LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
April 17/09
Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 24,35-48. Then the
two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them
in the breaking of the bread. While they were still speaking about this, he
stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." But they were
startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said
to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look
at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost
does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have." And as he said this, he
showed them his hands and his feet. While they were still incredulous for joy
and were amazed, he asked them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a
piece of baked fish; he took it and ate it in front of them. He said to them,
"These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that
everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms
must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. And
he said to them, "Thus it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from
the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins,
would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You
are witnesses of these things.
Free Opinions, Releases, letters &
Special Reports
Civilization and Mosques. By:
Mordechai/American Thinker/16.04.09
What’s really behind
Hizbollah’s recent appearance in Egypt. By: Michael Young 16/04/09
Hizbullah, a Western fascination-By
Michael Young 16/04/09
Sinai saga casts
light on new regional dynamic.ByJonathan
Spyer/Jerusalem
Post 16/04/09
As
Indians go to the polls, Lebanese and Arabs should watch and learn-The
Daily Star 16/04/09
Latest News Reports From
Miscellaneous Sources for April
16/09
Abu el-Gheit: Egypt would confront
Hizbullah’s deeds/Future
News
Iran enters into the zone of
escalation with Egypt/Future
News
Marouni asks Egypt to ease
restrictions on Lebanese/Future
News
Jarrah: For the application of 1559
resolution/Future
News
Najjar: No Official Decision by
U.N. Tribunal on Release of 4 Generals-Naharnet
Experts Dismantle Motorbike Bomb in Tyre-Naharnet
Murr
for Winning All Metn Seats, Geagea Says Kesrouan in 'Political Battle'-Naharnet
Third Alleged Israel Spy Arrested-Naharnet
Murr:Crackdown on Army
Killers to Continue…No Going Back-Naharnet
Bassil Purportedly Refused
to Give Security Services Access to Data on Criminal Suspects-Naharnet
Egypt Likely to Place Ban
on Hizbullah-Naharnet
Report: Israel Pulling Out
of Ghajar in April-Naharnet
Hezbollah says no longer considered pariah by West-AFP
Lebanese Army arrests 69 criminals as Syria
steps up security-Monsters and
Critics.com
In Lebanon's wild east, Hezbollah finds itself
on left foot-Christian Science
Monitor
British parliamentarians meet with Hamas in
Syria-Monsters and Critics.com
Sleiman urges Romania to push for Middle East peace-Daily
Star
Lebanese Army rounds up 69 suspects in Bekaa raids-Daily
Star
Iran
dismisses Egypt's claims on Hizbullah as 'old and frayed trick'-Daily
Star
Qassem:
Hizbullah no longer considered pariah by West-(AFP)
By
flogging Shehab issue, Egypt striking back at Hizbullah swipes over Gaza war-Daily
Star
Beirut set to take over 'World Book Capital-Daily
Star
Next
parliament hinges on ballots in key districts-(AFP)
Celebration honors winners of Culture House design contest-Daily
Star
Berri
postpones Parliament session - again-Daily
Star
Bassil blames government for 'unjust' internet costs-Daily
Star
Lebanon's budget deficit rises by LL308 billion-Daily
Star
Barclays warns Lebanon still facing key economic risks-Daily
Star
Italy, UNICEF to 'adopt' three villages in Akkar-Daily
Star
Two
academics launch campaign to boycott Israel-Daily
Star
Egypt Likely to Place Ban on
Hizbullah
Naharnet/Egypt is considering banning Hizbullah cabinet ministers and members
from entering its territory, the state-owned al-Ahram newspaper said Thursday.
It quoted a government source as saying that one way Egypt could "punish"
Hizbullah is by tightening the noose on the group and its members. "Egypt is
concerned about the Lebanese people," he said. "But we can take measures such as
banning Hizbullah cabinet ministers and members from entering Egypt." Beirut, 16
Apr 09, 10:40
Iran dismisses Egypt's claims on Hizbullah as 'old and frayed trick'
Thursday, April 16, 2009
BEIRUT: Iran dismissed on Wednesday Egyptian accusations against Hizbullah as an
"old trick" aimed at influencing the Lebanese parliamentary elections, Iranian
news agencies reported Wednesday. "Labels against ... Hizbullah and [its chief
Sayyed] Hassan Nasrallah are an old and frayed trick and will not achieve
anything," Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was quoted as saying by
the Fars news agency. Mottaki also accused Iran's arch-foe Israel and "hands
from outside the region" of seeking to "create problems" ahead of Lebanon's June
7 elections. "The Zionist regime will not succeed in this political plot," he
said.
Meanwhile, Egyptian media reported on Wednesday that Egypt's judiciary
discussing the possibility of including Nasrallah and his deputy Sheikh Naim
Qassem's names in the charges made against a Hizbullah cell accused of carrying
out attacks inside Egypt. Security officials in Egypt said several names came up
during interrogation of 49 suspects who have been arrested over the past five
months. They said among the wanted men were 10 Lebanese and three Palestinians
whose names came up in questioning. Egyptian defense sources said the accused
could face death penalty or life in jail if convicted of planning terrorist
attacks inside Egypt. - Agencies
Najjar: No Official Decision by
U.N. Tribunal on Release of 4 Generals
Naharnet/Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar on Thursday said no official decision
has been made by the international tribunal on the release of Lebanon's top four
security and intelligence generals, detained for alleged involvement in the
assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri. The daily As Safir quoted a defense
attorney representing the four generals as saying that his defendants are likely
to be freed before Monday. "Head of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon's defense
office did not give any statements to the press regarding the four generals,"
Najjar told Future News TV. "What we have read in the papers today came out of
the defense attorneys," he stressed.
The defense attorney told As Safir that a decision to release the four generals
had been taken. Meanwhile, a delegation from the international tribunal visited
the generals on Thursday at Roumieh prison. The four generals are Jamil Sayyed,
Ali Hajj, Raymond Azar and Mustafa Hamdan who respectively headed the General
Security Department, the Internal Security Forces, Military Intelligence and the
Presidential Guards Brigade. Last week, a Lebanese investigating judge lifted
the arrest warrants against the generals. Judge Saqr Saqr also ordered that the
four remain in jail pending a decision on their fate by the STL. Beirut, 16 Apr
09, 08:17
Abu el-Gheit: Egypt would
confront Hizbullah’s deeds
Date: April 16th, 2009 Source: UPI
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu el-Gheit said Thursday that his country did
not receive any foreign support that contributed to the arrest of cell members
related to the pro-Iranian Hizbullah party. Abu el-Gheit told UPI “Any attempts
to jeopardize Egypt’s security would have negative consequences.”
He said: “The Egyptian security apparatus and the interior ministry monitored
the maneuvers of the terrorist cell,” adding “Egypt is not a small state and is
capable of controlling its territories. The security apparatus are aware of any
attempt to jeopardize the safety of the country.” On the terrorist cell of 49
Hizbullah agents who were plotting to attack Israeli terrorist resorts in the
Sinai Peninsula, he said: “The cell aims at disrupting the security in Egypt,”
warning the perpetrators “their deeds would have negative consequences.”He
accused the perpetrators -without naming them- of trying to control the Egyptian
decision, and to use Egypt as a means to implement their cruel policies saying,
“Ironically, these groups are a lot weaker than Egypt’s capabilities which
reflects how pathetic they are.” He added that Egypt would confront the actions
executed by Hizbullah saying “Egypt has the ability to retaliate in a very
harmful manner against all who promote for such policies and stances, but we are
wise enough and know well that any response would have severe damage to the
communities that we try hard to defend,” reminding of the historic stance of
Egypt from the Palestinian and Lebanese people. He described the
Egyptian-Iranian relationship as ‘cold’ because Iran did not appreciate Egypt’s
stance from supporting the Palestinian people in the West bank and Gaza.
Iran enters into the zone of escalation with Egypt
Date: April 16th, 2009 Source: private
By the time the interest was concentrated on the results of the electoral
alliances and the programmed campaigns attempted by both groups, in preparation
for the 7th of June, two events blocked the view in front of the electoral
preparations. The first is represented by the attack that targetted the Lebanese
army in Baalbek region, and the ongoing campaign it carries out to arrest the
agressors, in a step that shows athat a firm decision has been taken to confront
all who breach security.
