LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
July 24/09
Bible Reading of the day
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 13:10-17. The disciples
approached him and said, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" He said to them
in reply, "Because knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been
granted to you, but to them it has not been granted. To anyone who has, more
will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has
will be taken away. This is why I speak to them in parables, because 'they look
but do not see and hear but do not listen or understand.' Isaiah's prophecy is
fulfilled in them, which says: 'You shall indeed hear but not understand you
shall indeed look but never see. Gross is the heart of this people, they will
hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with
their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and be
converted, and I heal them.' But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and
your ears, because they hear. Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous
people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear
but did not hear it. -Naharnet
Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special
Reports
The war begins, against Resolution 1701-By
Michael Young 23/07/09
Safeguarding Unifil in Lebanon. By: Randa
Takieddine 23/07/09
Latest
News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for July
23/09
Beirut Security Tops Meeting between Hizbullah, AMAL, Mustaqbal, Army
Intelligence-Naharnet
Closed UN Meeting on South amidst French Fears of Lebanese Army Cover-up of-Naharnet
UNTSO Chief: Obstacle to Peace is Not Weapons, but People Themselves-Naharnet
Disclosure of Terror Cell
Revealed al-Qaida New Organizational Approach-Naharnet
Jumblat Supports Beirut 'A Safe City for All'-Naharnet
Qassem: Khirbet Selm Blast
Set Off by Old Shells-Naharnet
Malek Maktabi's 'Red Line'
Lands Saudi Man in Jail-Naharnet
Aoun: Berri and I Not
Speaking Same Language; Enough Hizbullah Disarmament Talk-Naharnet
Cyprus Seizes
Cigarette-laden NKorean Ship, Detains its Crew, Including Lebanese-Naharnet
March 14 for 'State
Conditions' on Cabinet Formation-Naharnet
Berri: Our Relationship
with UNIFIL is Unbreakable-Naharnet
Lebanon First Bloc Rejects
Israeli Attempts to Amend 1701-Naharnet
Israeli missile interceptor tested on US range-Reuters
ISRAEL: The Arab-Israeli Alliance Against Iran-Strategy
Page
Contacts Revived to Achieve Inter-Christian Reconciliation as Geagea-Franjieh
Meeting Likely-Naharnet
Aoun and Berri’s views diverge on
structure, timing of cabinet formation-Daily
Star
Prosecutor charges 17 with plotting attacks on UNIFIL-Daily
Star
UNIFIL silent over reports of
breaching mandate-Daily
Star
Hezbollah: Lebanon blast set off by old shells,
not secret cache-Ha'aretz
Venezuela denies alleged ties with Hezbollah-Xinhua
Israel: Brazil can help halt Iran's nuke program-Washington
Post
UN, Hezbollah seek to ease tensions in Lebanon-CTV.ca
Aridi: Resorts still encroaching on
publically owned beaches-Daily
Star
Creation of cabinet in Lebanon
would ‘restore confidence’ of businesses-Daily
Star
Thousands head to Lebanon for
Francophone Games-Daily
Star
Les Restos provides hot meals for hungry and needy in Sin al-Fil neighborhood-Daily
Star
Librarians publish book to
encourage children to read-Daily
Star
Fearful of returning to Iraq,
refugees opt to remain in prison-Daily
Star
Nationality law faces fresh
criticism-Daily Star
The war begins, against Resolution 1701
By Michael Young
Daily Star staff
Thursday, July 23, 2009
As prospects increase for a conflict over Iran’s nuclear program, Hizbullah and
Israel are clearing the way for a possible war between themselves by bending
Security Council Resolution 1701 out of shape. This makes it all the more
important that the next Lebanese government, once it comes around to drafting a
ministerial statement, avoid any ambiguities with respect to the resolution and
to Hizbullah’s activities in the border area.
For some time now Hizbullah has been working to undercut Resolution 1701. This
is part of its wider effort to weaken the edifice of United Nations resolutions
governing Lebanese affairs since 2004, starting with Resolution 1559 and
including Security Council decisions on the assassination of Rafik Hariri.
