LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
August 15/09

Bible Reading of the day
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 19:3-12. Some Pharisees approached him, and tested him, saying, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?" He said in reply, "Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate." They said to him, "Then why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss (her)?" He said to them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.  I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery." (His) disciples said to him, "If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry."
He answered, "Not all can accept (this) word, but only those to whom that is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it."

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
Amin Gemayel/Now Lebanon. 15/08/09

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for August 15/09
Lebanon in 7th week without cabinet, no crisis seen-Khaleej Times
Peres: Hizbullah is Destroying Lebanon, its Ideology is Based on War-Naharnet
U.N., Countries Contributing Troops to UNIFIL for Mandate Extension without Amendments-Naharnet
Chamoun: Aoun blocks cabinet formation. Future News
March 14: Hizbullah is Trying in Vain to Block Cabinet Formation-Naharnet
Report: Frederic Hoff in Beirut after Syria-Naharnet
Hizbullah Reacts to March 14: No Such Thing as the 'Aoun Problem,' He Has Natural Rights-Naharnet
Hariri: I Chose Not to Make Public Statements; There Is a Need for 'Calm Dialogue'-Naharnet
Aoun: Officials Implicated With Outsiders Over Government Formation-Naharnet
Qassem to Israel: Hizbullah Will Enter Government-Naharnet
Peres: Hope Lebanon will be Middle East's Switzerland again-Ynetnews
Jumblatt presence at Hizbullah rally could imperil cabinet formula-Daily Star
Hariri has abandoned his cabinet-forming duties.Daily Star
Sakr: Hariri finalized distribution of portfolios/Now Lebanon
Obeying Ahmadinejad like obeying God’-Daily Star
Hariri calls for calm as he continues effort to form governmen-Daily Star
Amal: More painful defeat awaits Israeli aggression-Daily Star
Hariri ‘has abandoned his cabinet-forming’ duties-Daily Star
Tripoli pays respect to slain Ghandour at funeral-Daily Star
Aridi: Jumblatt-Hariri meeting of greatest importance, March 14’s performance cost it dearly/Now Lebanon
Telecom Ministry row means giant hurdle for Hariri/Now Lebanon

U.N., Countries Contributing Troops to UNIFIL for Mandate Extension without Amendments
Naharnet/The U.N. Security Council and countries contributing troops to UNIFIL decided to extend the U.N. peacekeepers' mission for another 12 months without a change to their mandate. During Thursday's closed-door Council session, Deputy Assistant Undersecretary General for Peacekeeping Operations Edmond Mullet briefed the conferees on the UNIFIL mission and the latest incidents of Khirbet Selm and Kfarshouba. Mullet stressed the need for the peacekeepers to continue their mission in Lebanon although he said the situation was fragile as a result of continued violations of resolution 1701 by "both sides." He asked the council for a technical review of the status of UNIFIL as a result of the recent developments without amendments to its Rules of Engagement. A Western diplomatic source confirmed to An Nahar that the conferees didn't discuss amendments to UNIFIL's Rules of Engagement.
The U.S. representative remained silent during Thursday's meeting despite comments last month by Deputy U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Alejandro Wolf, who hinted that Washington was seeking to expand UNIFIL's mission. Another diplomat told An Nahar that representatives of countries contributing troops to the peacekeeping mission in south Lebanon, such as Spain, Italy and others, also said they were not willing to change the UNIFIL mission or resolution 1701. France is expected to prepare the draft resolution to extend UNIFIL's mission for another year in order to discuss it during a closed-door session on August 20. The Council will officially vote on the draft resolution on August 27. Beirut, 14 Aug 09, 09:22

Peres: Hizbullah is Destroying Lebanon, its Ideology is Based on War
Naharnet/Israeli President Shimon Peres said Hizbullah is destroying Lebanon through its subservience to Iran adding that there is no reason for enmity between Lebanon and the Jewish state. "We wish to see Lebanon again as the Switzerland of the Middle East - Switzerland, and not Iran," Peres said during a ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona on Thursday. "The situation in Lebanon has changed. We have not changed. We never were and never will be enemies of Lebanon," Israeli media quoted him as saying. He said there is no reason for enmity between Lebanon and the Jewish state. "We wish the Lebanese people success in rebuilding their country and hope that an alliance of peace and good neighborly relations will emerge between us," Peres added. Calling Hizbullah a "curse," he accused it of "destroying" Lebanon and "bringing calamity" on the country and its people through its subservience to Iran. He added, however, that "Israeli deterrence has been restored." Peres told the ceremony that the alleged Hizbullah arms depots pose a greater threat to Lebanon than Israel. The Israeli president further went as saying that the Shiite group's entire ideology is based war and destruction. "Hizbullah established a state within a state, and army within an army; an organization thirsty for blood in a land yearning for peace. It is not Israel which is a danger to Lebanon. The land of the cedars is cursed by Hizbullah," Peres added. Beirut, 14 Aug 09, 08:13

Chamoun: Aoun blocks cabinet formation
Date: August 14th, 2009/Source: Voice of Lebanon
National Liberals leader MP Dori Chamoun accused Friday Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun of being the major obstacle in the cabinet formation by insisting on naming his son-in-law to the same ministerial post despite his loss in the parliamentary elections. “By hindering the cabinet formation, Aoun is serving the interests of his allies,” he told the Voice of Lebanon radio. Aoun is a key figure in the March 8 opposition camp that lost the June 7 parliamentary elections in favor of the pro-government March 14 coalition.
Chamoun called on Aoun to “put the interests of the nation prior to his personal ones.” “I do not have a problem with the 15-10-5 cabinet formula; and portfolios can be distributed in a way that satisfies all factions if they have good intentions to facilitate the cabinet entitlement,” he added.

March 14: Hizbullah is Trying in Vain to Block Cabinet Formation
Naharnet/March 14 General Secretariat Coordinator Fares Soaid responded to Hizbullah accusations that the majority was "fabricating crises" by insisting the Shiite group is to be blamed for blocking Cabinet formation. "Tonight we have discovered that Hizbullah has added to its heroic demands … another heroic condition which is the appointment of Gen. Michel Aoun's son-in-law Jebran Bassil" in the new government, Soaid said. "Hizbullah is trying in vain to block the formation of a government by laying the blame on March 14 secretariat general," Soaid added. He was reacting to a Hizbullah statement issued Thursday night in which it accused March 14 forces of "fabricating crises." Hizbullah's remarks came in response to a statement Wednesday by March 14 in which the secretariat general called on the Opposition to help solve what it described as "the Aoun problem." Hizbullah said there is "no such thing as the 'Aoun problem,'" adding that the Free Patriotic Movement leader has "natural rights."Aoun "has the right to nominate to Cabinet whoever he saw fit," Hizbullah said. Beirut, 14 Aug 09, 08:10