The second is the escalating crisis between Ebypt and Hizbullah, as the Egyptian
authority continues its investigations with the unit that belongs to the party,
and the chasing fugitives belonging to the unit in the Sinai Desert.
Elections…and war crisis
What is interesting in this issue, is what leaked of escalating Iranian
positions against Egypt, and accusing the latter of processing according to the
“Zionist regime”. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Muttaki, linked this issue
to the subject of the next parliamentary elections, considering the Egyptian
accusations against Hizbullah and its Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
are “outdated and will not yield a result". Muttaki added that “unfortunately,
there are hidden hands driven by the Zionist regime, seeking to create problems
on the eve of the Lebanese parliamentray elections.”
A source familiar with Muttaki’s position, and the preceded positions by Ali
Larijani the Chairman of the Shura Council, said in an interview to
almustaqbal.org : "their position confirms the Iranian regime's plan to
camouflage the real goals of this regime in some Arabic arenas, including
Lebanon, Palestine and Egypt."
The source assured that “there is no relation between uncovering this unit and
the Parliamentray elections in Lebanon”, considering that “the depth of this
issue is the envolvement of Hizbullah in direct Iranian orders in foreign
branches of the Iranian intelligence starting from Latin America via Iraq,
Yemen, Bahrain and up to Lebanon, Gaza, Jordan, Egypt to Morocco.”
Sidon votes for the Martyr President
In another context, Samir Gaegae the ledaer of the executive body in the
“Lebanese forces” party, who discussed with Fares Soueid the coordinator of the
general secreteriate of March 14 forces, stressed that “the electoral
regulations of March 14 are getting more and more clear, and will be ready
during few days and coming weeks”. Geagea assured that the “electoral battle is
specifically a political battle and we are not convinced in running it under
“arbitrary” and incomplete titles. Thus, we have to search for the basic
political component in each reagion.”
Minister of Education and Higher Education Bahia Hariri streesed that “we are
committed in Sidon to the people's issues, and whether we succeed or not, our
commitment to people will not change because it is not compared to a location”,
pointing out that "Sidon will vote on the 7th of June for the path of Hariri and
the right to the Government presidency, and will vote for its national
principles, which does not wait for elections to be confirmed.”
A delayed session
In the electoral issue, the Bureau of the Parliamentary Council Ratified during
its meeting today, headed by Speaker Nabih Berri, on the legislative record of
the legistlative session that includes voting on lowering the voting to 18
years.
As a result to the lack of quorum in the Parliamentary legislative session, the
House Speaker Nabih Berri, who met Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, called for a
new legislative session next Tuesday, April 21. In this context, Minister of
State Wael Abu Faour declared that “the Deputies electoral concern dominates the
legislative agenda, and the summons of the opposition and the majority is
subject to the masses.”
Marouni asks Egypt to ease restrictions on Lebanese
Date: April 16th, 2009 Source: New TV
Tourism Minister Elie Marouni said Thursday he has asked the Egyptian ambassador
to Lebanon to urge the Egyptian government to ease restrictions imposed on
Lebanese traveling to Cairo following allegations that Hizbullah was plotting to
destabilize Egypt. As for the armed attack against a Lebanese Army patrol in the
Bekaa Valley on Monday, in which four soldiers were killed, Marouni said that he
“apologized in the name of the Lebanese state to 64 French tourists who were
visiting the Roman ruins at Baalbek at the time of the criminal operation.”
Jarrah: For the application of 1559 resolution
Date: April 16th, 2009 Source: Future News
MP Jamal Jarrah, member of the Almustaqbal bloc, urged Thursday the
implementation of Security Council resolution 1559 and to find a solution to the
illegitimate arms on the national dialogue table. “A solution must be found to
the illegitimate arms on the dialogue table,” noted Jarrah, “because those arms
lead us to the May 7 events as it was used for local purposes, thus the 1559
resolution should be applied.” Hezbollah, a Lebanese armed faction known for
resisting Israel’s occupation, took over Beirut on May 7 and made a number of
operations in Mount Lebanon protesting two governmental decisions. Those events
found an end when the Lebanese leaders agreed with an Arab sponsorship in Doha.
Jarrah’s statement came while the Lebanese army is investigating the armed
attack on a military patrol in the district of Baalbek leaving four martyr
soldiers and 11 wounded. The Bekaa MP commented on this incidents saying it
“harms the stature” of the army, explaining that there are a number of deprived
villages in Lebanon, other than the district of Baalbek-Hermel, where the law is
respected. As for the information published today in Assafir newspaper stating
that the four detained Generals for the assassination of martyr Prime Minister
Rafic Hariri are going to be freed on Monday, Jarrah said that this issue was
mentioned for “political and electoral reasons.” On the other hand, Jarrah
commented on the Egyptian accusations to Hizbullah, saying that this issue is
not related to the elections and that it is “only a judicial issue” which is not
directed against “the Shiite community or Lebanon.” Regarding the June 7
parliamentary elections, MP Jarrah expected revenge acts from the current
opposition camp in case it achieves a victory, adding that the “list of the
majority in Bekaa is not yet finalized.
Harb: Hizbullah’s arms ‘must be controlled’
Date: April 16th, 2009 Source: Voice of Lebanon
Former Education Minister Boutros Harb said Thursday that the Lebanese Army
cannot be protected and stability in the country cannot be maintained until the
divisive issue of “illegitimate arms” held by the pro-Iranian Hizbullah party
has been resolved. Harb, a member of parliament, told Voice of Lebanon radio:
“It is crucial that the illegitimate weapons in the hands of Hizbullah be
controlled. The issue of the national defense strategy must be solved.”The
controversial issue of Hizbullah’s arsenal lies at the core of the political
battle between the March 14 alliance, which heads the pro-Western government in
Lebanon, and the opposition March 8 bloc, spearheaded by Hizbullah. The Shiite
organization was allowed to retain its weapons following the 1975-90 civil war
on the premise that it was leading the resistance against Israel’s occupation of
south Lebanon. It insisted on keeping its weapons even after Israeli forces
withdrew from the region in May 2000. March 14 insists that Hizbullah’s arms
should be under state control. Hizbullah, backed by Iran and Syria, refuses.
Shehab confesses receiving orders from Hizbullah
Date: April 14th, 2009 Source: Al Ahram The Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram reported
Tuesday that Mohammad Youssef Ahmad Mansour known as “Sami Shehab”, a Lebanese
Hezbollah member detained by Egyptian authorities confessed to have plotted to
attack the internal institutions in the county.
The paper said that the leadership of the Hezbollah party directed Mansour to
plot for terrorist attacks and suicide bombings at Egyptian institutions and
Israeli tourists, particularly in Sinai region, Dahab, Taba and Nwaibeaa where
the majority of tourists are Israelis. The paper added that the first terrorist
operation aimed at executing three explosive attacks against Egyptian and
Israeli targets in three vital touristic locations, whereas the Hizbullah
leadership would later claim responsibility for the operation in revenge for the
slaughter of its military leader Imad Mughnieh. A sequence of orders was
followed. The Secretary-General of the Hizbullah party, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah,
gave orders to his deputy Naim Qassem, who transferred them to Mansour through
Mohammad Kabalan, according to the paper.
The paper also said that the party’s leadership recruited Sudanese men to
participate in smuggling arms through Egyptian borders for the terrorist
operation.
The Egyptian prosecution stated that Egyptian authorities would arrest 24 people
involved in the cell, including Kabalan, the intelligence responsible in the
party.
The independent newspaper “Egyptian today” said that it received a message from
Mansour through his attorney Montaser al-Zayyat. The message stated “Tell Sayyed
Hassan Nasrallah that we would follow him everywhere. We apologize for the
capture of his soldiers who should have been more vigilant and responsible just
like we were taught to.”Al-Zayyat quoted Mansour saying, “Mansour did not deny
his role because supporting the resistance is an honor according to Hizbullah’s
doctrines.”
