone recognized that Lebanon is a democratic and consensual country.
Faith in God and in moralityCan you define three qualities a presidential candidate should have?
A former president of the United States said to his mother after his election: “Mother, I’ve been elected president, but I’m only a mere teacher”. And she replied, “Never mind, son. Aren’t you still a believer in God as I taught you to be, and haven’t you got the same morals that you grew up with?” He replied in the affirmative, and she went on: “High office requires only faith in God and a moral code. As far as experience goes, there’s no lack of that in the United States. Surround yourself with intelligent and capable men and you will be one of the most important presidents”.
So the future president must be cultivated, courageous, even bold, but devoid of egoism, so that he can place himself at the service of all, far removed from all questions of confession or personal interests.
If you were president, what would your first decision be?
I would urge the media to observe a six-month truce, and I would invite the eminent men and women of the nation to an encounter of brotherhood. Only the unity of the people is the guarantor of the continuity of Lebanon.
What of rumors of an American attempt to change the doctrine of the Lebanese Army?
We have not been provided with the weapons necessary to have a strong army. And as the Army commander-in-chief said after the battle of Nahr al-Bared, nothing can replace the unity of the Lebanese. Thus, the solution lies in a unity of stances on our vision and our objective.
A last word to the Lebanese?
I say to them: Lebanese, preserve this country, which is the pearl of the East and of the West.

Open Letter from Toni Nissi, General coordinator of the committee for 1559. to His Beatitude Patriark Sfeir
October 30, 2007
Memorandom to the Maronites Patriarch
Your Eminence Our Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir
The Christian people of Lebanon are going through tough times now. We are in the middle of a crucial presidential election which will decide the destiny of the Cedars Revolution as well as the destiny and the free existence of the christians and their role in rebuilding Lebanon and shaping its future. The Christians’ role is fundamental in setting up the coexistence and in fulfilling the mission of Lebanon.
Your initiative came as a last resort to save what all Lebanon with its cultural and religious fabrics could lose not only if a new president is not elected but also if this election is not done as it should be.
Our father
This presidential election is a voting for one of the following two programs:
1- A plan put by Syria and Iran entitled: re occupation of Lebanon through the tutelage of hizbollah’s weaponry on the Lebanese decision. This tutelage will eventually lead to a settlement with the agents of the Syrian regime, the so called the “Opposition”.
2- A plan put forward by the slogans of the famous 14th of March people when more than 1.5 million Lebanese took down to the streets from all walks of life and from all the components of the Lebanese people. That day the Lebanese people launched the Cedars Revolution in face of the occupying forces and their agents, asking the immediate cease the Syrian tutelage, and demanding the return to Lebanon the “state”, Lebanon the “co-existence” and Lebanon “the mission”.
Therefore, the new president will be the one who can implement one of the above mentioned plans.
The president who will execute the first plan will: come as a settlement which will protect the illegal weapon of hizbollah, will preserve the military Palestinian presence in and outside the camps, will promote corruption in all corporations hence increasing the national debt, will keep oppressing the Christians in all private and public directorates and will finally bring back the Syrian tutelage on the Lebanese decisions in order to bring back the Syrians themselves.
As for the president of the second plan, he will: implement the international decisions for the sake of Lebanon, keep the international community interested to help Lebanon, put the arsenal in the hand of the Lebanese forces, find a solution to the
Palestinian camps, bring back equilibrium into all governmental organizations, delineate borders, return all occupied lands, put a fair and just election law, quarantine
Lebanon from the regional problems, finish the national debt, give a push to the economy up till we get a free, democratic and pluralistic Lebanon.
Therefore we call upon you today, to finish this initiative of yours so that this due event will be titled as: Election of the president of the Cedars Revolution against all odds and against those who do not want it. This is the free will of all the free Lebanese, of the International Community, of the Security Council who are obliged to help Lebanon achieve this election as part of their continuous war on terrorism. Who among the Christian leaders are effectively demanding that this obligation of the international community be executed? Why aren’t our Christian leaders asking for it?
Therefore, we put in your hands and in the Lebanese’, all the local and international capabilities of the committee, so that your initiative succeed and a new president is elected who can achieve the Cedars Revolution goals.
Toni Nissi
General coordinator of the committee for 1559.