LCCC ENGLISH NEWS BULLETIN
NOVEMBER 26/06Biblical Reading For today
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 20,27-40.
Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, came forward and put this question to him, saying, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us, 'If someone's brother dies leaving a wife but no child, his brother must take the wife and raise up descendants for his brother.'Now there were seven brothers; the first married a woman but died childless. Then the second and the third married her, and likewise all the seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be? For all seven had been married to her." Jesus said to them, "The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise. That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called 'Lord' the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive." Some of the scribes said in reply, "Teacher, you have answered well." And they no longer dared to ask him anything.
Free Opinions
Realism, and Values, in Lebanon-By: Jim Hoagland-Washington Post 26.11.06
Tehran is using Hezbollah merely as a bargaining chip to win a deal over its nuclear program. By Ahmed Al-Jarallah 26.11.06Latest New from miscellaneous sources for November 26/11/06
Lebanon holds key cabinet meeting-BBC News - UK
Lebanese PM urges Merkel to press Syria on diplomatic ties-IRNA
Bolton: Gemayel Assassination Could be First Shot in Coup-NAHARNET
Saniora to Postpone Cabinet on Hariri Tribunal if Resigned Ministers Rejoin--Naharnet
Berri: Cabinet Meeting on Hariri Tribunal 'Unconstitutional' -Naharnet
Nasrallah, Berri Support Hariri Tribunal, Renew Threats of Mass Protests-Naharnet
Mubarak: It is Premature to Identify Assassins of Lebanese Figures-Naharnet
Chirac, Prodi Discuss Lebanon in Relations Revival Summit-Naharnet
At U.N., Syria Suggests it May Not Cooperate with Tribunal-Naharnet
Final Batch of Indonesian Troops to Arrive in Lebanon-Naharnet
Lebanese-German Man Seeks Trial on CIA Abduction Claim-Naharnet
Interior Minister Resumes Duties to Boost Saniora's Cabinet-Naharnet
Two-Day Business Strike to Push Approval for Hariri Tribunal -Naharnet
UN OKs report on Somali Hezbollah links-United Press International - USA
Aoun: 'I won't quit the agreement with Hezbollah'-Ya Libnan
Syria indicates it may not cooperate with a tribunal to prosecute ...International Herald Tribune
Syria Appears to Be Summit Wild Card-Washington Post
Courting Syria-Ha'aretz
Landmine Wounds 3 Men Trying to Rescue Shepherd in South-Naharnet
'Victory' over Israel emboldens Iran-backed terrorist group-WorldNetDaily
Syria appears to be staying away from Tehran summit amid ...International Herald Tribune
Realism, and Values, in Lebanon-Washington Post
Identifying Lebanon killers premature-Khaleej Times
The slaughter of Lebanon-Yemen Observer
Lebanon sinks further into political crisis-Chicago Sun-Times
Indonesians to join UNIFIL in Lebanon-Jakarta Post
The Price Of Talking To Damascus WS: Dialogue With Syria Will ...CBS News
Dealing With Syria-The Day - New LondonHariri court gets Lebanon backing
BBC: Soldiers were deployed in central Beirut ahead of the cabinet meeting Lebanon's cabinet has given final approval to a plan for an international tribunal to try suspects in the murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The emergency session was held without six pro-Syrian ministers after talks to bring them back to the cabinet failed. The pro-Western prime minister, Fouad Siniora, had offered to postpone the meeting if the ministers would return. Tensions between the two groups were escalated by the killing on Tuesday of industry minister Pierre Gemayel.
Saturday sees the second day of a strike protesting at his killing. Business leaders said they hoped the action would move Lebanon closer to a "national dialogue".
'Unconstitutional' meeting
The cabinet approved draft United Nations plans for an international tribunal on Mr Hariri's murder earlier this month. Before the emergency session, correspondents said that if final approval were given it would be likely to increase tensions with pro-Syrian politicians. Rafik Hariri was killed in a massive blast in February 2005 Syria has been implicated in the bombing that killed Mr Hariri last year, but denies involvement.
After the cabinet approved the UN plan, information minister Ghazi Aridi said the move was not intended as a provocation. "It's based on a Lebanese consensus to establish this tribunal," he said. Mr Siniora, who called the emergency cabinet session, has been under pressure to win back the support of the pro-Syrian groups within his government. Ministers delayed the start of the meeting by more than an hour as negotiations continued with the pro-Syrian parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri.
But it eventually went ahead without the Hezbollah movement and Mr Berri's Amal party, after they held their ground over demands for greater government representation for themselves and their allies. Mr Berri, known as an ally of Damascus, said the emergency cabinet meeting was "unconstitutional" because it had not been approved by Lebanese President Emile Lahoud.
Allies of Damascus also say the tribunal is unconstitutional because the Shia community is no longer represented in the absence of the six pro-Syria ministers, says the BBC's Kim Ghattas in Beirut.
But other constitutional experts say the cabinet is still legal, she says.
Mr Berri's backing is essential if the tribunal is to be ratified because only the speaker can call a parliamentary session to vote on the project.