Murr for Winning All Metn Seats, Geagea Says Kesrouan in
'Political Battle'
Naharnet/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea described the electoral race in the
Kesrouan district as a "political battle" as MP Michel Murr said his allies
should win all seats in the Metn. After meeting Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir on
Thursday, Geagea also lauded the Lebanese army's operations in the Bekaa valley
against drug lords who were behind the deadly ambush on a Lebanese army patrol.
Murr said the formation of "the North Metn list is in its last stages and will
not be announced before the start of next month." "We should win all seats," the
MP said. The meeting between Sfeir and Murr coincided with a visit to Bkirki by
Geagea. Murr also slammed Telecommunications Minister Jebran Bassil for
allegedly withholding data from security forces who are tracking down the army
killers in the Bekaa. "If the information in the newspapers is true, (Bassil)
was mistaken in delaying to disclose the information," Murr said. But the
telecommunications minister denied the media reports, saying "I was never late
in providing any information." Beirut, 16 Apr 09, 14:13
Experts Dismantle Motorbike Bomb in Tyre
Naharnet/Military experts on Thursday dismantled a motorbike bomb in the
southern port city of Tyre, state-run National News Agency said. It said the
bike, rigged with 650 grams of explosives, was parked outside the house of its
owner, Ziad Naji, in Hosh neighborhood in Tyre. A mortar shell was also found
attached to the motorcycle, according to NNA. It said Naji informed police about
the explosives. Police opened an investigation into the incident. Beirut, 16 Apr
09, 14:12
Third Alleged Israel Spy Arrested
Naharnet/A third member of a "professional and well-trained network" was
arrested on suspicion of spying for Israel, media reports said Thursday.
Police arrested G. Alam, a General Security Department Corporal, in the border
town of Naqoura and then raided his home in the town of Rmeish in Bin Jbeil
province.Pan-Arab daily al-Hayat said security forces seized a computer from his
house. His uncle, Adib Alam who is a retired Lebanese general, was arrested on
Saturday at his office near Beirut on suspicion of spying for Israel. The
detention of the ex-general from the General Security Department along with his
wife Hayat is among several arrests in recent months linked to spying for
Israel. Adib Alam has allegedly used the business he owned, which managed
foreign domestic workers, as a cover for intelligence work. As Safir daily said
security forces are expected to make more arrests.
Hizbullah's Deputy Secretary-General Naim Qassem said Wednesday that "security
forces monitored the movements of Adib Alam and asked Hizbullah for information
on him." "Preliminary information indicates he had been working as a spy for
Israel for over 25 years and retired from his position in national security
eight years ago," Qassem said. "His arrest was a major achievement," Qassem
said. A security source told As Safir that "investigation could take a long
time" because this is a "professional and well-trained network." The source said
that the group's task could have possibly included carrying out missions and not
just gathering information.
Adib Alam's wife, according to the source, also unveiled during investigation
that her husband began spying for Israel in 1982 and not in 1984 as claimed by
him.
It said the man was the general coordinator of several networks, which means
that more spy cell leaders could be arrested. Beirut, 16 Apr 09, 09:25
Murr:Crackdown on Army Killers to Continue…No Going Back
Naharnet/The Lebanese army will hunt down those behind the killing of four
soldiers and there is "no going back," Defense Minister Elias Murr vowed.
In an interview with the daily An Nahar published Thursday, Murr said that
security services know the secret hiding places of the wanted men.
"The crackdown will continue until they (wanted men) are arrested," Murr said.
Meanwhile, the army continued a hunt for drug lords behind the deadly ambush on
a Lebanese army patrol. On Monday, assailants raked the patrol with bullets and
blasted it with a rocket-propelled grenade, killing four soldiers and critically
wounding an officer, in an apparent drugs-related ambush in the Bekaa. The
manhunt widened on Thursday to cover various towns and neighborhoods surrounding
Sharawneh and Dar el-Wasaa in Baalbek. Local media said helicopters were used in
the crackdown. An army spokesman had said the raids would continue until those
behind the attack were arrested. "We will raid every region and every location
where we have information on suspects," he said. "We have raided a number of
homes and detained several suspects wanted in previous cases but they don't
include those behind Monday's attack." An army statement on Wednesday said that
the military detained 69 men wanted for committing a wide range of crimes.
Beirut, 16 Apr 09, 10:06
Bassil Purportedly Refused to Give Security Services Access
to Data on Criminal Suspects
Naharnet/Telecommunications Minister Jebran Bassil has reportedly refused to
give security services access to data on telephone numbers of those suspected of
involvement in the fatal ambush of army troops in east Lebanon's Bekaa Valley or
of concealing information about them. The daily Ad Diyar on Thursday said
security services had in the past 48 hours filed a request to Bassil for access
to "limited and specific names and telephone numbers of the criminals (behind
the army attack) and those who cooperate with them." Bassil "refused to give
permission to continue to track down telephone call traffic of those (suspects)
despite interference by Interior Minister Ziad Baroud," Ad Diyar quoted a
well-informed source as saying. An Nahar newspaper for its part quoted
ministerial sources from the ruling March 14 coalition as saying that 48 hours
after security services filed the request for data on the suspects, there was no
response from Bassil. Bassil denied the accusations, saying "Security services
are accusing me of withholding information on the Bekaa ambush to justify their
failure. I was never late in providing any info." Justice Minister Ibrahim
Najjar, meanwhile, said the telecommunications ministry cannot make a decision
to withhold data over the attack on the army patrol. Beirut, 16 Apr 09, 08:56
Report: Israel Pulling Out of Ghajar in April
Naharnet/Israel will withdraw from the Lebanese side of the border village of
Ghajar this month, diplomatic sources told An Nahar newspaper. The sources said
all sides have made the final arrangements for the Israeli pullout from the
northern part of Ghajar. A tripartite meeting was held last month between
officials from the Lebanese army, UNIFIL Commander Maj. Gen. Claudio Graziano
and Israeli military representatives at a U.N. base near the area of Ras al-Naqoura.
The officials discussed the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701,
particularly violations of the U.N.-drawn Blue Line to avoid any incident in the
border area, UNIFIL spokeswoman Yasmina Bouziane said in a press release. The
issue of Ghajar and the marking of the Blue Line were also discussed, she added.
In his last report on the implementation of resolution 1701, U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon renewed his call on the parties to proceed on the
basis of the UNIFIL proposal so as to facilitate the withdrawal of the Israeli
soldiers in accordance with the Jewish state's obligations under resolution
1701. Beirut, 16 Apr 09, 08:26
Lebanese Army rounds up 69 suspects in Bekaa raids
Syria beefs up border presence to hinder fugitives' escape
By Dalila Mahdawi /Daily Star staff
Thursday, April 16, 2009
BEIRUT: The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) obstructed all entrance points to a
neighborhood in the Bekaa city of Baalbek and arrested 69 people following raids
on criminal gangs after Monday's deadly attack on an army patrol, a security
source told The Daily Star Wednesday.
LAF troops raided the house of Hassan Abbas Jaafar, thought to have masterminded
the ambush on the unsuspecting soldiers, and cordoned off the area surrounding
his house in the Sharawneh neighborhood, the source said. According to a
statement issued by the LAF on Wednesday, soldiers also shot at two men on
Tuesday, killing one. The men were targeted after attempting to flee soldiers
during a raid in the village of Hawch Barda, suggesting they were implicated in
Monday's attack which saw gunmen pummel an army vehicle with machine gun fire
and rocket propelled grenades.
Police believe the soldiers - Zakaria Ahmad Habla, Mahmoud Ahmad Mroun, Khoder
Ahmad Suleiman and Badr Hussein Badr Baghdad - were purposefully targeted as
they drove through the Riyaq district, near Zahle. A fifth surviving soldier,
identified by security officials as Major Allam Donia, remains in the Saint
Georges hospital in Beirut. The suspect killed on Tuesday has yet to be publicly
identified.
