LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
November 04/09
Bible Reading of the day
James 2/14-26What good is it, my
brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him?
And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food, 2:16 and one of
you tells them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled”; and yet you didn’t give
them the things the body needs, what good is it? Even so faith, if it has
no works, is dead in itself. Yes, a man will say, “You have faith, and I have
works.” Show me your faith without works, and I by my works will show you my
faith.
You believe that God is one. You do well. The demons also believe, and shudder.
But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead?
Wasn’t Abraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Isaac his
son on the altar? You see that faith worked with his works, and by works
faith was perfected; and the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham
believed God, and it was accounted to him as righteousness”;* and he was called
the friend of God. You see then that by works, a man is justified, and not
only by faith. In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified
by works, in that she received the messengers, and sent them out another way?
For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is
dead.
Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special
Reports
Hezbollah’s destiny/By: Will
Harris/Now Lebanon/November 3, 09
A lot of hot air/Now
Lebanon/November 3, 09
Latest
News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for November 03/09
Israeli
Intel Chief Says Hizbullah, Hamas Gaining Strength as Iran, Syria Continue to
Arm them/Naharnet
Samir Franjieh: Hizbullah’s arms
blocking cabinet formation/NNA
New Cabinet Likely in Days as Aoun
Seeks to Modify Demands Again/Naharnet
NOW Exclusive: Aoun changes terms
of agreement with Hariri; demands the Economy Ministry/Now Lebanon
Anwar Khalil: I do not have any
details about the cabinet’s formation by Thursday/Now Lebanon
Zahra calls for Wahhab to
attend hearing, present evidence on LF arms/Now Lebanon
Wahhab says Syria will
reenter Lebanon in case of sectarian strife /Now Lebanon
Report:
Berri Has Given End of Week Ultimatum to Form Cabinet/Naharnet
Jihadist groups infiltrate Lebanon, Gaza/UPI
UN Envoy to Iraq Investigates Foreign Support for
Terrorism/Voice
of America
Canadian sent to Syria can't sue US over torture/Reuters
Syria, Iran 'blocking Lebanon government'/AFP
US warns Syria over Lebanon/Examiner.com
U.S.
Army: 2 People Financing Hizbullah Were Arrested in Iraq/Naharnet
Napolitano Visits Italian
Peacekeepers in the South, Stresses Support for Lebanon/Naharnet
Report: Vatican Mulling a
Committee to Prevent Sfeir from Making Unilateral Stances/Naharnet
No News on Lebanese
Citizen 2 Weeks after his Arrest by Syria/Naharnet
Jumblat: Awaiting 'White
Smoke' for Government Birth/Naharnet
Qassem: A National Unity
Government Has Been Set Forth/Naharnet
Geagea: Iran, Syria Influencing Hizbullah to Hinder Cabinet Formation/Naharnet
Nasrallah orders officials to cut down on high-end expanses/Future
News
Allouch: some solutions still in Hariri’s hands/Future
News
Marouni: Swinging waves of change/Future
News
FPM
official charged with defaming army/Daily
Star
Committees can present case to court on missing people/Daily
Star
No News on Lebanese Citizen 2 Weeks
after his Arrest by Syria
Naharnet/There was still no news on Tuesday about Lebanese citizen Ahmed
Tahboush who was arrested by Syrian authorities at the Aboudiyeh-Dabousiyeh
border crossing two weeks ago. Al-Akhbar newspaper said rumor has it that
Tahboush, who hails from al-Kwaikhat village in Akkar province, was seized for
"belonging to a political movement that opposes Syria" and because of his
"participation in events hosted by the March 14 forces." However, Kwaikhat head
of municipality Omar al-Hayek, denied that the man was arrested for political
reasons.
Other reports said Tahboush was arrested against the backdrop of differences
between him and another Akkar citizen. Al-Akhbar quoted social and political
personalities in the region as saying that Tahboush's family asked them to
interfere and urge Syrian authorities to release the man. However, the
personalities weren't able to satisfy the family's demand.
