LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
October 18/09

Bible Reading of the day
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 12:8-12. I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God. Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities, do not worry about how or what your defense will be or about what you are to say.  For the holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say."

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
Lebanon needs both security and freedom/By Ghassan Rubeiz/October 17/09
Judicial reform key to better Lebanon/By The Daily Star/October 17/09
A message on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty/By: Ban Ki-moon/October 17/09
s there more time left on Iran's nuclear clock?/By: David Ignatius/October 17/09
Lebanon's Security Council seat will offer few benefits/By: Michael Bluhm/October 17/09

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for October 17/09
Suleiman: Armed Forces Should Eradicate Security Disrupters in Tripoli, Entire Lebanon /Naharnet
French FM in Beirut Soon to Warn of Instability over Cabinet Delay /Naharnet
Berri: Voice of Government's Minaret Muezzin Saad Hariri Will Break My Fast Soon /Naharnet
Abu Jamra: No Satisfactory Solution through Giving 'Telecoms' to President Suleiman /Naharnet
Closed-door meeting between Sfeir and the new Apostolic Nuncio/Future News
Sami Gemayel: national unity government is “non-viable”/Future News
Marouni: Ready to defend Lebanon against another May 7/Future News
Hariri from Baabda: Nearby Breakthrough in Few Days/Naharnet
Sultanov Denies Russian Mediation in Cabinet Formation/Naharnet
25 Israeli Violations, Lebanon Files Complaint with U.N./Naharnet
Security Source: Evidence about Teir Felsay Blast Did Not Match Reality/Naharnet
Hariri-Aoun Meeting: What's Really Going On/Naharnet
Interior Ministry Alert Against Auto Theft Wave, Security Undermining Attempts/Naharnet
Aoun: Progress Achieved with Hariri, Relation with LF Not Easy/Naharnet
Yemeni Website: 3 Alleged Hizbullah Members Killed in Saada Battles/Naharnet
Struger: UNIFIL, Lebanese Army Seized Equipments Transferred from Teir Felsay/Naharnet
Zapatero in Beirut Ahead of Suleiman's Visit to Spain/Naharnet
Execution, Penal Servitude for 35 Convicts in Tripoli's 'Banks Street' Explosion/Naharnet
Journalists in Teir Felsay: Hizbullah Banned Us from Entering, We Saw Trucks Going In and Out/Naharnet
Cabinet Lineup Collides Once Again with 'Telecoms' Obstacle/Naharnet
US Congress sends Obama Iran sanctions bill/AFP
Spanish premier highlights need for peace during visit to Lebanon/Daily Star
Sison denies US interference in Lebanon's cabinet formation/Daily Star
Australia court finds four Lebanese men guilty of plotting terror/AFP
UNIFIL, army probing Tayar Felsay explosion/Daily Star
Lebanon's Security Council seat will offer few benefits/Daily Star
Waad rebuilds 60 percent of wrecked homes in Beirut's southern suburbs/Daily Star
Experts explore ways to promote social cohesion/Daily Star
University gains accreditation from European research agency/Daily Star
Misinformation rife as motorcycle ban goes into effect/Daily Star

UNIFIL, army probing Tayar Felsay explosion
Daily Star staff/Saturday, October 17, 2009
BEIRUT: The UN peacekeeping force said on Friday it would pursue in close cooperation with the Lebanese Army the investigation into Monday’s explosion at the residence of a local Hizbullah official in Tayar Felsay. The spokeswoman of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) Yasmina Bouziane told the National News Agency that UNIFIL was analyzing evidence from the scene and investigating the possible causes of the explosion. “UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army inspected the village of Deir Qanoun al-Nahr, where they also inspected a truck parked in a garage,” said Bouziane, adding that the troops found in another truck what could be the door to Issa’s garage that was blown off during the explosion.
On Thursday, Hizbullah denied Israeli claims that its members loaded rockets into a truck after the explosion occurred. The Israeli army on Tuesday released film taken by a drone, saying it showed rockets being taken away from the home of Abdel-Nasser Issa. But Hizbullah showed footage that the alleged rocket was nothing but the door to Issa’s garage. Bouziane urged the public not to jump to conclusions and to instead wait for the probe’s results. She also touched on violations of Lebanese airspace, saying that UNIFIL was reporting them to the UN Security Council and protesting against the breaches. She reiterated that UNIFIL was in “close contact” with all parties, stressing that the situation was “generally calm.”
Meanwhile, Hizbullah’s second in command Sheikh Naim Qassem warned Israel on Thursday that Hizbullah still possessed “weapons and power.” “Let it be known that denying the Israeli version of the Tayr Felsay incident does not mean that Hizbullah does not posses weapons,” he said. “Thank God, weapons are available and the will is there and we are fully prepared,” Qassem added. “Let no one believe that Israeli threats frighten us and will prompt us to deny the possession of weapons,” he said. “We are very well armed and ready to stand up to Israel if attacked or if it attempts to commit any follies,” he added. He described as “fabricated lies” the Israeli drone video and warned that media exaggeration “serves the enemy.” He said the fact that Israel shot footage of Lebanon was a violation of Resolution 1701. He urged the Lebanese government to use the footage as evidence of Israeli violations, saying it “must be punished for this heinous act.” – The Daily Star