The LAF said it also confiscated drug-making equipment in a factory during the
Haouch Barda raid, as well as 13 stolen cars. One of the cars was the silver
Grand Cherokee sport utility vehicle used in Monday's attack, the statement
said. Troops were said to be looking for the suspects in the "northern Bekaa
from the northern area of Hermel to Dar al-Wasaa and Yamoune, as well as the
eastern and western fronts of Lebanon's mountain range."
The attack on the soldiers was supposedly carried out as retribution for the
death of Ali Abbas Jafaar, a senior figure in the Jafaar family's drug empire.
He was killed by Lebanese troops at the end of March after refusing to stop his
stolen car at a military checkpoint near Baalbek.
Jaafar had long been hunted by the Lebanese security officials for drug
trafficking, attempted murder and attacking military positions.
Security in the Bekaa Valley has been volatile for a number of years, with the
area lorded over by a number of powerful drug dealing families who exploit
Lebanon's political instability to grow illegal drug crops. News of the army
cordon came as the LAF began negotiations with members of the Jaafar family to
persuade the killers of the soldiers to turn themselves in, OTV said on
Wednesday. The Jaafar clan have condemned Monday's attack, but stressed that the
LAF could not raid the homes of "decent people," AFP reported. The family also
promised it would not harbor any suspects involved in the ambush.
Hizbullah likewise pledged not to provide cover for the suspects, most of whom
are based in the Bekaa, a stronghold of the Shiite group.
Meanwhile, President Michel Sleiman met with Lebanon's Army commander General
Jean Kahwaji Wednesday to discuss efforts to bring the fugitives to justice.
The LAF launched a major military operation in the Bekaa Valley in the aftermath
of the attack in the hopes of catching the gang. Convoys of army vehicles were
deployed on Monday, along with helicopters fitted with missiles which security
sources said would be fired at the assailants if spotted.
The army has said the operation, which has seen swathes of the Bekaa area
cordoned off, will last until the armed men are reprimanded or killed.
According to a report in An-Nahar newspaper on Wednesday, the army has already
seized hundreds of kilograms of poppy seeds, weapons and stolen vehicles, and
carried out a raid in the town of Majdel Anjar, arresting one man. The man was
able to escape, however, after unidentified attackers threw a sound bomb at the
soldiers, the newspaper said. In a show of support, the Syrian army deployed
troops along its border with Lebanon late on Monday night in order to hinder
possible attempts by the fugitives to exit Lebanon. Lebanese commandos have also
been positioned along the mountainous border area to search for the perpetrators
of Monday's attack. - With AFP
Qassem: Hizbullah no longer considered pariah by West
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Interview
Jocelyne Zablit
Agence France Presse
BEIRUT: The West can no longer ignore Hizbullah and has given assurances it will
deal with the Lebanese group if it wins upcoming elections, the movement's
deputy chief said on Wednesday. "Western countries are rushing to speak with us
and will do so even more in the future," Sheikh Naim Qassem told AFP in an
interview.
He added that a number of European countries as well as the International
Monetary Fund have reassured Hizbullah's leadership that they will not boycott
the group if its alliance wins the June 7 legislative poll as was the case with
the Palestinian Hamas in 2006.
"The ambassador of a key European country also informed us that the US will deal
with any government even though they are hoping the [Western-backed] ruling
majority wins the vote," Qassem said.
The election is considered important as it will determine whether Lebanon
continues to look West or whether it tilts more toward Iran if Hizbullah and its
allies come out victorious.
Washington considers Hizbullah a terrorist group and blacklisted the group in
1997.
Qassem, however, stressed that Hizbullah's image has significantly improved in
the West.
"They discovered that we accept dialogue ... that our resistance is well
thought-out and ... that we are open-minded," the 56-year-old cleric said. "The
more they get to know us, the more they will realize the need to respect us."
He also welcomed the change in US administration.
"Things look good now that [George W.] Bush is gone and Obama is trying to open
up to the world and make up for the mistakes of the previous administration," he
said, referring to US President Barack Obama who has reached out to the Muslim
world.
He said that Hizbullah wanted "concrete measures" rather than mere talk from
Washington that prove it is sincere.
"Until now, our stand has been that we do not deal with the US administration
until change comes about in its attitude," Qassem said. "Once that happens, then
we'll see."
In a sign that Hizbullah is gaining more legitimacy on the international scene,
Britain last month said it was re-establishing contact with the group's
political wing.
Washington refuses to make that distinction and considers the group's militant
and political wings as one and the same.
Hizbullah and Israel waged a devastating war in 2006 that left much of south
Lebanon in ruins and killed more than 1,200 mainly Lebanese civilians as well as
160 Israelis, most of them soldiers.
The group has since refused to disarm despite a post-war UN resolution that
calls for all militias to turn in their weapons. It argues that its arsenal is
needed to defend the country against Israel.
Qassem sidestepped questions on Hizbullah's weapons, saying they will be dealt
with once Lebanon comes up with a national defense strategy.
"We usually do not talk about [the source of] our funding and weapons," he said.
"We are a resistance movement and as such we do not address questions about our
funding, arms and number of fighters."
Qassem also brushed aside as baseless and unfounded accusations that the
militant group, arguably one of the most powerful non-state actors in the Middle
East, was plotting attacks in Egypt.
"It has become clear to everyone that these accusations are fabricated ... and
that they are worthless," Qassem said. "The Egyptian regime wants revenge and is
seeking to sully Hizbullah's image.
"This whole thing is politically motivated and will result in a backlash against
the Egyptian regime."
Cairo last week announced it had arrested a Hizbullah cell on charges of
plotting attacks in the country and has accused Iran of using the Shiite group
to gain a foothold in Egypt.
Qassem confirmed that one of the men arrested was a Hizbullah operative but
stressed that his mission was solely to provide assistance to Palestinian
resistance fighters in Gaza.
Hizbullah, a Western fascination
By Michael Young
Daily Star staff
Thursday, April 16, 2009
The killing of four Lebanese soldiers on Monday reawakens some old thoughts
about a phenomenon I've watched over the years, one that should not be
underestimated in determining how Lebanon is understood and portrayed abroad:
the devouring fascination with Hizbullah that many Westerners living in and
writing about the country have developed, so that the party typically fills
center stage in their Lebanese considerations.
The Hizbullah link to the soldiers is not a tenuous one. Michel Aoun remarked
that the deadly attack in the Bekaa Valley was a family matter. Perhaps it was,
however such brazenness was possible only because the gunmen were acting with
two things in mind: that in areas ruled by Hizbullah the army is fair game, so
that even the killer of the helicopter pilot Samer Hanna last August managed to
escape punishment; and that much of the northern Bekaa, beyond its geographical
seclusion, is frequently off limits to the state, and even in some areas to
Lebanese citizens, because Hizbullah has simply decided that it should be so.
This realization feeds into another, namely how little we tend to read, or hear,
any real condemnation of this rather astonishing state of affairs from Western
journalists, analysts, academics and others who write about Hizbullah. Of
course, not all journalism or analysis needs to express sharp opinions, but over
the years a double standard has been on display: The Western observer will often
approach Hizbullah on its own terms, with laudable and reasonable objectivity;
but he or she will almost never show the same detachment when addressing the
Lebanese political system, which is routinely criticized as archaically
sectarian and corrupt.
Where Hizbullah fascinates, and fascinates justifiably for being an interesting
sociological phenomenon, the Lebanese political system, despite its paradoxical
liberalism, tends to repel many Westerners for being an ersatz version of what
they know, an inferior, aberrant knock-off of their own societies. I still
recall over a year ago being asked to discuss Lebanon with students attending a
course in Beirut. I had about an hour and a half to answer their questions, and
an hour and 15 minutes of that time was devoted to Hizbullah. "Lebanon is more
than Hizbullah," I feebly said at the end, but I had gotten the message.
Why this interest in Hizbullah, and why does this interest quite often morph
into measured, even unmeasured, attraction? I can offer up several hypotheses,
not mutually exclusive. First of all, for a Western journalist or analyst,
Hizbullah is an easy story to sell to a publication or think tank. There are
guns and strange bearded men, and both will grab an editor back home and a
writer eager to show off his access to a closed world that is vaguely menacing.