"I reassured his parents that it is normal for Syrian authorities to investigate
with some people. But it releases them when proved they are innocent," one of
the personalities, who refused to be identified, told al-Akhbar. Beirut, 03 Nov
09, 09:01
Saudi
court upholds child rapist crucifixion ruling
Twenty-two-year-old man convicted of raping five children to be beheaded,
crucified; seven-year-old boy helped in investigation
Reuters Published: 11.03.09, Israel News
A Saudi court of cassation upheld a ruling to behead and crucify a 22-year-old
man convicted of raping five children and leaving one of them to die in the
desert, newspapers reported on Tuesday. The convict was arrested earlier this
year after a seven-year old boy helped police in their investigation. The child
left in the desert after the rape was three years old, Okaz newspaper said.
International rights groups have accused the kingdom, the birthplace of Islam,
of applying draconian justice, beheading murderers, rapists and drug traffickers
in public. So far this year about 40 people have been executed in Saudi Arabia.
In Saudi Arabia, crucifixion means tying the body of the convict to wooden beams
to be displayed to the public after beheading.
U.S.
Army: 2 People Financing Hizbullah Were Arrested in Iraq
Naharnet/The U.S. military in Iraq has said that Iraqi forces arrested two
people allegedly financing Lebanese Hizbullah operations. The army said in a
communiqué that the two men were seized on Monday during a combined search of a
suspected militant safe house in a northern Baghdad neighborhood. Iraqi forces,
with U.S. advisors, searched a building allegedly used to house Hizbullah
members, the communiqué said. Based on evidence found at the scene, the security
team arrested two people suspected of acquiring illegal weapons for and
financing Hizbullah operations, it added. Beirut, 03 Nov 09, 08:09
Napolitano Visits Italian Peacekeepers in the South, Stresses Support for
Lebanon
Naharnet/Italian President Giorgio Napolitano visited his country's contingent
serving with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon on Tuesday. Napolitano,
who arrived in Beirut on Monday, held talks with President Michel Suleiman at
Baabda palace. He later attended a dinner banquet thrown in his honor at the
presidential palace. The Italian president said his country will not back down
from its commitment for a comprehensive and just peace in the region. He added
Italy will continue to support Lebanon and facilitate implementation of all
international resolutions on the country. Beirut, 03 Nov 09, 10:58
New Cabinet Likely in Days as Aoun Seeks to Modify Demands Again
Naharnet/Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri continues efforts to form a
national unity government with some reports saying a new Cabinet is likely to be
announced in as many days.
According to exclusive information obtained by Naharnet late Monday, a Cabinet
lineup is expected to come out in the coming few hours if all goes as planned.
The Cabinet deal is expected to be made public as early as Tuesday unless it was
turned down by Aoun, Hizbullah and AMA Movement. The daily An-Nahar on Tuesday,
citing political circles, said if the deal settled on the new offer with "minor"
amendments to two ministerial portfolios still under negotiation, then Free
Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun would get the following ministries:
telecoms, energy, tourism and a fourth (either education or displace people).
While, under the new deal, the majority March 14 coalition would be granted the
ministries of justice, education, labor, social affairs, trade, finance and
public works. The so-called "sovereign" ministries and other portfolios are not
a subject of debate, the circles noted. Sources told Naharnet that Hariri agreed
that Aoun can keep the telecommunications portfolio but without the
reappointment of his son-in-law Jebran Bassil as head of the ministry. Beirut,
03 Nov 09, 08:10
Israeli Intel Chief Says Hizbullah, Hamas Gaining Strength as Iran, Syria
Continue to Arm them
Naharnet/Israel's military intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin said
Hizbullah has been stockpiling weapons inside civilian homes south of the Litani
river adding however that Syria is the main arms cache. "The organization
continues to arm itself and it is amassing many weapons by (acquiring them from)
Iran via Syria," Yadlin told lawmakers Tuesday. "It is accumulating these arms
(and maintaining them) south of the Litani River, inside civilian homes, in
contravention of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701," he said. The general
also told the Knesset foreign affairs and defense committee that Syria continued
to play a key role in arming both Hizbullah and Hamas. "Syria has turned into
the main factory and weapons cache for Hamas and Hizbullah," Yadlin said. Yadlin
also that Gaza militants have successfully tested an Iranian rocket able to
reach metropolitan Tel Aviv. The general said the rocket could fly 60
kilometers. That would put Israel's largest urban center at risk. "Underneath
the surface, our enemies, led by Iran, are continuing to gain strength,"
according to Yadlin. "Iran is financing these activities, training forces, and
arming Hamas and Hizbullah." Beirut, 03 Nov 09, 12:12
Report: Berri Has Given End of Week Ultimatum to Form Cabinet
Naharnet/Speaker Nabih Berri has reportedly threatened to make stances that
would not be welcomed by some politicians in case agreement wasn't reached on
the cabinet by the end of the week. Al-Akhbar daily said Tuesday that Berri "no
longer knows what is preventing the formation of the government." "We have
agreed on the essentials. By now everyone knows that things would not be ok
without agreement with MP Michel Aoun," Berri reportedly said. "We are with the
man (Aoun). I have told the PM-designate that it is not right to take from him
basic ministries in favor of his foes," al-Akhbar quoted the speaker as saying.