However, Resolution 1701 is the keystone of the UN system in Lebanon, and it’s
not difficult to see why Hizbullah wants to knock it out.
The 2006 war, hailed as a victory by Hizbullah, was a strange victory indeed. It
neutralized the party’s military activities in the border area, and it so
traumatized the Shiite community that Hizbullah has spent three years thinking
of how it might reopen the Israeli front without losing communal support.
Cross-border retaliation from Lebanon is one of Iran’s principle deterrents
against an Israeli attack on its nuclear facilities. If Hizbullah fails to
fulfill that contract with Tehran, it surrenders one reason for existing. That
is why the party has done two things in recent months.
It has started by reinterpreting Resolution 1701 in such a way as to render
UNIFIL ineffective. In the past three days, party officials as well as media
outlets friendly to Hizbullah have suggested that the UN force exceeded its
mandate by inspecting buildings in Khirbet Silm last week, which led to a
confrontation with villagers. However, the UN resolution, while it states that
UNIFIL must “[a]ssist the Lebanese armed forces” in its activities, also goes
quite a ways in clarifying the force’s mandate in its Paragraph 12.
The paragraph “authorizes UNIFIL to take all necessary action in areas of
deployment of its forces and as it deems within its capabilities, to ensure that
its area of operations is not utilized for hostile activities of any kind, to
resist attempts by forceful means to prevent it from discharging its duties
under the mandate of the Security Council and to protect United Nations
personnel, facilities, installations and equipment, ensure the security and
freedom of movement of United Nations personnel, humanitarian workers, and,
without prejudice to the responsibility of the government of Lebanon, to protect
civilians under imminent threat of physical violence.”
Hizbullah, in contrast, has stuck to a much narrower interpretation of the
resolution, suggesting that UNIFIL’s role is basically to support the Lebanese
Army, which must take the lead in most actions. This is not sustained by a
reading of the text of Resolution 1701, but that’s missing the point.
Hizbullah’s primary aim is to bolster the legitimacy of its interpretation among
its Shiite supporters in the south, in order to be able to mobilize the
community against UNIFIL when required. The situation on the ground, much more
than textual legalisms, will constrain the UN force, which cannot hope to
function effectively in a hostile environment.
However, Hizbullah’s actions also serve a more significant purpose: to generate
a feeling in the south that an Israeli attack is imminent, and that UNIFIL is
preventing Lebanon from properly defending itself. If Israel were to attack
Iran, Hizbullah would not be able to persuade its followers of its duty to
retaliate on Tehran’s behalf. No Lebanese wants to become cannon fodder for the
Iranians. On the other hand, if Hizbullah’s partisans were persuaded that Israel
was the one itching for war, then the party could better justify to the Shiite
community firing rockets across the border.
This was the intention of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s speech on Monday, but his
long-term objectives were made even clearer in a speech the Hizbullah secretary
general made last May 15, when he declared: “We look forward to a state able to
defend itself, its own decisions, its land, its people, and its security,
without needing [UN] forces – which, with all due respect as they are our guests
in the south, neither make things better or worse – and without needing foreign
security apparatuses; we Lebanese have the capabilities allowing Lebanon to have
a creditable force on that basis.”
The Israelis are no less keen to undermine Resolution 1701, in order to widen
their margin of reprisal against Hizbullah in the aftermath of an attack,
Israeli or American, on Iran. Their call this week for UNIFIL’s terms of
engagement to be altered was disingenuous. Israel has systematically violated
Resolution 1701 through its overflights, and still occupies the Lebanese half of
Ghajar. The Israelis, too, are setting up a straw man in the south – to depict
themselves as innocent if any conflict breaks out along the border.
There is also the matter of brutality. The next war between Lebanon and Israel,
if it occurs, will bring about much more violent an Israeli reaction than ever
before. The Israelis will bomb Lebanon’s infrastructure, cities, and a variety
of other economic targets. To eventually validate such an apocalypse over the
protests of the international community, the Netanyahu government today is
trying to show that it is committed to robust implementation of Resolution 1701,
therefore to international law.