Yemeni Website: 3 Alleged Hizbullah Members Killed in Saada Battles
Naharnet/A well-informed Yemeni military source announced on Friday that three Lebanese experts, supposedly Hizbullah members, were killed in the ongoing battles between the Yemeni government forces and Zaidi Shiite rebels in Saada province north of Yemen. Maareb Press website, affiliated with opposition's "Reform Party", quoted a well-informed military source that "3 Lebanese working as explosives experts were killed on Thursday in an aerial raid on Saada's Malaheez Bani Oreij area". The website added: "The (Yemeni) army waged a major offensive on Malaheez's front - the scene of fierce battles - and regained a mountains chain previously controlled by the Huthi rebels." On his side, the Huthis spokesman Mohamad Abdul Salam denied that any battles had happened in Malaheez area on Thursday. Abdul Salam said Friday in a statement that the battles were concentrated in Harf Sufyan and Saada's outskirts where 2 army tanks were destroyed. Beirut, 16 Oct 09, 20:30

Struger: UNIFIL, Lebanese Army Seized Equipments Transferred from Teir Felsay
Naharnet/UNIFIL Political and Civil Advisor Milos Struger said Friday that UNIFIL, in collaboration with the Lebanese Army, seized equipments from a site in Deir Qanoun al-Nahr village previously suspected of hosting the equipments that were transferred from Teir Felsay. Struger stressed that UNIFIL received excellent cooperation from the Lebanese Army regarding the ongoing investigations in Teir Felsay's incident. "The Lebanese Army put the hand on a truck that was parked in the garage. The truck is being examined now by army and UNIFIL experts," added Struger. Previously, UNIFIL spokeswoman Yasmine Boziane affirmed that UNIFIL was continuing to investigate the Teir Felsay's incident in close collaboration with the Lebanese Army. Boziane told the National News Agency that UNIFIL was still in the stage of analyzing information in order to investigate the facts and form a conclusion about the incident and its reasons. She also said that the investigation is ongoing in order to redeem items that may have been moved from the incident's site. Boziane advised of waiting for the investigation results before uttering any judgments, reiterating that UNIFIL's operations region is free of any armed members or weaponry except those belonging to UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army. The UNIFIL spokeswoman said that the United Nations stance regarding the Israeli violations of the Lebanese airspace is very clear and that this act represents a violation for Resolution 1701 and Lebanon's sovereignty. Beirut, 16 Oct 09, 21:44

Hariri from Baabda: Nearby Breakthrough in Few Days
Naharnet/Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri arrived in Baabda Palace on Saturday's noon to meet with President Michel Suleiman and discuss the general situations especially the outcome of the discussions and meetings held by the PM-designate about the formation of the anticipated government. Hariri mentioned that the cabinet formation discussions will be continued through the next three or four days and that he is aspiring a near breakthrough. After the talks, President Suleiman hosted PM-designate Hariri on lunch table.
"I have put the President in the image of the discussions outcome and things are advancing. Everyone wants to see a new cabinet as soon as possible," said Hariri after the talks.
On the other hand, Hariri said that good relations with FPM leader MP Michel Aoun are progressing and that the dialogue that happened in the previous weeks was for the sake of Lebanon. He added that the positive impacts will appear soon. Hariri concluded that it is most important that everyone realizes that Lebanon's interest lies in forming a national unity government as soon as possible. The daily An-Nahar described as "good and positive" the atmosphere that prevailed during the Hariri-Aoun talks held in the garden of Center House late Friday. While As-Safir daily saw that the facts do not bode news of an imminent announcement of a new government, pan-Arab Al-Hayat newspaper was less pessimistic.
It quoted well-informed sources as saying that behind-the-scenes talks between the two men "are not what are being published by the media." The sources said actual facts indicate that ongoing political maneuvers have most likely entered the final stages. They said discussions were not focused on the distribution of key ministerial portfolios, saying the health ministry will probably stay with Berri's bloc, unlike previous reports that said it was presented to Aoun as an alternative. Media Reports on Saturday said one suggestion to the telecoms ministry knot was that President Michel Suleiman gives Aoun the interior ministry. Opposition sources told An-Nahar that French President Nicolas Sarkozy has conveyed a suggestion to Syrian foreign Minister Walid Muallem related to a settlement to the telecoms ministry which stipulates that Suleiman names a person who pleases Aoun. Beirut, 17 Oct 09, 14:58

