المنسقية
العامة
للمؤسسات
اللبنانية
الكندية
كل
ما نشر حول
اغتيال عماد
مغنية من 13-17
شباط 2009
التقارير
العربية في
أسفل
LCCC Compiled Reports on
Mughniyah’s death
February 13- 17/08
Saniora: Open War on
Naharnet/Prime Minister Fouad Saniora said
"I believe that Nasrallah's
so called "open war" declaration was misinterpreted," Saniora said. Going back to the 2006 summer war issue, Saniora said he did "what was to serve my country and
I don't regret any decision I took." He accused Hizbullah
of contradicting itself by labelling the government
"illegitimate," yet at the same time demanding financial compensation
for the damages of the July war. On the political crisis in
"
On relations between
"We have deep-rooted cultural and
historical relationships with
"We don't want
"We seek excellent relationships
with all Arab nations and on top with sisterly
"We demanded Syrian troops
withdrawal from
"
Saniora urged Nasrallah to
stop accusations of treason against the majority March 14 Forces.
"We must stop accusing each other of
treachery and start building trust with Hizbullah.
Saniora reiterated that the Arab League initiative
stripped the parliamentary majority of its ability to impose its policies and
the opposition of its ability to block decision-making "but they rejected
it." He said electing a president before the upcoming Arab Summit was
essential.
"Should the Arab summit be held
without Lebanese participation? I leave the decision for the Arabs. Beirut, 16
Feb 08, 08:31
Arab Suspects Likely Involved in Mughniyeh
Killing
Naharnet/The pro-opposition daily al-Akhbar
on Saturday reported that Syrian authorities have been able to arrest a number
of Arab suspects believed involved in the killing of top Hizbullah
commander Imad Mughniyeh.
Al-Akhbar said
official Syrian sources refused to comment on the report
which said the Arab suspects were "not civilian." Citing
well-informed sources, al-Akhbar said
"security services operating in Arab countries have provided support to
the criminals." It said that Iranian statements and the fact that
Palestinian factions were put on high alert raise the
possibility of a "harsh confrontation" with
But an official Syrian information source on
Saturday denied "formation of a joint Syrian-Iranian-Hizbullah
committee," the state-run news agency,
In quoted the source as saying that only
Syrian authorities are conducting the investigation into the Mughniyeh's assassination. Mughniyeh,
the suspected mastermind of 1980s attacks on the U.S. Embassy and Marine
barracks in
An Iranian television station aired
Friday what it said was mobile phone video footage of the blast that killed Mughniyeh. The grainy, dark images appeared to have been taken moments after his car blew up. They show a
vehicle engulfed in flames on a street at night and several people, apparently
bystanders, running by. It was not possible to see whether anyone was in the
vehicle in the footage taken from a distance and lasting a few seconds.
The video was shown
on
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki met in
"We discussed the terrorist crime
that led to the martyrdom of one of the most senior commanders in the Lebanese
Islamic Resistance, martyr Imad Mughniyeh,"
Mottaki told reporters after the meeting. In
Mughniyeh was said to be one of
the most elusive and notorious Hizbullah commanders,
believed to have masterminded suicide bombings in
In
"The countries that hoisted the
banner of the international campaign against terrorism are today rejoicing over
this terrorist act that led to the martyrdom of this great personality,"
said Rafsanjani, a former president who now heads the Expediency Council, a
powerful clerical body.
"They lost the remainder of their
blotted reputation after this last state-sponsored assassination, since they
expressed happiness over a terrorist act," he told worshippers in a Friday
prayer sermon at
Syria 'Directly Responsible' for Lebanon Crisis, Satterfield
Naharnet/A senior U.S. state department official lashed
out at Syria accusing it of being "directly responsible" for the
political crisis in Lebanon and the accompanying violence. "I would
describe the situation as one of continuing blockage and the continued eruption
of violence in Lebanon ... We regard Syria as directly responsible for this
situation," said David Satterfield, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice's representative for Iraq.
"The role
Satterfield had talks with President
Nicolas Sarkozy's foreign affairs advisor Jean-David Levitte and officials from the French foreign ministry.