Hizbullah Reacts to March 14: No Such Thing as the 'Aoun Problem,' He Has Natural Rights
Naharnet/Hizbullah slammed in a statement Thursday March 14 forces for "fabricating crises" and insisted that MP Michel Aoun had the right to nominate to cabinet whoever he saw fit.
Hizbullah was reacting to a statement Wednesday by March 14 in which the secretariat general called on the opposition to help solve what it described as "the problem of Aoun."
"The statement issued by March 14's secretariat general does not help - nor in its tone or content – to facilitate the formation of the government," Hizbullah said. "The fabrication of crises and the creation of political tensions are futile and do not help Premier-designate Saad Hariri to expedite the government shape-up," it added. On Aoun, the statement said: "There is no such thing as the problem of General Aoun that the opposition can help solve. "As the leader of the second largest parliamentary bloc in the country," it added, "Gen. Aoun has natural rights to demand a specific number of cabinet portfolios and to nominate whoever he wants to these ministries." Hizbullah said the way to address such rights was through "dialogue and understanding not through accusations and making tense public statements that does not benefit PM-designate Hariri." The Shiite party also described as "absolutely worthless" March 14 allegations that the opposition has been hiding behind Aoun. Such claims, Hizbullah said, "only serve to confirm the truth of what has been said about (March 14) 'they are living in a parallel universe." It said March 14 forces were merely trying to "hide the real problems they are facing over the distribution and numbers of portfolios amongst them." Beirut, 13 Aug 09, 21:02

Report: Frederic Hoff in Beirut after Syria
Naharnet/Frederic Hoff, the deputy of U.S. special Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell, could visit Lebanon after holding talks in Damascus on the security situation on the Syrian border with Iraq. An Nahar daily on Friday quoted political sources as saying that Hoff could stay for a long period in Lebanon. He has been given the mission of holding negotiations with Syrian and Lebanese officials on possible peace talks with Israel. Beirut, 14 Aug 09, 08:42

Hariri: I Chose Not to Make Public Statements; There Is a Need for 'Calm Dialogue'
Naharnet/Premier-designate Saad Hariri said Thursday after talks with President Michel Suleiman said the distribution of cabinet portfolios and ministerial nominations required "clam dialogue" adding he had avoided making statements in order not to complicate matters further. "I have adopted two approaches since the start of the government formation process," Hariri said after the meeting at Baabda Palace. "The first is not to allow the ongoing disputes to impact the economy and tourism; and the second is to avoid making statements in order not to be dragged to situations from which there is no turning back," he told reporters. Hariri described as "natural" ongoing arguments over cabinet portfolios. "The distribution of portfolios and ministerial nominations require calm dialogue, which is the way that will help eliminate obstacles," he said. "We want a homogeneous government, even among the ministers themselves," he said, adding that it was "the right of each team to request the portfolios it wants." "We are keen on forming a government. The process is advancing, although not at the pace that we want, but we will have a government eventually," he said, pointing to the constant cooperation with Suleiman and Speaker Nabih Berri for that purpose. Beirut, 13 Aug 09, 17:28

Aoun: Officials Implicated With Outsiders Over Government Formation
Naharnet/"Change and Reform' leader MP Michel Aoun accused local officials of being implicated with outsiders over the issue of forming a national unity government.
Aoun said: " those responsible for the government formation are implicated with outsiders and are incapable of forming it unless they receive foreign approval."
In an interview with Hizbullah's al-Manar television on Thursday, Aoun expressed his dismay that the Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri is surrounded by what he termed as a "music troop that is moving contrary to all the understandings he is attempting to forge and complete." He advised Hariri to stop listening to the music troop's unpopular advice and not diminish or downsize other parties in the process. "The delay in government formation began before the consultations; that is why I deduced that government won't be formed before the end of summer and the beginning of the [new] academic year. That is why I was did not agree with Speaker Berri when I said that I don't share his wave length." Aoun said. He accused others of waging a "provocative media campaign" against him; while he is a "major force in government". The Free Patriotic Movement leader questioned the reason behind all "sudden" trips overseas by his political opponents citing the recent stance by Progressive Socialist Party Druze leader Walid Jumblat as a motivation in creating a crisis for March 14 Forces. Beirut, 13 Aug 09, 21:07

Qassem to Israel: Hizbullah Will Enter Government
Naharnet/hizbullah's Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naeem Qassem said the Lebanese are more in support of the resistance than before adding that Hizbullah will be part of the next national unity government. "It seems that the outcome is contrary to what Israel wants, Hizbullah will enter the next government and the Lebanese today stand with the resistance more than ever." Qassem said. He went on to add that many have recently heard Israeli threats "but Israel has withdrawn its threats, why? Because it found that threats won't affect our Lebanese arena. It is a desperate attempt to exhibit force…to affect the formation of government and to move people away from Hizbullah." Qassem said that the victory of the July 2006 war shook the Israeli preventive power and made all Muslim, Arab and free forces in the world aware of the fact that they could "defeat injustice irrespective of its power." "This July victory changed the formula in Lebanon and the region. Following the July victory there is no defeat, no submission and no surrender," Qassem said. He ended by saying that the resistance is ready to confront any aggression saying: " their threats don't scare us, rather we found that it scared the Israelis instead." Beirut, 13 Aug 09, 19:54

Yedioth Aharonoth: Hizbullah Has Command Posts in Venezuela
Naharnet/Hizbullah has established command posts in Venezuela and sends operatives on intelligence missions to neighboring countries, an Israeli government official told Yedioth Aharonoth. He said Hizbullah has "invested a lot of time and effort in planning attacks against Israeli or Jewish targets in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Peru."
Many of Hizbullah's operatives are in industrial zones, particularly those linked to the oil industry, which attracts workers from the Middle East, the paper said. It said such locations offer a "comfortable front" for Hizbullah, which provides its operatives with fake passports to allow them to work undetected. Yedioth Aharonoth said Israel's National Security Council Counter Terrorism bureau issued travel warnings to Israeli businessmen, alerting them of plans by Hizbullah and members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to kidnap Israeli businessmen visiting Latin American countries and take them to Lebanon. It said Hizbullah and al-Quds brigade of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards have set up dozens of "sleeper cells" worldwide, many disguised as community centers or charity organizations. Yedioth said the sleeper cells are tasked with providing "immediate response" in the event of a significant Israeli attack against Hizbullah. Beirut, 14 Aug 09, 08:40

