LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
July 12/09
Bible Reading of the day
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ
according to Saint Matthew 10:24-33. No disciple is above his teacher, no slave
above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher,
for the slave that he become like his master. If they have called the master of
the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household! Therefore do not be
afraid of them. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that
will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what
you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of
those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one
who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for a
small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's
knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you
are worth more than many sparrows. Everyone who acknowledges me before others I
will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others,
I will deny before my heavenly Father. -Future News
Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special
Reports
The Hariri tribunal: A case that
time forgot.By: By: Michael Young 11/07/09
The Need for Accommodation in
Lebanon. By: Walid Choucair 11/07/09
Facts worth remembering/New
Opinion/11.07.09
The Syrian
regime is still meddling with Lebanon’s sovereignty.By:
Hanin Ghaddar,
NOW Staff , July 11, 2009
Latest
News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for July
11/09
Hajj Hassan: No difference between
Hezbollah’s Military Apparatus and Politburo-Future
News
Sami Gemayel meets Alain Aoun-Future
News
Muftis: let Lebanon be a
weapon-free region-Future
News
Informal Israel-Syrian letterbox
operates in Azerbaijan-Future
News
Salam: demanding the blocking third
slows the gov’t formation-Future
News
Syria criticizes Ban Ki-Moon-Future
News
Timing of Saudi-Syrian Summit to
be Decided by Lebanese Cabinet Formation-Naharnet
Kouchner: Veto Power Undemocratic, No Major Obstacles in Cabinet Formation-Naharnet
2
Katyushas Not Set for Firing Found in Nabatiyeh-Naharnet
Cabinet Fate Unclear as Hariri Prepares for New Round of Talks with Suleiman-Naharnet
Syria Criticizes Ban for
Interfering in Lebanese-Syrian Relations-Naharnet
Quake Hits South Lebanon-Naharnet
Suleiman to Participate in
Non-Aligned Movement Summit-Naharnet
Suleiman Grants Shaaban
Amnesty-Naharnet
Qassem: Opposition Will
Give Final Answer once Hariri Ends Consultations-Naharnet
David Tolbert Appointed
International Tribunal's Registrar-Naharnet
Jumblat Ready to Open New
Page with Syria-Naharnet
Army: Frenchman Beaten
after Blocking Convoy Carrying Criminal-Naharnet
Kouchner slams Iran detention of French student-AFP
Kouchner:
Cabinet formation Hariri's responsibility-Daily
Star
Consultations stalled amid rift on cabinet makeup-Daily
Star
Army
denies French national was abducted-Daily
Star
Syria
releases As-Safir editor after three days-Daily
Star
UN chief
appoints new Registrar for Tribunal-Daily
Star
Karam
vows no leniency on closing quarries-Daily
Star
UN to
hear recommendations from Beirut summit on combatting arms trade-Daily
Star
Lebanese
minister sees up to 6 percent economic growth in 2009-Daily
Star
Lebanese
shepherds outraged by Israeli cow incursions-Daily
Star
Marouni
warns tourists being overcharged-Daily
Star
President pardons Youssef Shaaban-Daily
Star
Four
still detained over Aisha Bakkar clashes-Daily
Star
ISF
warns ‘for sale’ signs illegal in public places-Daily
Star
Car
hijacker killed during attempted arrest-Daily
Star
Local
NGOs wrap up EU-funded program to help needy groups-Daily
Star
Number
of swine flu cases rises to 60, 12 local transmissions-Daily
Star
One
citizen’s blood donor initiative saves more than 1,000 lives-Daily
Star
Beiteddine audiences entranced during return of Aznavour-Daily
Star
G8
leaders pledge $20 billion in food aid to help poor countries-Daily
Star
Reasons of Metn Rescue ticket
appeals-Future
News
The Need for Accommodation in Lebanon
Fri, 10 July 2009
Walid Choucair
Lebanon’s political players, and those outside the country who are immersed in
the details of Lebanon’s domestic situation, require a set period of time to
facilitate Lebanon’s transition to a new political phase. This new period will
be based on an adaptation to the emerging regional situation, which could see
reconciliations and deals to end disputes, and the logic of benefiting from the
opportunities that are available. This has been stressed by the prime
minister-designate, Saad al-Hariri, although the German foreign minister,
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said that these opportunities might not last for long.
Everyone acknowledges that this is a preset period of time and that this is an
elastic phase that will be needed to form a new Lebanese Cabinet, even if it
takes place under the slogan of the “Lebanonization” of the government formation
process, and allows the Lebanese people to author their own settlements to their
dispute over this complex political process. This process is subject to the
ramifications of sharp disputes that the Lebanese have experienced in recent
years, which reached their bloody apex during the civil strife of 7 May 2008,
along with an advanced stage of sectarian sensitivity and contradictions.
Regionally, if the Saudi-Syrian reconciliation is the new decisive element in
the Arab and regional situation, these two regional powers have made
considerable progress in accommodating themselves to the new regional situation,
from the Obama administration’s openness to Syria and Iran, to Israel’s
hard-line stance on the idea of a regional peace settlement, which requires that
Riyadh and Damascus have a minimum degree of accord in order to confront Israeli
intransigence vis-à-vis this scenario.
However, what Damascus requires in order to accommodate itself to the emerging
situation is to acknowledge that it can no longer return to its influential
political role in Lebanon, although its reconciliation with Saudi Arabia and
western openness to Syria are not in contradiction with taking its security
interests and Lebanon’s foreign policy into account.
