LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
April 21/09

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 3,1-8.
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above."Nicodemus said to him, "How can a person once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother's womb and be born again, can he?" Jesus answered, "Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you, 'You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit."

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
No Need for Elections with the "Sword" of Obstruction.By:Elias Harfoush 20/04/09
Somali pirates reveal Western strategic gap/By: Walid Phares 20/04/09
The Confrontation Con-Game/By Barry Rubin 20/04/09

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for April 20 /09
Iran president triggers walkout at anti-racism meeting/AFP
Gunman on board Canadian jetliner in custody/The Canadian Press
'Economic crisis could restrain Iran'-Jerusalem Post
Hariri: We Will Not Hand Western Bekaa-Rashaya Over to 'Fake/Naharnet
Aoun Describes March 14 as a 'Weakening' Alliance/Naharnet
'Hezbollah surveyed Egyptian towns close to Israeli border'/Haaretz
First Lebanese ambassador to Syria arrives in Damascus-Monsters and Critics.com
UAE arrests suspect in Lebanon's Hariri murder -TV-Reuters
Hizbullah Absent from Reconciliation Ceremony in Shweifat
The Region: The confrontation con game-Jerusalem Post
Abu Faour Stresses on Reconciliation as he Conveys Messages to Sfeir from Jumblat-Naharnet
Abu-Assi: Baabda’s ticket, almost complete/Future News
Chehab: We’ll inform Lebanon of the investigations’ results/Future News
Najjar: Egypt has the right to pursue crimes committed on its territories/Future News
WFP: Somali Pirates Release Lebanese Ship-Naharnet
Hizbullah Cell Linked to Muslim Brotherhood, Aqsa Brigades…Egyptian Official Demands Trial for Nasrallah-Naharnet
Alam Facilitated Escape of Mossad Officer, Provided Israel with Photos of Lebanon, Syria-Naharnet
Kesrouan Moving Toward 2 Electoral Lists, March 14 Jbeil List Faces Difficulties-Naharnet
Hariri Announces Western Bekaa List as Zahle Ticket Faces Obstacles-Naharnet
Announcement of Minority Lists Await Removal of Several Obstacles-Naharnet
Report: March 14 Armenians Threaten to Boycott Ashrafiyeh Polls Over Geagea Candidate-Naharnet
Nasrallah, Jumblat to Decide When to Meet-Naharnet
French Interior Minister in Lebanon to Push for Cooperation in Anti-Terrorism, Drugs-Naharnet
Jumblat: Post-Election Phase More Important Than Elections-Naharnet
Egypt's Prosecution to Ask for Death Penalty for Shehab, Lawyer Says Defendant 'Coerced'-Naharnet
Saniora: It Is Time for Sidon to Have a United Front-Naharnet
Raad: No One Presented Us with an Alternative to Resistance-Naharnet
Awdeh: You Risk Losing Lebanon if You Do Not Agree on Respecting It-Naharnet
Peres: Racist UN conference disgraceful/Israeli News

French Interior Minister in Lebanon to Push for Cooperation in Anti-Terrorism, Drugs
Naharnet/French Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie arrived in Beirut on Sunday on a two-day official visit to push for cooperation in anti-terrorism and drugs as well as administrative management system and civil defense. "It is very important to establish effective cooperation in these fields through the exchange of experiences and ideas," Alliot-Marie said upon arrival at Beirut airport. On the issue of international monitors for elections, she said France will contribute observers to the European mission. Alliot-Marie is scheduled to meet Monday with President Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister Fouad Saniora and Speaker Nabih Berri.
The French official will also meet with her Lebanese counterpart Ziad Baroud for talks on mutual cooperation between the two countries. Beirut, 19 Apr 09, 20:17