Jumblatt presence at Hizbullah rally could imperil cabinet formula
Observers say 15-5-10 government makeup may be ‘behind US’
By Elias Sakr /Daily Star staff
Friday, August 14, 2009
BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader Walid Jumblatt’s attendance on Friday at Hizbullah’s political rally marking the third anniversary of the end of Israel’s war on Lebanon in the summer of 2006 will impact the validity of the 15-10-5 formula for the next government, informed observers told The Daily Star Thursday.
The sources said Jumblatt’s attendance would signal his further rapprochement with the parliamentary minority – and raise serious concerns among March 14 coalition members with regard to the PSP ministers’ alignment in the next cabinet, leading to a reconsideration of the 15-10-5 make-up.
PSP spokesman Rami Ra­yess told The Daily Star that a delegation of the party’s high-ranking officials will attend Hizbullah’s rally, but he dec­lined to confirm the participation by Jumblatt himself. “It’s premature to respond … about the PSP leader’s attendance for security and political reasons,” Rayess said.
Rayess stressed that Jumblatt’s share in the cabinet would remain within the majority’s allotted 15 ministers.
As for potentially divisive issues that could paralyze the executive branch, Rayess said an agreement among Lebanese political parties brokered by President Michel Sleiman guaranteed that no key issues would be subject to vote prior to a consensus among all factions, which would therefore stave off political crises.
Speaker Nabih Berri and officials from Hizbullah have been voicing continued support for the 15-10-5 structure, despite Jumblatt’s recent declaration that the PSP had suspended its membership in March 14. However, their leading ally in the minority group, Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, said on Wednesday that the Syrian-Saudi accord on the make-up of Lebanon’s next government was no longer valid. For his part, Premier-designate Saad Hariri has avoided any public discussion of the issue, while his allies the Phalange party and the Lebanese For­ces (LF) have expressed on several occasions the need to reconsider the cabinet’s structure.
The 15-10-5 formula agreed upon between the parliamentary majority and the opposition prior to Jumblatt’s withdrawal from the March 14 coalition would grant the majority 15 seats, the opposition 10 and Sleiman five seats.
The formula gives Sleiman a deciding vote in the government; March 14 would lack an absolute majority, while the opposition would not wield veto power.
Tackling the timing of the cabinet’s formation, the obser­vers said there were few signs that the next government would be formed prior to Ramadan, which is expected to begin on August 22. The agreement on the cabinet’s structure necessitated further foreign and regional mediation, the observers added.
Metn MP Nabil Nicola told The Daily Star that he didn’t expect the government to be formed before Ramadan, adding that foreign demands hampered the process.
“If the obstacles were domestic, the government would have been formed within a week,” Nicola said.
Nicola said the 15-10-5 formula was no longer valid following Jumblatt’s withdrawal from March 14; he added that Aoun had yet to officially reject the agreement, and was still waiting for Hariri to come forward with a counter-proposal.
Hariri said Thursday that ob­stacles regarding the distribution of ministerial portfolios among political parties, and the nomination of specific candidates, were delaying the formation process.
Following a meeting with Sleiman, Hariri said his role was “to ensure that ministers nominated in a national unity government get along, so that the cabinet can function efficiently.”
Discussions on the cabinet’s formation were frozen until Tuesday, when Jumblatt visited Hariri after the latter’s return from a one-week vacation in the south of France.
The sources said efforts were now focused on arranging a second meeting between Hariri and Jumblatt, to further clarify the PSP leader’s recent stance and consolidate the ties bet­ween both men. As for deliberations on the distribution of government portfolios, Rayess said the PSP retained its demand for the Public Works and Transportation Ministry, along with two other posts. Meanwhile, Batroun MP and LF official Antoine Zahra denied media reports claiming a dispute between the LF and the PSP over the Public Works portfolio in the next cabinet.
“We discuss the distribution of ministerial portfolios with the premier-designate, and we demanded a service portfolio without specifying a specific one,” Zahra told The Daily Star.
The head of the Phalange Party, former President Amin Ge­mayel, called Thursday for an active role in the next cabinet, while stating that the 15-10-5 formula was “behind us.”

Obeying Ahmadinejad like obeying God’
Friday, August 14, 2009
Parisa Hafezi /Reuters
TEHRAN: A senior Iranian cleric seen as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s spiritual mentor said obeying the head of government was like obeying God, the moderate Etemad-e Melli newspaper said on Thursday.
Firebrand cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi believes the authority of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, comes from God, not from the people.
Khamenei presides over a complex political and clerical system as vali-ye faqih, or religious jurisprudent, with the president running the day-today governing of the country.
When a president is endorsed by the vali-ye faqih, obeying the president is like obeying God,” the daily quoted Mesbah-Yazdi as saying.
Khamenei swiftly endorsed Ahmadinejad’s re-election after the June 12 presidential vote which was followed by the biggest protests since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The losing candidates say the poll was rigged, a charge denied by Iran’s authorities, including Khamenei, who has accused Western powers of fomenting the vote unrest.
Moderates say 69 protesters were killed in the demonstrations, contradicting the official report of 26 deaths.
Mesbah-Yazdi has long held that democracy and elections are incompatible with Islam. Ahmadinejad’s allies deny the president takes orders from the hardline cleric, who is a defender of the supreme leader’s absolute power.
“When a president is … endorsed by the supreme leader and becomes an agent of the leader, the leader’s light is also shed on the president,” Mesbah-Yazdi said.
Mesbah-Yazdi is a member of a popularly elected conservative-dominated panel of 86 Shiite Muslim clergymen with the power to elect and dismiss the supreme leader. But despite its powerful mandate, the Assembly of Experts has never sought to oust a leader in the 30 years of the Islamic Republic.
Mesbah-Yazdi’s followers have great sway among Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards and the Basij volunteer paramilitary force.
The Guards political chief Yadollah Javani has called for defeated candidates Mehdi Karoubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi as well as moderate former President Mohammad Khatami to be put on trial for inciting election unrest.
Iran’s police and security forces quelled the protests and the judiciary has now begun mass trials of than 100 moderates, despite the damage it might inflict on the government’s legitimacy and relations with the West.
At least 200 people still remain in jail, including senior moderate politicians, activists, lawyers and journalists.
Defeated candidate Karoubi said on Sunday some protesters, both men and women, were raped in prison. The abuse allegations, were rejected by authorities, including by Parliament speaker and Tehran’s police chief.
Many of the detainees were held in south Tehran’s Kahrizak prison and at least three people died in custody there and widespread anger erupted as reports of abuse in jail spread. Last month Khamenei ordered the closure of the “sub-standard” detention center at Kahrizak. Iranian authorities have acknowledged some protesters were tortured at Kahrizak and said its director had been jailed.
Such allegations have created a rift among hardline politicians, many of whom backed Ahmadinejad’s election win.
An association of hundreds of former parliamentarians wrote a letter to the Assembly of Experts, urging its head Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to investigate the post election events. Rafsanjani, a former president, is an ally of the defeated moderate candidates
The United States, its European allies and Iranian moderates have denounced the mass trials as a “sham.”
Among those being tried are French teaching assistant Clotilde Reiss and two employees of French and British embassies in Tehran, accused of espionage and taking part in a Western plot, charges France and Britain say are baseless.
The father of Reiss said on Thursday that he hoped his daughter would leave prison later in the day, after France agreed to provide bail for her conditional release.
Iranian officials may release on bail a French academic accused of spying later this week, the young woman’s father said on Thursday, six weeks after her arrest.
“Everything is going in the right direction and in the coming hours, by Saturday at the latest, Clothilde should be able to come out of her cell,” Remi Reiss told AFP.
Reiss told France Inter radio earlier that France would pay “a few hundred thousand dollars” in bail to Iranian authorities, so that his daughter could await the verdict in her trial at the French embassy in Tehran.
“The modalities are taking shape,” Reiss told AFP. “There is payment of bail, I believe, and also a matter regarding a guarantee because her release would be conditional on her residing at the embassy.”
The official IRNA news agency reported that she was charged with “collecting information and provoking rioters.”
The trial hearings ended on Wednesday and Reiss was awaiting the verdict.
Iran’s display of intolerance of internal opposition has alarmed the West, which had hoped for new talks on what it suspects is an Iranian nuclear arms quest. Tehran denies this. – with AFP
UN expert believes claims of torture in Iran
GENEVA: A UN anti-torture investigator said Thursday he has received credible claims that Iranian protesters detained after the June 12 presidential elections were abused in prison.
The many allegations came from family members, lawyers and released detainees, said Manfred Nowak, an independent investigator appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
“I truly believe that these complaints will stand up to scrutiny,” he told the Associated Press.
The alleged abuses include holding people incommunicado and extracting confessions through torture, Nowak said.
One defeated reformist presidential candidate, Mahdi Karroubi, said Sunday he has received reports from former military commanders and other senior officials of male and female prisoners being raped by jailers.
Nowak said he has asked the Iranian government to investigate the claims and send him a report, however, he has yet to receive a satisfactory response.
“If someone appeals to the United Nations claiming they were tortured, then the government is obliged to investigate the claims thoroughly,” he said. “To date, I’m unaware of any such investigation.”
Nowak, an Austrian who has also investigated alleged abuses at the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay, said Iran has not allowed him to visit the country.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations in Geneva declined comment, saying that communications between the government and UN experts were confidential
There were allegations of torture in Iran’s prisons even before the elections that resulted in a second term for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Nowak said.
“I’m really concerned about the situation in Iran,” he said. – AP