Hariri-Aoun Meeting: What's Really Going On
Naharnet/Did Cabinet formation reach the final stage? Despite ongoing talks to remove the obstacle – telecoms ministry -- facing the birth of a new government, reports uncovered that consensus has been reached between Speaker Nabih Berri and PM-designate Saad Hariri over names and portfolios and that there is also an agreement between Hariri and Hizbullah.
A meeting late Saturday between Hariri and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, who insists on the reappointment of his son-in-law Jebran Bassil as telecommunications minister, did not reveal details. The daily An-Nahar, however, described as "good and positive" the atmosphere that prevailed during the Hariri-Aoun talks held in the garden of Center House.
While As-Safir daily saw that the facts do not bode news of an imminent announcement of a new government, pan-Arab Al-Hayat newspaper was less pessimistic. It quoted well-informed sources as saying that behind-the-scenes talks between the two men "are not what are being published by the media." The sources said actual facts indicate that ongoing political maneuvers have most likely entered the final stages. They said discussions were not focused on the distribution of key ministerial portfolios, saying the health ministry will probably stay with Berri's bloc, unlike previous reports that said it was presented to Aoun as an alternative. Media Reports on Saturday said one suggestion to the telecoms ministry knot was that President Michel Suleiman gives Aoun the interior ministry. Opposition sources told An-Nahar that French President Nicolas Sarkozy has conveyed a suggestion to Syrian foreign Minister Walid Muallem related to a settlement to the telecoms ministry which stipulates that Suleiman names a person who pleases Aoun. Beirut, 17 Oct 09, 09:07

Sultanov Denies Russian Mediation in Cabinet Formation
Naharnet/Russian Vice Foreign Minister Alexander Sultanov denied on Saturday any Russian mediation in the formation of a new government. Sultanov stressed that talks he held with President Michel Suleiman and Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh on Saturday covered regional issues and the future of the Middle East peace process. "We agreed to double the efforts with the concerned parties and the international community to contribute to the resumption of talks as soon as possible," Sultanov told reporters. Sultanov said he will head to Damascus and return to meet to resume meetings with Lebanese officials. Beirut, 17 Oct 09, 11:23

25 Israeli Violations, Lebanon Files Complaint with U.N.
Naharnet/Lebanon has registered 15 Israeli violations of its airspace in addition to 10 sea and land violations in the period between Sept. 15 and 21. In a letter addressed to the U.N., Lebanon said the air violations included the roaming of Israeli spy jets and warplanes over Lebanese skies. The letter said the sea violations included attacks on fishermen and their boats inside Lebanese territorial waters. Land violations included Israeli provocations of the Lebanese Armed Forces, including insults, verbal abuse and offensive gestures as well as pointing floodlights toward them. Al-Akhbar newspaper said the letter did not ask the United Nations to take any concrete action in response to these violations. Beirut, 17 Oct 09, 08:40

Security Source: Evidence about Teir Felsay Blast Did Not Match Reality
Naharnet/A high-ranking Lebanese security source said evidence obtained revealed that the explosion in Teir Felsay in southern Lebanon did not match reality. "Evidence relating to the Teir Felsay blast that we have obtained did not match reality," the source told pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.  "Therefore we cannot give a clear picture of the incident," the source added. "When things like that happen, we cannot give information about it unless we were on the scene or have surveillance means," he explained. The source said that for this reason, Lebanese security forces join "efforts and technology" with U.N. peacekeepers "to see where does this get us.""So far, we do not know the truth. We know for a fact that we heard an explosion sound," the security source told Asharq al-Awsat. Responding to a question regarding a video tape aired by Israel TV that claimed to show Hizbullah members removing what it said to be were rockets from the explosion site, the source said: "No one knows the truth of those images. Israel has advanced technologies, and can combine images together or publish part the information and conceal another so that things look as it wants. Beirut, 17 Oct 09, 07:55

Interior Ministry Alert Against Auto Theft Wave, Security Undermining Attempts
Naharnet/Caretaker Interior Minister Ziad Baroud held lately a series of security and administrational meetings aiming to take preventative measures against security undermining attempts especially during the current period of political instability due to absence of a new government. The meetings were concerned about setting definitive strategies to preserve security. According to the Central News Agency, Baroud gave his instructions for a strict implementation of the traffic law aiming to organize the time of the day motorcycles can roam the streets. Baroud insisted that the motorcycles traffic law should not be violated under any circumstance especially for its significance in decreasing the number of thefts and robbery. However, the law notices special measures related to some cases such as restaurants delivery workers who depend on this way of transportation in their job. Baroud also gave great importance in the meetings for the issue of facing the wave of cars theft that had a significant activity lately. He called for taking all measures that aim to stop the thieves and tighten their movement. The Internal Security Forces special brigade known as "Fohood" which translates Leopards was assigned to mobilize patrols and hold steady checkpoints starting from midnight till seven o'clock in the morning everyday in all areas especially regions known for being "sensitive areas". This move aims at restoring the authoritative image of the Lebanese State. In an attached context, information said that there is a direction to fix steady checkpoints at some roads being used by cars thieves to reach Beqaa area as it is the case with Dahr al-Baidar checkpoint. Among the suggestions of ways to thwart the auto theft wave was a suggestion that dictates that car plates should be stamped in the same way electricity and water consumption counters are stamped in order to prevent forgery. Hence, unstamped plate cars owners will be then penalized. Each province will have an office related directly to the government and under the surveillance of specialized traffic committees to provide stamping of the plates. Beirut, 16 Oct 09, 18:59