Syria has also suggested at the UN that it may not co-operate with the tribunal. 'Coup plot' Earlier on Saturday, John Bolton, the American ambassador to the United Nations, suggested that Mr Gemayel's murder might be the "first shot" in a wider coup plot against the government. He said recent probes into political killings in Lebanon suggested Syrian involvement. While he did not want to pre-judge any investigation into Mr Gemayel's death, Mr Bolton said, proof of Syrian involvement would show it was "not just a supporter of terrorism but is a state actor in a terrorist fashion". Many Lebanese accuse Damascus of orchestrating the 34-year-old's murder, although Syria explicitly denies any role. Meanwhile, the UN Security Council has agreed to a request from the Lebanese government to help investigate Mr Gemayel's murder. Pro-Syrian groups have already said the UN plan is illegal under Lebanon's constitution. In 2005, Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon following 29 years of military and political rule over its smaller neighbour, after massive international pressure following the assassination of Mr Hariri.Kuwaiti editor: Tehran is using Hezbollah merely as a bargaining chip to win a deal over its nuclear program
Lebanon attack won’t succeed
By Ahmed Al-Jarallah -Friday 24 November 2006
Editor-in-Chief, the Arab Times
PROMINENT Lebanese leaders Saad Al-Hariri and Walid Jumblatt have said those who are involved in the assassination of Lebanese Cabinet Minister Pierre Gemayel have not understood until this moment that the policy of killing will backfire. Those behind the assassination are still unable to understand their policy will only yield opposite results. Their methods have served to unite the people of Lebanon and heightened their hatred towards the perpetrators. The assassination of the young Minister Pierre Gemayel has brought the Lebanese closer to the system.
Pierre Gemayel’s father and former President Amin Gemayel has urged the people of Lebanon to turn the night of the assassination into a prayer night to foil the plans of the killers. In spite of this gruesome event, the Lebanese have not vented their anger or resorted to any uncalculated reaction because they have learnt their lessons well. They are aware of the conspiracy against Lebanon. Those who are suspected to be behind the assassination of Pierre Gemayel have underestimated the political awareness and psychology of the Lebanese. As a result they have failed to unsettle Lebanon’s internal situation or lure its people to fight with each other.
Gemayel’s killers did their best to destroy the independence and freedoms of the Lebanese. When they saw their policy of killing and vandalism didn’t succeed, they forced Hezbollah to provoke Israel and launch a vicious attack on Lebanon. However, Lebanon survived the attack and currently is in the safe hands of multi national forces. Hezbollah, which used to control Southern Lebanon and act as if there was no legitimate authority in that country, has lost the support of Iran. Tehran is using Hezbollah merely as a bargaining chip to win a deal over its nuclear program. Hezbollah, which has been isolated, will sink deeper unless it agrees to come under the umbrella of the legitimate Lebanese authority.
The assassins of Pierre Gemayel have failed in their evil design. Their followers in Lebanon have also failed to create a rift between the Lebanese and have been isolated from the society. Their memory is so short they have forgotten how the people of Lebanon united in the aftermath of the assassination of their former Prime Minister Rafik Al-Hariri. Those who want to attack Lebanon cannot achieve their objective because the Lebanese have become more united and the international tribunal to try the people behind the assassination of Al-Hariri was formed on the same day when Pierre Gemayel was killed. Soon we will see the assassins behind bars to get what they rightly deserve.Bolton: Gemayel Assassination Could be First Shot in Coup
Naharnet: Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel's murder may have sounded the "first shot" in a coup against Premier Fouad Saniora's government, U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton told BBC radio Saturday. Gemayel was shot dead in broad daylight Tuesday in a car ambush blamed by anti-Syrian politicians on the Damascus regime which labeled his death "an odious crime." Gemayel was the sixth Lebanese outspoken critic of Syria to be killed in the past two years. "A few weeks ago, the White House took the unprecedented step of saying that Syria and Iran, acting through Hizbullah, were on the verge of staging a coup d'etat against the democratically-elected government, and I have to say that this assassination of Pierre Gemayel might well be the first shot in that coup," Bolton told the BBC. Insisting that he did not want to preempt the conclusions of an inquiry into his death, he added that any proof of Damascus's involvement in the murder would show it was "not just a supporter of terrorism but is a state actor in a terrorist fashion."He added that the U.S. would have to "take that into account when it decides whether and to what extent to deal with a country like that."
Without explicitly naming Syria, President George Bush denounced efforts to "destabilize" Lebanon on Wednesday.
Bolton said Lebanon's future is at stake in a battle between "democracy and terrorism" following Gemayel's murder in the north Beirut suburb of New Jdeideh. "The future of the Middle East, certainly the future of Lebanon may well be decided in the next several days," Bolton said.
He said Lebanon had reached a "very dramatic point" in its history after the killing.(AFP-Naharnet) Beirut, 25 Nov 06, 16:31
Nasrallah, Berri Support Hariri Tribunal, Renew Threats of Mass Protests
Naharnet: In a gesture toward the government and the anti-Syrian majority in parliament, which regard the U.N. court as a priority, Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Amal chief Nabih Berri have said they supported the creation of the Hariri tribunal, but renewed threats of mass street protests. They also accused their opponents of using the issue of the international tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of ex-premier Rafik Hariri to block their demands for enough cabinet seats to be able to veto decisions.
"The use of the international tribunal by the other side (the anti-Syrians) as a pretext to confront our legitimate political demand ... will not dissuade us from pressing our demand by using all available democratic and legal means," said a joint statement by Nasrallah and Berri, who is also the speaker of parliament. "We insist on our legitimate right to demand a real participation in the political decision-making," the two leaders said, referring to their claim of a veto-wielding share of the cabinet.
"It was inevitable to announce our joint decision of the resignation of our ministers from the cabinet … after we were surprised to hear that the cabinet had agreed to convene on Nov. 13" to approve the Hariri tribunal plan,' said the statement released Friday night. Hizbullah ignored a call by anti-Syrian Prime Minister Fouad Saniora on Thursday night for Hizbullah ministers to return to their posts. The six ministers had resigned in protest just before the cabinet gave its initial approval to the international tribunal. "We have asked the prime minister to give us the necessary time to study the proposal and discuss it in a spirit of openness but he refused," Nasrallah and Berri said.
They pledged to press their "demand by using all available democratic and legal means," a reiteration of threats to hold non-violent protests.
When Nasrallah first demanded more cabinet seats earlier this month, he said that Hizbullah would call for street protests to bring down the Saniora government if its demands were not met. But those protests were called off following the Tuesday assassination of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel.