Amin Gemayel
Now Lebanon
August 14, 2009
On August 13, the Lebanese National News Agency carried the following report:
President Amin Gemayel held a press conference today [yesterday] in his house in Bikfaya and addressed the different political developments in Lebanon.
He said: “Lebanon is not doing well and is facing a national crisis that should be looked into and confronted. This crisis is the crisis of the regime. The president of the republic was elected over a year and a half ago, and his term is still hindered by numerous obstructions.
"The parliamentary elections were conducted and it turned out they did not entail the desired results. People thus started wondering: Why conduct the elections if the losers will act as though they had won and try to impose their wills on the winning team. As for this team, it is accepting some solutions which do not convey the reality of the democratic game…
“Today, we seem to have replaced the constitution with the Doha Agreement. This agreement which was made on the sidelines of the constitution and was meant to be temporary, had become the constitution itself and permanent. Even the parliament was replaced with a new concept in the context of Arab concord, rendering its role marginal at the level of the political reality. As for the government, it was replaced with a dialogue committee, the army with Hezbollah’s arms and the two halves [half for the Christians and half for the Muslims] stipulated in the Taif Accord with three thirds based on the concept of the blocking third. All of this was conducted at the expense of the citizens’ interests, the country, the constitution and the law…
“It seems that the security logic of May 7 is prevailing over the electoral equation of June 7. The democratic logic was replaced by the security one and we are going through a constitutional and political crisis... When we announced over a year ago that the country was going through a crisis affecting the [ability to] rule, many condemned our announcement. Today however, they are recognizing the necessity to develop the regime, which is something that was addressed by the president of the republic who was the first to dot the I’s in this regard… The government formation is an expression and one of the elements of this crisis. Our position is clear. We should not fall in the trap of numbers which apparently still exists. The general impression is that we are in the presence of attempts to blockade the prime minister-designate whom we support in the hope he will announce an adequate governmental formation as soon as possible. Going back to the blocking third will block the national march, something which we have been suffering from for quite some time...
We in the Kataeb Party insist on real participation in the government since our role was primordial in the Cedar Revolution and the electoral campaign, and it would only be fair for our presence to be representative of our role and influence on the national arena...
“For forty years now, the Kataeb Party had been in a state of constant confrontation at the level of the Lebanese-Syrian relations dossier. During the stage of hegemony, the Party was in conflict with Syria but was the first to extend its hand for dialogue with the Syrians to reach solutions to the problems between the two countries.
"Throughout the different stages, we have always held on to the Lebanese rights and the higher Lebanese interests. No one struggled against the Syrian hegemony and presence in Lebanon more than us and no one engaged in dialogue to secure Lebanon’s interests like us. We therefore believe that the normalization of relations between Lebanon and Syria will have to go through a number of stages. Syria was in Lebanon and the martyrs and victims were Lebanese. Syria is thus required to publicly recognize all that has happened during the stage of Syrian presence in Lebanon and [their] hegemony over the national institutions. This is natural and does not only constitute a gateway for relations between the Lebanese and Syrian governments, but also between Lebanon and Syria as a whole. We have many mothers still wearing black, we have many destroyed homes and many missing citizens. How can we normalize our relations in light of this situation and while the repercussions of that stage are still apparent?
“As for the demarcation of the border in the Shebaa Farms, we reject the pretext saying that this demarcation will only be conducted following the withdrawal. Syria’s position must be transparent, and we, according to international law, are fighting to regain a Syrian territory and not a Lebanese one. Syria is therefore required to recognize Lebanon’s sovereignty over the Shebaa Farms and this is also true at the level of the Palestinian organizations that are present in Lebanon but controlled by the Syrian intelligence and [Syrian] decisions...
"We appreciate the progress that was achieved and consider it to be a positive element. However, this is not enough and we should rally all efforts to reach the level of normalization. We want exceptional Lebanese-Syrian relations based on the principle that if your neighbor is fine, you are fine. Former Minister Wiam Wahhab visited me and put forward this issue objectively. He talked about the Syrian climate of openness toward Lebanon and all the Lebanese sides and my answer was clear: We want normalization and the development of relations, but these issues do not concern us directly or personally. They concern the Lebanese state and can only be resolved through dialogue between the two states and governments. For our part, we will support these efforts…”
President Gemayel then demanded the handling of the Lebanese problem which is a crisis affecting the regime, asking the president of the republic to draw up a vision and a work plan far from the ongoing political conflict and disputes to find a serious and comprehensive project to develop this regime as soon as possible.