It appears that Syrian officials require a bit of time to abandon their
aspiration to recover their direct influence in Lebanon, whether through
Hezbollah, which exercised this influence on the behalf of Damascus after its
exit from Lebanon, or through the influence that Syria wields via other tools,
which were suited to the period of sharp conflict that took place in the last
four years. Western and Arab openness to Syria is the price of Damascus’
cooperation on various regional issues, such as Iraq, Palestine, Iran, and
security cooperation to confront terror (which has taken advanced forms in
recent weeks, during the successive meetings of international and regional
intelligence agencies, in which Syria and Turkey have taken part). This
cooperation also extends to the period of cooling-off and security stability in
Lebanon. Through these acts, Syria benefits from its regional role and in the
peace process, and gains support for its economy and stability. However, this
does not mean that its aspirations to return to managing Lebanon’s domestic
affairs have been acknowledged. Arab and western countries would have been ready
to discuss this as a de facto situation, had the allies of Damascus been
victorious in the recent parliamentary elections in Lebanon.
Syria has benefited in Lebanon, through the step-by-step policy in a climate of
inter-Arab reconciliation and general openness to the region. We have seen this
as the 14 March coalition began to change its tone toward Damascus, beginning in
the pre-election period, and in Saad al-Hariri’s readiness to visit Damascus, to
discuss bilateral relations. This is considerably important for Syria’s
interests, not to mention de-coupling the issue of relations with Syria from the
Special Tribunal for Lebanon, as part of the Taif Agreement’s stipulations on
privileged relations (between Lebanon and Syria).
Another regional party that requires time to adapt to the new situation in
Lebanon is Iran. If it is natural for Iran to grow anxious over any progress in
a Saudi-Syrian rapprochement, at a time, in which Iran faces domestic confusion,
then the source of this fear involves arrangements in Lebanon, at a time, in
which Iran has taken on strategic interests, such as an offensive-defensive
front that it has exploited in recent years. Tehran is determined to retain this
bargaining chip, to be used when necessary, on the regional scene, whether in
the course of negotiations, or a confrontation. However, Tehran and Hezbollah
should get used not to consider the latter’s weapons an element of strength that
goes beyond the domestic scope of their influence on the Lebanese scene, in
return for the acknowledgment by other Lebanese parties that the solution for
the weapons issue is regional, and that it has been postponed for that reason.
Quake Hits South Lebanon
Naharnet/A magnitude-4.0 earthquake rocked southern Lebanon on Friday night
without causing damage or casualties, the National Council for Scientific
Research said.
The quake's epicenter was north of the town of Qaaqaiyet al-Jisr and was felt in
the areas of al-Arqoub, Hasbaya, Bint Jbeil and Beirut's southern suburbs,
according to CNRS.
The area of Qaaqaiyet al-Jisr witnessed several quakes in February 2008. Beirut,
11 Jul 09, 09:17
Suleiman to Participate in Non-Aligned Movement Summit
Naharnet/President Michel Suleiman will travel to Egypt next week to represent
Lebanon at the Non-Aligned Movement summit. Suleiman will travel on Tuesday to
the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh at the head of an official delegation to
take part in the summit that lasts till Thursday. At the summit, Egypt will
replace Cuba at the helm of the movement. Founded in 1955, NAM counts some 118
member states that represent 56 percent of the global population. NAM states
consider themselves not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc.
Beirut, 11 Jul 09, 08:48
Timing of Saudi-Syrian Summit to be Decided by Lebanese Cabinet Formation
Naharnet/Although a Saudi-Syrian summit and formation of a national unity
cabinet are intertwined, reports said that a condition has been set for Lebanese
to agree on a new government before such a meeting takes place. Arab diplomatic
sources have said that the issue of cabinet formation is no longer on the agenda
of a Saudi-Syrian summit, adding that the Lebanese should first agree on how to
from a national unity government. As Safir daily on Saturday quoted the sources
in Beirut as saying Riyadh informed Premier-designate Saad Hariri that both
majority and opposition should agree through dialogue on the formation of the
cabinet that guarantees the participation of all parties. Furthermore, the
sources said that there is no turning back on a Saudi decision to enter into
dialogue with Syria. They added that the date of king Abdullah's visit to
Damascus will be set as the Lebanese agree on the cabinet formation. Al-Liwaa
newspaper, in its turn, quoted informed diplomatic sources as saying that next
week will witness increased Arab contacts amid a link between the Saudi-Syrian
summit and the government. The sources said the formation of the government
paves way for holding the summit while at the same time preparations to hold the
Riyadh-Damascus talks could influence the situation in Lebanon positively. Al-Liwaa
wondered whether the summit between King Abdullah and Syrian President Bashar
Assad would be held before or after the division of seats in the new Lebanese
government. Beirut, 11 Jul 09, 08:52
Kouchner: Veto Power Undemocratic, No Major Obstacles in Cabinet Formation
Naharnet/French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said veto power in the
Lebanese government is not democratic, adding that he believed no major
obstacles were facing cabinet formation. "The idea of veto power in the cabinet
is not democratic," Kouchner told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat in an interview
published Saturday, hoping a government would be formed away from tension and
opposition. The upcoming "government has to be able to function normally. We
believe that steps for (holding) dialogue in the region help such a
development," he said. Kouchner also said at the end of his two-day visit to
Beirut on Saturday that he saw no major obstacles in cabinet formation. He also
told reporters after meeting with Free Patriotic Movement leader Gen. Michel
Aoun that he believed all sides in Lebanon are working on forming a unity
government. "I am not responsible for the Taef or Doha (accords). But the French
contributed to these agreements," he told reporters in Rabiyeh. He also said
that if a national unity cabinet was formed, this would mean a major progress.
Kouchner also held talks on Saturday with MP Marwan Hamadeh and later traveled
to Syria where he will preside over a regional conference of French ambassadors.
The French foreign minister met with top Lebanese officials on Friday, including
Hizbullah representative Nawaf Moussawi. Beirut, 11 Jul 09, 12:13
2 Katyushas Not Set for Firing Found in Nabatiyeh
Naharnet/Two Katyusha rockets not set for firing were found Saturday morning on
the side of a road between the towns of al-Dweir and Abba in Nabatiyeh province,
the National News Agency reported. NNA said the 107 mm rockets were discovered
around 9:00 am. They were thrown on the side of the main al-Dweir-Abba road. The
Lebanese army's engineering unit transported the rockets, which are most likely
left over from the 2006 Israel-Hizbullah war, to a military base after isolating
the area where the Katyushas were found.