A U.N. commission of inquiry has implicated several senior Syrian officials and their Lebanese allies in the February 2005 assassination of five-time premier Rafik Hariri, and is now also providing assistance to the Lebanese investigation of Gemayel's murder.
The U.N. Security Council endorsed the tribunal plan just hours after Tuesday's ambush in the Jdeideh suburb north of Beirut in which one of Gemayel's bodyguards was also shot dead. The U.N. plan must now be ratified by Saniora's government and Syrian protégé Emile Lahoud before being referred to parliament for a final vote.(Naharnet-AP-AFP) Beirut, 25 Nov 06, 13:09
Berri: Cabinet Meeting on Hariri Tribunal 'Unconstitutional'
Naharnet: Speaker Nabih Berri dismissed as illegal Saturday a cabinet meeting due to be held later in the day to approve a U.N. plan for the creation of an international court to try the suspected assassins of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri.
Berri said the emergency meeting called by anti-Syrian Prime Minister Fouad Saniora breached the constitution.
"This meeting is not in conformity with the constitution and this government is de facto," said Berri, whose pro-Syrian Amal party pulled its ministers out of the cabinet two weeks ago along with those of Hizbullah. "Under Article 52 of the constitution, an emergency meeting of the cabinet must have the approval of the president of the republic," he said, in reference to pro-Syrian head of state Emile Lahoud. Berri had also dismissed as unconstitutional a previous meeting of the cabinet on November 13 which agreed to submit the court blueprint to the U.N. Security Council for the endorsement it gave on Tuesday. He said then that the rump anti-Syrian cabinet left after the departure of the six pro-Syrian ministers breached Lebanon's national pact, the unwritten arrangement providing for all of the country's myriad religious and ethnic groups to be represented in government.
The need for ratification by Lebanon's pro-Syrian head of state, President Emile Lahoud, is also the subject of heated debate between Damascus's friends and foes. Pro-government leaders argue that the constitution gives ministers the authority to override the president if he refuses to ratify a treaty agreed by both the cabinet and parliament twice in the space of a month. But opponents -- and some lawyers -- argue that that would be a breach of the national pact and therefore unconstitutional. The unwritten national pact provides for all of the country's myriad religious and ethnic groups to be represented in government.(AFP) Beirut, 25 Nov 06, 11:13
Mubarak: It is Premature to Identify Assassins of Lebanese Figures
Naharnet: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warned against renewed violence in Lebanon and said identifying those behind a string of assassinations "premature," the daily Al-Ahram reported Saturday. Mubarak warned against "a return to violence in Lebanon," following the assassination Tuesday of anti-Syrian Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel. He called on all Lebanese "to continue dialogue with a positive attitude and good will, to avoid slipping the country back to a dangerous slope, which recalls memory of the difficult and sad days of Lebanon's (15-year civil war)," the paper quoted Mubarak as saying. A U.N. commission of inquiry into the February 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri is now also providing assistance to the Lebanese investigation of Gemayel's murder. "The U.N. commission's task is to uncover the truth behind the string of assassinations which preceded and followed the Hariri (murder) including the latest criminal event which killed the Lebanese Industry minister," Mubarak said. But "it is premature to define the identity of those who committed the assassinations," he said, without elaborating. The anti-Syrian majority in Lebanon has accused Syria of involvement in the killings of Hariri and Gemayel, as well as other anti-Syrian figures. Damascus has roundly denied such charges.
On Friday, Mubarak was quoted by Middle East News Agency as saying that "the tragic incident which led to Minister Pierre Gemayel's death reveals that there are some who want to harm Lebanon." The Egyptian president also expressed hope that Lebanon enjoys security and stability.(AFP-Naharnet) Beirut, 25 Nov 06, 11:35
De-miners Wounded from Israeli Landmines in the South
Naharnet: A landmine explosion wounded two European disposal experts and a Lebanese medic as they tried to rescue a shepherd from an unmarked minefield in south Lebanon on Friday, said a spokeswoman for the U.N. Mine Action Coordination Center.
Dalya Farran told Agence France Presse that the ordnance disposal experts, David Alderson of Britain and Damir Paradzik of Bosnia, had their feet amputated after being rushed to hospital in the town of Marjayoun Friday. But their wounds were "not life-threatening," said Patrick Toyne Sewell, the spokesman of their London-based employer, Armor Group. The wounds of the medic, who was not identified, were not as severe, said Farran.
The explosion occurred near the village of Deir Mimas, south of Marjayoun and three kilometers northwest of the Israeli border, Farran said.
The three men were trying to rescue a shepherd who had led a herd of goats into an unmarked minefield. The goats detonated a land mine.
Alderson, Paradzik and the medic heard the explosion and saw the shepherd, with some dead animals, wondering how to get out of the field. As the three tried to help him, one of them inadvertently detonated a second land mine, Farran said.
The shepherd managed to leave the minefield unharmed. Earlier Friday, Lebanese security officials and the National News Agency had reported that Alderson and Paradzik were wounded by a cluster bomb explosion, but Farran said this was not the case.
ArmorGroup has been clearing unexploded ordinance and cluster bombs in the south since September for the U.N. Mine Action Coordination Center, based in Tyre. On Saturday, a team from another London-based firm, BACTEC, went out to investigate the incident and another British de-miner was wounded. "It is an Israeli No 4 anti-personnel mine. It was newly planted during the summer conflict," Farran said. "It is the first evidence we have at the United Nations that Israel used landmines during the latest war."(AP-AFP) (AP photo shows Bosnian Damir Paradzik being treated at hospital after the landmine explosion) Beirut, 25 Nov 06, 09:11
Realism, and Values, in Lebanon
By Jim Hoagland
Sunday, November 26, 2006; Page B07
The Baathists of Baghdad killed their opponents for all the usual reasons and a few original ones. They often slaughtered just to keep in practice, or for recreation, as shown on the videotapes they systematically made of their crimes. The Baathists of Damascus are more traditional. They murder adversaries only when necessary, after bribery, coercion or intimidation fail. The sickening series of murders of Lebanese politicians and journalists opposed to Syrian control of their country is a new sign of desperation in Damascus that the United States and other nations must not misread or mishandle. This may well be President Bashar Assad's blood-soaked way of saying, "Let's make a deal." It is an offer that must be refused.