There is the legitimate fact that Hizbullah plays a definable role in Lebanon,
so that it makes no sense not to cover the party. However, when was the last
time a journalist sold a story on the inherent pluralism in Lebanese
sectarianism? Once you've woken the editor up and told him that this defines
Lebanon more accurately than Hizbullah does, he'll still choose the riveting
clarity of a Hizbullah peg.
Hizbullah also benefits from the underlying contempt among many Westerners for
the baroque Lebanese system itself, all nods and winks and clandestine
compromises. Here is a party that can build institutions, that means what it
says and says what it means, and that in many respects defines itself against
the duplicity of the traditional politicians. More interestingly, it speaks for
a once marginalized community, so that it presents several ingredients to spur
Western sympathy and appreciation: a social cause, methodicalness in the pursuit
of its objectives, an institutional structure transcending the narrow retail
politics of most Lebanese leaders, rhetorical precision, and purported honesty.
And then there is authenticity. Hizbullah is widely seen as representing a truer
Lebanon than the Lebanon of confused identities lying outside the party's realm.
Remember how the media in 2005 translated the emancipation movement against
Syria. For three weeks after the assassination of Rafik Hariri, the story was
that of a liberal Lebanon revolting against an illiberal Syria and its Lebanese
peons, a rare occasion during the post-Civil War period when that narrative
dominated. However, its fragility was highlighted on March 8, when Hizbullah
organized its mass demonstration at Riad al-Solh square. Suddenly,
interpretations shifted. The "real Lebanon" had spoken, observers said, and it
had spoken with verve, so that the anti-Syrian demonstrators of the weeks
before, with their Occidental pretensions and designer clothes, were now
dismissed as creations of the Western media. Then March 14 came, confusing the
observers further and resurrecting the liberal plot line, if not for very long.
The irony is that the very attributes that make many Westerners so belittle the
Lebanese political and social order in Hizbullah's favor are actually present in
Hizbullah in more concentrated ways. The Lebanese system is archaic,
undemocratic and sectarian? Well then what do you call a Shiite Leninist
organization, led by a leader who will probably remain in office for life, that
calls itself the Party of God? And what reaction do one's Western liberal
instincts provoke when that centralized religious party glorifies violent
self-sacrifice and makes permanent armed struggle a centerpiece of its
ideological mindset, mainly on behalf of an autocratic clerical regime in Iran,
its Lebanese authenticity notwithstanding? As for corruption, those who see
Hizbullah as spotless should learn a trifle more about the party's illicit
networks, or those of individuals close to the party. In that regard, we can say
that Hizbullah is as Lebanese as anyone else.
Hizbullah is an essential part of Lebanon, a reflection of the country's complex
personality and a distillation of its flaws. That it is worthy of study is
obvious, but only if one grasps two caveats: that the party, while an anomaly
institutionally, so that it can implement many of its totalistic ambitions in an
essentially pluralistic society, does not really represent a refreshing contrast
to the less admirable aspects of Lebanon; and that Hizbullah remains a slim
prism through which to comprehend Lebanese society. Indeed, to know the party,
or to claim to, often seems an excuse some Westerners have of avoiding
discovering the wider reality all around it.
**Michael Young is opinion editor of THE DAILY STAR.
As Indians go to the polls, Lebanese and Arabs should watch and learn
By The Daily Star
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Editorial
Voters in the world's most populous democracy head to the polls today to begin
selecting members of new Parliament, and their next government. For many people
in the Middle East, India is at the margins of their concerns, lying just
outside the traditional designation of the region. But with the world's
attention focused on the eastern side of the Middle East, starting in Iran and
moving to neighboring countries of concern like Pakistan and Afghanistan, it
would be useful to remember that India's presence on the world stage will only
grow, as a key partner in any successful resolution to the problems of AfPak, as
it's now being called.
Poverty and a huge population might characterize India, but recent years have
also highlighted the huge innovation that has been generated by this Asian
powerhouse, one with strategic weight in the region and membership in the
exclusive international club of the G20. India is also a nuclear power and thus
bears a tremendous responsibility to a world that is increasingly looking to
fight proliferation and related threats.
Stability is a watchword in today's volatile geopolitical and economic climate,
and India is an increasingly important player, whether in the Indian Ocean
region, or in the Arab states of the Gulf, with their large populations of
workers and employees from the subcontinent.
The point is that India presents an interesting showcase for Lebanese and Arabs,
who often lack curiosity about places lying to the east of us. We're fond of
citing the importance of countries like India and China, as if we are on
intimate terms with these huge giants, but fail to examine these political and
economic systems and what they might teach us.
India is not a perfect model when it comes to politics, but that is to be
expected: democracy is a process, or a work in progress, and doesn't represent a
destination. We should learn from Indian politicians, skilled in the art of
deal-making and coalition-building; Lebanese and other Arabs could benefit from
gauging Indian expertise in fighting sectarian incitement, since they have the
credentials, as victims of sectarian violence. Moreover, a country known for
Hindu nationalism did, after all, elect a Muslim president earlier this decade,
and it has one of the world's largest Muslim communities.
We can follow the latest developments in Western political systems but we have
much to learn from the other direction, where India can teach us about the
limitations of democracy, and - crucially for our purposes - how to apply it to
a diverse population, whether the dividing lines are based on sects,
socio-economic groups, or geographic regions.
By flogging Shehab issue, Egypt striking back at Hizbullah swipes over Gaza war
Cairo also seeks to curtail Iran's bid for regional powerbroker
By Michael Bluhm
Daily Star staff
Thursday, April 16, 2009
BEIRUT: The arrest of Hizbullah member Sami Shehab in Egypt and the ensuing
vitriolic rhetoric represent Egypt's retribution for sharp Hizbullah criticism
of Cairo during the recent Gaza conflict, as well as an Egyptian swipe at
Hizbullah sponsor Iran, a number of analysts told The Daily Star on Wednesday.
During Israel's Gaza assault this past December and January, Hizbullah said
Egypt's lack of assistance for Hamas amounted to collaboration with the Jewish
state, and Egypt is taking full advantage of Shehab's arrest to tar the Shiite
group, said Oussama Safa, executive director of the Lebanese Center for Policy
Studies. Egypt has arrested Shehab and 48 others on suspicions of plotting to
destabilize Egypt, assassinate Israeli tourists, possessing weapons, forgery and
spying for a foreign country.
"The Egyptians really want to get back at Nasrallah with full force," he said.
"What Nasrallah declared during the Gaza war was really offensive to Egyptians.
They're not going to forget that easily."
In an interview published on Tuesday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu al-Gheit
said the investigations would reveal "surprises," and reports said Egyptian
prosecutors were considering charging Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
in the case, all pointing toward Cairo's intent to magnify the issue, Safa said.
"The Egyptians are promising escalation," he said.
In addition, by flogging the controversy Egypt also hopes to curtail efforts by
Iran - Hizbullah's main military and financial backer - to undermine the regime
of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and expand Iranian influence in the region,
said retired General Elias Hanna, who teaches political science at Notre Dame
University.
"Egypt is targeting Hizbullah because it is aiming at Iran," he said. "It will
depict Hizbullah as threatening the national security of Egypt on the demand of
Iran."
In this context, Hizbullah is playing the role of a tool wielded by one great
power in the eternal struggle among such would-be empires for the upper hand in
the region, Hanna said. "It is a geopolitical game in the region - it used to be
between [former Egyptian President Gamal] Abdel-Nasser and the shah," he said,
adding that Iran under former shah Reza Pahlavi courted Israel as a
counterweight to Abdel-Nasser's pan-Arabism.
With Iran's regional power waxing and Egypt's on the wane, Tehran is seeking to
undercut Egypt by labeling Cairo as defeatist in the face of Israel and the
fulcrum of the US project in the region, Hanna said. Egypt responds by parading
Shehab, for example, and by refusing to attend the Arab League summit at the end
of last month in Doha - Qatar had joined Iran and Hizbullah in bashing Cairo for
inaction during the Gaza onslaught, Hanna added.