 

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
August 15/09

Bible Reading of the day
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 19:3-12. Some Pharisees approached him, and tested him, saying, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?" He said in reply, "Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate." They said to him, "Then why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss (her)?" He said to them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.  I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery." (His) disciples said to him, "If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry."
He answered, "Not all can accept (this) word, but only those to whom that is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it."

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
Amin Gemayel/Now Lebanon. 15/08/09

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for August 15/09
Lebanon in 7th week without cabinet, no crisis seen-Khaleej Times
Peres: Hizbullah is Destroying Lebanon, its Ideology is Based on War-Naharnet
U.N., Countries Contributing Troops to UNIFIL for Mandate Extension without Amendments-Naharnet
Chamoun: Aoun blocks cabinet formation. Future News
March 14: Hizbullah is Trying in Vain to Block Cabinet Formation-Naharnet
Report: Frederic Hoff in Beirut after Syria-Naharnet
Hizbullah Reacts to March 14: No Such Thing as the 'Aoun Problem,' He Has Natural Rights-Naharnet
Hariri: I Chose Not to Make Public Statements; There Is a Need for 'Calm Dialogue'-Naharnet
Aoun: Officials Implicated With Outsiders Over Government Formation-Naharnet
Qassem to Israel: Hizbullah Will Enter Government-Naharnet
Peres: Hope Lebanon will be Middle East's Switzerland again-Ynetnews
Jumblatt presence at Hizbullah rally could imperil cabinet formula-Daily Star
Hariri has abandoned his cabinet-forming duties.Daily Star
Sakr: Hariri finalized distribution of portfolios/Now Lebanon
Obeying Ahmadinejad like obeying God’-Daily Star
Hariri calls for calm as he continues effort to form governmen-Daily Star
Amal: More painful defeat awaits Israeli aggression-Daily Star
Hariri ‘has abandoned his cabinet-forming’ duties-Daily Star
Tripoli pays respect to slain Ghandour at funeral-Daily Star
Aridi: Jumblatt-Hariri meeting of greatest importance, March 14’s performance cost it dearly/Now Lebanon
Telecom Ministry row means giant hurdle for Hariri/Now Lebanon

U.N., Countries Contributing Troops to UNIFIL for Mandate Extension without Amendments
Naharnet/The U.N. Security Council and countries contributing troops to UNIFIL decided to extend the U.N. peacekeepers' mission for another 12 months without a change to their mandate. During Thursday's closed-door Council session, Deputy Assistant Undersecretary General for Peacekeeping Operations Edmond Mullet briefed the conferees on the UNIFIL mission and the latest incidents of Khirbet Selm and Kfarshouba. Mullet stressed the need for the peacekeepers to continue their mission in Lebanon although he said the situation was fragile as a result of continued violations of resolution 1701 by "both sides." He asked the council for a technical review of the status of UNIFIL as a result of the recent developments without amendments to its Rules of Engagement. A Western diplomatic source confirmed to An Nahar that the conferees didn't discuss amendments to UNIFIL's Rules of Engagement.
The U.S. representative remained silent during Thursday's meeting despite comments last month by Deputy U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Alejandro Wolf, who hinted that Washington was seeking to expand UNIFIL's mission. Another diplomat told An Nahar that representatives of countries contributing troops to the peacekeeping mission in south Lebanon, such as Spain, Italy and others, also said they were not willing to change the UNIFIL mission or resolution 1701. France is expected to prepare the draft resolution to extend UNIFIL's mission for another year in order to discuss it during a closed-door session on August 20. The Council will officially vote on the draft resolution on August 27. Beirut, 14 Aug 09, 09:22

Peres: Hizbullah is Destroying Lebanon, its Ideology is Based on War
Naharnet/Israeli President Shimon Peres said Hizbullah is destroying Lebanon through its subservience to Iran adding that there is no reason for enmity between Lebanon and the Jewish state. "We wish to see Lebanon again as the Switzerland of the Middle East - Switzerland, and not Iran," Peres said during a ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona on Thursday. "The situation in Lebanon has changed. We have not changed. We never were and never will be enemies of Lebanon," Israeli media quoted him as saying. He said there is no reason for enmity between Lebanon and the Jewish state. "We wish the Lebanese people success in rebuilding their country and hope that an alliance of peace and good neighborly relations will emerge between us," Peres added. Calling Hizbullah a "curse," he accused it of "destroying" Lebanon and "bringing calamity" on the country and its people through its subservience to Iran. He added, however, that "Israeli deterrence has been restored." Peres told the ceremony that the alleged Hizbullah arms depots pose a greater threat to Lebanon than Israel. The Israeli president further went as saying that the Shiite group's entire ideology is based war and destruction. "Hizbullah established a state within a state, and army within an army; an organization thirsty for blood in a land yearning for peace. It is not Israel which is a danger to Lebanon. The land of the cedars is cursed by Hizbullah," Peres added. Beirut, 14 Aug 09, 08:13

Chamoun: Aoun blocks cabinet formation
Date: August 14th, 2009/Source: Voice of Lebanon
National Liberals leader MP Dori Chamoun accused Friday Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun of being the major obstacle in the cabinet formation by insisting on naming his son-in-law to the same ministerial post despite his loss in the parliamentary elections. “By hindering the cabinet formation, Aoun is serving the interests of his allies,” he told the Voice of Lebanon radio. Aoun is a key figure in the March 8 opposition camp that lost the June 7 parliamentary elections in favor of the pro-government March 14 coalition.
Chamoun called on Aoun to “put the interests of the nation prior to his personal ones.” “I do not have a problem with the 15-10-5 cabinet formula; and portfolios can be distributed in a way that satisfies all factions if they have good intentions to facilitate the cabinet entitlement,” he added.

March 14: Hizbullah is Trying in Vain to Block Cabinet Formation
Naharnet/March 14 General Secretariat Coordinator Fares Soaid responded to Hizbullah accusations that the majority was "fabricating crises" by insisting the Shiite group is to be blamed for blocking Cabinet formation. "Tonight we have discovered that Hizbullah has added to its heroic demands … another heroic condition which is the appointment of Gen. Michel Aoun's son-in-law Jebran Bassil" in the new government, Soaid said. "Hizbullah is trying in vain to block the formation of a government by laying the blame on March 14 secretariat general," Soaid added. He was reacting to a Hizbullah statement issued Thursday night in which it accused March 14 forces of "fabricating crises." Hizbullah's remarks came in response to a statement Wednesday by March 14 in which the secretariat general called on the Opposition to help solve what it described as "the Aoun problem." Hizbullah said there is "no such thing as the 'Aoun problem,'" adding that the Free Patriotic Movement leader has "natural rights."Aoun "has the right to nominate to Cabinet whoever he saw fit," Hizbullah said. Beirut, 14 Aug 09, 08:10