Aoun: Progress Achieved with Hariri, Relation with LF Not Easy
Naharnet/Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun visited PM-designate Saad Hariri at Center House on Friday night to continue the discussions regarding the anticipated cabinet formation. Previously, Aoun told the French magazine Pelerin in an interview published by the Central News Agency that he was achieving a progress in his discussions with Hariri.
Aoun also said that the relation with Lebanese Forces is not an easy issue because a part of LF's supporters aspire the segregation of Lebanon, while FPM is working for its unity and seeks that Muslims and Christians live together in a unified Lebanon. Answering a question, Aoun said that Hizbullah may ignite fear in France, Europe and for westerners in general but the west is far from Lebanon. He added that Lebanese Christians live peacefully with the Shiites since ages, regardless whether those Shiites were Hizbullah supporters or not.
"We have common roots, nationality, and mutual traditions. We should work hand in hand," stressed Aoun. Aoun described Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah as an honest pragmatic and visionary man. He added that Nasrallah realizes the fact that there will never be an Islamic state in Lebanon knowing that the country is religiously diverse and has traditions built upon tolerance and national unity. Beirut, 16 Oct 09, 22:08

Sison denies US interference in Lebanon's cabinet formation
No signs of breakthrough in dispute over ministerial portfolios
By Elias Sakr /Daily Star staff
Saturday, October 17, 2009
BEIRUT: United States Ambassador Michel Sison denied on Friday that her country was interfering in the cabinet formation in Lebanon or encouraging the March 14 coalition to form a majority government. Sison’s remarks came as the deadlock among rival Lebanese politicians over the distribution of ministerial portfolios showed no signs of a breaktrough.
The US ambassador stressed her country’s support for the prompt formation of a cabinet in accordance with constitutional norms and the outcome of the June 7 elections.
Following talks with Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, Sison added that the structure and line-up of the government was a Lebanese domestic affair to be decided away from foreign intervention. In response to recent accusations by opposition officials that the US is hampering the cabinet formation, Sison denied any US meddling in the government formation. Opposition officials have said that the US is hindering the process and encouraging the formation of a majority cabinet. The Lebanese Forces and Phalange Party have called on President Michel Sleiman and Hariri to form a majority cabinet in accordance with constitutional norms if negotiations to reach an understanding over a national-unity one fail.
On Friday, Hizbullah and the Amal Movement called in a joint statement for the quick formation of a cabinet in order to reinforce stability and enable Lebanon to face foreign threats and domestic challenges. It stressed the need for a national-unity cabinet to address the social and economic issues facing the Lebanese.
The two parties also lauded the positive atmosphere that had resulted from the recent Saudi-Syrian summit, adding that it had established the basis for further inter-Arab rapprochement.
Hariri held talks overnight Thursday with Parliament Speaker and Amal Movement leader Nabih Berri but no statements followed the meeting.
Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra said that the Free Patriotic Movement’s (FPM) demands were only a facade masking the opposition’s attempts to take full control of power in Lebanon. FPM leader Michel Aoun demands that his party be assigned the Telecommunications Ministry in the next government as his son-in-law caretaker minister Jebran Bassil currently holds the post. Negotiations between Hariri and opposition groups over the issue failed to reach a breakthrough. “The real impediment lies in the fact that opposition as a whole intends to take over power and control all of the state’s institutions,” Zahra claimed. He added that the opposition seeks to weaken the position of Hariri and “exhaust” him before forming the cabinet.
“We fear the existence of regional intentions that seek to destabilize Lebanon and prevent the formation of a cabinet based on the outcome of the elections that is being overthrown by March 8 in a bid to take full control of Lebanese politics,” Zahra alleged. Separately, Tawhid Movement leader Wiam Wahhab warned on Friday that the failure to form a cabinet within 10 days would lead to an open-ended crisis in Lebanon. Following a meeting with Aoun at the latter’s residence in Rabieh, Wahhab accused Hariri’s allies of hampering the premier-designate’s efforts to form the next government, adding that Hariri “could overcome obstacles if he wanted to.” On the other hand, Phalange MP Nadim Gemayel called on Friday for the formation of majority government embracing all parties based on the outcome of the June 7 elections but without granting any group veto power. Gemayel warned against legitimizing Hizbullah’s weapons in the ministerial statement, adding that if that were to happen, he would not give the cabinet his vote of confidence.