Beirut, 11 Jul 09, 11:36
Cabinet Fate Unclear as Hariri Prepares for New Round of Talks with Suleiman
Naharnet/Two weeks after Saad Hariri was tasked with forming a new cabinet, no
major outcomes appeared on the horizon despite continued efforts by the
premier-designate to distribute seats among the majority and opposition along
with presidential shares. Al-Mustaqbal sources told As Safir on Saturday that
Hariri could visit President Michel Suleiman in the next few hours to inform him
about his consultations on cabinet formation in the past week. The PM-designate
held talks with Suleiman last Saturday.
The sources said channels of dialogue are open with Hizbullah, adding that
Hariri held several telephone conversations with the political assistants of
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Speaker Nabih Berri in the past 48
hours. If Hariri was able to overcome the problem of veto power, then "we would
be facing a real chance for quick formation," the sources told As Safir.
Al-Liwaa newspaper said Hariri is working calmly on forming a cabinet acceptable
by all sides, adding that all issues are subject to dialogue except for demands
of veto power and proportional representation. In a possible positive
development, informed sources told al-Anwar newspaper that Hariri is getting
ready to present the first cabinet formula at the start of next week after a
meeting with Suleiman over the weekend. They added that Hariri has prepared a
preliminary 30-member cabinet formula that is subject to discussion with all
parties.
The formula is the following: 4 seats for the president, 16 for the majority and
10 shares for the opposition. Or 5-15-10.
Berri, meanwhile, reiterated that the Lebanese should be optimistic in order to
find results. Issues related to cabinet formation haven't yet reached "the red
line or the stage of concern," he told As Safir. Beirut, 11 Jul 09, 11:17
Syria Criticizes Ban for Interfering in Lebanese-Syrian Relations
Naharnet/Syria has sent a letter to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon criticizing him for
interfering in Lebanese-Syrian ties in his last report on the implementation of
Security Council resolution 1701, al-Akhbar daily reported Saturday. "We were
surprised by the introduction of Syria's name in the current report by the
secretary-general and his special coordinator for Lebanon (Michael Williams),"
the letter, which was delivered by Syrian permanent representative to the U.N.
Bashar al-Jaafari, said.
"Syria has nothing to do with the resolution (1701). Lebanon and Israel are the
sides involved in its implementation," according to the letter, which was
distributed to Security Council members on Friday. The document gave an overview
on developments in Lebanese-Syrian ties and exchange of ambassadors, urging
"others not to interfere in the path of these relations and their development
because it (meddling) harms such accomplishments."Syria stressed it will
continue to back Lebanon's sovereignty and regional security, including the
national dialogue among Lebanese politicians. The letter also said that
bilateral relations were not part of resolution 1701 articles and demarcation of
the common border is an issue that Lebanese and Syrian authorities would alone
decide on. About Palestinian arms, the letter said that the issue is a
Lebanese-Palestinian problem. In his 10th report on implementation of resolution
1701, the U.N. chief urged Israel to withdraw from the Lebanese side of the
border village of Ghajar and reiterated that Hizbullah's armed capabilities pose
a serious challenge to the government's ability to exercise its sovereignty. The
existence of military bases belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine-General Command and to Fatah al-Intifada continues to pose a hindrance
to Lebanese sovereignty, the report said. Ban also called on the Lebanese
government to dismantle the Palestinian military bases and on Syria, which has
influence on these groups, to support efforts in this regard. Beirut, 11 Jul 09,
10:10
Syria releases As-Safir editor
after three days
Daily Star staff/Saturday, July 11, 2009
BEIRUT: Syrian authorities have released a Palestinian journalist who works for
Lebanon's As-Safir newspaper after holding him for three days, the paper
reported Friday. Hilmi Moussa, As-Safir's Israeli affairs editor, was released
last night and is expected back in Lebanon in two days, a member of As-Safir's
staff told The Daily Star. According to the staff member, Moussa's name had come
up during interrogations of several suspects involved in security cases and he
was brought in for questioning by Syrian officials.
As-Safir reported on Friday that Moussa had lived in Syria for years and often
travelled to Damascus for lectures and conferences. The As-Safir staff member
said that Moussa enjoys good with relationships with members of the Syrian
government and that he had been detained for questioning but not as a suspect.
Specific information on why Moussa was arrested or the cases he is reportedly
linked to has yet to be revealed. Moussa, considered an expert on Israeli
affairs, often appears on regional television and radio as analyst on the
Arab-Israeli conflict. He also spent almost 15 years in Israeli prisons. The As-Safir
staff member said that his return was eagerly awaited and would be celebrated.
The Lebanese press freedom group, the Samir Kassir foundation broke the news of
Moussa's arrest on Thursday, calling for his immediate release and warning that
any mistreatment would be blamed squarely on Damascus. - The Daily
Kouchner: Cabinet formation
Hariri's responsibility
French official praises progress on Lebanon-Syria ties
By Elias Sakr /Daily Star staff
Saturday, July 11, 2009
BEIRUT: French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner stressed Friday that forming
the next government Lebanon was the responsibility of Premier-designate Saad
Hariri, trying to play down speculation that Paris was the latest deal-maker in
the process. Kouchner reiterated that Syria and France were in no position to
facilitate the formation of the government, adding that it was strictly a
Lebanese domestic affair.
Despite his declaration that the cabinet formation was complicated, the French
minister expressed optimism given the improved stability of Lebanon's political
situation.
Kouchner's two-day visit to Beirut kicked off with a series of meetings on
Friday that included Lebanon's top three officials, President Michel Sleiman,
Speaker Nabih Berri and Hariri.
He held talks on Friday with Hizbullah MP Nawaf Musawi and discussed the efforts
to form a new government.