Berri, according to the daily, has vowed to prevent the other team and
Premier-designate Saad Hariri from weakening Aoun particularly that his bloc
became bigger after the June 7 parliamentary elections. The speaker also
criticized Marada movement leader Suleiman Franjieh for relinquishing a cabinet
seat. "Why would you give this gift to Hariri without anything in return? Why
this free (gift) at a time when Aoun is carrying out difficult negotiations with
him (Hariri)?"
Beirut, 03 Nov 09, 10:18
Jumblat: Awaiting 'White Smoke' for Government Birth
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat said that he had
heard of an opposition meeting held on Sunday in Rabiyeh, which he hopes for it
to have positive results. Jumblat told Al-Manar TV channel that he is "awaiting
white smoke" for the birth of the anticipated government. In his weekly stance
to PSP's al-Anbaa newspaper published Monday, Jumblat said that forming the
government is a right for the Lebanese people to be provided by their
politicians, and that the extending delay puts the country in front of major
political and security threats bigger than the ability of any obstructing party
to bear alone.
"It is due time to transcend all minor things and achieve cabinet formation in a
consensus spirit, away from all conditions and counter-conditions, away also
from unrealistic demands," said Jumblat. Jumblat urged the need to return to a
minimum of Arab-Arab rapprochement after the Syrian-Saudi summit put its first
pillar. Adding that "the Syrian-Saudi-Egyptian axis has to be the containing
Arab vessel that can confront developments based on what is left of the Arab
peace initiative before it is too late". "We have always separated between the
huge achievements and sacrifices of the Egyptian people and army facing Israel
-- lately it was when we sent a salutation in the memory of October war which
was a distinguished mark and a big struggle milestone on the road of conflict
with Israel -- and our legitimate criticism for Camp David agreement that
neutralized Egypt against the major conflict in the mideast despite the fact
that the agreement gave it back its occupied land," said the Druze leader.
Jumblat added that the talk about the Egyptian role in the region and in terms
with conflict against Israel is in the context of highlighting its major
political role that was affected largely after the peace treaty. "Meanwhile, the
Israeli expansion is ongoing in the West Bank and danger is threatening
Jerusalem and al-Aqsa mosque amidst a collapsing Arab world from Sudan to Iraq,
the thing that threatens the Egyptian security in particular and Arab security
in general," added Jumblat explaining his last stances regarding Egypt. On the
other hand, Jumblat said that discussing a defense strategy against Israel
requires building atmospheres of trust on the internal level in order to reach
the common goal underscored in protecting Lebanon. "Day after day, the
rightfulness of the stances we took appears -- during the long struggle period
which preceded and followed the toppling of the May 17 agreement (with Israel),"
added Jumblat. The Druze leader said that, during the last decades, Lebanon
faced consecutive Israeli invasions that were not countered except through armed
resistance even after the occupation of Beirut. "The resistance faced the
occupier and forced it out. It confirmed the refusal of the Lebanese people to
settlement, normalization, or talks with the Israeli," added Jumblat. Beirut, 02
Nov 09, 18:35
Qassem: A National Unity Government Has Been Set Forth
Naharnet/Hizbullah's Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem said that a
government based on national unity has been set forth and there is no turning
back especially that the external parties that have meddled for four months have
grown weary and withdrew. In a pedagogical ceremony on Monday Qassem said that
"there are still some internal parts which we hope are going to get tired or get
retired by the announcement of a new government based on national unity." "The
solution is getting closer because the national unity government serves all
parties' interests. The most important thing of it all is that it serves the
interests of Lebanon and its strength. The government is the only one capable of
keeping away the ghosts of an internal conflict and of an external interference
as well as an attempt at federalization and settling [Palestinians]," he added.