He said
Perez: Nasrallah is Threat to Lebanese
Naharnet/Israeli President Shimon Perez said
that Hizbullah chief Sayyed
Hassan Nasrallah poses a threat to the Lebanese
people and accused him of controlling Lebanon's destiny. Perez' remarks came
during a meeting with Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso
Amorim on Friday. He also accused Nasrallah
of preventing the Lebanese from electing a president, adding that Hizbullah was seeking to "turn
"Instead, he (Nasrallah)
brought enormous damage to
Nasrallah-Aoun: Putting a face to the other
Naharnet/Hanady Salman* writes from
It was an event that this country has never witnessed before. Not that the country has not witnessed many unique events in its
history.
However, on 6 February 2008, the Secretary-General of Hizbullah,
Hassan Nasrallah, and the leader of the Free
Patriotic Movement, Michel Aoun, appeared on
television together to explain the "Agreement of Understanding" they
had signed two years before. Watching the two men, who differ on almost every
issue, sitting together, talking to each other, and, mostly, listening to each
other, is an unprecedented sight in
Nasrallah is a sheikh and a Shia
sayed, or descendant of the prophet. He grew up in a
poor Christian neighbourhood that he had to leave
with his family when the Lebanese Civil War started in the mid-1970s.
He moved between South Lebanon, Baalbak,
Najaf in Iraq, and Qom in Iran for a while, studied Islam, became a sheikh,
fought the Israelis in the south during the 1982 invasion, and was one of the
founders of an organisation that grew to force Israel
out of Lebanon in 2000 and defeat the main goal of the deadly war it launched
in July 2006, namely to destroy Hizbullah.
When Nasrallah was born in 1960, Michel Aoun was training to become a lieutenant in the Lebanese
army he had joined in 1955. Aoun was born in 1935 to
a lower-middle-class family that struggled to pay his tuition fees at the
prestigious
Aoun learnt French, English, Spanish and Italian.
During his military career, he travelled to many Western countries, where he
spent considerable amounts of time training, mostly in
In 1984, when Nasrallah was fighting the Israelis in
During the 15 years Aoun spent in exile in
During the same 15 years, Aoun founded the Free
Patriotic Movement and lobbied for Syrian withdrawal from
These are two men who lived in a country where they were
never supposed to meet, not even accidentally. They would not even walk
on the same streets, meet the same people, speak the same language in their
homes, go to the same restaurants, or shop at the same places. They don't even have the same accent.
People with different backgrounds are not supposed to meet in
This separation is not about different religious or political backgrounds. Rich
Christians and rich Muslims are "best friends". Their kids go to the
same schools, wear the same brands, ski together, and spend summers in the same
countries. Their wives carry the same three-figure price-tagged bags, go to the
same beauty parlours, and fancy the same luxurious
restaurants. And the men like doing business together,
keeping the money in the same circles, lobbying together to keep things the way
they are.
Only poor Lebanese never meet in this country. The Christian neighbourhood of Ain Al-Rumaneh is just one street away from the Shia neighbourhood of Shayyah. This is a deadly street and one that witnessed the
ugliest atrocities of the Civil War. This is a street that
regularly witnesses clashes between people living on both sides.
Yet, families on both sides never get to know how similar they are: all
struggling lower-middle-class families who can barely make ends meet. Their
bitterness, their anger, goes in the wrong direction. For "the Other" is not someone who lives differently. The Other is someone who is very similar to themselves.
It was on this street that Nasrallah and Aoun met publicly two years ago and announced they had
decided to join efforts to achieve common goals, at least to achieve the goals
they both have in common. Neither man asked the other to change radically.
Neither ignored how different the other was.
Back then, most people in the country thought it was a bad joke, or at best a
tactical move to embarrass opponents. However, no one then knew that this move
would have to face a cruel test in the shape of a war that in few weeks left at
least 1,200 people dead, one million displaced, and a country half destroyed
and totally divided. No one believed the agreement would withstand such a test.
Yet, Aoun's followers opened their houses to Nasrallah's followers fleeing the Israeli fire and
destruction. In these houses, both sides came to see how similar they were: the
Other had a face now, a name, a few kids, tears and smiles.
Putting a face to the Other was what it was.