Musawi said he briefed Kouchner on Israel's almost daily military flights over
Lebanon in breach of UN Resolution 1701.
He also spoke of the alleged Israeli spy networks in Lebanon.
The minister is expected to meet with opposition leader and Free Patriotic
Movement head Michel Aoun on Saturday.
"Lebanon is a democratic country; democracy implies we meet with opposition
figures as well," Kouchner said in defense of his meetings with Hizbullah.
Kouchner's talks with top Lebanese officials tackled current domestic and
regional political developments, including the bilateral Syrian-Lebanese ties,
the ongoing dialogue among regional states and the progress of the Middle East
peace process.
Following his meeting with Sleiman at Baabda Palace, Kouchner expressed France's
satisfaction with regard to emerging Lebanese-Syrian diplomatic relations.
"We [France] backed efforts to normalize the ties between Syria and Lebanon,"
Kouchner said. Concerning the ongoing efforts at Syrian-Saudi-Egyptian dialogue,
Kouchner stressed that deliberations were moving forward toward a rapprochement,
unlike the paralysis that has set in on the Israeli-Palestinian peace track.
"Some countries were unaccustomed to Syrian-Saudi-Egyptian dialogue, yet matters
have been evolving in the Middle East," Kouchner told reporters.
He highlighted the importance of France's role in the peace process and voiced
hope for a just two-state solution that would make way for a lasting peace
between Israelis and Palestinians. However, for such a resolution to be reached,
Kouchner said Israel should stop building more settlements.
to the Israeli newspaper Maariv, the US has recently approved construction work
on 2,500 new settlements in the West Bank, although American officials have
denied the report.
Kouchner also expressed hope that a meeting between Hamas and Fatah would take
place in Egypt.
For his part, Sleiman thanked France for its support and stressed that French
President Nicholas Sarkozy's policy of showing openness to Syria had played a
pivotal role in improving stability in Lebanon.
Sleiman said the improvement in regional stability was helping domestically,
adding that "building the bridges of trust among all the Lebanese parties is the
sole guarantee of their rights."
Following talks with Sleiman, Kouchner met Hariri at his residence in Qoreitem
where he congratulated the premier-designate for Lebanon's "re-established
independence."
From Qoreitem, Kouchner reiterated the position that Paris would not interfere
in the formation of the next government, adding that his series of visits to
Lebanese political leaders was meant to express his government's satisfaction
with the successful conclusion of the June 7 parliamentary elections.
"We hope the government is formed soon, but France will not intervene in the
process," he said.
When asked if France had called on Syria to facilitate the Cabinet formation,
Kouchner stressed that it was the responsibility of Hariri, and not Syria, to
conduct consultations "in Lebanon or outside the country if he desires to."
Kouchner urged Lebanon's political leaders to take advantage of the current
favorable circumstances to reach an agreement on the make-up of the next
government, and accordingly maintain contact with other countries.
The minister also noted Syria's important role in Lebanon given its geographical
position, but that this role should not include a repeat of past intervention in
Lebanese affairs.
"I don't deny that Syria still occupies an important role in the region, yet its
ambassador to Lebanon has been unnoticed by the Lebanese," Kouchner said.
Kouchner acknowledged that certain issues between the two nations require
resolution, such as the demarcation of the Syrian-Lebanese border. "France is
ready to offer assistance," he said. Concerning Hariri's visit to Syria prior to
the formation of the Cabinet, Kouchner told reporters earlier Friday that it was
up to the premier-designate to decide on the timing of the visit.
G8 leaders pledge $20 billion in food aid to help poor countries
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Phil Stewart and Daniel Flynn/Reuters
L'AQUILA, Italy: G8 leaders pledged $20 billion in aid on Friday to help poor
nations feed themselves, surpassing expectations of a summit that made little
ground on climate change and may spell the end of the G8 itself. US President
Barack Obama and the summit's Italian host Silvio Berlusconi reflected growing
consensus that the Group of Eight industrial powers, long criticized as an elite
club, does not reflect the shifting patterns of global economic power.
Tackling global challenges "in the absence of major powers like China, India and
Brazil seems to be wrongheaded," Obama said, adding that he looked forward to
"fewer summit meetings."
Begun in 1975 with six members, the G8 now groups the United States, Japan,
Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Russia and Canada. The Italians made it a "G14"
with emerging powers on the second day, then added 15 more on the third.
That enabled Obama, travelling to Ghana on his first trip to sub-Saharan Africa
as president, to use the summit to push for agricultural investment from food
aid. Washington will make $3.5 billion available to the 3-year program.
"There is no reason Africa should not be self-sufficient when it comes to food,"
said Obama, recalling that his relatives in Kenya live "in villages where hunger
is real," though they themselves are not going hungry.
Obama said Africa had enough arable land but lacked seeds, irrigation and
mechanisms for farmers to get a fair price for their produce - issues that the
summit promised to tackle.
Africa told the wealthy powers they must honor their commitments, old and new -
mindful that some in the G8 had fallen well short of their 2005 promise to
increase annual aid by $50 billion by 2010, half of which was meant for Africa.
South African President Jacob Zuma said the new funding will "go a long way" to
helping Africa, adding: "We can't say it's enough, but at least it begins to do
very concrete things." Nigerian Agriculture Minister Abba Ruma said the new
pledge was "very commendable in view of the current global recession."
But he cautioned that it must be "disbursed expeditiously. It is only then we
will know that the G8 is living up to its commitment and not just making a
pledge and going to sleep."
The United Nations says the number of malnourished people has risen in the past
two years and is expected to top 1.02 billion this year, reversing decades of
declines. The global recession is expected to make 103 million more go hungry.
Aid bodies like the World Food Program said a last-minute surge of generosity at
the summit in L'Aquila resulting in the $20 billion pledge was "greeted with
great happiness."