UAE arrests suspect in Lebanon's Hariri murder -TV
Sun Apr 19, 2009
DUBAI, April 19 (Reuters) - A main suspect in the investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri has been arrested in the United Arab Emirates, an Arab television station said on Sunday. UAE-based Al Arabiya said Mohammed Zuhair al-Siddiq was arrested in the emirate of Sharjah and was being held by UAE security authorities. It gave no more details. An international court convened in The Hague in March to try suspects in the murder, four years after the politician's death. Hariri and 22 other people were killed in a car bomb blast in Beirut on Feb. 14, 2005 that sparked an international outcry.
Many anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians accused Syria of being behind the bombing, a charge Damascus denied. But the protests and political pressure that mounted after the killing forced Syria to withdraw forces it had maintained in its smaller neighbour since 1976.
Lebanese authorities recently released on bail three men held in connection with the killing, but still hold four generals who were the commanders of Lebanon's pro-Syrian security establishment at the time. The whereabouts of Siddiq, a former Syrian intelligence officer, have been unknown since March 2008 when he left France.
Lebanon's prosecutors believed Siddiq had an indirect role in the Feb. 14, 2005, killing of Hariri and 22 others, and they charged him with murder in October 2005.
Siddiq was arrested in a Paris suburb that month after an international arrest warrant was issued for him, but French judges rejected Beirut's extradition request because they received no guarantees he would not face the death penalty. He was freed in 2006. (Reporting by Andrew Hammond and Inal Ersan; Editing by Katie Nguyen)

Facts and numbers
Date: April 20th, 2009 Source: Future News
At times, numbers tell what words cannot explain. They seem shocking because they are more specific and leave no space for useless arguments that justify mishaps and turn them into victories and achievements. Exaggeration in certain situation, as it is the case in our society nowadays, creates frivolous communities that can only be invested in blood and nothing but blood. The importance of the numbers lies in the study issued by the “Central Statistics Department” that revealed the status quo of the living conditions of Lebanese families. It should be adopted by any of the would-be majority bloc instead of plunging Lebanon into void politics that keep the nation susceptible to pointless adventures. The study reveals that only 47 percent of inhabitants have health insurance and the rest of the population depend on God, the support of benevolent organizations and most importantly a caring government—unlike the current one-- whose work is not hindered by a veto share power. What is sad in that study is that 10 percent of Lebanese families buy their running water and 26 percent opt for drinking water by buying, so they are told, potable water that unfortunately is not submitted to any laboratory analysis. Furthermore, what is frightening in that study is that 82 percent of Lebanese families resort to power generators in order to get electricity due to severe rationing hours. The condition of the Lebanese stated above proves the weakness of the government’s potentials and prompts us to doubt and suspect all those purposely taking our country into an abyss due to their military and political adventures. Continuity in such a status quo would definitely mean prevalence of our political backwardness. It would also mean our growing resentment to the government and the citizenship

Hizbullah Absent from Reconciliation Ceremony in Shweifat
Hizbullah did not attend a reconciliation ceremony in Shweifat, contrary to what has been expected. Pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat newspaper on Monday said Hizbullah's absence was due to "changes introduced to the reconciliation program" that took place on Sunday between Druze rivals Walid Jumblat and Talal Arslan.
While the "reconciliation program" was supposed to cover Beirut's southern suburbs, the ceremony was restricted to the Druze town of Shweifat east of Beirut.
Asharq radio station on Monday quoted a PSP source as saying that Hizbullah officials failed to attend the ceremony "because the atmosphere was not yet ripe."
The Shweifat reconciliation took place between the family of slain Druze citizen Akram Arbid and the Progressive Socialist Party. Arbid, an Arslan supporter, was beaten by PSP members while he was accompanying a candidate in the 1996 parliamentary elections. Jumblat, who sponsored the reconciliation, showed desire for a "greater reconciliation.""Today we put emphasis on the major Beirut-Shweifat-Dahiyeh-Mountains reconciliation," he stressed. Beirut, 20 Apr 09, 08:30