Lebanon remains a confrontation state. It’s doubtful, however, that most
Lebanese welcome this fact. Much will be determined by how the government frames
the situation in south Lebanon in its ministerial statement. The likely outcome
will be an unsatisfactory compromise, a statement satisfying both Hizbullah’s
desire to pursue the armed resistance and the majority’s support for Resolution
1701. That’s bad news. Unless March 14 takes a strong stance guaranteeing the
continued neutralization of the border area, it will be partly responsible for
any conflict in the future.
Lebanon is caught up in calculations that largely involve acountry, Iran,
thousands of kilometers away. We know the carnage that Israel can wreak. Lebanon
has no business getting caught up in hostilities between Israel and Iran, and
Hizbullah has no business dragging us into one. And the Hariri government, if it
ever sees the day, has no business creating an opening for those pining to turn
Lebanon into a battle zone again.
*Michael Young is opinion editor of THE DAILY STAR.
Safeguarding Unifil in Lebanon
Wed, 22 July 2009
Randa Takieddine
Al Hayat
When Israel launched its brutal and destructive war against Lebanon in the
summer of 2006, the then-French president, Jacques Chirac, actively sought to
end it and produce a cease-fire. When UN Security Council Resolution 1701 was
adopted, and Lebanon endorsed it, the French decision to send 2,000 troops to
south Lebanon was delayed, because Chirac understood the danger of their
mission. He knew that France’s policy would be contingent on a military presence
on Lebanese land, even if it occurred with Hizbullah’s approval. It was
important to the French president that troops would be sent with the party’s
approval, to avoid what happened in the past, namely the bombing of the French
soldiers during the presidency of the late Francois Mitterand. The international
forces in the south are not only French; they are multi-lateral. But the biggest
number is provided by the French contingent. The explosion at the ammunition
depot in Khirbet Silm and the clash between locals and Unifil troops on Saturday
indicate the danger of the work of these troops, which was agreed to by all
Lebanese parties, including Hezbollah, to halt Israeli aggression against
Lebanon.
In fact, the situation of these troops has become a source of friction between
Israel, which commits daily violations of Lebanese air and land, and Hezbollah,
which frightens everyone, including the Lebanese State.
According to point 12 of UNSCR 1701, “Acting in support of a request from the
government of Lebanon to deploy an international force to assist it to exercise
its authority throughout the territory, authorizes Unifil to take all necessary
action in areas of deployment of its forces and as it deems within its
capabilities, to ensure that its area of operations is not utilized for hostile
activities of any kind, to resist attempts by forceful means to prevent it from
discharging its duties under the mandate of the Security Council, and to protect
United Nations personnel, facilities, installations and equipment, ensure the
security and freedom of movement of United Nations personnel, humanitarian
workers, and, without prejudice to the responsibility of the government of
Lebanon, to protect civilians under imminent threat of physical violence.” The
presence of these international troops in the Lebanese south is necessary for
peace in Lebanon and the region; pelting them with stones is an unacceptable
act. They are not occupation troops, but forces that guarantee the security of
the region and help the Lebanese Army wield its authority.
The army has been tardy in doing this, following the latest incident, but in the
end it has done what it has to, alongside Unifil. We should be wary of such
incidents, which encourage a number of states to become determined to renew
their contribution to Unifil. Qatar and other states have abandoned this move as
well. However, France is determined to remain in Lebanon and President Nicholas
Sarkozy visited French Unifil troops at the beginning of the year. He affirmed
France’s determination to continue this participation. However, there are
countries like Spain, which had one of the most active battalions, and lost
soldiers in a murky incident. Everyone in the south, from Unifil to the Lebanese
Army, is keen to cover things up and not spark a crisis. Israel, which rejects
any solution to the Palestinian issue and rejects US pressure on it to halt
settlements, needs to divert attention to another struggle. It might be in Iran,
but south Lebanon is easier. The explosion of the ammunition depot and other
incidents of this type are additional pretexts for Israel to commit aggression
against Lebanon.
We require extreme caution in the south, as well as a determination to see
Unifil avoid an attack like the one that took place. Unifil is there for the
safety and sovereignty of Lebanon and these soldiers are paying a price, either
killed or wounded, while distant from their home countries, carrying out a
peacekeeping mission. They should be assisted and supported in their valuable
work, instead of being pelted with stones!