Beirut, 02 Nov 09, 20:52
U.S. Ambassador Discussed Community Needs with Youth,
Leaders in West Beqaa
Naharnet/U.S. Ambassador Michele J. Sison visited Ghaze, West Beqaa and met with
residents of fifteen municipalities for a discussion of the challenges faced by
local governments to meet their communities' needs. The Ambassador along with
the heads of West Beqaa municipalities and several members of parliament
listened to a community needs assessment put together by a group of youth from
the Beqaa, with help from the Vision Association for Development, Rehabilitation
and Care (Vision-Beqaa). Speaking at the event, Ambassador Sison congratulated
the youth leaders for their accomplishments and encouraged the political leaders
present to continue to work directly with the communities they represent. She
said, "Governments need to be responsive to their local populations. Leaders
need to know what the people need and the best way to give it to them. Here in
the Beqaa, the young people have a vested interested in improving their
communities, the very communities that they will one day lead. I am impressed to
see how the young people of this region have organized themselves to bring some
very important issues to the attention of their leaders. I also look forward to
assisting your communities take these the best aspects of these plans and put
them into action." Over the last year, the United States has provided $57,000 to
Vision through USAID programming to work with the youth of Beqaa to develop
their own positive and constructive local initiatives. Through this partnership,
Vision was able to equip their facility to provide computer courses and civic
education workshops. Through the training, the U.S. and Vision have directly
benefitted about 800 people and reached another several hundred community
members through discussion sessions. Beirut, 02 Nov 09, 19:25
FPM
official charged with defaming army
Daily Star staff/Tuesday, November 03, 2009/BEIRUT: The Publications Court in
Beirut charged Free Patriotic Movement official Adonis Akra, a political science
professor at Balamand University, of impugning the reputation of the Lebanese
Army and the judiciary in his book entitled “When my Name Became 16.” The court,
headed by Judge Roukoz Rizk and comprising judges Albert Kouyoumjian and Nawal
Saliba, fined Akra LL10 million according to clauses 3, 22, 26, 383 and 385 of
the Publication Law. – The Daily Star
Committees can present case to court
on missing people
Daily Star staff/Tuesday, November 03, 2009
BEIRUT: Committees for the support of Lebanese detainees and exiled praised on
Monday the provisional judgment concerning the case of the two mass graves in
Mar Mitr in Achrafieh and Martyrs cemetery in Beirut. The committee of the
Parents of the Kidnapped and Missing in Lebanon, the Support of Lebanese in
Detention and Exile (SOLIDE), the Parents of detainees in Syrian Prisons and the
Lebanese Center for Human Rights issued a statement on Monday praising the
decision of judge Zalfa Hosn. Hosn had issued a provisional judgment on October
23 allowing the committees to present their case to the government in order to
acquire full information about investigations in the case. The statement said
that the judgment confirmed the right of parents to be informed of ongoing
investigations and to defend the interest of their cause. – The Daily Star
Report:
Vatican Mulling a Committee to Prevent Sfeir from Making Unilateral Stances
/Naharnet/The Vatican is mulling to set up a committee that coordinates with
Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir his political stances, a Western diplomat in
Beirut told al-Akhbar newspaper.