Hizbullah Absent from Reconciliation Ceremony in Shweifat
Naharnet/Hizbullah did not attend a reconciliation ceremony in Shweifat, contrary to what has been expected. Pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat newspaper on Monday said Hizbullah's absence was due to "changes introduced to the reconciliation program" that took place on Sunday between Druze rivals Walid Jumblat and Talal Arslan.
While the "reconciliation program" was supposed to cover Beirut's southern suburbs, the ceremony was restricted to the Druze town of Shweifat east of Beirut.
Asharq radio station on Monday quoted a PSP source as saying that Hizbullah officials failed to attend the ceremony "because the atmosphere was not yet ripe." The Shweifat reconciliation took place between the family of slain Druze citizen Akram Arbid and the Progressive Socialist Party. Arbid, an Arslan supporter, was beaten by PSP members while he was accompanying a candidate in the 1996 parliamentary elections. Jumblat, who sponsored the reconciliation, showed desire for a "greater reconciliation." "Today we put emphasis on the major Beirut-Shweifat-Dahiyeh-Mountains reconciliation," he stressed. Beirut, 20 Apr 09, 08:30

Abu Faour Stresses on Reconciliation as he Conveys Messages to Sfeir from Jumblat
State Minister Wael Abou Faour on Monday stressed on reconciliation after delivering a message to Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir from Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat. Abou Faour's message came after a television station broadcast a mobile phone recorded video showing Jumblat criticizing some March 14 figures. Abou Faour also stressed the PSP's alliance with the March 14 forces, saying the alliance "made major achievements and sacrifices in Lebanon."
The minister said he told Sfeir that the March 14 coalition supports "civil peace, dialogue, openness and the right of expressing different political opinions."
Beirut, 20 Apr 09, 12:42

Alam Facilitated Escape of Mossad Officer, Provided Israel with Photos of Lebanon, Syria
Interrogation with retired security officer arrested for spying for Israel has revealed that Brig. Gen. Adib al-Alam sent pictures of Lebanon and Syria to Israel.
Pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Monday said Alam had stored the pictures in two small refrigerators. It said one fridge included pictures of Syrian institutions, while the other contained photos of international highways linking Beirut with Damascus. Al-Hayat said police intelligence have also confiscated a third fridge that contained pictures from Syria. It said Alam succeeded in transmitting the pictures to the Israeli secret service, the Mossad, "at the proper time."
Al-Hayat said Alam also facilitated the escape of a Mossad officer who supervised the twin killings of two Islamic Jihad commanders, brothers Mahmoud and Nidal al-Majzoub, in a 2006 bombing attack in the southern city of Sidon. Alam said he used to leave 'some tapes" at specific locations inside Lebanese territories and that the Mossad would "lay hands on them and take them to Israel." Beirut, 20 Apr 09, 09:12

Kesrouan Moving Toward 2 Electoral Lists, March 14 Jbeil List Faces Difficulties
Intensive contacts are underway in Kesrouan in an effort to unite under one electoral list candidates representing the ruling March 14 coalition and those running independently to compete against rivals headed by Gen. Michel Aoun. In Jbeil, however, March 14 efforts did not succeed in forming a coalition list to compete head-to-head with Aoun's ticket that includes Walid Khoury, Simon Abu Ramia and Abbas Hashem. Pan-Arab al Hayat newspaper said former MP Nazem Khoury was considering forming a list that would also include former MP Emile Naufal and retired Lebanese army Brig. Gen. Ali Awwad. Beirut, 20 Apr 09, 11:06

Hariri Announces Western Bekaa List as Zahle Ticket Faces Obstacles
Naharnet/Al-Mustaqbal movement leader Saad Hariri will announce from the town of Jeb Jenine on Monday the March 14 forces' electoral list in Rashaya-Western Bekaa district. The list includes two Sunnis, MP Jamal Jarrah and Ziad Nazem al-Qadiri. Minister Wael Abou Faour, a Druze, Maronite MP Robert Ghanem, MP Antoine Saad, an Orthodox, and Shiite Amin Wehbe are also in the list. Majority sources told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat that Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat could join Monday's ceremony. Despite Hariri's presence in the Western Bekaa, the MP and his allies haven't yet reached agreement on formation of Central Bekaa's Zahle list that would compete with the ticket headed by Minister Elias Skaff. Al-Hayat said there is disagreement over some Christian candidates and the Shiite candidate in the March 14 alliance's Zahle list. Meanwhile, northern Lebanon is getting ready for the announcement of the March 14 coalition's lists in Akkar, Minyeh-Dinniyeh and Tripoli in the next couple of days. Beirut, 20 Apr 09, 10:18