US Congress sends Obama Iran sanctions bill
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Saturday, October 17, 2009
WASHINGTON: The US Congress sent President Barack Obama legislation Thursday that bars firms selling fuel to Iran from winning US government deals, piling pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program. The measure was included in the Energy Department’s 2010 spending bill, which cleared the Senate by an 80-17 vote, two weeks after the House of Representatives approved the law. The measure blocks non-US firms that sell more than $1 million worth of refined petroleum products to Iran from Energy Department contracts to supply the emergency US Strategic Petroleum Reserve stockpile. It also covers companies that provide Iran with the means to improve their own refining capacity or their ability to import refined petroleum products. “You can do business in our $13 trillion economy or Iran’s $250 billion economy,” Republican senators Jon Kyl and Susan Collins, said after the House’s October 1 vote.
Despite being a major oil producer, Iran lacks domestic refining capabilities and relies on imports to meet 40 percent of its gasoline needs.
With US lawmakers eager to force Iran to bow to global demands to freeze its nuclear drive, a key House committee later announced it would take up on October 28 a punishing sanctions bill targeting the same Iranian vulnerability. The House Foreign Affairs Committee said that it would take up the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act, which targets companies that invest $20 million in Iran’s energy sector or that provide any help to boost the Islamic Republic’s domestic production. The measure would also hit companies that provide Iran with gasoline or help its imports, notably by providing ships or shipping services, as well as insuring or financing such activity. Iran gets most of its gasoline imports from the Swiss firm Vitol, the Swiss-Dutch firm Trafigura, France’s Total, the Swiss firm Glencore and British Petroleum, as well as the Indian firm Reliance. Lawmakers are weighing several other sanctions measures, and Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd, who chairs the banking committee, has said he plans to wrap some of them together in a single piece of legislation. On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed a law allowing state, local governments and pension funds to end investments in companies that have $20 million or more invested in Iran’s petroleum or natural gas operations. The divestment measure, which passed by an overwhelming vote of 414 to six, does not directly impose sanctions on the Islamic Republic, but rather shields states and local governments from lawsuits if they withdraw their money out of such businesses. Democratic Senator Bob Casey and Republican Senator Sam Brownback have crafted similar divestment legislation in the Senate and have garnered 36 co-sponsors. Both chambers must approve identical legislation before it can go to Obama to sign into law. – AFP

Judicial reform key to better Lebanon
By The Daily Star /Saturday, October 17, 2009
Editorial
The usual suspects turned up this week to inaugurate the new judicial calendar in Lebanon, a ritual that resembles Independence Day, when judges and lawyers, and not soldiers and military equipment, are on parade. It’s an occasion on which politicians and officials make the kind of speeches that we’ve heard many times before. President Michel Sleiman called on judges to bear the brunt of ensuring the independence of the judiciary, by apparently performing their duties well. We’ve heard such comments by the hundreds, if not thousands, since the end of the Civil War.We’ve had no shortage of politicians who have weighed in at some point, into a microphone, tape recorder or camera, about the need for the judiciary to be the arbiter of the political system and society at large. Out of those who attended the ceremony at the Justice Palace, probably everyone and his cousin have issued such calls in the past. Judicial reform has certainly been on the verbal agenda of our postwar presidents, since we heard about it from Elias Hrawi, and Emile Lahoud, as well as from Sleiman, during his inaugural address. We’ve heard about the need for a sound judiciary from Speaker Nabih Berri, and none of our postwar prime ministers have advocated an anti-judiciary platform: any Lebanese politician worth his or her salt can lecture the public about the need for an independent judiciary. Instead of assembling for speeches in the hall of the Justice Palace, our politicians could tour the facility, and see for themselves how justice doesn’t get done, or if it does, the huge inefficiency involved. The work that must be done is immense: from clearing up administrative matters to coordinating courts and the use of facilities. Judges lack proper space and their offices are ill-equipped. We’ve heard time and time again about improving the physical infrastructure of our judiciary, but the progress here moves at a snail’s pace. As for the actual independence of the judiciary, it’s a myth. Sleiman and his audience from the other day were fully aware that the executive branch, among other centers of power in the country, wields direct influence on our judicial system.
Our judicial independence is a charade, and nothing will change in Lebanon unless we reform this body. If its headquarters and facilities are chaotic and underdeveloped, none of the real-world issues that politicians talk so much about – Lebanon’s relations with Syria, the country’s relations with Hizbullah, the state’s relation to the citizenry, the structure and performance of the economy – has any hope of seeing improvement. A ceremony to honor the judiciary when it’s actually being treated with so much disrespect is an annoying spectacle as much as it is worrisome, when the gulf between rhetoric and reality is so great.