Regardless of what Aoun and Nasrallah
represent politically, these are two men who have come
a long way. Like few before them, they each decided to give up a little, to
find common ground, and to take it from there. They say their ultimate goal is
to build a country where the citizen is king. This is what they explicitly said
last Wednesday. Nasrallah said he will never
"want to establish an Islamic republic in
Well, today at least in
* The writer is managing editor of As-Safir
newspaper.
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
The
World Council of the Cedars Revolution
Representing the hopes and
aspirations of many millions of Lebanese in Lebanon and throughout the Diaspora
2300 M Street, NW, Suite 800 , Washington , DC , USA 20037
Phone + 1 202 416 1819, Fax + 1 202 293 3083
www.cedarsrevolution.org cedarsrevolution@gmail.com
Press release
Imad Mignieh is an
international terrorist and The Lebanese cabinet & March 14 have an
explanation to provide to the public
Washington DC, Cedars News, Feb 16th, 2008
The Director of the US Council for the Cedars Revolution issued the following
statement
We, as Lebanese Americans do consider Hezbollah as a Terrorist Organization,
which has taken the lives of many American lives since 1983. We also consider Hezbollah as a Terror group which has been involved in an alliance with the Syrian
regime responsible for the occupation of our mother country
We consider Hezbollah as responsible for the war against the Cedars Revolution
and for violence against the Lebanese People. We wish to see this organization
disarmed and the international terrorists within its ranks brought to justice.
We have been surprised and offended to see the head of the Lebanese cabinet
which we have been supporting and politicians members of the March 14 Coalition
expressing their political condolences to the leadership of Hezbollah for the
death of international terrorist Imad Mughnieh. While his Terror wars on the regional level and
inside
The Lebanese cabinet and March 14 have an explanation to provide to the public
of the Cedars Revolution, to the Lebanese Diaspora and to the Lebanese American
community. The US Council of the Cedars Revolution request a formal explanation
about the rationale behind the act of solidarity with international terrorism
practiced by the Lebanese cabinet and the March 14 Alliance.
Attorney John Hajjar
Director, US Council of the Cedars Revolution
www.cedarsrevolution.net
Tough Men without a
Nation
Ghassan Charbel
Al Hayat - 15/02/08//
Much will be written about yesterday's events in Lebanon…in both
Squares…Analysts and commentators will go far in reading the lines and between
the lines. It is no exaggeration to say that some of what was
said was important and serious. Perhaps some of what was
said goes beyond
Much will be written on the events at
It will be written that the Martyrs Square was packed with crowds of
participants, that the streets leading to Beirut were jammed with waves of
demonstrators who flocked to the Square even if the weather slowed them down or
postponed their arrival. It will be said that March 14 has settled the issue of
popular majority in the absence of General Michel Aoun
and his movement and that he is the biggest loser because he quit the majority which has remained a majority without him.
It will also be said that the crowd has confirmed the
birth of a new popular leadership in
A remarkable Christian participation at the
Much will also be written on the events in the other square
in the southern suburb, the Dahiya….on what it means
for Israel to succeed in assassinating Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus, on the meaning of the place and
timing of the assassination, and the success of the executors to reveal the
identity of the master of disguise…how it successfully tracked and hunted him
down. Things will be written about the participation
of
Much will be written on what Sayyed
Hassan Nasrallah said at the funeral of Hajj Radwan. Analysts will be busy with his talk on an
"open war," accusing Israel of violating the "natural limits of
the battlefield," the assertion that Hezbollah is ready to face any new
Israeli aggression and his looking at Mughniyeh's
assassination as an extension of the July War.
Many commentators will wonder about the nature of the response and its
whereabouts, about the assassination and its relationship to the postponed
American-Iranian dialogue over
Amidst the ocean of questions and analysis, two truths emerge to the surface.
The first is that the success of the March 14 Movement to confirm its
popularity is insufficient to save the republic, unless it reaches a settlement
with the other camp. The second truth is that Hezbollah's ability to wage open
war will be much costlier if the Lebanese scene remain open to the
possibilities of strife and civil war. With the lack of a half-way
settlement,
In praise of cowardice
NowLebanon Site
February 15, 2008
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=30958&MID=10&PID=2
Even the keenest of observations can sometimes turn into a cliché. Rare were
those who failed to highlight the deep disconnect on Thursday between those
Lebanese commemorating the assassination of Rafik
Hariri and those burying Imad Mugniyah
in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
Fine,
But then what happened? Hassan Nasrallah
made a speech at the Mugniyah funeral that made Jumblatt sound like a prophet.