Beirut Security Tops Meeting between Hizbullah, AMAL,
Mustaqbal, Army Intelligence
Naharnet/A consultative/coordinative meeting was held Thursday at the
headquarters of the Lebanese army intelligence between representatives of
Hizbullah as well as AMAL and Mustaqbal movements. The meeting was called by
Lebanese army intelligence chief Col. George Khamees to discuss Beirut security
and measures needed to be taken to ensure stability of the city. Beirut MP Nuhad
Mashnouq, however, criticized the gathering which "reminded us of security
committee meetings during the (Lebanese) civil war.""Such meetings do not
represent Mustaqbal bloc neither Mustaqbal Movement nor the people who are loyal
to Premier Rafik Hariri," Mashnouq stressed. He told LBC TV that the presence of
a Future Movement representative was "devoted to a reality which is unacceptable
in principle by the Mustaqbal bloc." Beirut, 23 Jul 09, 13:15
UNTSO Chief: Obstacle to Peace is Not Weapons, but People Themselves
Naharnet/The Chief of Staff of The U.N. Truce Supervision Organization Maj. Gen.
Robert Mood said there were "real opportunities" for comprehensive peace in the
Middle East.
In an interview with the daily An Nahar published on Thursday, Mood said
"unexpected things could happen between Arab nations, including Lebanon and
Syria from one hand, and Israel on the other." He said UNTSO was willing to help
the "concerned sides communicate with each other in order to save the lives of
people who could be killed in wars."
He said a truce agreement would be "more significant" in the event of a peace
between Israel and Arab countries. Mood, who is in Lebanon on a five-day visit,
said the "main obstacle" facing peace was "not Hizbullah weapons, but people
themselves." Beirut, 23 Jul 09, 11:32
Disclosure of Terror Cell Revealed al-Qaida New Organizational Approach
Naharnet/Judicial proceedings continued against the 17 members of a terrorist
network that have been charged with plotting to attack the Lebanese army and
UNIFIL amidst reports that al-Qaida has adopted a "new organizational approach."
The daily As-Safir on Thursday, citing sources close to the judicial
investigation, said al-Qaida's new approach gives terror cells "total
independence" and slows them to work separately from one another in Lebanon and
elsewhere in the region. The new approach also gives al-Qaida cells adequate
finance flow with freedom of decision, according to the sources.Military
Prosecutor Saqr Saqr charged the 17, including the alleged leader of an
al-Qaida-inspired organization, with forming an "armed gang" with the aim of
committing crimes and planning attacks against civilian and military targets as
well as U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, the officials said. Seven of
those charged are at large. "This was an exhaustive effort involving cooperation
between Arab and European intelligence services together with the Lebanese army
intelligence that led to the arrest at Beirut airport of key man Munjid al-Fahham
while en route from Athens to Beirut," one source said. An Nahar newspaper also
quoted a source close to the investigation as saying that the terror network was
caught "during the planning phase" following the arrest of Fahham, a Syrian who
led the terrorist cell. "The network (including Palestinians and Lebanese) is
charged with aiming to... undermine the authority of the state and monitor the
Lebanese army and UNIFIL in order to carry out attacks on them," the state-run
National News Agency had said. Seven suspects were charged in absentia. Among
those still at large are Fatah al-Islam's alleged leader Abdel-Ghani Ali Jawhar,
Abdel-Rahman Awad, who heads a Palestinian refugee camp branch of the group, and
another official from the group, Osama Amin Shehabi. Military Prosecutor Rashid
Mizher referred Thursday the 17 terrorists to Military Examining Magistrate
Samih al-Hajj. Beirut, 23 Jul 09, 08:35
Contacts Revived to Achieve Inter-Christian Reconciliation as Geagea-Franjieh
Meeting Likely
Naharnet/The Maronite League headed by Joseph Tarabay will hold a meeting
Thursday afternoon to give fresh momentum to the inter-Christian reconciliation
process.