The diplomat said the main purpose of the committee is to prevent Sfeir from
making stances that are deepening division among Lebanon's Christians. The
Vatican, according to the diplomat, has told Christian opposition leaders not to
verbally attack Sfeir because a decision to form the committee will not be made
under pressure. The diplomat added that Sfeir is using this situation to provoke
the opposition and lure it into a campaign against him and Bkirki to prevent the
formation of the committee. Beirut, 03 Nov 09, 10:36
Franjieh: Hizbullah’s arms blocking cabinet formation
Date: November 3rd, 2009/Source: NNA
March 14 General Secretariat member former MP Samir Franjieh voiced hopes
Tuesday that cabinet formation will see light as soon as possible, stressing
that the same group that disrupted the elections of President Michel Sleiman and
paralyzed the parliament in 2008 has prevented the formation of the cabinet
after 5 months of the June 7 elections, in a clear reference to Hizbullah. After
meeting the Maronite Patriarch Mar Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir along with a March 14
delegation, Franjieh hoped that politicians would overcome all obstacles in
order to form the cabinet the soonest possible enabling the country to face the
difficult phase looming ahead. “The country is incapable of surviving in light
of such situation,” he warned.
Franjieh recollected the historic stances of the Patriarch in 2000 when he
accused Hizbullah of obstructing the state by the force of its weapons. He
called on the Christian community to play a vital role to emerge from the crisis
as a strong force. He urged the President of the Republic Michel Sleiman to
re-discuss the arms possession of Hizbullah with all Lebanese parties after the
previous dialogues reached a dead-end. Franjieh called on Hizbullah to recognize
the fact that the force of arms will not accomplish any goal in such a country
like Lebanon.
In a related development, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea accused Tehran and
Damascus of obstructing the efforts of Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri
through their Lebanese proxy, Hizbullah.
Nasrallah orders officials to cut down on high-end expanses
Date: November 3rd, 2009/Source: Middle East Transparent
Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah is upset over alleged
reports of corruption and extravagant living conditions of his party leaders
after the July 2006 war, the Middle East Transparent website said Tuesday. The
website quoted sources inside the pro-Iranian Hizbullah as saying Nasrallah has
asked in a videotaped message high-ranking officials to resort to strict
financial policy and cut down on expanses. He ordered each party member who owns
a “Range Rover” or an SUV from year 2003 onwards to sell his car and replace it
with a less luxurious one, as well as the cars of their wives. As a part of this
procedure, party officials get one car each, whether personal property or
donated by the party, while other vehicles are confiscated. Sources said that
Nasrallah is personally supervising the smallest details of corruption and
financial waste among the party ranks, warning of the huge financial gap between
what became known as “Bekaa Hizbullah” and “South Hizbullah.” Nasrallah asked
the party members for answers regarding the mushrooming of “villas” in the
South, while Hizbullah members in Bekaa suffer lack of funds. He called on those
concerned for distributing compensation funds after the July 2006 war to give
reports regarding their performance and how the modest houses of the party
members -which Nasrallah knows well- turned into huge extravagant villas. In a
related context, sources said that some security officials whose activities have
been suspended for more than five years now, were reassigned to new missions in
order to expose them. The website mentioned two officials among others, the
commander of the southern military zone during the July war and head of
operations in Beirut. It did not name them.
Hezbollah’s destiny
Will Harris , November 3, 2009
Now Lebanon/One of Hezbollah's missiles and a picture of the movement's chief
Hassan Nasrallah is seen during an annual parade in the southern city of
Nabatiyeh on January 10, 200
Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon announced recently that Israel not
only maintains spy networks in Lebanon, but will continue to do so until
Hezbollah disarms. For the Lebanese, such official declarations exhibit casual
Israeli contempt for Lebanese territorial sovereignty. Otherwise, Yaalon’s
statement raises the question of the ultimate destiny of Hezbollah’s military
wing.
In practical terms, there is virtually zero likelihood of an agreement to disarm
Hezbollah in advance of a general settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict,
itself not currently visible on the horizon. It seems only a settlement could
lead to a shift in sentiment within Lebanon’s Shia community that would compel
Hezbollah to become a fully civilian political and social movement. Otherwise,
no Lebanese national dialogue and no UN Security Council resolution will make
any difference. For Hezbollah, Lebanese acquisition of the 22 square kilometers
of the Shebaa farms will occasion another victory celebration, but not
disarmament – and without disarmament Israel will presumably not hand over the
“farms.”