That amount over three years may compare unfavorably with the $13.4 billion the
G8 says it gave between January 2008 and July 2009, but aid groups said the new
pledge in Italy was more focused.
Japan and the European Union were also championing a code of conduct for
responsible investment after growing farmland acquisition or "land grabs" in
emerging nations.
The summit was held in the central Italian town of L'Aquila, devastated by an
earthquake in April, which killed some 300 people. That may explain why the
usual anti-G8 protests were on an unusually small scale and without the violence
that marred Italy's last G8 summit, held in Genoa in 2001.
But environmentalists were disappointed that the G8 failed to get major
developing nations China and India to sign up to the goal of halving world
greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The 17 biggest emitters in the Major Economies Forum chaired by Obama could only
get China and India to agree temperature rises should be limited to 2 Celsius.
But Obama, also suffering a delay to his own global warming bill in the US
Congress, said the talks had created momentum for a new UN climate change pact
in Copenhagen in December.
G8 leaders said the global financial crisis still posed serious risks to the
economy. Further stimulus packages for growth might still be required and it was
dangerous to implement "exit strategies" from emergency measures too early, they
said.
Obama issues warning to Iran over nuclear program
Reuters/L'AQUILA, Italy: US President Barack Obama warned Iran on Friday the
world will not wait indefinitely for it to end its nuclear defiance, saying
Tehran had until September to comply or else face consequences. Obama, speaking
at the end of a G8 summit in Italy, said leaders had sent a message condemning
the "appaling" events surrounding Iran's disputed presidential election and
expressing solidarity against Tehran's nuclear ambitions. He said he hoped Iran
would enter negotiations on the issue and that leaders would review the
situation again at a G20 meeting of developed and developing countries in
Pittsburgh in September.
"If Iran chooses not to walk through that door, then you have on record the G8,
to begin with, but I think potentially a lot of other countries that are going
to say we need to take further steps," Obama told reporters. "We also say we're
not going to just wait indefinitely and allow for the development of a nuclear
weapon, the breach of international treaties, and wake up one day and find
ourselves in a much worse situation and unable to act," he said. Obama made
clear he was sticking to his strategy of engaging Iran diplomatically, a
departure from his predecessor, who pursued a policy of isolation. But Obama's
approach has been complicated by Iran's June 12 presidential election, in which
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the victor by a wide margin and
security forces cracked down violently on protesters who claimed voting fraud.
Obama, who sharpened his line against Tehran after being criticized at home for
a cautious approach in the election aftermath, wanted a united front at the
summit. He said that he and others had sought only the strong condemnation that
the G8 delivered and not for the summit to embrace new sanctions against Iran,
despite news reports to the contrary. But it remained unclear what further
pressure could be exerted on Tehran, which has rejected international demands to
suspend a nuclear program some Western countries believes is for developing
weapons but which Tehran says is for electricity generation. - Reuters
UN to hear recommendations from Beirut summit on combatting arms trade
By Patrick Galey /Daily Star staff
Saturday, July 11, 2009
BEIRUT: Advice on how to combat the arms trade in the Middle East is being sent
to the United Nations headquarters in New York after being drawn up this week in
Lebanon.
Several organizations, including amnesty groups and NGOs from across the region,
sent delegates to a two-day summit to discuss the progress of the UN’s Arms
Trade Treaty (ATT) after years of disagreement and confusion among Arab nations.
The event, “Supporting the Arms Trade Treaty in North Africa and the Middle East
Civil Society Workshop,” held in west Beirut, raised a series of recommendations
to be submitted to the UN on behalf of Arab nations with the view of giving the
ATT greater publicity throughout the region.
The summit also focused on informing NGO workers from across the Middle East and
North Africa (MENA) region on the progress of the ATT.
In December 2006, the UN passed General Assembly Resolution 61/89, entitled
“Towards an arms trade treaty: establishing common international standards for
the import, export and transfer of conventional arms,” seeking to establish
“common international standards for the import, export and transfer of
conventional arms.” However, progress toward fully implementing the resolution
has been fraught with disagreement. While only the US and Zimbabwe failed to
vote in favor of the ATT last year, 12 states in the Middle East abstained from
supporting the treaty. Lebanon voted in favor; Israel and Syria were two of the
abstainers.
The summit recommended that the UN issue “an invitation to parliamentarians in
order to explain the important points in the treaty and its impacts on social
development and human security.
Fadi Abiallam, the president of Lebanon’s Permanent Peace Movement (PPM), which
hosted the summit, will travel on Saturday to the UN headquarters to present the
summit’s conclusions to the Security Council. He told The Daily Star that
greater efforts were required of the UN in order to get Arab nations to
understand the treaty’s implications.
“There are issues for the United Nations to get to work within the Arab mission.
In the meeting there were a lot of recommendations coming from social society to
save the Arab world,” he said. “We are in a process to contribute as much as we
can to the ATT and to have input from other Arab societies. We are looking to
continue work on a public level to raise awareness about the importance of a
program like this one.”
The recommendations also included pleas for greater political dialogue between
Arab states and the UN, including “trying to meet with [each country’s] Minister
of Foreign Affairs to explain the treaty.” “We need to work on a political level
to get politicians to support this process. [There is] opposition, or not much
desire, within the Arab world to be active and take positive steps to move
forward,” said Abiallam. He said the summit “was intended [to increase]
understanding for us and other Arab organizations, who perhaps don’t know
exactly what’s happening in the arms process.” In addition, the summit
recommended a regional “awareness campaign,” in order to increase understanding
of the treaty and its social ramifications. This campaign should include the
production and distribution of “posters, brochures and T-Shirts” as well as the
holding of public conferences and petitions.
It called for a “letter to the Arab League explaining about the treaty” and
asked the UN to start the process of “talking to young parliamentarians” from
countries across MENA in order to reinvigorate the arms trade dialogue between
politicians and the region’s young people.
“We will try within these matters to get other Arab nations [acting] more
positively rather than being silent,” Abiallam added.