The secretary general declared that the killing of Mugniyah
meant that the party’s next move would be the elimination of
We can understand that Hezbollah was profoundly angry with
the assassination of a senior operative (one whom the party claimed for so long
didn’t exist). We can accept that Nasrallah needed to
rally the troops and show that Hezbollah would continue unfazed, despite its
loss. But as Lebanese we have to wonder what he meant
about an open war and the elimination of
Actually, let us rephrase. Are we to understand that
But back to Hassan Nasrallah.
We intend to have more courage than Michel Aoun in defending our right to disagree with
Hezbollah (the same Aoun who called the Mugniyah killing “an aggression against
Nasrallah doesn’t want a
national divorce, but he wants the weakest of Arab states to engage in
perpetual war until
Terror Incorporated -
Hezbollah's Global Islamic Web
Mark Silverberg
15 Feb 2008
“If they (the Jews) gather in
Lebanese Hezbollah leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah
(Beirut Daily Star)
“All the world is a battlefield open in front of us…..It is Jihad for sake of
Allah and will last until our religion prevails from Spain to Iraq…. every
participant in the crime will pay the price.” (filmed
in front of a photo of the
Ayman al-Zawahiri (al Qaeda), July 27, 2006
The "A-Team" of Terror
With more than fifty Hezbollah terror cells believed to be spread across the
globe (especially in South America and Africa) and capable of being activated
and used to strike at Israeli or Jewish targets in retaliation for Tuesday’s
assassination of Hezbollah arch-terrorist Imad Mughniyeh in Syria, senior American, European and Israeli
intelligence officials are now keeping their respective cells under deep
surveillance.
Hezbollah operatives have already entered the
and Ayatollah Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, often
referred to as Hezbollah's spiritual leader, has already exhorted his followers
to confront "American interests everywhere" if the
These are not idle threats from a powerless organization. Since 1984
Today, American law enforcement officials are concerned the terrorist group,
which has so far focused on fund-raising and other support activities inside
the
Although the organization has yet to launch an attack on
Lessons from Lebanon
There has never been any question about Hezbollah’s world-view. Hezbollah's founding document calls for Islamic rule in
With the exception of al Qaeda's attack on 9/11, no other foreign terrorist
organization has been more lethal for Americans than Hezbollah. The terrorist
organization has cells on every continent, and its operatives have committed
horrifying attacks as far away as
On April 18, 1983, a Hezbollah suicide bomber drove a van filled with
explosives into the U.S. Embassy in
On October 23, 1983, Hezbollah suicide bombers destroyed the U.S. Marine
barracks in
On March 16, 1984, as
On September 20, 1984, the
In December 1984, Hezbollah hijacked a Kuwaiti airliner and two American
passengers employed by the U.S. Agency for International Development were
"sorted out" by the hijackers and murdered.
In June 1985, Hezbollah hijacked TWA Flight 847, brutally murdered American
Navy diver Robert Stethem and dumped his lifeless
body on the tarmac of
In 1988, Mugniyeh kidnapped, tortured and publicly
hanged Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins who was on peacekeeping duty in
On March 17, 1992, Hezbollah coordinated the attacks on the Israeli Embassy in
On July 25, 1996, Hezbollah's fingerprints were traced
to the
Hezbollah also maintains terror cells and infrastructure throughout
In addition to the U.S., Hezbollah operatives have been found in France, Spain,
Cyprus, Singapore, the "tri-border" region of South America (see
below), and the Philippines, as well as in more familiar operational theaters
in Europe and the Middle East. The movement draws on these cells to raise
money, prepare the logistic infrastructure for attacks, disseminate propaganda,
and otherwise ensure that the organization remains robust and ready to strike.