Would new conditions regarding Hezbollah’s position within its own community,
within Lebanon, or in the Middle East change the outlook? The best answer on
present evidence is not decisively.
First, within the Lebanese Shia community the triple contribution of Iranian
material aid, Israeli assaults and Lebanese government neglect have, since the
1980s, entrenched the party’s domination. Iranian backing and government
indolence enabled Hezbollah to demonstrate that it alone looked after the Shia.
Playing the paramount role in confronting Israeli occupation and bombardment
through the 1990s enabled the party to claim credibly that it liberated southern
Lebanon on behalf of the nation in 2000. Even considering the dubious legacy of
the 2006 “divine victory” and the financial shenanigans of Salah Ezzedine, where
else could the community turn in crisis except to the party? It would be idle to
suppose that Hezbollah’s assets among the Shia would dissipate other than
marginally in the foreseeable future. There is therefore no chance of the Shia
serious questioning Hezbollah’s arms unless the regional context alters
radically. Second, within Lebanon there is no doubt that Hezbollah has lost the
strategic depth it possessed in the other communities at the peak of its
prestige in 2000. In this respect, the use of the Resistance’s weapons in West
Beirut in May 2008 signified a conclusive break with the Sunni community.
However, a problematic Lebanese rear is certainly not an incentive to
disarmament – rather the reverse.
Third, Hezbollah’s frenetic rearmament and fortification in southern Lebanon
since 2006 have probably insulated the party from Middle Eastern realignments.
In 2009, Hezbollah has the military capability to survive perfectly well in
isolation for a long period, provided it does not exhaust its arsenal in a major
new round of fighting with Israel. It has had plenty of time to plan for the
contingency, in any case farfetched, of a Syrian defection. Only a political
transformation in Iran could significantly compromise Hezbollah’s military wing,
and despite new legitimacy issues for the Iranian regime, transformation is not
currently a serious prospect.
Fourth, there is the possibility of a new war between Hezbollah and Israel.
Given that Israel will take devastation to a new level in such a war, and the
Shia community cannot realistically cope with even a repeat of 2006, Hezbollah
presumably looks to avoid war, whatever its rhetoric. At the least, Hezbollah
would suffer a critical arsenal depletion and would be therefore become more
exposed to Syrian calculations in the aftermath. In a war all bets on futures
are obviously off, and whatever Hezbollah’s prowess, the risk to it as the
lesser power is forbidding. Finally, a general Arab-Israeli settlement by
definition must involve an Israeli-Palestinian final status agreement, which
from the Lebanese perspective must accommodate Lebanon’s refusal to absorb
hundreds of thousands of Palestinians residing in Lebanon. It would be an error
to assume that a stand-alone Israeli-Syrian deal would stimulate anything but
suspicion from the Lebanese, particularly if Syria does not transfer the Shebaa
farms upon recovering the Golan Heights. The days when a Syrian regime could
“deliver” Lebanon or its Shia have passed. Indeed, few Lebanese have positive
regard for either Israel or the present Syrian regime. Too much blood has passed
under the bridge since Lebanon broke down in 1975 and became a proxy
battleground for its two powerful neighbors. For its part, Hezbollah has a
business relationship with Damascus – not a love affair.
NOW Exclusive: Aoun changes terms of agreement with Hariri; demands the Economy
Ministry
November 3, 2009/Now Lebanon/An informed source told NOW on Tuesday that the
prevailing optimistic atmosphere following Monday night’s meeting between Prime
Minister-designate Saad Hariri and opposition members “hit a brick wall,” adding
that Hezbollah Secretary General’s political aide, Hassan Khalil, visited with
Hariri at midnight to convey Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun’s
demand for the Economy Ministry. According to the source, Marada Movement leader
MP Sleiman Franjieh – who is playing the role of mediator between the
PM-designate and the opposition – visited Hariri earlier Monday night in
downtown Beirut to inform him of Aoun’s proposal, which reportedly includes
granting the Change and Reform bloc the Telecommunications and Energy ministries
– the latter to be headed by Telecom Minister Gebran Bassil – along with the
Culture or Tourism portfolios.