What Lies Beneath
Anyone who thinks that racism in this country is history really ought to watch the video of Kramer going postal.
Those who complain that there is a lack of communication between the Bush administration and the Assad regime are not paying attention. By local rules, a well-timed murder such as the gunning down of Pierre Gemayel in Beirut last week is more effective in sending a message than a diplomatic demarche. That does not absolve the Bush administration for foolishly allowing a secondary issue -- its refusal to have unconditional diplomatic contacts with Syria and Iran, to avoid "rewarding bad behavior" -- to obscure the growing international concern with those two nations. It is to say that the opening of communications channels with Damascus and Tehran must be handled with great care and clarity.
Murder is still an important tool in Middle Eastern politics, as is often noted. Unfortunately, the use of mayhem and slaughter to advance dynastic or personal fortunes in the region has not been checked in the 21st century by either U.S. unilateralism in Iraq or the multilateral legalism of the United Nations in Lebanon and Syria. The two approaches need to be reviewed and perhaps merged.
The Bush administration struggles in Iraq to prevent failure from becoming defeat. Ambitions of promoting democracy abroad through regime change are rapidly being scaled back to the bedrock question of intervention, from Kosovo to Darfur: Can "we" stop "them" from killing each other? If the answer is no, that is defeat. An immediate benefit of intervention in Iraq was the overthrow of the sadistic Baathist regime that murdered in cold blood dissidents of all stripes in the hundreds of thousands. But the breakdown of order under a mismanaged occupation triggered a mass privatization by ordinary citizens of the government's former monopoly on assassination and torture.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan has diligently and courageously pursued another course in dealing with Syria's systematic use of violence to regain control over Lebanon and the fortunes in smuggling drugs and arms that Syrian politicians and generals generate from their neighbor.
Citing the conditions created by the assassination of Rafiq al-Hariri, Lebanon's former prime minister, in February 2005 as a threat to international peace, Annan creatively pushed for an international criminal investigation and an international tribunal to try the case. Syrian officials are prime suspects in that crime and are widely believed to be behind the assassinations of at least four other advocates of Lebanese independence that followed Hariri's murder. The killing of Gemayel, a member of the anti-Syrian coalition headed by Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, bears the hallmarks of a Syrian "initiative" to block the U.N. effort. And the murder came as Syria was reestablishing diplomatic relations with Iraq after 24 years of estrangement. This translation of Syrian actions quickly made its way through the Middle East: "You want help in Iraq? It will cost you Lebanon. For starters." That is real politik and real communication, Assad-style.
That is in any event the context in which any new U.S. move to talk to Syria and to Syria's ally, Iran, will be seen. Washington must avoid giving the impression that it is willing to allow Syria to regain hegemony over Lebanon in return for smoothing the U.S. path in Iraq.
The Bush administration should adopt a policy of making all substantive communications with Syria and Iran public as they are delivered, much as former secretary of state Jim Baker did when he dealt with Iraq's Tariq Aziz in Geneva in January 1991, on the threshold of Operation Desert Storm.
For one thing, such transparency would ensure that U.S. terms are delivered directly to those in charge without being distorted by filter or fear. And it would allow other nations to monitor for themselves Washington's intentions.
It is fashionable at the moment to decry black-and-white, evil-vs.-good visions of foreign policy and to maintain that only the expedient grays of "realism" can preserve world order. The debacle in Iraq has given the international promotion of democracy a bad name in some quarters.
But any "realistic" deal that undermines Lebanon's hard-won freedom from Syrian control and protects murderers in Damascus would quickly become a fool's bargain. This is a clear case, as the U.N. involvement to strengthen Lebanon's sovereignty over all its frontiers demonstrates, where doing the moral thing is also the realistic thing. jimhoagland@washpost.com
U.N. OKs report on Somali Hezbollah links
By SHAUN WATERMAN
UPI Homeland and National Security Editor
WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- A U.N. Security Council sanctions committee has formally adopted a report linking Hezbollah with Islamic militias in Somalia. The endorsement came despite doubts voiced by experts about such a link. U.N. Spokesman Yves Sorokobi told United Press International that the committee -- set up by the Security Council to monitor its arms embargo -- had adopted the report, prepared by an experts group it appointed, on Wednesday. The report, a draft of which was leaked to the media last week, said that in July, during fierce fighting with Israel, more than 700 fighters from one of the Islamic militias that now control much of Somalia had traveled to Lebanon to fight alongside Hezbollah and that hundreds remained behind for special training from the group, a designated terrorist organization. The fighters were said to be from a militia group dubbed al-Shabab, "the youth" in Arabic. The group had attracted the attention of U.S. counter-terrorist officials because its leader trained in al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan and is believed to maintain links with Osama bin Laden. But several experts on the region told UPI that they were doubtful about the claims, said to be based on intelligence reporting from the embassies of Security Council member states in Nairobi. "I am very skeptical," said former senior U.S. diplomatic official in the region David Shinn.
Aoun: 'I won’t quit the agreement with Hezbollah'
Friday, 24 November, 2006 @ 11:42 PM
Beirut- General Michel Aoun blamed the Government and the its allies for the trouble in Lebanon. In a TV interview he also reinstated that he will not leave the opposition nor will he quit his agreement with Hezbollah.