Representatives from the Lebanese Forces, Phalange Party, National Liberal
Party, Marada Movement and Free Patriotic Party will meet with no clear agenda.
FPM delegate Alan Aoun told the daily As Safir in remarks published Thursday
that he will take part in the meeting "based on the grounds that the problem
with our foes is political and not personal." Marada representative Youssef
Saade, in turn, said he has been informed by the Maronite League that the
objective behind reviving the meeting was aimed at activating the association's
activities, adding that it is "unlikely to achieve a qualitative leap in the
issue of Christian reconciliation." "Channels, however, remain open between us
and Kataeb," Saade said. Lebanese Forces sources, meanwhile, confirmed a
representative of Samir Geagea will participate in the meeti. He voiced
willingness to open a new page in Christian-Christian relations under Bkirki's
patronage. MP Antoine Zahra has also revealed that a meeting is likely to take
place between Geagea and Marada Movement leader Suleiman Franjieh. Beirut, 23
Jul 09, 10:04
Closed UN Meeting on South amidst French Fears of Lebanese Army Cover-up of
Hizbullah
Naharnet/The United Nations will hold a closed-doors meeting on Thursday to look
into three letters it had received – one from Lebanon and two from Israel –
regarding the latest incidents in south Lebanon related to the explosion of an
arms cache in Khirbet Selm and repercussions of a mishap between UNIFIL and
Khirbet Selm residents in which 14 peacekeepers were lightly wounded. Lebanon
had sent a letter to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon calling on the international body
not to pre-judge before completion of the joint probe by the Lebanese army and
UNIFIL with regards to the arms depot blast on the outskirts of Khirbet Selm.
The letter, which also touched on the Israeli violation in Kfarshouba, stressed
Lebanon's rejection of any changes to the rules of engagement under U.N.
Security Council Resolution 1701. The U.N. meeting comes ahead of a scheduled
session scheduled for August 2009.
Al-Mustaqbal daily quoted high-ranking diplomatic sources as saying that
whatever happened to attempts to change the rules of engagement will not reach
anywhere.
Meanwhile, al-Akhbar newspaper, citing well-informed officials up-to-date with
the French position, pointed that Paris' viewpoint in regards to the Khirbet
Selm incident showed that the decision to inspect a house in the village was
coordinated with the Lebanese army. Meanwhile, al-Akhbar newspaper, citing
well-informed officials up-to-date with the French position, pointed that Paris'
viewpoint in regards to the Khirbet Selm incident showed that the decision to
inspect a house in the village was coordinated with the Lebanese army. "As they
(French peacekeepers) approached the village, they were taken to a different
location," one official said, adding that he believes Hizbullah had planned this
confrontation with the residents as a cover-up for the Khirbet Selm explosion.
The sources also raised fear that the Lebanese army had served as a cover-up for
Hizbullah. Beirut, 23 Jul 09, 09:37
Jumblat Supports Beirut 'A Safe City for All'
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat backed efforts to
declare Beirut "A Safe City for all." Beirut MPs have recently made moves toward
such a declaration in an effort to stabilize the city. Parliamentary sources
told al-Liwaa newspaper that Jumblat had informed Beirut MP Nuhad Mashnouq of
his intent to adopt a plan to proclaim Beirut "a safe city for all sides –
Christians and Muslims." Beirut, 23 Jul 09, 11:12
Malek Maktabi's 'Red Line' Lands Saudi Man in Jail
Naharnet/A Saudi man has been arrested for boasting about his sex life on
Lebanon's LBCI TV network, the English-language daily Arab News reported on
Thursday.
Jeddah resident Mazen Abdul Jawad was arrested after he appeared last week on
"Red Line," a program presented by Malek Maktabi on LBCI, the newspaper said.
In the program, Jawad said he first had sex with a neighbor when he was 14, and
he also described in detail some of his later adventures.
He explained how he uses the Bluetooth function on his cellphone to try to pick
up Saudi women, who are forbidden to mix with or reveal their faces to men who
are not related to them. He also gave a recipe for an aphrodisiac. The segment
sparked about 100 complaints to local justice officials, leading to his arrest,
the paper said.