Nasrallah, Jumblat to Decide When to Meet
Naharnet/Preparations are underway to bring together Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat, pan-Arab daily al-Hayat reported Monday. The newspaper said officials from both sides are in continuous contact to set up a meeting between the two leaders.
Al-Hayat added that it is up to Nasrallah and Jumblat to choose the proper timing for their talks. Beirut, 20 Apr 09, 07:56

Announcement of Minority Lists Await Removal of Several Obstacles
Several obstacles are delaying the announcement of minority lists in a number of districts, a source following up contacts to form the tickets told pan-Arab daily al-Hayat. The Aley list hasn't been finalized yet because Minister Talal Arslan insists on being the only Druze on the list, leaving the second Druze seat empty, according to the source. As for Baabda, minority forces didn't decide yet on the name of the second Shiite candidate. The formation of the list is also awaiting Free Patriotic Movement leader Gen. Michel Aoun's consultations to choose the third Maronite from among Alain Aoun and Naji Gharios. Aoun has already chosen Maronites Hikmat Deeb and Chakib Qartbawi for the Baabda list. Differences between Aoun and Speaker Nabih Berri have also delayed formation of the Jezzine list, the source told al-Hayat. Berri insists on nominating Samir Azar, who is from his parliamentary bloc, while Aoun wants Jezzine's three candidates to be from his Free Patriotic Movement. Aoun is still waiting for Hizbullah's mediation between him and Berri to avoid having two minority lists against a ticket backed by independents and the March 14 forces in Jezzine, al-Hayat said. In Kesrouan, the newspaper said that it is not yet clear if Aoun will cooperate with former MP Fares Boueiz. Media reports had said that the FPM leader had chosen Boueiz and discarded either MP Nihmatallah Abi Nasr or Youssef Khalil. Beirut, 20 Apr 09, 09:09

Jumblat: Post-Election Phase More Important Than Elections
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat said Sunday that the post-election phase is "more important" than elections.
"Elections are an important phase, but more important is the post-election phase," Jumblat said during a reconciliation ceremony he sponsored in Shweifat between the family of slain Druze citizen Akram Arbid and the PSP. "Today we put emphasis on the major Beirut-Shweifat-Dahiyeh-Mountains reconciliation," he stressed.
Shweifat has been scene of on-again-off-again tension since the killing of Arbid, an Arslan supporter, in 1996. Arbid was allegedly beaten by PSP members while he was accompanying a candidate in the 1996 parliamentary elections.Also present at the reconciliation ceremony were Youth and Sports Minister Talal Arslan, Transportation Minister Ghazi Aridi, MP Akram Shehayeb and Aley governor Mansour Daou. Beirut, 19 Apr 09, 19:38

Raad: No One Presented Us with an Alternative to Resistance
Naharnet/A senior Hizbullah member said Sunday there has never been an "alternative to resistance" to ward off the Israeli threats adding that the only other "option" was to seek the help of Israel's allies. "I have yet to hear of an alternative to the resistance," said MP Mohammed Raad during the inauguration of a Mosque in the town of Kfartibneet. "I have heard of an option – not an alternative - to protect Lebanon. The option is to depend on Israel's friends around the world to push it to stop threatening Lebanon," said Raad, who heads the Loyalty to the Resistance bloc in Parliament. "The international alliances that some people are betting on to protect Lebanon are essentially based on states that we believe to be friendly and that want eliminate a strategy to … ensure Israel's strategic superiority in the region… No one can convince us of the usefulness of such a bet," he added. Raad told his audience that Lebanon has been coming under pressure "not to invest in its ground and fresh water resources." "Israel can no longer forbid us from investing in our land, water and maybe we can see our airspace anymore," he said.
Raad also warned that Israel "is waiting for the right moment" to attack Lebanon. He then reiterated the minority's support for "a state built on partnership not monopoly of power." Beirut, 19 Apr 09, 13:13