As for former president Amin Gemayel’s call for electing a new president Aoun said” I think what president Gemayel needs most is the investigation into the murder of his son Pierre and for this reason he should throw all his weight at the government and the security apparatus to find out the killers . I am with the investigation of the crime before the presidency. He was asked for his opinion about March 14 th alliance’s plan to force Lahoud out he said “ let them try”. (Aoun has been opposed to forcing Lahoud out unless he is guaranteed the presidency )He refused to admit that the crime had any affect on the opposition. General Aoun did not participate personally in the funeral of Pierre Gemayel, former Minister of Industry . He offered to pay his condolences to the Gemayel family but was told he is not welcome. Aoun’s posters in Beirut were burnt by the angry crowds at the funeral and many criticized him for giving Hezbollah the Christian cover for their actions in Lebanon. The March 14 th alliance view Aoun as a divisive figure in Lebanon.
Interior minister Ahmed Fatfat, a member of the March 14 alliance said in an interview with Elaph “we should come up with a plan to solve the problems of Lebanon , starting with the presidency “. He added “as far as General Aoun is concerned he shoudn’t even think about the presidency . He is part of the problem and not the solution” .Source: LBC, Ya Libnan
Syria indicates it may not cooperate with a tribunal to prosecute Hariri killers
The Associated PressPublished: November 24, 2006
UNITED NATIONS: Syria has indicated it might not cooperate with a tribunal to prosecute the suspected killers of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, saying it was not officially consulted on the plan, a letter showed Friday. An ongoing U.N. investigation into the February 2005 truck bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others has said the killing's complexity suggested the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services played a role in the assassination.
Syria, which has denied involvement, said in a letter circulated Friday at U.N. headquarters that the tribunal should not be arranged until after the investigation is finished. It announced that hasty adoption of the court's statute "will firmly establish our belief that Syria has no connection with this tribunal.". The letter, addressed to Secretary-General Kofi Annan, was dated Tuesday, when the Security Council gave Annan the go-ahead to ratify an agreement by the U.N. and the Lebanese government to create a tribunal located outside Lebanon with a majority of international judges and an international prosecutor. The Lebanese government must now take a final decision on establishing the tribunal.
Syria, which was forced to end a 29-year military presence in Lebanon amid protests over Hariri's killing, said it had not seen the plan and that its views had not been sought.
"In the event that the statute of the tribunal is adopted, unacceptable transgressions that undermine the sovereignty of certain member states and the rights of their subjects are likely to transpire," Syria wrote — apparently before the Security Council authorized Annan the same day to ratify the court.
Syria did not elaborate in the letter.
The Syrian mission to the United Nations said no officials were available for comment Friday afternoon.
On Wednesday, the Security Council approved a request from Lebanon for U.N. investigators already probing Hariri's assassination to assist the government's investigation of the latest assassination of an anti-Syrian Cabinet minister.
The council acted just hours after Secretary-General Kofi Annan sent a letter informing members that Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora wanted "technical assistance" from the U.N. investigation commission in his government's investigation of Tuesday's killing of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel.
On Nov. 13, Saniora's Council of Ministers approved the tribunal plan but pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud has challenged the ministers' decision. Saniora has called for a Cabinet session on Saturday to approve the protocol sent by the United Nations to set up an international tribunal.
The first U.N. chief investigator, Germany's Detlev Mehlis, said the complexity of Hariri's killing suggested the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services played a role in Hariri's assassination.
In one report, Mehlis implicated Brig. Gen. Assaf Shawkat, Syria's military intelligence chief and the brother-in-law of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
His successor, Belgian Judge Serge Brammertz, has shied away from naming anyone but has described a very complex operation and said he is following many new leads. Four Lebanese generals, top pro-Syrian security chiefs under Lahoud including his Presidential Guard commander, have been under arrest for 14 months, accused of involvement in Hariri's murder. Pro-government groups in Lebanon, who accuse Syria in the slaying of Gemayel and other anti-Syrian figures, have warned that more government ministers may be targeted for assassination to deny the Cabinet the legal two-thirds quorum of 16 needed to approve the court. Syria has denied the accusations and condemned the killing.
Syria indicates it may not cooperate with a tribunal to prosecute Hariri killers
The Associated Press
Published: November 24, 2006
UNITED NATIONS: Syria has indicated it might not cooperate with a tribunal to prosecute the suspected killers of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, saying it was not officially consulted on the plan, a letter showed Friday.
An ongoing U.N. investigation into the February 2005 truck bombing that killed Hariri and 22 others has said the killing's complexity suggested the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services played a role in the assassination. Syria, which has denied involvement, said in a letter circulated Friday at U.N. headquarters that the tribunal should not be arranged until after the investigation is finished.
It announced that hasty adoption of the court's statute "will firmly establish our belief that Syria has no connection with this tribunal."
The letter, addressed to Secretary-General Kofi Annan, was dated Tuesday, when the Security Council gave Annan the go-ahead to ratify an agreement by the U.N. and the Lebanese government to create a tribunal located outside Lebanon with a majority of international judges and an international prosecutor. The Lebanese government must now take a final decision on establishing the tribunal.
Syria, which was forced to end a 29-year military presence in Lebanon amid protests over Hariri's killing, said it had not seen the plan and that its views had not been sought. "In the event that the statute of the tribunal is adopted, unacceptable transgressions that undermine the sovereignty of certain member states and the rights of their subjects are likely to transpire," Syria wrote — apparently before the Security Council authorized Annan the same day to ratify the court.
Syria did not elaborate in the letter.
The Syrian mission to the United Nations said no officials were available for comment Friday afternoon.
On Wednesday, the Security Council approved a request from Lebanon for U.N. investigators already probing Hariri's assassination to assist the government's investigation of the latest assassination of an anti-Syrian Cabinet minister.