Is there more time left on Iran's nuclear clock?
By David Ignatius /Daily Star staff
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Since you’re probably not a regular reader of the trade publication Nucleonics Week, let me summarize an article that appeared in its October 8 issue: It reported that Iran’s supply of low-enriched uranium – the potential feedstock for nuclear bombs – appears to have certain “impurities” that “could cause centrifuges to fail” if the Iranians try to boost it to weapons grade.
Now that’s interesting. The seeming breakthrough in negotiations on October 1 in Geneva – where Iran agreed to send most of its estimated 1,500 kilograms of low-enriched uranium abroad for further enrichment – may not have been exactly what it appeared. Iran may have had no alternative but to seek foreign help in enrichment because its own centrifuges wouldn’t work. “The impurities, certain metallic fluoride compounds, would interfere with centrifuge enrichment” at Iran’s facility at Natanz, reported the newsletter’s Bonn correspondent, Mark Hibbs. This news strikes me as a potential bombshell. If the Nucleonics Week report is accurate (and there’s some uncertainty among experts about how serious the contamination problem is), the Iranian nuclear program is in much worse shape than most analysts had realized. The contaminated fuel it has produced so far would be all but useless for nuclear weapons. To make enough fuel for a bomb, Iran may have to start over – this time avoiding the impurities.
You’ve got to hand it to the Iranians, though, for making the best of what may be a bad situation: In the proposal embraced in Geneva, they have gotten the West to agree to decontaminate fuel that would otherwise be useful only for the low-enriched civilian nuclear power they have always claimed is their only goal.
“It’s especially cheeky for Iran to try to leverage as a concession their willingness to receive international cooperation in supplying nuclear fuel,” noted George Perkovich, the director of the non-proliferation program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The October 1 tentative agreement had been hailed because Iran was pledging to send its 3.5 percent LEU, as the low-enriched uranium is known, to Russia where it would be boosted to the 19.75 percent level needed to fuel a research reactor in Tehran that produces medical isotopes. Under the tentative Geneva agreement, France offered to fabricate the higher-enriched uranium into fuel assemblies.
“The potential advantage of this, if it’s implemented, is that it would significantly reduce Iran’s LEU stockpile, which itself is a source of anxiety in the Middle East and elsewhere,” enthused a senior US official to reporters after the Geneva talks. A further meeting with Iran is set for Vienna October 19 to work out the details. But hold the cheers, negotiators, and let’s go back to the technical stuff. “If Iran’s uranium feedstock must be decontaminated before it is re-enriched … that would suggest that the breakout scenario in Iran does not pose a near-term threat,” Hibbs reported. “That is because re-enrichment by Iran of the LEU processed at Natanz without decontamination could destroy centrifuges used for this purpose.”
The Nucleonics Week story explained that the French company Areva “has uranium conversion-related technology and equipment that could decontaminate Iran’s LEU.”
How would those impurities have gotten into the uranium feedstock in the first place? That’s an intriguing question. It seems that the problems reportedly arose at an Iranian plant at Isfahan that converts raw uranium into the gaseous form that can be enriched in the centrifuges. The plant hadn’t adequately removed molybdenum and other impurities, Nucleonics Week reported back in 2005.
And where did the equipment at the malfunctioning Isfahan plant come from? You can bet that the Iranians have been worrying about that one for a while. Indeed, they are probably wondering what other parts of their vaunted nuclear establishment may be prone to malfunction. And if that’s not enough to make the Iranians paranoid, there’s the leak about the secret enrichment plant they had been burrowing into a mountain at a Revolutionary Guards base near Qom. If the US found out about that, what else does the Great Satan know?
Here’s the bottom line: There may be more time on the Iranian nuclear clock than some analysts had feared. The fuel stock they have worked so hard to produce might damage their centrifuges if they try to enrich it into a bomb. Making a deal with Iran to enrich nuclear fuel outside the country makes sense, so long as the international community can monitor where and how it’s used – and whether there’s a secret stash.
**Syndicated columnist David Ignatius is published regularly by THE DAILY STAR.

Lebanon needs both security and freedom
By Ghassan Rubeiz
Commentary by
Saturday, October 17, 2009
In Lebanon, the rulers are proud of existing freedoms and the reformers are obsessed with national security. All summer the Lebanese have been waiting for a new cabinet of ministers to emerge, with no results yet. For the people it feels like going through a ten-month pregnancy. Lebanon’s sectarian formula of power sharing offers a demographically shrinking Christian community the prestige of the country’s presidency. A Christian president designates a Muslim prime minister, a Since the end of the Civil War, Lebanon has faced a number of crises: a series of political assassinations, a devastating war with Israel in 2006, an 18-month strike that crippled the economy. And now, a young designated Prime Minister is having difficulties in forming a new post-election government without securing approval of regional and international powers, powers which have too much influence on domestic politics.
However, Lebanon remains unique in the region. Despite weak national security, freedom thrives. There is suspense in Lebanese elections. Politicians win with narrow margins. Criticism of the government is a national sport. Capitalism thrives. Students organize lively political rallies. Thinkers publish controversial ideas. Unconventional art and theater are appreciated. People dress fashionably; women can chose to wear daring Western styles or affirm their identity through traditional dress. How long will these freedoms last?
The freedoms which Lebanon enjoys disappear during national upheavals. The Civil War lasted 15 years, from 1975 to 1990. In this domestic war survival of the individual citizen trumped both freedom and national security.
All Lebanese want political reform. National debt has climbed to dangerous levels and is growing. Decent politicians take a back seat allowing opportunist leaders to run a country which lacks the discipline of law and order. A sectarian system of power sharing is bound to fail in the future because demography, the system’s underpinning, has already changed radically. Lebanon’s borders with neighboring countries are porous. The Israeli air force violates Lebanese skies on a regular basis.
The situation ought to change, but reform occurs only when the reformer has a better system to replace the old one. The opposition is a unique alliance between Hizbullah – a political party with a strong military wing – and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), lead by General Michel Aoun. Other minor parties play a secondary role in the opposition.
Sunni. But the prime minister, as the chief of cabinet, has more power than the president. The current chief of Parliament, a Shiite, has less formal power than the prime minister or the president, but his alliance with a militarized party – Hizbullah – gives him disproportional power.
In a way, the formal equilibrium in power sharing among the representatives of the four religious communities (Shiite, Sunnite, Christian and Druze) serves national stability, but this balance also seems to weaken national leadership, stifle efforts for reform and maintain sectarian tension. Too much energy is spent on political calibration of power. Observe the inconsistencies in the opposition camp. A “patriotic” party is in alliance with a militia-based party, which many view as a threat to the sovereignty of the state. Moreover, a secular Christian “Movement” – FPM – is in alliance with a Shiite “Party of God” – Hizbullah. Furthermore, the Lebanese opposition calls for political reform with major backing from Iran and Syria, two countries where the priority of national security is used as a pretext to marginalize freedom. But the opposition remains popular because those who rule appear less credible than those who challenge the system.
This political marriage of convenience is less based on common ideology than on political benefits. A Shiite movement looks “national” in scope and less tribal as it partners with FPM, a secular Christian party. In return, FPM gains electoral weight as it joins a militarized party that represents the largest faith community in the country.
The March 14 bloc is also a pragmatic alliance which lacks consistent ideology, charismatic leadership and confidence.
Critics of the majority bloc passionately argue that the opposition is a solid partnership across the religious divide; such critics claim that this reform front is a genuine political mass movement to save Lebanon from a future sectarian civil war. Some observers believe that a Christian-Shiite populist alliance has the potential to evolve into a full national liberation movement to free Lebanon from external hegemony and to reform it internally.
Following the logic of the opposition requires an overdose of positive thinking. The popularity of Aoun may be an awakening that rejects the current sectarian power sharing formula, a formula which gives Christians only a temporary guarantee of power.
To some extent, Lebanon owes its flair for political freedom to well-established Western educational and cultural institutions, particularly to the heritage of French and American schools and universities. The free political system of Lebanon is structurally geared to be friendly to the West.
But Lebanon’s connection with Iran and Syria through Hizbullah is growing. Regardless of its past contributions to Lebanon, Hizbullah’s armed wing today intimidates other parties and the state, gives excuse to other groups to organize secret militias, open the Shiite community leadership to external influence and reinforces sectarianism. Hizbullah’s Shiite composition, its clerical leadership and its symbols appear sectarian. Can Lebanon undergo reform without losing freedom? The chances are slim since the two major reform movements do not share the same vision of the future. Lebanon deserves a new political system which integrates freedom with security.
**Ghassan Michel Rubeiz is an Arab-American commentator. He wrote this commentary for THE DAILY STAR.