Hizbullah Reacts to March 14: No Such Thing as the 'Aoun Problem,' He Has Natural Rights
Naharnet/Hizbullah slammed in a statement Thursday March 14 forces for "fabricating crises" and insisted that MP Michel Aoun had the right to nominate to cabinet whoever he saw fit.
Hizbullah was reacting to a statement Wednesday by March 14 in which the secretariat general called on the opposition to help solve what it described as "the problem of Aoun."
"The statement issued by March 14's secretariat general does not help - nor in its tone or content – to facilitate the formation of the government," Hizbullah said. "The fabrication of crises and the creation of political tensions are futile and do not help Premier-designate Saad Hariri to expedite the government shape-up," it added. On Aoun, the statement said: "There is no such thing as the problem of General Aoun that the opposition can help solve. "As the leader of the second largest parliamentary bloc in the country," it added, "Gen. Aoun has natural rights to demand a specific number of cabinet portfolios and to nominate whoever he wants to these ministries." Hizbullah said the way to address such rights was through "dialogue and understanding not through accusations and making tense public statements that does not benefit PM-designate Hariri." The Shiite party also described as "absolutely worthless" March 14 allegations that the opposition has been hiding behind Aoun. Such claims, Hizbullah said, "only serve to confirm the truth of what has been said about (March 14) 'they are living in a parallel universe." It said March 14 forces were merely trying to "hide the real problems they are facing over the distribution and numbers of portfolios amongst them." Beirut, 13 Aug 09, 21:02

Report: Frederic Hoff in Beirut after Syria
Naharnet/Frederic Hoff, the deputy of U.S. special Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell, could visit Lebanon after holding talks in Damascus on the security situation on the Syrian border with Iraq. An Nahar daily on Friday quoted political sources as saying that Hoff could stay for a long period in Lebanon. He has been given the mission of holding negotiations with Syrian and Lebanese officials on possible peace talks with Israel. Beirut, 14 Aug 09, 08:42

Hariri: I Chose Not to Make Public Statements; There Is a Need for 'Calm Dialogue'
Naharnet/Premier-designate Saad Hariri said Thursday after talks with President Michel Suleiman said the distribution of cabinet portfolios and ministerial nominations required "clam dialogue" adding he had avoided making statements in order not to complicate matters further. "I have adopted two approaches since the start of the government formation process," Hariri said after the meeting at Baabda Palace. "The first is not to allow the ongoing disputes to impact the economy and tourism; and the second is to avoid making statements in order not to be dragged to situations from which there is no turning back," he told reporters. Hariri described as "natural" ongoing arguments over cabinet portfolios. "The distribution of portfolios and ministerial nominations require calm dialogue, which is the way that will help eliminate obstacles," he said. "We want a homogeneous government, even among the ministers themselves," he said, adding that it was "the right of each team to request the portfolios it wants." "We are keen on forming a government. The process is advancing, although not at the pace that we want, but we will have a government eventually," he said, pointing to the constant cooperation with Suleiman and Speaker Nabih Berri for that purpose. Beirut, 13 Aug 09, 17:28

Aoun: Officials Implicated With Outsiders Over Government Formation
Naharnet/"Change and Reform' leader MP Michel Aoun accused local officials of being implicated with outsiders over the issue of forming a national unity government.
Aoun said: " those responsible for the government formation are implicated with outsiders and are incapable of forming it unless they receive foreign approval."
In an interview with Hizbullah's al-Manar television on Thursday, Aoun expressed his dismay that the Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri is surrounded by what he termed as a "music troop that is moving contrary to all the understandings he is attempting to forge and complete." He advised Hariri to stop listening to the music troop's unpopular advice and not diminish or downsize other parties in the process. "The delay in government formation began before the consultations; that is why I deduced that government won't be formed before the end of summer and the beginning of the [new] academic year. That is why I was did not agree with Speaker Berri when I said that I don't share his wave length." Aoun said. He accused others of waging a "provocative media campaign" against him; while he is a "major force in government". The Free Patriotic Movement leader questioned the reason behind all "sudden" trips overseas by his political opponents citing the recent stance by Progressive Socialist Party Druze leader Walid Jumblat as a motivation in creating a crisis for March 14 Forces. Beirut, 13 Aug 09, 21:07

Qassem to Israel: Hizbullah Will Enter Government
Naharnet/hizbullah's Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naeem Qassem said the Lebanese are more in support of the resistance than before adding that Hizbullah will be part of the next national unity government. "It seems that the outcome is contrary to what Israel wants, Hizbullah will enter the next government and the Lebanese today stand with the resistance more than ever." Qassem said. He went on to add that many have recently heard Israeli threats "but Israel has withdrawn its threats, why? Because it found that threats won't affect our Lebanese arena. It is a desperate attempt to exhibit force…to affect the formation of government and to move people away from Hizbullah." Qassem said that the victory of the July 2006 war shook the Israeli preventive power and made all Muslim, Arab and free forces in the world aware of the fact that they could "defeat injustice irrespective of its power." "This July victory changed the formula in Lebanon and the region. Following the July victory there is no defeat, no submission and no surrender," Qassem said. He ended by saying that the resistance is ready to confront any aggression saying: " their threats don't scare us, rather we found that it scared the Israelis instead." Beirut, 13 Aug 09, 19:54

Yedioth Aharonoth: Hizbullah Has Command Posts in Venezuela
Naharnet/Hizbullah has established command posts in Venezuela and sends operatives on intelligence missions to neighboring countries, an Israeli government official told Yedioth Aharonoth. He said Hizbullah has "invested a lot of time and effort in planning attacks against Israeli or Jewish targets in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Peru."
Many of Hizbullah's operatives are in industrial zones, particularly those linked to the oil industry, which attracts workers from the Middle East, the paper said. It said such locations offer a "comfortable front" for Hizbullah, which provides its operatives with fake passports to allow them to work undetected. Yedioth Aharonoth said Israel's National Security Council Counter Terrorism bureau issued travel warnings to Israeli businessmen, alerting them of plans by Hizbullah and members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to kidnap Israeli businessmen visiting Latin American countries and take them to Lebanon. It said Hizbullah and al-Quds brigade of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards have set up dozens of "sleeper cells" worldwide, many disguised as community centers or charity organizations. Yedioth said the sleeper cells are tasked with providing "immediate response" in the event of a significant Israeli attack against Hizbullah. Beirut, 14 Aug 09, 08:40