The council acted just hours after Secretary-General Kofi Annan sent a letter informing members that Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora wanted "technical assistance" from the U.N. investigation commission in his government's investigation of Tuesday's killing of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel.
On Nov. 13, Saniora's Council of Ministers approved the tribunal plan but pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud has challenged the ministers' decision. Saniora has called for a Cabinet session on Saturday to approve the protocol sent by the United Nations to set up an international tribunal.
The first U.N. chief investigator, Germany's Detlev Mehlis, said the complexity of Hariri's killing suggested the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services played a role in Hariri's assassination.
In one report, Mehlis implicated Brig. Gen. Assaf Shawkat, Syria's military intelligence chief and the brother-in-law of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
His successor, Belgian Judge Serge Brammertz, has shied away from naming anyone but has described a very complex operation and said he is following many new leads.
Four Lebanese generals, top pro-Syrian security chiefs under Lahoud including his Presidential Guard commander, have been under arrest for 14 months, accused of involvement in Hariri's murder.
Pro-government groups in Lebanon, who accuse Syria in the slaying of Gemayel and other anti-Syrian figures, have warned that more government ministers may be targeted for assassination to deny the Cabinet the legal two-thirds quorum of 16 needed to approve the court. Syria has denied the accusations and condemned the killing.
Iran is Syria's only close ally and a rejection would be an unusual snub, but Damascus may be more worried about angering the United States by joining Iran's overt attempt to assert itself in Iraq. Instead, Syria is likely looking further down the road to potential talks with Washington.
"Syria is after concessions from Washington. Assad wants doesn't want to annoy Washington," said Leila Chamankhah, an Iranian political analyst.
Mahmoud Zahhar Palestinian foreign minister, right, Khaled Abdul-majeed secretary general of Palestinian struggle, centre right, Sami Abu Zohri Hamas spokesman, centre left, and Ziyad Nakhaleh member of Islamic Jihad, left, during a meeting of various Palestinian factions in Damascus Thursday Nov. 23, 2006. (AP PHOTO) (Str - AP)
After the Democratic victory in U.S. midterm elections, the Bush administration is under increased pressure at home to approach Iran and Syria for help in Iraq. Such a step is believed to be one of the recommendations by a blue-ribbon panel on Iraq led by former Secretary of State James A. Baker III and former Rep. Lee Hamilton.
On the face of it, an Iranian-Syrian-Iraqi summit would fit into U.S. hopes that Iraq's neighbors will step in to help ease the bloodshed. Iran is believed to back Iraqi Shiite militias blamed in sectarian killings that have killed thousands this year.
But Iran has made clear that the summit aimed to assert its influence in Iraq on Tehran's terms, not Washington's. Iran's conservative Kayhan newspaper boasted on Wednesday that the gathering would "shake the U.S. president."
Syria is accused by the United States of turning a blind eye to Iraqi insurgents that use its territory as a base. Damascus denies this, but it could be looking to trade stronger action in return for concessions from the U.S. At the top of Syria's concerns are Lebanon and Israel. Syria is seeking to regain influence in Lebanon but has been opposed by the United States and the U.S.-backed Lebanese government. Syria also wants a resumption of the Arab-Israeli peace process that it hopes would bring the return of the Golan Heights, captured by Israel in 1967.
**AP correspondent Salah Nasrawi in Damascus and Lee Keath in Cairo contributed to this report.
Courting Syria
By Itamar Rabinovich
Haaretz: A change in the United States' Middle East policy seems to be in the offing. The reasons for this expectation are the failure in Iraq and the defeat of President George W. Bush and the Republican party in the midterm elections, a failure that led to the immediate resignation/dismissal of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
The bipartisan committee headed by James Baker and Lee Hamilton that is examining U.S. policy in Iraq is about to publish its conclusions, and leaks indicate at least one central conclusion: "speaking to Iran and Syria" in order to change direction in Iraq. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a close ally of Bush, even went as far as speaking not of "talks" with Iran and Syria but of "partnership" with the two. The issue of American-Syrian rapprochement took on an additional dramatic dimension this week with the assassination of Lebanese minister Pierre Gemayel, with sources inside and outside Lebanon pointing at Syria as the main suspect.
Iran and Syria have had an alliance of shared interests and cooperation since 1979. When Syrian President Bashar Assad came to power, the nature of this relationship changed. It is no longer an alliance among equals: Iran is now the patron and Damascus is the client. Iran, a country with resources, power and an imperial legacy, is trying to attain regional hegemony and nuclear weapons. Syria still exercises influence on players who are smaller and weaker than it (Lebanon, Palestinian organizations and to a certain degree Hezbollah), but for the most part it feels threatened by the U.S., Israel, its Lebanese rivals and in part France. Iran, on the other hand, offers Syria sponsorship and protection.
The Iranian challenge
Iran presents serious challenges to Washington. The immediate challenge focuses on Iraq. The American occupation and the downfall of Saddam Hussein released Iraq's ethnic demon and reinforced the Shi'ite majority. The violent conflict that erupted between the Shi'ites and the Sunni minority, with its historical hegemony, is one of the main factors preventing a sustainable order - or the appearance of such an order, and an American exit from Iraq that will not seem like an embarrassing failure. Shi'ite Iran is seen as a key both to calming the Iraqi Shi'ites and to imposing a sustainable order.
Less immediate, but more important, is the issue of the Iranian nuke. It is clear to everyone that the ayatollahs are determined to have nuclear weapons. The attempts to consolidate international sanctions against Iran have not succeeded to date, and the chances of success seem slight. An American or Israeli military operation against Iran seems to many in the U.S. to be a bad or impractical idea.
Beyond these immediate challenges, it is clear Iran is trying to become a regional power by nurturing Shi'ite communities in several Middle Eastern countries, disseminating its version of radical political Islam and using terror. Iran is threatening friends and allies of Washington, starting with Israel and including Egypt, Jordan and the oil-producing countries in the Persian Gulf.