Jawad could face charges under Saudi Arabia's strict Islamic sharia law of
speaking openly about vice and admitting he engaged in pre-marital sex, it said,
adding that if convicted he could be jailed and flogged. "The program presents
anomalies and deviancy in society that are unacceptable and immoral and should
be punished according to sharia," Arab News quoted Ahmed Qasim al-Ghamdi, Mecca
head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the
religious police, as saying.(AFP-Naharnet) Beirut, 23 Jul 09, 11:19
Qassem: Khirbet Selm Blast Set Off by Old Shells
Naharnet/The Khirbet Selm explosion that raised tensions along the border with
Israel was set off by old shells, not a secret arms cache, Hizbullah's deputy
leader said.
The statements by Sheikh Naim Qassem marked the group's first comment on the
nature of last week's explosion, which Israel and U.N. officials called a
violation of U.N. Security Council resolution 1701. "There is no violation of
resolution 1701," Qassem said. "What happened ... is a normal incident that has
to do with leftover shells that had been collected during and after Israel's
withdrawal from Lebanon" in 2000, he said. Qassem spoke in an interview with the
Qatari Al-Watan newspaper. The Hizbullah official said Israel exaggerated the
Khirbet Selm incident in an attempt to deflect from its occupation as well as
its daily violations of Lebanon's airspace.(AP-Naharnet) Beirut, 23 Jul 09,
08:08
Cyprus Seizes Cigarette-laden NKorean Ship, Detains its
Crew, Including Lebanese
Naharnet/Cypriot authorities have seized a North Korean-registered cargo ship
suspected of smuggling nearly a million packs of cigarettes to Egypt.
A court in Cyprus has ordered the detention of the Egyptian captain of the
Prince T as well as a Lebanese and two Syrian crew members for eight days while
authorities investigate. No charges have been filed. Cyprus Customs Department
official Niki Hadjiyianni said Wednesday the illegal cigarettes are estimated to
have a street value of -700,000 ($993,000).
A police patrol boat intercepted the ship Tuesday about 16 kilometers off
eastern Cyprus after it had set sail from Famagusta in the breakaway Turkish
Cypriot north. The ship had been heading to Port Said in Egypt.(AP) Beirut, 23
Jul 09, 08:58
UNIFIL silent over reports of breaching mandate
Qassem breaks Hizbullah’s silence on Khirbet Silim incident, saying blasts came
from old shells
By Patrick Galey and Carol Rizk
Daily Star staff
Thursday, July 23, 2009
BEIRUT: The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) failed to respond
Wednesday to Lebanese media reports alleging that it acted outside its
operational mandate. As-Safir newspaper, quoting a well-positioned source,
alleged the incident in which 14 UNIFIL troops were injured at Khirbet Silim
arose after a UNIFIL patrol got too close to a house without supervision from
the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). UNIFIL and LAF troops conducted a probe
Saturday into a series of blasts that tore through an arms cache near Khirbet
Silim in the south last week, reportedly injuring 30 people. Over a dozen
soldiers were injured in clashes with scores of civilians, who hurled rocks and
damaged patrol vehicles in protest against the investigation. As-Safir said a
UNIFIL source had admitted to a “tremendous error” in the way it carried out the
investigation, adding that it staged several raids without LAF permission. It
said that “many mistakes could have been avoided [at Khirbet Silim,] had we
coordination with the Lebanese Army been better.”
Yasmina Bouziane, UNIFIL spokesperson, told The Daily Star that UNIFIL would not
respond to media reports, adding that it was “[awaiting] the findings of the
investigation in to the incident, of course within the boundaries of Security
Council Resolution 1701.”
UNIFIL’s mandate, updated with Resolution 1701, contains provisions that its
military operations “must assist the Lebanese Armed Forces.” However, paragraph
12 of the resolution empowers UNIFIL “to protect UN personnel, facilities,
installations and equipment.” Although UNIFIL was expanded to 13,000
peacekeepers following the 2006 war between Lebanon and Israel, tensions close
to the Blue Line – the boundary of Israeli military withdrawal – remain high.