The source added that Hariri and Franjieh reached an agreement on the proposal.
However, the source said that Franjieh was seemingly “annoyed and surprised by
what happened,” referring to Khalil’s visit with the PM-designate to inform him
of Aoun’s “altering position.”The source stressed that internal disagreements
within the opposition are “obvious,” adding that the FPM leader is “making
offers and continuously changing them.”The source said the cabinet impasse is no
longer related to the distribution of the ministerial portfolios, but to Aoun’s
desire to obstruct the formation process. -NOW Lebanon
A lot of hot air
November 2, 2009
Now Lebanon/Both ends of the opposition spectrum were doing what they do best
over the weekend, with the Free Patriotic Movement calling for a reinstatement
of the previous government as a solution to the political deadlock, while
Hezbollah and co. was yet again banging its war drum in the south. In a proposal
that typified the Change and Reform bloc’s blithe disregard for the
constitution, the FPM’s Ibrahim Kanaan told OTV on Saturday that if
re-designating ministries in the new government were unfeasible, then Prime
Minister-designate Saad Hariri should just grant each bloc the ministries they
held in the pre-election government of Fouad Siniora. Kanaan, a distinguished
lawyer before he joined the ranks of Michel Aoun’s FPM, is clearly too smart to
actually believe that the suggestion will advance either his personal reputation
or his party’s claim that it represents both change and reform. In short, what
he is proposing would take Lebanon back to the shameful post-Doha formula, an
arrangement that saw the country’s political process bob in the doldrums with no
opportunity, assuming there ever was one, for meaningful progress. Kanaan’s
proposal would once again grant the opposition the one-third veto in the
cabinet. Originally a mechanism with a 1-year shelf life, the veto has
insidiously wiggled its way onto the negotiation table, ignoring the
constitution and selling itself as a necessity for a national unity government.
And there’s the rub. National unity government sounds so warm and cuddly. With a
national unity government, we are told, Lebanon can move forward, holding hands
into a brave new dawn of change and reform, a Lebanon free of suspicion, a
Lebanon in which all the national groups are represented.
It’s a nice idea, but in reality the one-third veto is a tool crucial in
thwarting key processes, such as the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, issues
relating to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701(including
Hezbollah’s disarmament) and contentious economic policies such as
privatization. Quite how Mr. Kanaan, who no doubt styles himself as a breath of
fresh air in a Christian community his party claims is run by dinosaurs, can put
his weight behind such a plan is anyone’s guess.
Meanwhile his March 8 ally, Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Nawwaf Moussawi,
in an interview with Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Anbaa on Sunday, announced that Israel
is waging war on Lebanon through espionage and targeted killings. Nothing new
there you might say, but the good news is that we have nothing to fear, for, as
Moussawi assures us, the stout men of the Resistance are redoubling their
efforts to turn South Lebanon into a Middle East Maginot Line to, “confront
Israeli aggression before it happens and defend Lebanon in a way that helps
maintain the country’s political and military objectives.”
At least Hezbollah is being consistent in once again demonstrating its complete
disregard of the state, but does Moussawi, like his learned parliamentary
colleague, Mr. Kanaan, really believe that that his party speaks for all
Lebanon, not to mention her best interests, when he makes such flabbergasting
and arrogant statements. We saw what happened last time his party tried to
maintain Lebanon’s “political and military objectives” and we’d rather pass this
time.
Moussawi’s warped logic was echoed on the same day by Shiite Mufti Sheikh Ahmad
Qabalan, who, despite saying that Hezbollah would never give up its arms, called
on all Lebanese to work together to put the interests of Lebanon above all else.
“Let us give up our selfishness and stop bargaining with loyalty and
nationalism,” he declared. “Nobody, whatever his position, comes above the
other. This is Lebanon. We will have it no other way and anyone who doesn’t like
it can leave.”
Maybe Sheikh Qabalan should consult a travel agent.