Hajj Hassan: No difference between Hezbollah’s
Military Apparatus and Politburo
July 11, 2009 NOW Staff/Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Hussein Hajj Hassan
told New TV on Saturday that there is no difference between Hezbollah’s Military
and Security Apparatus and its Politburo. He said that his party calls for
ensuring real partnership in the cabinet and confirmed that the issue of
Hezbollah’s weapons is not being discussed in the deliberations regarding the
formation of the new government.
Facts worth remembering
July 11, 2009
New Opinion:
A Lebanese family stands in front of the ruins of their house, which was
destroyed by Israel during the July War, in the southern village of Siddiqin. (AFP/Joseph
Barrak)
Three years ago, Hezbollah plunged Lebanon into a devastating war that left over
1,000 civilians dead and rendered another 1 million homeless. The damage from
the month-long conflict has been estimated at $7 billion, while the political
fallout paralyzed the government Fouad Siniora for the remainder of its term.
After the ceasefire, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah declared the
outcome a “Divine Victory”, presumably because Israel had failed to achieve its
stated goal of mortally wounding Hezbollah’s military capability. The
declaration was as arrogant as it was thoughtless. One only had to wander the
bombed-out streets of Bint Jbeil or Beirut’s southern suburbs and compare the
scale of the damage inflicted upon Israeli society to realize that this was a
victory only within the very parochial confines of Hezbollah’s agenda, one set
and managed by sponsors in Iran. The boast is also unlikely to be a stern
warning to Israel. (Indeed the only lesson Israel learned was that it will do
the job properly next time, even it means just bombing Lebanon to smithereens
from the air.)
While many Lebanese quite understandably railed against Israel’s relentless
bombardment of the South, the Bekaa, southern Beirut and other strategic
locations across the country, the fact remains that it was Hezbollah’s reckless
kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers – and killing eight more in the process –
that was the catalyst to the horror unleashed upon an undeserving country.
Many of those who believe the Party of God can do no wrong have since sought to
excuse the July 12 kidnapping. The most popular justification sold the operation
as part of an ongoing strategy to kidnap Israelis and use them in negotiations
to free Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails. How, they argue, was Hezbollah to
know Israel would react so ruthlessly?
This, of course, holds little water. Weeks earlier Hamas had launched a similar
operation against Israeli forces, killing two and capturing one soldier, Gilad
Shilat.
Israel’s response was to level areas of Gaza. Israel is not a county to quietly
accept the deaths or abductions of its young men, so it would not have taken a
genius to calculate the reaction to the abduction of not one but two soldiers
and the killing of eight in what would have been seen as a concerted effort by
its two biggest foes.
Within 24 hours Lebanon did not have a functioning airport.
Nasrallah has confessed that, had he known the consequences, he would not have
authorized the kidnapping operation. But there has been no act of epic
contrition and no disarming in recognition of the misery, heartache and
destruction wrought on the country. Instead, the party consolidated what it
perceived as a tactical advantage, and for the next three years stymied the
running of the country. Not only did it rearm, it has repeatedly shown that it
has scant respect for Lebanon’s democratic institutions.
Three years on, after an election it lost, an election in which the Lebanese
said no to the “Hezbollization” of their country, the party still wants a
controlling stake in the government.
As March 14 leader Saad Hariri seeks to form a government, it is well worth
remembering that Lebanon has four years in which to prove that it can live up to
its promise, addressing critical economic and social issues and building a
peaceful and prosperous state upon common values. Peace and prosperity cannot
happen in the shadow of war, they cannot happen amid social unrest, they cannot
happen while gunmen still roams the streets, and they cannot happen when
one-third of the government can block the policies of an elected majority.
On the third anniversary of what was a tragic chapter in Lebanon’s short and
equally tragic history, these are facts worth remembering.
The Syrian regime is still meddling with Lebanon’s sovereignty
Hanin Ghaddar, NOW Staff , July 10, 2009
handout picture released by Lebanon's Free Patriotic Movement shows Syrian first
lady Asma al-Assad (C), her husband Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (R) and
visiting Lebanese Telecommunications Minister Gibran Bassil (L) on December 6,
2008 (AFP PHOTO/HO/CHARBEL NAKOUL).
Having won the June 7 elections, the March 14 coalition is constitutionally
entitled to form a cabinet of its choice. However, the coalition, led by Prime
Minister-designate Saad Hariri, has decided for the sake of Lebanon’s security
and stability to form a national-unity government, though one without veto power
for the opposition.
This approach began with Nabih Berri’s reelection to yet another term as speaker
of parliament, despite his role in the controversial 18-month closure of
parliament between 2006 and 2007, and last year’s May events.
But March 14’s conciliatory stance has not been reciprocated by the opposition
or the Syrian regime.
Between MP Michel Aoun’s groundless insistence on proportional representation,
MP Sleiman Franjieh’s demand for veto power in the cabinet, and Hezbollah’s
vagueness on all such questions, it seems apparent that Syria’s allies are still
convinced that they can circumvent the results of the election and March 14’s
right to choose the country’s ministers. Moreover, the Syrians have presented a
number of conditions that would strengthen their role here at the expense of
Lebanon’s sovereignty.
While the Syrian regime reiterated through its foreign minister, Walid Mouallem,
earlier this week that it would not interfere in the formation of Lebanon’s
government, Mouallem added that Syria “wants the new government to be a real
government of national consensus between all parties that will secure Lebanon's
stability," and that this government should develop a common and broad view of
future relations between Lebanon and Syria, taking into consideration the
historic relationship between the two countries.
But it is exactly the history of those relations that makes it clear that Syria
is still not ready to let go of Lebanon and instead wants to play a coercive
role in this country’s internal politics. Indeed, the Syrian regime is eager to
interfere in Lebanon’s politics and even the assertion that it will not carries
with it the implication that the regime will refuse to pressure its allies into
helping to form the next cabinet. The hope here for the regime is that, in the
face of intransience from the opposition, March 14 will be forced to ask Syria
for assistance. Syria would then be able to exact a high price for its help.