Nasrallah has said Shehab was a member of Hizbullah but was in Egypt only to
support those resisting Israel. Regardless of the veracity of the charges
against Shehab, Hizbullah does carry out operation in Egypt to destabilize the
Mubarak regime, said Hilal Khashan, head of the department of political studies
and public administration at the American University of Beirut.
"We all know that Hizbullah is Iran's long arm in Egypt and the region," he
said. "Helping those who fight Israel is part of their creed. Hizbullah uses
this as a cover to accomplish other objectives. They also have another objective
in Egypt, which is to destabilize the regime."
A show trial portraying Hizbullah as sabotaging Egypt could do much to damage
the group in the eyes of Arabs who had admired Hizbullah's religious piety and
successes against Israel, Khashan added.
"The image of Hizbullah is being shattered now," he said. "For years Iran has
been trying to present Hizbullah as a showcase for Islamic groups in the region.
It's becoming increasingly clear to most Arabs that Hizbullah is an agent of
subversion. We are encountering mounting evidence to implicate - at least
circumstantially - Hizbullah in subversive activity in the region."
Beyond sullying its reputation, the case could also constrict Hizbullah's
operations, as intelligence and law enforcement agencies turn up their already
intense scrutiny of the group, Hanna pointed out.
"It will put [Hizbullah] on the defensive and limit its freedom of action," he
said, adding that Hizbullah likely had dozens more agents in Egypt than the 49
alleged members arrested, because the purchase, handling and smuggling of arms
to Hamas in Gaza would require markedly more manpower. "Everybody will have an
eye on [Hizbullah]."
In Lebanon, the repercussions of the contretemps could lead Egypt to recall its
ambassador and put pressure on political leaders to explain why Hizbullah
evidently has additional capabilities which it is not sharing with Lebanon and
is instead establishing cells in ostensibly friendly countries, Hanna said.
"It is going to be embarrassing for Lebanon," he said. "Whether Hizbullah is
right or wrong, we will pay a price."
The analysts all said Egypt had not conjured up the Shehab case to manipulate
the June 7 general elections here, as some Hizbullah officials have said, but
the analysts differed on whether the controversy could affect swing voters in
the Christian-majority districts which observers have long tipped as decisive in
the poll.
Hanna said the Shehab incident could drive some undecided Christian voters away
from candidates from the Hizbullah-led March 8 alliance, while Safa and Khashan
said Christians who backed the March 8 camp would not change their minds based
on the charges against Shehab.
"Christian voters would not be swayed by Hizbullah's actions in Egypt," Khashan
said. "If the alliance between [Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel] Aoun
and Hizbullah does not disturb some Christians, why would I expect that their
activities in Egypt would disturb them?"
Politicians in the March 14 alliance have mostly kept silent about the issue,
preferring not to inflame tensions ahead of the crucial vote or to entangle
Lebanon further in an international incident, Hanna said.
The regional repercussions of the Hizbullah-Egypt clash could well relegate to
the sidelines the warming relations between Saudi Arabia and Hizbullah ally
Syria, and instead return to center stage the biggest and thorniest conflicts in
the region - Arab versus Persian and Sunni versus Shiite, Hanna said.
The arrival of US President Barack Obama and his first, halting overtures toward
Iran and Syria, as well as Britain's recent outreach to the political wing of
Hizbullah, had kindled hopes for a rapprochement in the region, but the
hostility revealed by the Shehab case has revealed that Cairo has not joined the
pursuit of regional entente, Safa said. "It's very clear the Egyptians don't
want to take part in this."
Cairo believes Tehran gave approval for Hizbullah's harsh words toward Egypt
during the Gaza war, and so Egypt is trumpeting the arrest of a Hizbullah member
to fire back at Iran, illustrating the regional enmity at the heart of the case,
Safa said.
"It's a purely Egyptian-Iranian rift," he added.
"What’s really behind
Hizbollah’s recent appearance in Egypt
http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090416/OPINION/332937630/1080
Michael Young
The National
April 16. 2009
Last week the judicial authorities in Cairo announced that they had arrested
members of a Hizbollah cell and accused the Lebanese Shiite party of threatening
Egypt’s national security. In a televised address, Hezbollah’s secretary
general, Hassan Nasrallah, admitted that one of those in custody was a party
member working to rearm Palestinians in Gaza. However, he added, no one was
trying to undermine Egyptian security. Both accounts told us little about what
is really going on.
When Nasrallah owned up to the arrest of one of his cadres, he deflected
attention away from the fact that by setting up arms networks in Egypt,
Hizbollah and behind it the party’s main sponsor, Iran, put themselves in a
better position to manipulate Egyptian stability. After all, while those weapons
may be destined for Palestinian groups, what is to prevent their distribution to
organisations opposing Egypt’s regime?
What has happened in Lebanon since 2006 is instructive in this regard, and must
be high in Egyptian minds. During that period, Hizbollah effectively mounted a
coup against the Lebanese system. While the results were mixed, the party
managed to impose a red line that neither its domestic adversaries nor the
Lebanese state will dare cross again in order to disarm Hizbollah and challenge
its political and military autonomy inside Lebanon. From a “resistance” movement
initially focused on liberating South Lebanon, Hizbollah has morphed into an
organisation with the ambition of holding the commanding heights of the country,
as well as of playing a regional role on behalf of Iran.
Why 2006? In the aftermath of the summer war against Israel that year, Hizbollah
started a campaign to reverse what had occurred in 2005, when international
pressure and popular demonstrations in Beirut forced a Syrian withdrawal from
Lebanon following the assassination of the former prime minister, Rafiq Hariri.
Hizbollah viewed Syria’s departure with trepidation, as it removed the primary
defender of its freedom of action. The summer war was a turning point. While
Shiites suffered terribly from Israeli attacks, Nasrallah saw an opening to turn
the tide against his Lebanese foes, and Syria’s, who held a majority in
parliament.
Once the war ended, Nasrallah declared a military victory against Israel, then
demanded veto power in the government for the Hizbollah-led opposition. Given
that the president and parliament speaker were close to Syria, Hizbollah’s
ability to also shape the government’s agenda would have crippled the
anti-Syrian majority, known as the March 14 coalition. When the majority
refused, Hizbollah began a sit-in in Beirut’s downtown area, kicking off 18
months of protests that carried Lebanon to the brink of civil war. In May 2008,
the Siniora government took a pair of decisions that Hizbollah interpreted as
efforts to inhibit the party. Nasrallah sent his gunmen into western Beirut and
other areas to force the government to back down. It did, and the result was an
accord signed in Doha granting Hizbollah and its allies veto power as well as a
favourable law for parliamentary elections scheduled in June. Violence paid off.
The confrontation in Lebanon was followed by the conflict in Gaza early this
year. There, Iran and Syria proved that they could exploit a local ally, Hamas,
to undermine the credibility of both the Palestinian Authority and Egypt. Hamas
thwarted Egyptian efforts to extend the truce in Gaza, and Hizbollah followed at
the height of the fighting with Israel by accusing Egypt’s leadership of virtual
treason for keeping the Rafah crossing closed. Hizbollah and Hamas had never
been used so aggressively by Iran and Syria in a head-on assault on Egypt. The
Gaza war isolated the so-called Arab moderates, whom many Arabs saw as complicit
in neutralising what they considered legitimate Palestinian resistance.
More ominously, Lebanon and Gaza showed that Iran is trying to take decisive
advantage of the weakness of the Arab state system, so that it might play a
dominant role in the Middle East. This prompted the Saudi monarch, King
Abdullah, to reconcile with Syria in January, and to sponsor Egyptian-Syrian
reconciliation, his aim being to break Damascus away from Tehran. The Saudis
want to put Syria’s president, Bashar Assad, on the spot so that he will have to
either side with Iran or with his Arab brethren. Expectations aren’t high in
Riyadh that this scheme will succeed, but the idea is that if Syria remains a
strategic ally of Iran for much longer, it will be easier to isolate regionally
afterward.