Bush placed Iran on the axis of evil. But the message emanating from Blair's words, and perhaps from the Baker-Hamilton report as well, is that the attempts to threaten and isolate Iran have failed, and that trying to speak to Iran and to reach a deal on the above issues may be a good idea, even a necessity.
According to this logic, the U.S. would recognize the regime of the ayatollahs, promise not to undermine it, reach an agreement on the future of Iraq, try to keep Tehran from developing nuclear weapons and convince it to adopt a more moderate policy on Lebanon and Israel.
Syria is seen as a supporting actor in such a move. An understanding with Tehran would also lead to an understanding with Damascus. In such a case, Washington would cease its hostility toward Assad's government, and Assad would begin playing a more positive role in Iraq (closing the border to anti-American infiltrators), Lebanon (not rearming Hezbollah) and in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (kicking Hamas and Islamic Jihad headquarters out of Damascus).
The chances of implementing a far-reaching step of this kind are not great. First, Bush will have to decide to take a dual risk: to agree in principle to a change in direction on such fundamental issues, and thus risk being humiliated because he both changed direction and failed. Second, he will have to choose a special envoy for the job. Baker is a natural choice. Would Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accept this expropriation of the core foreign policy arenas?
And finally, there is the move itself. Will Iran really agree to suspend its nuclear policy? Does the U.S. know how to conduct negotiations with a regime that combines Muslim extremism with modern sophistication?
Taking Syria from Iran
Because of that, and in light of the possibility that the conflict with Iran will continue, becoming the central axis of Middle Eastern politics and U.S. policy in the region, a secondary question comes up: Would the U.S. try to distance Syria from Iran, and is there a chance of success?
The hegemonic alliance with Damascus is a central element of Tehran's policy. Syria provides Iran with access to the heart of the Middle East: Lebanon and the Israeli-Arab conflict. An American-Syrian understanding would affect three arenas: Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinians. Tehran's prestige would suffer a severe blow. The conservative-moderate Arab countries would benefit from a shot in the arm, and American diplomacy in the region would chalk up an impressive achievement after a period of failures. But is this a realistic step?
Several topics would be on the agenda of such a step:
b The bilateral relations between the U.S. and Syria. These relations are presently at a nadir. Bush and his administration consider Assad and his government a hostile entity that is assisting the anti-American "rebellion" in Iraq, supporting Palestinian and Lebanese terror, and trying to destroy Lebanon's sovereignty and the stability of Fouad Siniora's government. President Assad and his regime, on the other hand, believe Bush's U.S. is trying to bring them down. An American-Syrian dialogue would start by restoring the relationship to its 1990 level. Syria would then seek an American promise not to undermine the regime, an improved atmosphere and an upgraded relationship.
b The Lebanese issue. Here we can anticipate problems. Syria considers Lebanon a strategic asset and a legitimate area of influence, while the U.S. is determined to protect Lebanese sovereignty and the 2005 anti-Syrian "revolution." Syria wants the investigation into the Hariri assassination shelved, while the U.S. is determined to resolve it. Bush is an ideological president who considers spreading democracy an important mission. The establishment of the Siniora government was a very significant achievement for him, as was the "expulsion" of Syria from Lebanon. For him, having the U.S. recognize Syria's "special status" in Lebanon would be difficult and embarrassing. Naturally, the decision to establish a special court to investigate the assassinations of Hariri and Gemayel are serious obstacles.
b The Golan Heights and relations with Israel. Assad wants the Golan back. Unfortunately, he must be seen as working toward this end, whether through negotiations or an armed conflict. The U.S. favors the principle of "land for peace" but has no desire to reward Assad, at least not at this stage. If an overall American-Syria understanding is reached, Bush will probably change his mind. However, at the moment the clear message from Washington to Jerusalem is that the U.S. is opposed to a renewal of Israeli-Syrian negotiations.
b Relations with Iran. Various Syrian spokesmen tell their interlocutors and the Western media that the alliance between Syria and Iran is not insoluble and that Damascus has been pushed into Tehran's arms out of a lack of choice, due to American hostility. These claims can be tested only by a U.S.-Syrian dialogue.
b The ongoing crisis in Iraq. The U.S. expects Syria first and foremost to hermetically seal its border with Iraq, and thus prevent the infiltration of weapons and fighters. More generally, it will want to see Syria as a partner in stabilizing Iraq, such that it can withdraw its forces without a sense of defeat and an authentic Iraqi government can function. Syria is interested in a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and wants to see a friendly government across its eastern border. Syria currently considers the Iraqi arena a lever for counter-pressure on the U.S. and cooperation with Iran. But in the long run, the Iraqi chaos may threaten Syria's stability as well.
All the above indicate it will be relatively easy from Syria and the United States to reach an understanding on the bilateral issue and Iraq. The Lebanese and Israeli-Palestinian issues will be much more difficult to resolve.
Israel has a profound interest in these issues. A dialogue between Washington and Damascus would arouse questions and fears in Jerusalem. Despite the friendship with the U.S. and the Bush administration, Israel would feel profoundly uncomfortable when the Golan is placed on the agenda during an American-Syrian dialogue. Washington is now signaling to Jerusalem that it does not want Israeli-Syrian negotiations to begin, but what about the opposite? The lesson for Israel is clear. Time is not a neutral factor, passivity does not lead anywhere, and one who does not take initiative, even on a different front, will find himself ultimately reacting to the initiatives of others.
**Prof. Rabinovich is the president of Tel Aviv University, and in the past served as the Israeli ambassador in Washington and the head of the negotiating team with Syria
Chirac, Prodi Discuss Lebanon in Relations Revival Summit
Naharnet: French President Jacques Chirac and Italian Premier Romano Prodi, who held a summit meeting to shore up strained ties, reached "very broad agreement" on Lebanon, a diplomat said Friday.