Speaking after his meeting with Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh
Wednesday, UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams told reporters
that all parties in Lebanon supported Resolution 1701. “I am assured that
everybody; UNIFIL, the LAF, the Lebanese government [and] Hizbullah are
working to reduce tension,” he said.
Williams discussed the issue with senior Lebanese political figures, including
Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, caretaker Premier Fouad Siniora and
Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday and Tuesday as well as meeting representatives
from Hizbullah. Williams said that all agreed upon the importance of Resolution
1701 and that the Lebanese government “strongly” supported its full
implementation
Williams urged both Israel and Lebanon “to refrain from any actions which could
be perceived as provocative and which could spiral into undesirable results.”
He added that the Khirbet Silim protest must be investigated thoroughly by both
UNIFIL and the LAF “to avoid anything like this happening again.”
The explosions at Khirbet Silim were caused by munitions belonging to Hizbullah.
Deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem broke the group’s silence Wednesday over the
nature of the incident, claiming the blasts came from old shells, not a secret
arms cache.
UN officials had previously labeled the arms depot a breach of Resolution 1701,
with Israel accusing Iran and Syria of breaking the peace deal by continuing to
send illegal arms to Hizbullah.
“There is no violation of Resolution 1701,” Qassem said. “What happened … is a
normal incident that has to do with leftover shells collected during and after
Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanon” in 2000, he added. The LAF announced on
Tuesday it had arrested 10 members of a “fundamentalist terrorist cell”
suspected of planning attacks on UN peacekeeping forces in south Lebanon. The
cell, made up mostly of foreign Arab nationals, was accused of observing UNIFIL
soldiers and the LAF in preparation for an attack, in additional to “plotting
terrorist attacks” abroad. Although a senior military official, speaking on
condition of anonymity, said the nationalities of the suspects had not been
released, speculation over their identity abounds.
As-Safir reported that the cell was linked to Al-Qaeda, and was made up of
Saudi, Kuwaiti, Syrian, Yemeni, Palestinian and Greek nationalities. It alleged
that another member had close links with Fatah al-Islam leader Shaker al-Abssi.
The cell was financed by the arrested Kuwaiti member, the paper said.
The LAF accused the men of providing wanted foreigners and Fatah al-Islam
members with forged ID cards as well as access to Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp.
An LAF statement levied six accusations in all against the men, including
scouting out money exchange and jewelry stores for potential robberies and
supporting the escape of “wanted terrorists” from Ain al-Hilweh. The statement
said all those arrested had used access afforded to them by their jobs in
private Lebanese institutions to carry out surveillance operations.
Prosecutor charges 17 with plotting attacks on UNIFIL
Thursday, July 23, 2009/BEIRUT: A military prosecutor Wednesday charged 17
Leban-ese and foreign militants, including the alleged leader of an
Al-Qaeda-inspired organization, with planning attacks against Lebanese troops
and UN peacekeepers, judicial officials said. Seven of those charged are at
large, said the officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were
not authorized to speak to the media. The rest are in custody. Military
prosecutor Saqr Saqr charged the 17 with forming an “armed gang” with the aim of
committing crimes and planning attacks against civilian and military targets as
well as UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, the officials said. Dozens of
Al-Qaeda-inspired militants have been captured and charged in Lebanon in past
years, mainly from the Fatah al-Islam group that fought a three-month battle
against the army near the northern city of Tripoli in 2007. The clashes killed
220 militants, 171 soldiers and 47 Palestinian civilians. The officials said the
17 included Lebanese, Palestinians and Syrians. Among those still at large are
Fatah al-Islam’s alleged leader Abdel-Ghani Ali Jawhar, Abdel-Rahman Awad, who
heads a Palestinian refugee camp branch of the group, and another official from
the group, Osama Amin Shehabi.
Earlier this month, a Lebanese military court convicted 12 Al-Qaeda-inspired
militants of carrying out terrorist acts, including a bomb attack on UN
peacekeepers.
Several attacks have targeted the UN peacekeeping force in south Lebanon in the
past. Al-Qaeda-linked militants are suspected in a car bomb that killed six
Spanish peacekeepers in June 2007. – AP