That’s the context for Egypt’s tension with Hizbollah. It was not surprising
that Iranian officials publicly condemned Egyptian actions. More revealing,
however, was that the Syrian daily Al Watan did much the same thing. The paper
is owned by the cousin of Bashar Assad, suggesting that the Syrian-Egyptian
rapprochement is already fraying. In Lebanon, meanwhile, as parliamentary
elections approach, the Saudi-Syrian understanding, while it has calmed the
political atmosphere, has not warmed relations between Hizbollah and its leading
rival, the pro-Saudi Future movement – in other words between Shiites and
Sunnis.
There is growing fear in many Arab states that Iran, directly or through the
groups it finances, is making dangerous inroads into their societies. This has
been the case in Lebanon and Egypt, but Saudi Arabia and Bahrain also worry
about Iranian influence over their own Shiite communities. Iran’s considerable
sway in Iraq, which comes as the Obama administration prepares to withdraw
American soldiers from the country, also provides little reassurance for the
Sunni-dominated Arab political orders. Syria remains an unknown quantity, but it
is very unlikely that Assad will break with Tehran if he feels that it retains
the initiative regionally.
Analysis: Sinai saga casts
light on new regional dynamic
By JONATHAN SPYER
Jerusalem
Post 16/04/09
The latest revelations of Hizbullah involvement in northern Sinai cast a sudden
light on a silent war currently under way across the Middle East and beyond it.
The events in Sinai showcase a number of defining factors of this new, Middle
Eastern Cold War.
SLIDESHOW: Israel & Region | World Firstly, the Sinai events confirm that where
there is disorder, weak central government and ongoing local conflict - there is
Iran. Northern Sinai provides a near-perfect environment for the activities of
the clandestine arms of Iranian government and its proxies. As a result of
long-term indifference on the part of the Egyptian authorities, an entire local
economy based on smuggling and lawlessness has grown up among the Beduin of the
northern Sinai.
Over the last decade, Sunni global jihad groups have moved in to take advantage
of the tempting prospects offered by the combination of lawlessness, light
government, nearness to Israel and the close proximity of large numbers of
western and Israeli tourists. Sunni jihadi terror attacks took place in Taba in
2004, Sharm e-Sheikh in 2005 and Dahab in 2006.
It is now clear that Sunni global Jihad groups were not the only ones to see the
potential in northern Sinai. The infinitely more serious networks of Iran and
its proxy Hizbullah have made use of the smugglers' trail that leads from Sudan
through Egypt and into Sinai to bring the weapons intended to turn the Hamas
enclave in Gaza into an Islamist fortress.
The growing boldness of Iran and its proxies evidently led to the idea of making
use of the ideal conditions available for terrorists in Sinai to build active
Shia-led Islamist terror cells in the area.
The Egyptian authorities have made half-hearted efforts in the past to prevent
weapons smuggling to Gaza. This new threat, however, appears to have constituted
a red line - leading to determined action. In particular, the possibility of an
attack on shipping in the Suez Canal served to concentrate the minds of the
Egyptians.
This highlights a second notable factor: namely the extensive current
cooperation, behind the scenes, of the Egyptian authorities with their Israeli
and US counterparts. Again - the offer of advice, information and assistance
from Israel and the US is not new.
On the contrary, Israeli and US officials have been exasperated in the past by
the failure of the Egyptians to take seriously or act upon information readily
made available to them. As the lines of the new regional situation become
clearer, and as it becomes plain to the Egyptians that they are not going to be
able to sit the conflict out - so cooperation is growing.
The final and perhaps most important lesson to be drawn from the latest events
relates to the nature and role of the Lebanese Hizbullah organization. A debate
continues to rage in policy circles - encouraged by fellow travelers and
sympathizers with this movement - as to whether it should be seen as primarily a
domestic Lebanese political movement, or as essentially a creature of Iranian
government.
This debate has important policy implications. Elections are to take place in
Lebanon on June 7. It is possible that the Hizbullah-led March 8 alliance will
form the next government in Beirut. Should Hizbullah win, it will be claimed by
its friends in the West that by participating in the elections, the movement has
shown that it is primarily a Lebanese political actor.
If and when these claims are raised, it is to be hoped that US and European
policy-makers will keep in mind the events of the past days in Sinai. Hizbullah
second in command Sheikh Naim Kassem told The Los Angeles Times earlier this
week that he was encouraged by what he perceived as the "changing perception" of
his organization in the West.
He noted growing calls for "engagement" with Hizbullah emanating from a number
of European capitals, and assured his interviewer that Hizbullah carries out no
military operations outside of Lebanon.
It is now clear that between giving saccharine interviews to eminent western
newspapers, Sheikh Naim Kassem was also directly responsible for the Hizbullah
cell in Sinai, led by Muhammad Mansour. Al-Ahram this week quoted Egyptian
officials responsible for monitoring communications between the cell and the
Hizbullah leadership in Lebanon who confirmed this.
A clearer indication of the absurdity of Hizbullah's claims - and the credulity
of those western officials prepared to countenance them - would be hard to
imagine.
Hizbullah has reportedly received $1 billion in the last months from Teheran for
its election campaign. Its operatives have now been caught in the searchlight -
exposed as wrapped up in Iran's ongoing project to ignite the region. Hizbullah
constitutes one of the pieces on the chessboard to be moved at will by the
guiding Iranian hand.
So a new cold war is under way - and like the old one, it is being fought on a
variety of blurred, interlocking fronts: military, paramilitary, political and
diplomatic. The most important weapon - vital for all other advantages to be
used - is clarity of thought. The latest revelations of meddling in Sinai by
Iran and its Lebanese proxy may, it is hoped, contribute to the slow spread of
this vital asset.
Jonathan Spyer is a senior researcher at the Global Research in International
Affairs Center, IDC, Herzliya.
Civilization and Mosques
Islam's War
By Mordechai Nisan
April 14, 2009
American Thinker
It is late in the global game of confrontation with Islamic Jihad. The lines of
conflict have been drawn and the ground-rules for Muslim victory are in place.
Yet many among the targeted governments and peoples have yet been incapable or
unwilling to identify the enemy, at the gates and within the walls.
Now the entire globe is Islam's religious ambition and field of conquest.
Bombings and attacks in New York and London, Madrid and Moscow, Bali and Mumbai,
Jerusalem and Balsan, are not isolated or discrete instances of local theatre
low-intensive assaults, but components of a pattern of coordinated and executed
warfare of a very singular kind.
Mentioning Bali and Istanbul, and adding Casablanca and Aden, Sinai and Tizi
Ouzou, contributes confusion and paralysis to the policy equation in the West.
Why would Muslim terrorists carry out violent attacks in Muslim countries and
against fellow-Muslims?
For Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin-Laden and his second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri,
not only infidel countries like Hindu India, Jewish Israel, and the Christian
Philippines, constitute legitimate prey and victims, but Muslim-ruled countries
as well. Theologian Ibn Taimiyya (d. 1328) defined Muslim-governed societies not
conforming to Islamic law and tradition as ignominiously reflecting the
pre-Islamic jahaliyya period of history - thus the legitimate target of Islamic
subversion and overthrow.
Islam's Will to Power
In confronting Islamic terrorism, governments around the world and specifically
under the leadership of the United States have concentrated on the improvement
of relevant security apparatuses. Although intelligence surveillance has
enhanced domestic security with preventive arrests and early-warnings of
imminent attack, such measures cannot eliminate a threat whose origin and
rationale are not especially those of weaponry, battalions, and conventional
warfare.
The manual of Islamic jihad is canonized in the sacred Koran. The believers, and
only Muslims are dignified by the term mumin'in (believers), are enlisted to go
‘in the way of Allah' and fight and kill the enemies of Islam. The Koran opens
with the exordium declaration that God is compassionate and merciful, but He is
eminently cruel against those who reject Him and His messenger-prophet Muhammad.
With piercing insight Frithjof Schuon elucidated three essential and successive
principles of Islam: Truth-Victory-Generosity. The genius of Islam and that of
the Arab race converge, he wrote, as the collective embodiment of the soul of
Mohammad.[i]
Islam is not a private spiritual experience but a public campaign of conquest,
colonization, and conversion. In the Muslim East, governments and mobs
persecute, outlaw, and hound the Christian faith and faithful. Christians flee
in fear from Iraq and Egypt, and churches are closed down in Algeria.