Accordingly, when the Syrian-Saudi talks halted briefly last week, the demand
for the obstructing third (veto-power in Lebanon requires controlling at least
11 of the 30 cabinet positions) by Syria’s allies in Lebanon intensified.
This charade of observing but not interfering has been enough to sway French
President Nicolas Sarkozy, who stated during the G8 summit on Wednesday that
“Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has so far kept the promises he made to me
about Lebanon.”
That comment was followed by another statement on Friday by French Foreign
Minister Bernard Kouchner, who said during his visit to Lebanon: “I do not think
that the Syrians are responsible for facilitating the formation of the new
Lebanese cabinet. This is Hariri’s responsibility.”
Some analysts have explained these statements as a product of France’s efforts
to separate Syria and Iran, end those two oft-sanctioned countries’ strategic
alliance.
But whatever the truth of French intentions, the reality is that they have given
the Syrian regime a boost at a time when Lebanon’s democracy needs the West’s
help, as the only way Lebanon alone can hope to convince Syria that it should
encourage the opposition to stop impeding the formation of government, is by
paying a terrible price.
The Syrian regime, encouraged by US envoy George Mitchell’s visit to Damascus
and US President Barack Obama’s decision to return the American ambassador to
Damascus, has invited Obama to visit the Syrian capital. But the Syrians have
apparently overestimated the extent of American openness.
US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg told NOW’s correspondent in
Washington DC that President Barack Obama would not visit Syria anytime soon.
"It will not take place while Syria is a transit point for weapon shipments to
Hezbollah, foreign fighters to Iraq and is supporting Hamas. They also have to
stop their mocking around in Lebanon, which it appears they are now scaling back
to some extent.”
The Syrians seems to be following the same approach with the Saudis, inviting
King Abdullah to visit Damascus, and again it appears they have misread the
basic reality on the ground.
It is hardly logical for Riyadh to make concessions to their rivals in Damascus
in the wake of March 14’s victory in the elections. That victory was followed in
short order by the crisis in Iran, which could well alter the Islamic Republic’s
foreign policy. Syria is not in a position to procrastinate, but the regime
seems attached to the idea that it that can regain its control over Lebanon’s
affairs by dragging its heels and refusing to cooperate.
In the eyes of the Lebanese and the international community there is no
ambiguity as to what that cooperation should entail: facilitate the formation of
Lebanon’s cabinet by pressuring its allies in Lebanon to drop their demand for
an obstructing third, demarcate the borders all the way from North Lebanon to
Shebaa Farms in the South, eliminate the Lebanese Syrian Higher Council (SLHC)
which involves treaties signed during Syria’s occupation of Lebanon, reveal the
fate of all Lebanese detained or missing in Syrian prisons and disarm the
Palestinian factions outside the camps.
In the face of those requirements, comes news that the Saudi-Syrian talks were
recently brought to a halt when the Syrian regime apparently presented a list of
conditions that included a demand that Lebanese-Syrian relations be based on the
“Brotherly Cooperation Treaty” and the Security and Defense agreement, both
signed under the SLHC, and that the two countries coordinate on foreign affairs.
The Syrians also refused to include Shebaa Farms under a border demarcation
framework, because it is still occupied by the Israelis, and instead demanded
that March 8 be given certain ministries that would guarantee that the above
demands were met. All this is in addition to the guarantees Syria has been
pushing for over the Special Tribunal.
The Lebanese are used to such tactics from the Syrian regime. But March 14 would
do well to remember that there is no constitutional time limit for choosing a
government. If Hariri is patient, time will show that it is Syria and its
Lebanese allies who are responsible for any delay in the forming a cabinet, a
reality the international community would recognize as well. No compromises
should be made at the expense of Lebanon’s sovereignty, and the character of the
nation’s next government should reflect March 14’s electoral victory.
The Hariri tribunal: A case that time forgot
By: Michael Young,
NOW Contributor , July 10, 2009
With Special Tribunal Prosecutor Daniel A. Bellemare on leave, the court will
apparently continue functioning.
Those with a long memory may remember the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which
sits in a suburb of The Hague and hopefully, before we all turn to stone, will
issue an indictment in the assassination of the late Rafik Hariri. An email from
the tribunal was sent out on Wednesday, one of several distributed by the
spokesperson’s office in recent weeks.
The email informed us that the Special Tribunal “announces that during his leave
in Canada, Prosecutor Daniel A. Bellemare will receive some medical treatment
for a few weeks. Although away from the office, he will not be away from the
issues… The investigation is progressing and the Prosecutor intends to ensure
that the pace of the investigation is not only maintained, but is also increased
during his absence.”
We can only wish Bellemare well, whatever ailment he has. However, it is perhaps
fitting that he should be seeking medical attention, since his investigation has
fallen into a deep coma.
The real question today is whether, given domestic and regional developments
affecting Lebanon, the critical mass to ensure that the tribunal is a success
has not altogether been lost. In recent months, the prosecutor’s case has
suffered two blows – the release of the four generals and the Der Spiegel
article on Hezbollah’s alleged participation in the Hariri assassination, which
tainted one aspect of the investigation that seemed to have actually progressed
in the past four years: analyses of telephone intercepts conducted by Lebanon’s
Internal Security Forces.
However, it’s the politics that we should be watching. As much as many of us
would like to believe that an international judicial investigation and trial is
free from politicization, this conviction is, quite frankly, nonsense. Recall
what the United Nations secretary general, Kofi Annan, told Detlev Mehlis, the
first head of the commission investigating Hariri’s killing. As Mehlis recalled
in a Wall Street Journal interview I conducted with him: “Annan made it clear to
me that he did not want another trouble spot. I respected this but he also
respected my point of view. Traditionally, there is tension between politics and
justice, and I accepted that Annan did not want more problems because of the
Hariri case.”