Peres: Racist UN conference disgraceful
President says feels 'disgraced that a racist conference is opening in Geneva on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, with Iranian President Ahmadinejad as the guest of honor.' There must be a limit to Switzerland's neutrality, he adds
Roni Sofer Published: 04.20.09, 13:33 / Israel News
President Shimon Peres harshly criticized the United Nations anti-racism conference opening in Geneva on Monday, in which Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will take part.
"I feel disgraced that a racist conference is opening in Geneva on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, with Ahmadinejad as guest of honor. This is the same Ahmadinejad that called for the destruction of Israel and wants it wiped off the map.
"There must be a limit to Switzerland's neutrality. Is Ahmadinejad the world's hope for the future?" Peres said.
Counter-Attack
'Don't shake Ahmadinejad's hand' / Roni Sofer
Israeli officials upset over meeting between Iranian leader, Swiss president. There is no reason in the world to meet with a Holocaust denier, exporter of terrorism and anti-Semitism, official in Jerusalem says
The president added, "I don’t want to talk too much about Iran, where they hang people for no apparent reason. Iran is the center of hatred, bloodshed and terror.
"I would like to express Israel's gratitude to the United States and the other democracies that have decided not to
take part in the Durban disgrace. We have no conference, but we have the Lord – and we will pray to him today."
So far, nine countries have announced their withdrawal from the conference - the US, Australia, New Zealand, Holland, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Poland and Canada.
Meanwhile, opposition leader Tzipi Livni urged the international community to join Israel and nine other countries and boycott conference.
"This is the last call for the international community that believes in the values on which the United Nations was built not to take part in the Durban conference. This is a conference with an agenda of hate, and its leaders are using it to project hate," she said.
"The fact that the Iranian president is a welcome guest at a UN conference is inconceivable," Livni added.
'Not everyone has learned lesson of Shoah'
Earlier Monday, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman instructed Israel's Ambassador in Switzerland Ilan Elgar to return to Jerusalem for consultations following Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz's meeting with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yossi Levy clarified that the move was made in protest of Switzerland's approach towards "a Holocaust denier who has spoken more than once about the need to wipe Israel off the map." Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was consulted on the move and approved of Lieberman's decision.
Netanyahu also addressed Ahmadinejad's participation in the conference at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting Monday, saying that "while we remember the six million (Jews murdered in the Holocaust), a conference will be held in Switzerland allegedly against racism. Its guest of honor is a Holocaust denier who does not conceal his plan to wipe Israel off the face of the earth.
"I congratulate the countries which chose to boycott the conference. Contrary to those dark days, today we have a strong Jewish state," he said, adding that "Unfortunately, not everyone has learned the lesson of the Holocaust."
UN chief: Text carefully balanced
However, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on defended the disputed conference text as "carefully balanced" and said the conference was necessary to confront simmering racial tensions that could otherwise trigger social unrest and violence.
"I deeply regret that some have chosen to stand aside. I hope they will not do so for long," he told the Geneva meeting.
Britain, the Czech Republic and France have decided to take part in the conference, but sent low-ranking diplomatic officials. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said his country's representative would walk out "immediately" if the conference turns into a platform for racist comments against Israel.