Lebanon's Security Council seat will offer few benefits
Position will not resolve any long-standing issues, analysts warn
By Michael Bluhm /Daily Star staff
Saturday, October 17, 2009
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s new seat on the UN Security Council should result in some mild benefits for the country, but the temporary post is not going to bring about marked progress in achieving the country’s political goals, a number of analysts told The Daily Star on Friday. Getting one of the nonpermanent council seats, which rotate on a two-year basis, means more for small countries like Lebanon which otherwise carry little weight in the UN, said Paul Sa­lem, head of the Carnegie Middle East Center.
For example, when other nations have issues before the Security Council and want to secure the votes of council members, Lebanon could take advantage of its post to extract support for its interests in exchange for its Security Council vote, he added. Lebanon was elected on Thursday by the UN General Assembly to one of the council’s five non-permanent seats for 2010-11. “Lebanon – as a small country – is more dependent on the United Nations than other countries,” Salem said. The Security Council seat “gives you some influence that you can use. That means other countries need you. That means you have some negotiating clout with other countries. It adds a bit to Lebanon’s meager resources.”
“I’m very, very happy about it,” Salem added. “It’s not an enormous deal, but it’s a deal.”
With its new position, Lebanon will have a clearer path toward placing before the council the issues most important for the country, Salem said.
“It boosts Lebanon’s presence in the UN and the Security Council … to push the items on its agenda,” he said.
For instance, Lebanon’s fraught relationship with Israel has a number of aspects relevant to the UN, aside from the roughly 13,000 international peacekeepers in south Lebanon as part of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon. Lebanon wants to demarcate the Blue Line, which separates the two countries, and the countries are also involved in a dispute over the Shebaa Farms, which Israel occupies as part of its 42-year occupation of Syrian territory but which Syria and Lebanon say belong to Lebanon.
Lebanon can hope to translate its new post into some headway on these items, but a seat on the Security Council will not resolve these longstanding problems, said Habib Malek, a history professor at the Lebanese American University and the son of Charles Malek, who served as UN General Assembly president in 1958-59.
“The UN is a player in South Lebanon,” he said. “It doesn’t hurt for Lebanon to bring all of those up at the Security Council, and maybe some moderate movement on one of those fronts may occur, but I just don’t see any breakthroughs.”
Any chance for gain from council membership could be amplified by the unquestioned talents of Lebanon’s UN Ambassador Nawaf Salam, the analysts said. “Salam is an excellent person to take this post,” Salem said. “He will do us proud on that council.” At the same time, Salam has long taken stances in line with the positions of the March 14 political coalition, Malek said. Salam “certainly has very clear views and opinions that tend to be March 14 all the way,” Malek said.
Lebanon ascending to the Security Council as the Arab world’s representative also carries positives and negatives – Lebanon will raise its credibility as “defender” of Arab nations in the UN, although Lebanon will almost always have to vote on Middle East issues according to the majority view of the Arab league, said former Ambassador Abdallah Bou Habib, executive director of the Issam Fares Center for Lebanon, a nonpartisan think tank. “Lebanon is the defender of the Arabs in the Security Council,” he said. “Lebanon is the Arab spokesperson. It’s a good platform for Lebanon to be spokesperson for the Arabs, and Lebanon has a good ambassador there.”
However, just as the Arab League will decide many of Lebanon’s positions on the Security Council, the world’s major political powers will determine the outcome of the geopolitical issues affecting Lebanon, Malek said.
For example, Lebanese politicians have long railed against giving Lebanese citizenship to Palestinian refugees here, but any prospective Israel-Palestinian peace agreement – brokered by more powerful actors, to be sure – will have to resolve the citizenship issue, and Lebanon will have to go along with the plan regardless of whether Lebanon sits on the Security Council, Malek added.
“I frankly don’t see how Lebanon being a member of the Security Council is going to stop [naturalization],” he said.
In addition, Lebanon has long complained to the United Nations about Israel violating UN Security Council Resolution 1701 with its near-daily overflights of Lebanese territory, but Lebanon’s council post is unlikely to ground Israeli pilots, Salem aid.
“Does that mean that Israel will stop overflights and incursions? No,” Salem said, adding that the seat would also probably not lead to Syria demarcating its border with Lebanon.
Any potential boons from Security Council membership will also have to wait for a Lebanese cabinet, which will provide Salam with directions, the Carnegie Center’s Salem said. Lebanon has been enduring a government vacuum since the June 7 general elections, although indicators abound that the rival March 14 and March 8 political alliances are closing in on a cabinet deal.
Some of the luster of a Security Council post also fades with the reality that Lebanon only won its seat because the post regularly circulates among the 22 Arab League member states, Bou Habib said. “It’s a rotational thing,” Bou Habib said “There are 22 Arab countries. They are appropriated one Security Council seat.” Lebanon will be taking the position of the council’s Arab representative from Libya, which remains regarded by many as a pariah state despite its turn on the Security Council.
In the end, Lebanon only stands to realize modest benefits from its Security Council seat because the United Nations itself retains limited power, Malek said. As ever, more powerful countries control the fate of the geopolitical misfortunes which have plagued this country for decades, added Malek, whose father represented Lebanon at the UN’s founding conference in San Francisco, helped draft the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights and later succeeded Eleanor Roosevelt as head of the UN Human Rights Commission.
“I’m fully aware of the limitations that the UN labors under,” Habib Malek said. “The UN can do just so much. The UN is a good forum, an opportunity, but I wouldn’t put too much stock in it. “The UN is not going to pull Lebanon’s chestnuts out of the fire,” he added