At the start, the Hariri investigation and tribunal were the fruit of concentric
circles of consensus. In 2005, the international community, through the Security
Council, reached agreement over a UN-led inquiry, and it was able to do so
because the situation in Lebanon had changed thanks to the success of the
Independence Intifada. The international and the local situations fed off one
another, putting Syria on the defensive. On the eve of his departure, Mehlis was
preparing to arrest Syrian officials, but the short time he had left mandated
that the decision be implemented by his successor, Serge Brammertz.
Brammertz did nothing. He, too, probably heard from Annan that the UN did not
want another trouble spot, but this time, I suspect, the commissioner listened.
For two years there was little discernible progress in his work, as he
reportedly replaced a large number of investigators with analysts. Brammertz
unnecessarily reopened the crime scene, only to reach the same conclusions as
Mehlis. This was all enough to blunt the momentum of the Hariri investigation.
By late 2007, France, initially one of the twin pillars, with the United States,
of support for Resolution 1559 and the UN investigation, was looking to
normalize relations with Syria. The Obama administration also promised
engagement with Syria when it took office in 2009, and just two weeks ago
Washington announced that it would return its ambassador to Damascus.
There was a moment between 2006 and early 2009 when Saudi Arabian and Egyptian
hostility to Syria suggested that the tribunal might even retain the interest of
major Arab states. However, King Abdullah’s “reconciliation” with Bashar
al-Assad at the economic summit in Kuwait last January confirmed how the Arabs,
never enthusiastic about the Hariri investigation in the first place, were
looking beyond taking Damascus to court. Reasons of state dictated that efforts
be made to draw Assad away from Iran – and anyway, why would the Arabs take a
principled position on Syrian killing when they had never done so in the past,
and when most Security Council members had already lowered the heat on Syria?
Now the domestic side of support for the tribunal has all but disintegrated.
Saad Hariri, the prime minister designate, remains publicly confident about the
trial’s outcome, but he probably knows that justice will fall between the cracks
of regional priorities. He’s a realist, and may ultimately accept what the
tribunal offers, which until now is nothing at all. Hariri also has little
Lebanese support at this stage to rely upon. Walid Jumblatt appears to have
given up on the tribunal, officially fearing it might bring about a Sunni-Shia
conflict, but really because his priority today is to reconcile with Syria.
Hariri’s Christian allies back him up, but ultimately they don’t count for very
much. As for Hezbollah, and to a lesser extent the Aounists, long ago they
signaled how unenthusiastic they were about seeing genuine progress in the
Hariri affair.
Only movement from Bellemare, superhuman movement, might have a chance of
kicking some life into the trial machine. But that’s not going to happen. The
prosecutor doesn’t have a suspect in hand; his case, whatever his statements to
the contrary, is in worrisome limbo after four years of investigation; and one
must really wonder if he and his team have the competence to try a complex
political murder of this nature. Nothing, absolutely nothing, encourages us
today to be confident of the outcome.
**Michael Young is opinion editor of the Daily Star newspaper in Beirut.
Why the global war against the Aounist?
Resettlement
By: General Michel Aoun
FPM Site/July 10, 2009
On July 10, the website of the Free Patriotic Movement, Tayyar.org, carried the
following opinion piece by the head of the FPM, Deputy General Michel Aoun:
It is only natural for the Lebanese people to wonder about the reasons behind
this cosmic war against Aounism, knowing we never waged war on anyone, were
never behind acts of terrorism, did not found Al-Qaeda, are not the ones
developing nuclear weapons, never destroyed the Twin Towers in New York or the
Pentagon in Washington with suicidal operations and were never involved in the
Madrid train and London subway explosions. We are part of a small population
whose sole crime is its belief in international law and which is exercising the
right to resist to liberate its land from a violating enemy in accordance with
this law.
However, by doing so, it was tagged as a terrorist population.
Lebanon never sought conflict with anyone, but was bullied and became the object
of ambitions to resolve a difficult crisis. This is how it is perceived by
Israel, with the support of the United States and the European Union. In 1947,
the United Nations approved a plan to divide Palestine. At the end of that year,
a racial cleansing war was waged by the Zionist forces, which perpetrated
massacres against Arab citizens, ousted them of their land and forced them to
resort to neighboring Arab countries. Many came to Lebanon. Since then, the
issue of the Palestinian refugees is still on the table and constitutes the main
obstacle in the face of a just solution between the Arabs and Israel.
In addition to its rejection of the refugees’ right of return to their land in
accordance with UN resolution 194 issued in 1948, Israel has declared itself a
Jewish state and is planning to deport the remaining Arab citizens on its land.
By doing so, it will worsen the tragedy of the Palestinian people and increase
the social and economic burdens of Lebanon. What does this new context that
Israel is trying to impose in the region mean? It is certainly not a just
solution to the ongoing problems, but rather a solution for Israel at the
expense of the neighboring states, through the naturalization of the Palestinian
refugees in their countries of residence as well as the possible increase of the
number of these refugees with the newly deported. For our part, we are adopting
the rightful character of the return.
It is the right of the people to have a land and an identity and what was done
to the Palestinians in terms of massacres and terrorist operations entailing
their fleeing, is a crime against humanity that will remain punishable by law
for eternity. In this context, what will Lebanon’s share of Israeli policy be,
other than being burdened with the naturalization of around one and a half
million Palestinians on an overpopulated territory whose land lacks natural and
economic resources... Therefore, this naturalization that cannot be handled by
Lebanon will firstly be reflected in the intensive emigration of the Christians
due to their political, economic and social instability.
But who undermined the stability of the Christian community and how can it be
taken back from the hands of those tampering with it? That is the problem.
1. The Palestinians living on Lebanese soil represent 12% of its population and
that is the equivalent of 36 million with respect to the USA and 8 million to
France.
(Translated by Hala H.Najjar.)