Jumblatt presence at Hizbullah rally could imperil cabinet formula
Observers say 15-5-10 government makeup may be ‘behind US’
By Elias Sakr /Daily Star staff
Friday, August 14, 2009
BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader Walid Jumblatt’s attendance on Friday at Hizbullah’s political rally marking the third anniversary of the end of Israel’s war on Lebanon in the summer of 2006 will impact the validity of the 15-10-5 formula for the next government, informed observers told The Daily Star Thursday.
The sources said Jumblatt’s attendance would signal his further rapprochement with the parliamentary minority – and raise serious concerns among March 14 coalition members with regard to the PSP ministers’ alignment in the next cabinet, leading to a reconsideration of the 15-10-5 make-up.
PSP spokesman Rami Ra­yess told The Daily Star that a delegation of the party’s high-ranking officials will attend Hizbullah’s rally, but he dec­lined to confirm the participation by Jumblatt himself. “It’s premature to respond … about the PSP leader’s attendance for security and political reasons,” Rayess said.
Rayess stressed that Jumblatt’s share in the cabinet would remain within the majority’s allotted 15 ministers.
As for potentially divisive issues that could paralyze the executive branch, Rayess said an agreement among Lebanese political parties brokered by President Michel Sleiman guaranteed that no key issues would be subject to vote prior to a consensus among all factions, which would therefore stave off political crises.
Speaker Nabih Berri and officials from Hizbullah have been voicing continued support for the 15-10-5 structure, despite Jumblatt’s recent declaration that the PSP had suspended its membership in March 14. However, their leading ally in the minority group, Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, said on Wednesday that the Syrian-Saudi accord on the make-up of Lebanon’s next government was no longer valid. For his part, Premier-designate Saad Hariri has avoided any public discussion of the issue, while his allies the Phalange party and the Lebanese For­ces (LF) have expressed on several occasions the need to reconsider the cabinet’s structure.
The 15-10-5 formula agreed upon between the parliamentary majority and the opposition prior to Jumblatt’s withdrawal from the March 14 coalition would grant the majority 15 seats, the opposition 10 and Sleiman five seats.
The formula gives Sleiman a deciding vote in the government; March 14 would lack an absolute majority, while the opposition would not wield veto power.
Tackling the timing of the cabinet’s formation, the obser­vers said there were few signs that the next government would be formed prior to Ramadan, which is expected to begin on August 22. The agreement on the cabinet’s structure necessitated further foreign and regional mediation, the observers added.
Metn MP Nabil Nicola told The Daily Star that he didn’t expect the government to be formed before Ramadan, adding that foreign demands hampered the process.
“If the obstacles were domestic, the government would have been formed within a week,” Nicola said.
Nicola said the 15-10-5 formula was no longer valid following Jumblatt’s withdrawal from March 14; he added that Aoun had yet to officially reject the agreement, and was still waiting for Hariri to come forward with a counter-proposal.
Hariri said Thursday that ob­stacles regarding the distribution of ministerial portfolios among political parties, and the nomination of specific candidates, were delaying the formation process.
Following a meeting with Sleiman, Hariri said his role was “to ensure that ministers nominated in a national unity government get along, so that the cabinet can function efficiently.”
Discussions on the cabinet’s formation were frozen until Tuesday, when Jumblatt visited Hariri after the latter’s return from a one-week vacation in the south of France.
The sources said efforts were now focused on arranging a second meeting between Hariri and Jumblatt, to further clarify the PSP leader’s recent stance and consolidate the ties bet­ween both men. As for deliberations on the distribution of government portfolios, Rayess said the PSP retained its demand for the Public Works and Transportation Ministry, along with two other posts. Meanwhile, Batroun MP and LF official Antoine Zahra denied media reports claiming a dispute between the LF and the PSP over the Public Works portfolio in the next cabinet.
“We discuss the distribution of ministerial portfolios with the premier-designate, and we demanded a service portfolio without specifying a specific one,” Zahra told The Daily Star.
The head of the Phalange Party, former President Amin Ge­mayel, called Thursday for an active role in the next cabinet, while stating that the 15-10-5 formula was “behind us.”

Obeying Ahmadinejad like obeying God’
Friday, August 14, 2009
Parisa Hafezi /Reuters
TEHRAN: A senior Iranian cleric seen as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s spiritual mentor said obeying the head of government was like obeying God, the moderate Etemad-e Melli newspaper said on Thursday.
Firebrand cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi believes the authority of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, comes from God, not from the people.
Khamenei presides over a complex political and clerical system as vali-ye faqih, or religious jurisprudent, with the president running the day-today governing of the country.
When a president is endorsed by the vali-ye faqih, obeying the president is like obeying God,” the daily quoted Mesbah-Yazdi as saying.
Khamenei swiftly endorsed Ahmadinejad’s re-election after the June 12 presidential vote which was followed by the biggest protests since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The losing candidates say the poll was rigged, a charge denied by Iran’s authorities, including Khamenei, who has accused Western powers of fomenting the vote unrest.
Moderates say 69 protesters were killed in the demonstrations, contradicting the official report of 26 deaths.
Mesbah-Yazdi has long held that democracy and elections are incompatible with Islam. Ahmadinejad’s allies deny the president takes orders from the hardline cleric, who is a defender of the supreme leader’s absolute power.
“When a president is … endorsed by the supreme leader and becomes an agent of the leader, the leader’s light is also shed on the president,” Mesbah-Yazdi said.
Mesbah-Yazdi is a member of a popularly elected conservative-dominated panel of 86 Shiite Muslim clergymen with the power to elect and dismiss the supreme leader. But despite its powerful mandate, the Assembly of Experts has never sought to oust a leader in the 30 years of the Islamic Republic.
Mesbah-Yazdi’s followers have great sway among Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards and the Basij volunteer paramilitary force.
The Guards political chief Yadollah Javani has called for defeated candidates Mehdi Karoubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi as well as moderate former President Mohammad Khatami to be put on trial for inciting election unrest.
Iran’s police and security forces quelled the protests and the judiciary has now begun mass trials of than 100 moderates, despite the damage it might inflict on the government’s legitimacy and relations with the West.
At least 200 people still remain in jail, including senior moderate politicians, activists, lawyers and journalists.
Defeated candidate Karoubi said on Sunday some protesters, both men and women, were raped in prison. The abuse allegations, were rejected by authorities, including by Parliament speaker and Tehran’s police chief.
Many of the detainees were held in south Tehran’s Kahrizak prison and at least three people died in custody there and widespread anger erupted as reports of abuse in jail spread. Last month Khamenei ordered the closure of the “sub-standard” detention center at Kahrizak. Iranian authorities have acknowledged some protesters were tortured at Kahrizak and said its director had been jailed.
Such allegations have created a rift among hardline politicians, many of whom backed Ahmadinejad’s election win.
An association of hundreds of former parliamentarians wrote a letter to the Assembly of Experts, urging its head Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to investigate the post election events. Rafsanjani, a former president, is an ally of the defeated moderate candidates
The United States, its European allies and Iranian moderates have denounced the mass trials as a “sham.”
Among those being tried are French teaching assistant Clotilde Reiss and two employees of French and British embassies in Tehran, accused of espionage and taking part in a Western plot, charges France and Britain say are baseless.
The father of Reiss said on Thursday that he hoped his daughter would leave prison later in the day, after France agreed to provide bail for her conditional release.
Iranian officials may release on bail a French academic accused of spying later this week, the young woman’s father said on Thursday, six weeks after her arrest.
“Everything is going in the right direction and in the coming hours, by Saturday at the latest, Clothilde should be able to come out of her cell,” Remi Reiss told AFP.
Reiss told France Inter radio earlier that France would pay “a few hundred thousand dollars” in bail to Iranian authorities, so that his daughter could await the verdict in her trial at the French embassy in Tehran.
“The modalities are taking shape,” Reiss told AFP. “There is payment of bail, I believe, and also a matter regarding a guarantee because her release would be conditional on her residing at the embassy.”
The official IRNA news agency reported that she was charged with “collecting information and provoking rioters.”
The trial hearings ended on Wednesday and Reiss was awaiting the verdict.
Iran’s display of intolerance of internal opposition has alarmed the West, which had hoped for new talks on what it suspects is an Iranian nuclear arms quest. Tehran denies this. – with AFP
UN expert believes claims of torture in Iran
GENEVA: A UN anti-torture investigator said Thursday he has received credible claims that Iranian protesters detained after the June 12 presidential elections were abused in prison.
The many allegations came from family members, lawyers and released detainees, said Manfred Nowak, an independent investigator appointed by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
“I truly believe that these complaints will stand up to scrutiny,” he told the Associated Press.
The alleged abuses include holding people incommunicado and extracting confessions through torture, Nowak said.
One defeated reformist presidential candidate, Mahdi Karroubi, said Sunday he has received reports from former military commanders and other senior officials of male and female prisoners being raped by jailers.
Nowak said he has asked the Iranian government to investigate the claims and send him a report, however, he has yet to receive a satisfactory response.
“If someone appeals to the United Nations claiming they were tortured, then the government is obliged to investigate the claims thoroughly,” he said. “To date, I’m unaware of any such investigation.”
Nowak, an Austrian who has also investigated alleged abuses at the US detention center at Guantanamo Bay, said Iran has not allowed him to visit the country.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations in Geneva declined comment, saying that communications between the government and UN experts were confidential
There were allegations of torture in Iran’s prisons even before the elections that resulted in a second term for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Nowak said.
“I’m really concerned about the situation in Iran,” he said. – AP