However the pair acknowledged differences on Syria, whose President Bashar al-Assad is barred from France. "If we must have ... a few divergences of view on procedures and modalities, our goal is the same," Chirac told a news conference. "It is to make Syria face up to its responsibilities and guarantee Lebanon's stability and independence." For his part, Prodi said: "There are differences, but they are purely tactical within a strategy that is fully shared."On Thursday, Prodi said in an interview with France's Le Figaro daily that it was necessary to talk to Syria to solve Lebanon's problems.
"We need to clearly and openly make Syria face up to its responsibilities. We also need to put pressure on them," Prodi said after the assassination of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel killing. He said a proposal to deploy EU troops on the Lebanon-Syria border was still effective. "Such an initiative … can help protect Lebanon," he said, adding, we "have to reach a general agreement" on the issue.
Prodi said the meeting in Lucca, Italy confirmed "the deep friendship" between the two countries, which were at odds notably over the contribution of troops to the multinational force in Iraq by the premier's predecessor Silvio Berlusconi.
The two leaders also have a "shared approach" on the Middle East, where Chirac said a "sharp deterioration of the situation calls for a strong initiative by Europe."The pair agreed to ask Britain, Germany and other EU countries to join a Middle East peace initiative they launched earlier this month along with Spain, a diplomat said. The initiative notably calls for a ceasefire and an international conference as well as a Palestinian unity government and is to be presented at the next European Union summit in Riga, Latvia, in December.
It has been welcomed by the Palestinian Authority but rejected by Israel.
Prodi and Chirac said they would continue deliberations with Israel over the initiative.(AFP-Naharnet)
Beirut, 24 Nov 06, 20:06
Lebanese-German Man Seeks Trial on CIA Abduction Claim
Naharnet: A U.S. federal appeals court will hear arguments Tuesday in the case of a Lebanese-German man who claims the CIA held him captive and tortured him in Afghanistan after mistakenly identifying him as an associate of the Sept. 11 hijackers.
Khaled El-Masri wants the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate his lawsuit against former CIA director George Tenet and others. A federal judge in Alexandria dismissed the suit in May, ruling that a trial could expose government secrets and jeopardize national security.
Ben Wizner, the American Civil Liberties Union lawyer representing El-Masri, said the workings of the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" program in the war on terror already are so widely known that the case could be tried without divulging any state secrets.
The CIA's rendition program, in which terror suspects are captured and taken to foreign countries for interrogation, has been heavily criticized by human rights groups and has been under investigation by human rights watchdog, the Council of Europe.
The head of a European investigation into the clandestine flights and secret prisons has said 14 European countries colluded with the United States on the program.
"We say there's no reason a federal court cannot adjudicate this claim when so much information has been made public," Wizner said in a telephone interview. The U.S. attorney's office in Alexandria had no comment on the case, spokesman Jim Rybicki said.
The Lebanese-born El-Masri alleges he was kidnapped while attempting to enter Macedonia on New Year's Eve 2003 and was flown to a CIA-run prison known as the "salt pit" in Kabul, where he was beaten and sodomized with a foreign object during five months in captivity.
El-Masri says he was denied permission to contact a lawyer, a German government official and his wife. He says he was dumped on a desolate road in Albania long after the CIA realized it had made a mistake. The lawsuit claims the CIA violated international human rights laws and El-Masri's due process rights and seeks damages of at least $75,000. El-Masri also has said he wants an apology.
In dismissing the lawsuit, U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III made no findings on the validity of El-Masri's claims. Ellis said a secret written briefing from the director of central intelligence convinced him that allowing the case to proceed would harm national security.
"In times of war, our country, chiefly through the Executive Branch, must often take exceptional steps to thwart the enemy," Ellis wrote. "Of course, reasonable and patriotic Americans are still free to disagree about the propriety and efficacy of those exceptional steps. But what this decision holds is that these steps are not proper grist for the judicial mill where, as here, state secrets are at the center of the suit."
Wizner said the decision "really is a blank check" for the government to do whatever it wants under the guise of protecting state secrets.
"What the government is asking for here is to have absolutely no judicial role in the protection of human rights," Wizner said.
He acknowledged that courts generally must defer to executive branch decisions in conducting wars, but added: "Deference does not mean abdication."
In addition to Tenet, defendants named in the lawsuit include corporations that allegedly owned and operated the airplanes used to transport El-Masri.(AP) Beirut, 25 Nov 06, 09:31
CLAO Mourns the Brutal Assassination of Minister Pierre Gemayel
The Council of Lebanese American Organizations (CLAO) mourns the brutal assassination of Lebanon’s freedom fighter, the outspoken defender of democracy, the descendant of a family that has sacrificed many heroes martyring for the cause of a free, sovereign, and independent Lebanon, the Minister Pierre Gemayel.
CLAO believes that the assassination of Minister Gemayel is not only a cowardly act of terror; it is also treacherously designed to destabilize Lebanon and to spread fear among the people, targeting primarily the Lebanese Christian community. CLAO pleads to the world community to assist Lebanon in order to reach the truth and to find and trial the murderers guilty of such cruel crimes against humanity.
CLAO appeals to the leaders of Lebanon to recognize the danger and to be ready to defend Lebanon and the Lebanese through a truly representative and free united government. All the Lebanese parties are equally threatened by this treacherous plot. The great people of Lebanon deserve to be protected and such protection could only be reached through a united stand.
The Council of Lebanese American Organizations (CLAO) offers its deepest sympathy and extends its condolences to the Gemayel family, to Lebanon and to the Lebanese. May God rest the soul of Minister Gemayel in peace, as we pray for this tragic incident to be the last of a series of orchestrated crimes plotted against Lebanon and the Lebanese.