Al Manar (“The Beacon”)
A 2006 Report on Hezbollah issued by the Anti-Defamation League has also drawn
attention to the manner in which Hezbollah disseminates its message world-wide. Reaching a global audience approaching fifteen
million people, Hezbollah’s television station Al Manar
preaches hate and violence to its global audience and is used
to incite terror against Americans and Israelis, disseminating anti-Semitic and
anti-American programming and glorifying suicide bombers across Europe, North
and South America, Asia and
Blood Trade
Investigators searching the homes of the suicide bombers in the
A General Accounting Office (GAO) Report published on December 12, 2003
confirmed that Hezbollah earns and transfers millions of dollars for terrorist
purposes through an elaborate global criminal network involving precious
stones, metals, drugs, smuggling, extortion and the manufacture and export of
counterfeit pharmaceuticals, American dollars and automotive products. In
In Africa for the past five years, Hezbollah has raised millions of dollars by
selling diamonds in Europe mined in
In South America, the tri-border region (formed by the cities of Puerto Igauzu, Argentina; Foz do Iguazu, Brazil; and Ciudad del Este, Paraguay) has also
proven to be a literal "gold mine" for Hezbollah's global criminal
enterprises, and one of the most successful of its financiers was Assad Ahmad Barakat. Barakat was part owner
of Galeria Page, one of Ciudad del
Este’s largest shopping malls. Evidence at his trial disclosed that he had used
the mall and his wholesale import-export businesses as a front to recruit
Hezbollah volunteers and as a large source of financial support for terrorist
activities including the Israeli Embassy and the AMIA bombings in
As deputy to a Hezbollah financial director, Ali Kazan, Barakat served as a treasurer for Hezbollah in the region,
carried contributions to
After his arrest in June 2002, Paraguayan authorities recovered a video of
Hezbollah military operations from a personal computer in one of Barakat's stores. The footage depicted the detonation of
explosives, some of which showed people dying from these explosions. Another
file included Hezbollah military orders for each town and village in southern
In particular, he procured information about Arab community members who
traveled to the
In June 2004, Barakat was
designated as the key terrorist financier in
There are also an increasing number of reports of strategic and logistical
cooperation between al Qaeda and Hezbollah in the area. Al Qaeda’s desire to
bring the jihad to the
In the U.S., there are at least a dozen Hezbollah cells across the United
States, each including a hard core of several dozen suspected terrorists
(primarily in Detroit, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Boston), a number
with military training in Hezbollah camps - plus hundreds of supporters. The
concern is that Hezbollah - among other groups - may have implanted U.S.-based
sleepers not only to raise money, but also to orchestrate an attack if and when the timing is right. And
it is that fear that keeps
What is known is that programs of Hezbollah's Al-Manor
television station have aired on
But it is Hezbollah's illicit enterprises in
But a much more sophisticated plan to raise funds for Hezbollah was
already well underway in
They relied on fraudulent Social Security numbers, passed bad checks, used
stolen credit cards, passed stolen goods via mail drops, and engaged in
forgery. Tax returns from cell members were exercises in creative accounting. Hammoud had made bank deposits in 1997 totaling $737,318,
but reported total wages of just $24,693. The next year, another conspirator
deposited $90,903, but listed no income at all. Hammoud's
cousin owned a house-painting company, employed illegal aliens to staff it,
paid them under the table, and skipped on taxes! But
credit card scams were their specialty. One of the Charlotte Hezbollah cell
members adopted the identities of Middle Eastern students after graduation,
expanded their credit card limits to the maximum, and then racked up half a
million dollars on the cards before disappearing without paying them off. His
phone had four different rings - each one for a different identity, and he used
so many false names that he had to pull a book out of a friend's safe and study
it before going to the bank. 13
The Hammoud case began innocuously enough in 1995. A local sheriff's detective Bob Fromme,
working off-duty as a security guard at JR Tobacco Warehouse in
It is estimated that, between 1996 and 1999, they
bought nearly $300,000 worth of cigarettes on ten credit cards. By the time of
their arrest, the smugglers had accumulated some $8M - nearly a quarter of that
pure profit. A substantial portion was then transferred
in
Hammoud’s entry into
Investigations subsequently disclosed that eight of the key suspects in the
Conclusion
An al Qaeda computer that had been used by bin Laden
and other al Qaeda leaders until they fled
If to save itself from a humiliating defeat, Hezbollah unleashes chemical and/
or biological weapons against
Not if, but how
Hezbollah threatens to retaliate for the murder of its top commander
Nicholas Blanford,
Special to NOW Lebanon ,
February 16, 2008
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivering a speech
broadcast on Manar TV during the funeral of Imad Mugniyah. (AFP/Manar TV)
Hezbollah will miss the organizational capabilities of Imad
Mugniyah as it ponders the best means of retaliating
for the death of its senior and veteran militant.