Amin Gemayel
Now Lebanon
August 14, 2009
On August 13, the Lebanese National News Agency carried the following report:
President Amin Gemayel held a press conference today [yesterday] in his house in Bikfaya and addressed the different political developments in Lebanon.
He said: “Lebanon is not doing well and is facing a national crisis that should be looked into and confronted. This crisis is the crisis of the regime. The president of the republic was elected over a year and a half ago, and his term is still hindered by numerous obstructions.
"The parliamentary elections were conducted and it turned out they did not entail the desired results. People thus started wondering: Why conduct the elections if the losers will act as though they had won and try to impose their wills on the winning team. As for this team, it is accepting some solutions which do not convey the reality of the democratic game…
“Today, we seem to have replaced the constitution with the Doha Agreement. This agreement which was made on the sidelines of the constitution and was meant to be temporary, had become the constitution itself and permanent. Even the parliament was replaced with a new concept in the context of Arab concord, rendering its role marginal at the level of the political reality. As for the government, it was replaced with a dialogue committee, the army with Hezbollah’s arms and the two halves [half for the Christians and half for the Muslims] stipulated in the Taif Accord with three thirds based on the concept of the blocking third. All of this was conducted at the expense of the citizens’ interests, the country, the constitution and the law…
“It seems that the security logic of May 7 is prevailing over the electoral equation of June 7. The democratic logic was replaced by the security one and we are going through a constitutional and political crisis... When we announced over a year ago that the country was going through a crisis affecting the [ability to] rule, many condemned our announcement. Today however, they are recognizing the necessity to develop the regime, which is something that was addressed by the president of the republic who was the first to dot the I’s in this regard… The government formation is an expression and one of the elements of this crisis. Our position is clear. We should not fall in the trap of numbers which apparently still exists. The general impression is that we are in the presence of attempts to blockade the prime minister-designate whom we support in the hope he will announce an adequate governmental formation as soon as possible. Going back to the blocking third will block the national march, something which we have been suffering from for quite some time...
We in the Kataeb Party insist on real participation in the government since our role was primordial in the Cedar Revolution and the electoral campaign, and it would only be fair for our presence to be representative of our role and influence on the national arena...
“For forty years now, the Kataeb Party had been in a state of constant confrontation at the level of the Lebanese-Syrian relations dossier. During the stage of hegemony, the Party was in conflict with Syria but was the first to extend its hand for dialogue with the Syrians to reach solutions to the problems between the two countries.
"Throughout the different stages, we have always held on to the Lebanese rights and the higher Lebanese interests. No one struggled against the Syrian hegemony and presence in Lebanon more than us and no one engaged in dialogue to secure Lebanon’s interests like us. We therefore believe that the normalization of relations between Lebanon and Syria will have to go through a number of stages. Syria was in Lebanon and the martyrs and victims were Lebanese. Syria is thus required to publicly recognize all that has happened during the stage of Syrian presence in Lebanon and [their] hegemony over the national institutions. This is natural and does not only constitute a gateway for relations between the Lebanese and Syrian governments, but also between Lebanon and Syria as a whole. We have many mothers still wearing black, we have many destroyed homes and many missing citizens. How can we normalize our relations in light of this situation and while the repercussions of that stage are still apparent?
“As for the demarcation of the border in the Shebaa Farms, we reject the pretext saying that this demarcation will only be conducted following the withdrawal. Syria’s position must be transparent, and we, according to international law, are fighting to regain a Syrian territory and not a Lebanese one. Syria is therefore required to recognize Lebanon’s sovereignty over the Shebaa Farms and this is also true at the level of the Palestinian organizations that are present in Lebanon but controlled by the Syrian intelligence and [Syrian] decisions...
"We appreciate the progress that was achieved and consider it to be a positive element. However, this is not enough and we should rally all efforts to reach the level of normalization. We want exceptional Lebanese-Syrian relations based on the principle that if your neighbor is fine, you are fine. Former Minister Wiam Wahhab visited me and put forward this issue objectively. He talked about the Syrian climate of openness toward Lebanon and all the Lebanese sides and my answer was clear: We want normalization and the development of relations, but these issues do not concern us directly or personally. They concern the Lebanese state and can only be resolved through dialogue between the two states and governments. For our part, we will support these efforts…”
President Gemayel then demanded the handling of the Lebanese problem which is a crisis affecting the regime, asking the president of the republic to draw up a vision and a work plan far from the ongoing political conflict and disputes to find a serious and comprehensive project to develop this regime as soon as possible.