Somali pirates reveal Western strategic gap
By: Walid Phares
The so-called Somali pirates are a breed quite different from the Pirates of the Caribbean. A lack of appropriate response by the great powers will lead to a geopolitical debacle.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Most of the media discussion about piracy in the Gulf of Aden has drifted understandably towards the sensational part of the story: how are the Pirates able to roam the Ocean? Is paying them ransom a better option than to engage them militarily? Last but not least, will a military intervention against the Pirates worsen the situation; will it lead to a massive escalation in Somalia and a Vietnam like quagmire for many years to come?
The armed bands on the waters are still roaming the seas of Aden and the Indian Ocean across from Somalia and Kenya, are not impressed with the dozens of naval units dispatched by powerful navies from around the world.
What is behind this Piracy phenomenon, what lays ahead if the international community intervenes and what could develop in that region if the latter is late to intervene or doesn’t meet the challenge? It appears the strategic challenge is even bigger than the mere piracy. Indeed the strategy now contemplated by regional powers could become a major military debacle. Here is why:
These so-called Somali pirates are strategically different from their historical predecessors in the Caribbean or from their contemporary colleagues in archipelagoes around the world. They aren’t a vast collection of individual thugs, acting as bands replicating what successful sea gangs have accomplished for centuries before them. They are too many, operating from extremely long shores, all using similar methods, and are backed from hinterland forces.
They may seem like pirates as they seize ships and negotiate for the ransom. But these water thugs actually belong to a wider chess game. The grand ensemble of the army of little boats is in fact part of a regional Jihadi apparatus being deployed in the horn of Africa and beyond. The Jihadi grand circle building in the region is not limited to the pirates but involves hostile forces from the mid Red Sea to East Africa. The Somali pirates are merely one facet of this grand circle.
Ironically, the term used in Arabic (and now in Arabic media) to depict the Somali pirates is Qursaan, which derives from Corsairs, the swashbuckling French privateers from a bygone era. A view of the operations map of these Somali Qursaan leaves little room that the end aim is to create a vast zone of insecurity stretching from East Africa to the Red Sea. A closer look allows strategists to easily realize that these are the maritime passages from the Oil rich Gulf to the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal and also parts of the East African alternative routes the most economic via Cape Town. So, above and beyond the globally low (even if locally lucrative) revenues that these operations bring to their little pirates, the greater Qursaan operation is of regional-international dimension. It is about holding these passages hostages thereby bringing global negotiation. This is nothing more than a maritime Jihad striking at the Western/international lifeline on high seas to bring about a change in balance of power.
If the West (with other democracies or powers) decides to engage the Qursaan on high seas only, there will be more waves of piracy action, and revenge actions will gradually take place against the countries whose vessels conducted the military interdictions. When such escalation takes place the options are only two: either the powers suspend the operations and negotiate with the pirates/corsairs or they shall take offensive against their ports of launching, that is, on Somali soil. If the US and its allies drop the naval campaign and assign diplomats to treat the matter, the Qursaan will grow in numbers and influence and eventually their outreach will close the waters between the Arabian Peninsula and Africa. But if the international coalition (which yet has to take shape) decides to take on the points of origins of the attackers, this will lead to a massive campaign along the Somali-Kenyan coastlines forcing actions to be taken against ports, many small ports and eventually beachheads, establishing security enclaves.
Such a projection will re-create a multinational force to perform the missions, reprisal operations and eventually inland deployment, deeper and deeper inside Somalia. That’s precisely what the Jihadists are looking for: brigades of international forces landing in that country, Kuffar (infidels) in nature, so that the Shabab al Jihad and other remnants of the Mahakam have the honor of fighting.
The so-called pirates are being used by land-based forces to drag the enemy into a wider war in the region, with all probabilities and possibilities open. To each decision made by the West and its allies, a counter plan will be applied. These are the types of complex threats that twenty-first century terror forces will develop to upset the balance of forces. For by challenging a previously stable area of transportation and commerce, the forces behind the Qursaan will be scoring a major victory. If the foe negotiates, they win, and in their view also, if the foe engages militarily, the Jihadists win too.
Indeed, if Somalia will go back to full war, the forces engaged in such campaign will involve many navies in the area.
Two months ago, Eritrea and the Iranian regime signed an agreement granting naval facilities to the Khomeinist military ships to use the country’s ports and eventually build a base on the Red Sea. Last month, reports signaling an alignment of military intelligence between the Sudanese and Iranian regimes and Hezbollah’s networks in the region.
In our media debate we are still at the stage of sensationalist stories and footage of modern day piracy. In the war rooms of the other side, the Qursaan are probably a tip of an Islamic iceberg moving slowly towards one of the most sensitive regions of the world. The gap between our debate and strategic realities has always been at the core of failures. This time we should catch up before we fall behind and stumble terribly.
**Walid Phares writes for The Cutting Edge News and is the author of The Confrontation: Winning the War against Future Jihad. He is the Director of the Future Terrorism Project at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a visiting scholar at the European Foundation for Democracy.