After all, it was allegedly Mugniyah
who oversaw the planning of the last two major acts of revenge for
Israeli operations against Hezbollah – the bombings in
The bombing of the Israeli Embassy was claimed by Islamic Jihad (of 1980s
kidnapping fame, not the Palestinian version) in revenge for the assassination
a month earlier of Sayyed Abbas
Moussawi, the then-Hezbollah secretary general, who
was killed along with his family and bodyguards in an Israeli helicopter
attack.
The Jewish cultural center was blown up six weeks
after an Israeli air strike killed more than 40 recruits in the Bekaa, an unprecedented number of casualties in a single
raid.
Hezbollah has apparently already replaced Mugniyah,
probably with one of his deputies. Mugniyah’s
successor has not been publicly named, of course, but
it is possible that he could be either Talal Hamiyah or Ibrahim Aqil.
Hamiyah, from a powerful clan in the Bekaa, worked closely with Mugniyah
in the 1980s kidnapping operations and was responsible for striking deals for
the release of some of the minor hostages. In the 1990s, Hamiyah
was alleged to have worked with Saudi Hezbollah, an
Iranian-supported Shia group that was accused of the
1996
Ibrahim Aqil, a veteran and highly-respected
resistance commander, was originally a member of Hussein Moussawi’s
Islamic Amal formed in 1982. His name has been linked to the 1982 suicide bombing of the Israeli
military headquarters in
For those who still harbored doubts, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s secretary general, made it
abundantly clear at Mugniyah’s funeral on Thursday
that the party will respond to the militant’s assassination, and that it will
probably be an overseas reprisal.
“You have killed Hajj Imad outside the recognized
battle zone,” Nasrallah said, addressing
“With regard to this killing, considering the date, place and style, Zionists:
If you want this kind of open war, then let the entire world listen: Let it be
an open war.”
Western intelligence agencies have long held the view that Hezbollah has global
reach through networks based in Lebanese Shia communities
scattered around the world.
“I know there is a debate about this, but not among those of us who have seen
the intelligence material. We know Hezbollah has global reach,” a former FBI
counter-terrorism officer once told the author.
Most of these cells are engaged in fundraising, but they also keep potential
targets under surveillance, according to these intelligence sources. In 2002, a
secret FBI briefing to the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence concluded
that while Hezbollah had the assets to conduct attacks in the US, its
“extensive fundraising” activities reduced the chances of such a decision being
made.
Hezbollah has always denied it possesses global reach, although Nasrallah once told the author in an interview that the
party does have “supporters” who could strike if the organization was
threatened.
“There are many people throughout the world who love Hezbollah, who like
Hezbollah, and who support Hezbollah. Some may not sit idly by when seeing a
brutal aggression against
US intelligence sources suspect that Hezbollah has contingency plans for
attacks against a list of targets around the world, which can
be implemented quickly if a rapid retaliation is required. The two
Following Mugniyah’s assassination, Israeli embassies
around the world went on alert, and the Israeli army beefed up its presence
along
However, the retaliation is unlikely to emanate along the Lebanon-Israel
border. Analysts suspect that it will consist of a qualitative attack that
leaves the Israelis knowing they have been subject to retaliation for Mugniyah’s murder but still granting Hezbollah plausible
deniability. Some analysts believe that Hezbollah could refrain from a
large-scale bombing of an Israeli target, like an embassy, and will choose a
more significant target with a greater shock value.
“I think they will possibly try to do something more spectacular. It won’t be a
matter of scale, but the choice of target; something innovative,” Magnus Ranstorp, a Hezbollah specialist at the
Timur Goksel, lecturer on
international relations in
“I don’t think Hezbollah will go for a big bombing, [but] probably an
assassination,” he said. “This is something that Hezbollah cannot let pass. Mugniyah was too much of a symbol.”