Fawzi Salloukh
October 16, 2009
On October 16, An-Nahar daily carried the following report:
Foreign Affairs Minister Fawzi Salloukh announced that Lebanon’s position vis-a-vis the Teirfelsay explosion will be based on the report of the UNIFIL and the army to undermine the Israeli complaint in this regard. Commenting on the fact that Israel filed a complaint before the UN Security Council in which it accused Hezbollah of violating UN Security Council Resolution 1701, Salloukh stated:
“The UNIFIL and the Lebanese army Intelligence apparatus are conducting an investigation which will be expanded, comprehensive and thorough. Once we receive a ratified copy of the report, we will look into it and adopt the necessary steps to undermine the Israeli allegations.
Israel has been continuously trying to violate Resolution 1701 ever since it was issued and has never stopped its air, land and sea violations. Moreover, it did not withdraw from the Northern section of the town of Al-Ghajar, did not conduct any measures in regards to the Shebaa Farms and the Kfar Shouba Hills and did not present the sufficient maps of the locations which it showered with cluster bombs. There are numerous violations that were committed by it and it is enough that it planted espionage networks in Lebanon in what seemed to be a war declaration on the country and not just a violation of Resolution 1701.
We do not wish to provoke anything. We will look into the report which will be presented to us by the Army Intelligence and the UNIFIL and adopt the appropriate steps accordingly. We could send a letter to the United Nations to undermine the Israeli complaint or adopt another step. However, the situation should be handled calmly and with patience.
Lebanon will be elected as a non-permanent member in the Security Council and will be assuming this position for the second time after it was previously elected during the 1953-1954 terms. This adds credibility to Lebanon and constitutes a positive development for it. It is an honor for Lebanon to assume this position which shows the respect carried for it by the entire world. Lebanon’s election was secured through a friendly agreement since the member states of the Arab League assume this position via a rotation mode between them. Therefore, every year, a different Arab state is nominated. Moreover, when Lebanon will reaches this position, it will get to know all the regional and international problems and partake in the adoption of the relevant decisions. Through this membership, Lebanon is not representing itself. It is representing 22 Arab countries. Therefore, coordination, cooperation and the exchange of ideas and opinions should be ongoing before reaching the appropriate decision in regard to any regional or international issue.
The five non-permanent members will be elected in an uncontested way and will include Lebanon, Nigeria, Gabon, Brazil and Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
Salloukh had received at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday, Swiss Ambassador Francois Paroz and Colombian Ambassador Rida Mariette Aljure Salame in the context of the action of their two countries in preparation for the Second Review Conference of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction which will be hosted by Colombia in December. He thus explained to them Lebanon’s reservations on joining the Ottawa Treaty for the time being, seeing as how Israel abstained from joining it and was still producing and using mines against it.