The Confrontation Con-Game
By Barry Rubin*
17 April, 2009
http://www.gloria-center.org/Gloria/2009/04/The-Confrontation.html
There are many people eager to see President Barack Obama and his administration bash Israel, or predict that has already happened. But the administration has yet to make any significant direct anti-Israel actions or statements. I expect this widely predicted conflict isn’t going to take place.
Let me repeat the word “direct.” Inasmuch as the U.S. government gives up too much to Iran, Syria, and radical Islamists, it hurts Israel’s interests, as well as those of most Arab governments and the United States itself.
Still, what’s happened so far is being taken out of context by those who want a U.S.-Israel confrontation because they hate either Israel or Obama. This could, of course happen but hasn’t yet.
The story contrasts with U.S.-Europe relations. Obama’s trip to Europe was a failure. To everything he asked—a parallel strategy for dealing with economic troubles, getting Turkey into the European Union, or more help in Afghanistan—the Europeans said “no.” Then everyone proclaimed the visit a great success.
With Israel, it’s the opposite in which nothing actually goes wrong but is made to seem that way. Let’s look at the examples and defuse some supposed bombs.
--Endorsing a two-state solution is hardly an attack on the Netanyahu government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t oppose a two-state solution—and hasn’t for 12 years--but emphasizes this would only happen if and when a Palestinian leadership proves its credibility and makes a decent offer.
This raises an extremely important point. Israeli policy shouldn’t consist of saying, “We want peace and a two-state solution” ten times a day. It should incorporate its own demands that the PA lives up to commitments and that any negotiated solution include Palestinian as well as Israeli concessions.
Giving the Palestinians a state is conditional on that happening, not a blank check given whatever they do. There’s nothing wrong with Israel demanding reciprocity. The strategy of offering everything and demanding nothing neither made Israel popular nor brought about a negotiated solution.
--U.S. engagement with Iran: While this is risky and likely to give the Iranian regime time to develop nuclear weapons administration statements say the purpose of engagement is to stop its progress. I’m not sure that a Bush administration would be doing much more. The key point will be whether the Obama administration ever concludes Iran’s regime doesn’t intend to change its behavior.
Vice-President Joe Biden’s statement opposing an Israeli attack on Iran was in the framework of the Bush administration stance that Israel should give diplomacy more time to work. It doesn’t close off a U.S. shift at some future point when this is an immediate issue.
--Obama’s endorsement of the Saudi plan as a positive element in the peace process is nothing new either.
--The administration apparently will boycott the Durban-2 hate-fest. If it returns to the UN’s anti-human rights’ council the test will be whether U.S. diplomats really wage a battle there.
--While talking a great deal about engagement with Syria, the administration has not made any concessions and the Syrian regime is visibly upset. Jeffrey Feltman, the man in the State Department most supportive of Lebanese sovereignty and skeptical about the Syrian regime and Hizballah, is assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has also expressed critical reservations about the Syrian regime.
--Only one high-level presidential appointment, White House advisor Samantha Powers, is clearly anti-Israel.
--Money for Gaza. The administration appropriated a huge amount of money for Gaza reconstruction but the conditions on not giving it to Hamas seem serious and there’s been no rush to send the funds.
An extremely important factor here is that in fact it is the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas, not Israel, are the barriers to peace. An Obama presidency would be far more dangerous if there was a PA determined to say anything to get a state, get U.S. pressure Israel to massive concessions, and then break its word.
But that’s not the case. The PA will criticize Israel but offer nothing. It won’t provide a moderate alternative program to Hamas, stop incitement, accept resettlement of Palestinian refugees in a Palestinian state rather than Israel, make any territorial concessions, or agree that a two-state solution permanently ends the conflict. And it won’t accept Israel as a Jewish state alongside a Palestine which—according to the PA’s own constitution—is an Arab and Muslim state.
It’s entirely predictable that the PA won’t give those who want to ram through a two-state solution based only on Israeli concessions the bare minimum they need to make such a strategy credible. The same point applies to Syria and the Golan Heights.
Given that situation, there won’t be any serious broad collision between the United States and Israel over the peace process, whatever smaller storms erupt from time to time as they have done with previous administrations.
Why are direct U.S.-Israel relations relatively secure? Aside from the other side’s intransigence, which will inhibit U.S. policy from giving them more, is a very specific factor. Obama was historically anti-Israel but learned in the campaign that he could insult large sections of the American people and abandon the most basic assumptions of American patriotism and get away with it.
In contrast, though, he learned that it is too politically costly to attack Israel.
This isn’t to say that there aren’t administration policies that damage—indirectly but seriously—Israel’s security. First and foremost, is a strategy that will give Iran the time needed to develop nuclear weapons. At the same time, the Obama administration approach will embolden radical, terrorist, Islamist forces in the region and demoralize relatively moderate Arab regimes.
Ironically, the biggest loser from Obama’s policy is not Israel but the Arab states and peoples threatened by Iran and Syria, Hizballah and Hamas.
**Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), with Walter Laqueur (Viking-Penguin); the paperback edition of The Truth About Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan); A Chronological History of Terrorism, with Judy Colp Rubin, (Sharpe); and The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley). To read and subscribe to MERIA, GLORIA articles, or to order books, go to http://www.gloria-center.org