Hezbollah chief threatens
By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer
BEIRUT, Lebanon - The chief of Hezbollah vowed Thursday to retaliate against
Israeli targets anywhere in the world after accusing the Jewish state of
killing the militant Imad Mughniyeh
in
U.N. Concerned at
Targeted Assassinations in Lebanon, Elsewhere
The U.N. Security Council expressed great concern at targeted assassinations in
Lebanon and elsewhere on Thursday, the third anniversary of the assassination
of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri and the day of the funeral
of assassinated Hizbullah commander Imad Mughniyeh.
The council did not agree on a press statement drafted by
But the current council president,
Arias said the council also asked him to report "its great concern for the
institutional stability in
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged
Neither the Security Council nor the secretary-general mentioned Tuesday's
murder in Damascus of Mughniyeh, one of the world's
most wanted fugitives.
Mughniyeh was accused of
masterminding attacks that killed hundreds of Americans and French in
Ban reaffirmed the U.N.'s commitment to assist
"This solemn anniversary comes at a perilous moment for
"The secretary-general believes there could be no greater homage paid to
the memory of Rafik Hariri than for the parties in
The anniversary comes as the Lebanese are more divided than
ever between supporters of Prime Minister Fouad Saniora's government and the opposition, led by Hizbullah and supported by
At Mughniyeh's funeral in
The deadlocked parliament has failed 14 times to elect a new president to
succeed pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud whose term ended in
November.
The sectarian element to the political fight has heightened fears of an
explosion with Sunni Muslims largely supporting Saniora's
government, while Shiites back the opposition. Christians are
divided between the two sides.
U.N. investigators are probing Hariri's assassination and assisting Lebanese
authorities in their investigations of 19 other assassinations and bombings.
In his final appearance before the U.N. Security Council in December before
stepping down, the chief U.N. investigator, Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz, said he is more confident than ever that those
allegedly involved in the Hariri assassination will be
brought before a tribunal to face justice.
He said that recent progress has enabled U.N. investigators to identify "a
number of persons of interest" who may have been involved in some aspect
of the crime -- or knew about the preparations.
The
The secretary-general late Wednesday announced the establishment of a
Management Committee of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon which will provide
advice and policy direction on all non-judicial aspects of the court's
operations and review and approve its annual budget. The committee is composed
of the main donors to the tribunal. Ban also announced that he has received
indications that expected contributions to the Lebanon tribunal will cover its
operations for the first 12 months of operations which along with other
developments "confirms the secretary-general's belief in the
irreversibility of the establishment of the tribunal," Montas
said.(AP) Beirut, 15 Feb 08, 08:00
Nasrallah Throws down the Gauntlet, Haaretz
When Hizbullah chief Sayyed
Hassan Nasrallah recited quotes from David
Ben-Gurion, the first prime minister of Israel, to emphasize to Israel that
"if it loses one war, it will collapse," or the Winograd
report to impress his supporters with the fact that Israel lost the fight
against several thousand Hizbullah fighters, we can
once more be overwhelmed that Nasrallah and his
advisers follow what is going on in Israeli society far more closely than
Israel follows developments in Lebanon, Haaretz
reported on its website. But Nasrallah, Haaretz
said, also knows that sharp rhetoric and expert usage of language are no
substitute for a plan of action.
Haaretz said that Nasrallah
presented his plan in his Thursday speech by setting the rules for war against
Haaretz
said because Hizbullah blames Israel for the
assassination of top Hizbullah commander Imad Mughniyeh, which it said
occurred "outside the natural battleground of the war" (in other
words Syria and not in Lebanon), the Shiite group considers it legitimate to
use the same method and target Israel outside the "natural
battleground": not directly on Israeli territory but against Israeli
targets abroad.