Christianity is prohibited in Riyadh - Saudi convert Hamoud Bin Saleh was
reported arrested in early 2009. Christianity is dwindling in the East: consider
holy Bethlehem, Aleppo in Syria and Tripoli in Lebanon - while Islam flourishes
in the West.
The Mosque
The mosque is the locus of religious faith and jihadic indoctrination. It is a
place of prayer that serves as the barracks for gathering the soldiers. In the
early days of Islam the mosque was a center for forging military preparedness,
awaiting the spiritual command to go out and fight the enemy. The Muslims would
line up in prayer "as in a battle formation."[ii] Mosques serve, as defined by
Samuel Huntington in his book Who Are We?, ‘as a base and a cover'.[iii]
Tawfiq Hamid, an Egyptian doctor, related his nightmarish experience as a former
believing Muslim fanatic. He recalled how the local imam positioned the
believers tightly together in their prayer positions, assuring close contact,
while teaching that ‘God loves those who fight for Him as a solid wall'.[iv]
In the mosque a niche (mihrab) in one wall indicates the direction of prayer
toward the holy city of Mecca. Appropriately, Saudi Arabia as the sacred keeper
of Islam's most sacred site is today one of the great promoters of jihad and
Islam around the world. It is to Arabia that Muslims world-wide face five-prayer
times daily, looking for religious inspiration and financial sustenance to
continue their global struggle.
The history of Muslim warfare was traditionally crowned with mosque-construction
in lands conquered and occupied in the name of Islam. Atop the Temple Mount in
Jerusalem the new rulers adorned aggression with a cultural symbol and built the
Aqsa Mosque in 705. In late September 2000, the Palestinians launched their Al
Aqsa Intifada against Israel, ending their rabble-rousing Friday public prayer
in the Aqsa mosque by raining rocks on Jews praying below the Mount at the
Western Wall.
A yet more arrogant practice was to either destroy churches, in Nazareth in 661,
or to transform existing churches into mosques, in Damascus in 637 and the Greek
Orthodox Church of Hagio Sophia in Constantinople (renamed Istanbul) in 1453.
When the Muslims seized Hebron in 637, they desecrated while redesigning the
Cave of the Patriarchs into the Ibrahim Mosque. A notorious Muslim practice in
the theatre of warfare was to massacre Christians in their churches: Armenians
in Nakhjavan in 705, Greeks in Thessaloniki in 904, and Lebanese in Ayshiyyah in
1976.[v]
Muslims build hundreds of mosques, madrasa schools, and cultural centers
throughout Western countries. Some have come to recognize the insidious danger,
sensing that the Muslim goal is power and not freedom, conquest and not
integration. Congressman Peter King (R-NY), former Chairman of the House
Homeland Security Committee, publicly stated that 'Unfortunately, we have too
many mosques in this country'. Meanwhile, it was reported in January 2009 that
the FBI was using planted agents to conduct surveillance in mosques in America.
The case of the Islamic Society of Boston, in constructing the largest mosque in
New England, was revelatory of the infiltration strategy. The mosque project had
proven links with the Texas-based Holy Land Foundation, known to fund Islamic
terrorism, specifically the Palestinian Hamas movement. Moreover, the Boston
mosque is connected through the Muslim American Society with the powerful
Egyptian-based Muslim Brotherhood whose definitive goal in America is, as
defined in a document from late 2008, "Grand Jihad in eliminating and destroying
Western Civilization from within."[vi]
A revelatory connection between mosque and jihad characterized Hamas practices
in the Gaza Strip. When Israel initiated its military operation in late December
2008, its air force bombed the Gazan neighborhood Tel el-Hawwa mosque, and other
mosques in Jabaliyya, which served as secret storehouses and launching pads for
Qassam rockets and Grad missiles fired by Palestinians against Israeli civilian
targets.
Jihad And America
Jihad is a stimulating and turbulent myth, while the mosque offers a space for
mental transcendence, a headquarters for mobilization, a vision of conquest.
The muezzin call to prayer in Detroit and Manhattan, where mosques are
disingenuously named ‘Islamic Centers', is a manifest violation of public space
and private comfort for many. Muslims are determined to set the social rules by
segregating classrooms, gyms, and swimming pools; promoting Muslim prayer in
public schools; probing social resistance with women's head-covering scarves and
non-alcoholic taxis; and enticing conversion through out-reach programs in
prisons, religious discussions in mosques, and extensive internet missionary
propaganda. For the Koran categorically states (3:18): "The only true faith in
God's sight is Islam."
In America, the Muslim goal is not to earn acceptance but to acquire ascendancy
in the mosaic of society. Omar M. Ahmed, former chairman of the Council for
American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), told a crowd of California Muslims in July
1998 (though he later denied this) that 'Islam isn't in America to be equal to
any other faith, but to become dominant'.
For Italian philosopher-novelist Umberto Eco, writing a month after the 9/11
trauma, the freedom of religion was a sacrosanct principle. He wrote about the
West with these words: "We are a pluralist civilization because we allow mosques
to be built in our countries, and we are not going to stop simply because
Christian missionaries are thrown into prison in Kabul. If we did so, we too
would become Taliban."[vii] And he hoped that, if we allow mosques in our
countries, then one day there will be Christian churches in their countries - or
at least Buddhas won't be blown up.
America Disarmed
Islam, engaging in archaic religious warfare, is committed to change the
political order by a sweeping and fundamental transformation of society,
culture, and morality. Rules and restrictions as in Saudi Arabia would strangle
America; personal and public morality - concerning men and women - would be
chiseled into form by the likes of Iranian ayatollahs and Egyptian muftis,
though they speak American home-grown English. The individual happiness
principle - just holding hands at the amusement park - would be smothered; and
the intoxicating fragrance of individuality and creativity would be crushed in
Islamic America.
The Muslim replacement strategy for America is on track. It took a few centuries
following the death of Muhammad until Zoroastrian Iran and Byzantine Egypt
overwhelmingly Islamicized. Even if it takes one or two hundred years, the final
triumph is considered by the believers in Tehran and Cairo, but also in Houston
and Minneapolis, a historical certainty. Veiling their intentions and women, the
Muslim conquest advances.
Indeed, the method of indefatigable religious propaganda, rather than terrorism,
is what can assure Islam's ultimate success. CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper
admitted in a 1993 interview that he wants to see America become a Muslim
country; not by violence, he admitted, but 'through education'.[viii]
In the end, who will be blamed for the cataclysm? Politicians who failed their
constituents, the media who misconstrued the victim, clerics who preached
dialogue rather than disclosure, intellectuals who betrayed national values; and
those who stood by watching the exploitation of democracy rather than guarding
its inner poise, its light and sweetness, for the free and brave people of
America.
*Dr. Mordechai Nisan resides in Jerusalem and lectures on Middle East history
and politics. Email contact
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[i] Frithjof Schuon, Dimensions of Islam, London: George Allen & Unwin, 1970, p.
15.
[ii] Khalid Yayha Blankinship, The End of the Jihad State: The Reign of Hisham
Ibn 'Abd al-Malik and the Collapse of the Umayyads, Albany: State University of
New York Press, 1994, p. 15.
[iii] Samuel P. Huntington, Who Are We? The Challenges to America's National
Identity, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2004, p. 363.
[iv] James G. Zumwalt, "Dead Man Talking," The Washington Times, August 4, 2007.
[v] See Andrew G. Bostom, ed., The Legacy of Jihad: Islamic Holy War and the
Fate of Non-Muslims, Amherst, N.Y.: Prometeus Books, 2005.
[vi] Immediate Release, "Citizens for Peace and Tolerance," Boston, December 3,
2008.
[vii] Umberto Eco, "The Roots of Conflict," Guardian Unlimited, October 13,
2001.
[viii] Art Moore, "Did CAIR founder say Islam to Rule America?"
WorldNetDaily.com, December 11, 2006.
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