Thus, Haaretz went on to say, Nasrallah
absolved himself of the rules he followed for years, according to which he was
conducting a war of Lebanese liberation against Israeli occupation. It said Nasrallah henceforth is adopting a war against
In this new equation, according to Haaretz, where Nasrallah opened a new "personal account" for
himself and Hizbullah versus
The report said Nasrallah also diverged from the way
he had characterized the
It said Nasrallah stressed in his speech that his men
were ready for the next war, that they had equipped themselves with weapons,
and that thousands have been conscripted as fighters
"so in the next war,
This was a speech that was directed at the Lebanese
government and its supporters, no less than it was for
It said that if Lebanese analysts expected Wednesday that Mughniyeh's
killing would result in positive gestures of political reconciliation on the
part of Nasrallah, particularly after Saad Hariri called for "national unity," it would
seem that Thursday's competing rallies and speeches have brought Lebanon one
step closer to a violent confrontation. Haaretz
concluded that it is not the ridicule of his rivals that is
now threatening
U.S. Doubles its
Contribution to Tribunal
The United States has announced that it is doubling to $14 million its
contribution to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon that would try suspects in the
assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri and related
crimes. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice disclosed the gesture in a
statement issued Thursday on the third anniversary of Hariri's killing along
with 22 others in a massive car bombing on the
FBI Putting Terror Forces on Alert After Nasrallah's Threat
The FBI is putting its 101 domestic terror squads on the alert
for any threats against synagogues and other potential Jewish targets in the
United States after top Hizbullah official Imad Mughniyeh was killed and the
group's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
threatened to punish Israel.
FBI spokesman Rich Kolko
said Thursday that no specific threats had been received by any Jewish centers
after Tuesday's assassination of Mughniyeh. Hizbullah and its Iranian backers blamed the killing on
Still, the FBI ordered its Joint Terrorism Task Forces to contact community
sources for information signaling ramped-up Hizbullah
activity over the next month. Such high-priority orders are
not issued often, but they are not considered unusual. "The FBI
monitors world events and continues to maintain a strong posture through the
FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Forces for any and all threats emanating from any
terrorist group," Kolko said in a statement.
"Although we have no specific threat information at this time, we remind
everyone to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the
appropriate authorities."
Intelligence officials said few, if any, Hizbullah fighters are in the
The FBI order was sent out the day before Thursday's fiery
eulogy by Nasrallah, who vowed to avenge Mughniyeh's death by retaliating against Israeli targets
abroad. The Israeli government denied it was involved in the
In addition to reinforcing its troop presence along the Lebanese border,
"Security for Jewish organizations and Jewish institutions around the
world is a 365-day concern and has been for a long time," said Michael Salberg, director of international affairs for the
Anti-Defamation League in
The Homeland Security Department acknowledged it was monitoring the situation
overseas, but spokesman Russ Knocke
would not talk about how closely the monitoring was being done. The department
last year gave $24 million (-16.4 million) in grants to help Jewish nonprofit
organizations in major cities bolster security measures in a nod to the
widespread belief that they are potential terror targets.
At the State Department, spokesman Sean McCormack
described Nasrallah's remarks as
"alarming."
"Any time you have a terrorist organization making threats against a
fellow democracy, a member of the United Nations, that is something that should
concern every civilized nation around the world," McCormack told
reporters.
"As a general matter, those kinds of statements are quite concerning and
they should be alarming to everyone," he said. "Quite clearly, Hizbullah has a long record of carrying out violent acts
and acts of terrorism around the globe. You have a pathway of violence that
stretches from
"We have very tight security for getting in the building," Botkin said.
The temple has security cameras, doors are all regularly
locked and visitors have to buzz to get in, she said. And
when they hold services, a police officer is outside.
At the
he court came." Beirut, 15 Feb 08, 08:49
Muallem: We Will Soon Reveal Mughniyeh's Killers
Naharnet/Syrian Foreign Minister Walid
Muallem has said investigations are under way into
who was behind the car bomb that killed top Hizbullah
commander Imad Mughniyeh in
Damascus, adding that he expected the perpetrators to be found soon. Mughniyeh was killed late Tuesday
night when his car exploded in an upscale
Hizbullah has accused
Muallem described the killing of Mughniyeh,
who has been implicated in a string of attacks against
Americans, Israelis and Jews, among others, throughout the 1980s and 1990s, as
a blow to peace. He said those who killed Mughniyeh
"assassinated any attempt to revive the peace process," hinting for
the first time that
Israel FM Dismisses Hizbullah Threats
Naharnet/Israel knows how to respond to Hizbullah's threats to attack the Jewish state and its
targets abroad, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said on Thursday.
"Hizbullah is a terror organization. It has
carried out terror attacks in the past and is constantly trying to carry out
attacks," Livni's office quoted her as saying in
a statement. "
"