No Need for Elections with the "Sword" of Obstruction
Elias Harfoush Al-Hayat - 20/04/09//
The struggle over the period following parliamentary elections in Lebanon has begun before the elections have been held. In principle, the results that come out of the ballot boxes should determine the political direction in the next phase, as well as the shape and the program of the new government. However, statements and stances do not suggest that it will be that easy, which raises yet again an old question about the justification for the wide-ranging uproar surrounding the electoral process.
The stances that were announced by each of Premier Fouad Siniora and Speaker Nabih Berri sum up the current disagreement over the post-election period, especially in terms of clinging to the theory of the "obstructing" or "guaranteeing one-third." Indeed, the current opposition insists upon it and considers it to be a condition upon which it will not yield when forming a government after the elections, regardless of who wins the majority. The Speaker has taken it upon himself to defend this theory by saying that it ensures everyone's participation in managing the affairs of the state, as that it is a practical interpretation of consensual democracy, which according to Berri is not unrelated to the Taif Agreement. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, on the other hand, when launching his electoral campaign in the city of Saida, asserted that the idea of the obstructing one-third is unrelated to both the Lebanese system and the Taif Agreement, that the formula which was agreed upon in Doha was a temporary solution to the disagreement that had crippled institutions back then, and that there is no need to maintain it now.
However, calling upon the Taif Agreement to justify the theory of obstruction would be a misinterpretation of this agreement. It is true that the Taif Agreement asserts in its introduction that "there is no constitutional legitimacy for any authority which contradicts the pact of communal coexistence," yet until today no one had ever concluded that "communal coexistence" meant that the parliamentary minority should have the power to impose its stances. Indeed, the same constitution states that "the people are the source of authority and sovereignty," which is supposed to mean that the votes of electors should determine the political direction of the country.
Nevertheless, far from constitutional debate, there are two points of view that are dividing the country and that go beyond disagreement over political programs. In such a climate, and with the current opposition's ability to impose its point of view, either by obtaining the majority or by clinging to "obstruction," the exercise by voters of their electoral rights becomes merely an activity akin to folklore, as its effects on politics will be limited. True democratic practice calls for the winning majority to have the power to take control of government and implement its political plans. Yet "obstruction" prevents the majority from exercising the right it has obtained as a result of the elections.
The only case in which the next majority will be able to act as a majority is if the current opposition wins the elections, in which case a large part of the March 14 alliance will refrain from participating in the government. This means that these elections are only going in one direction: either the March 8 Alliance will win the majority through the elections, or it will obtain the "majority" through obstruction, with what this will entail in terms of returning to the old predicament which brought forth the formula for the current government, now viewed as "historical" by those in the opposition.

Iran president triggers racism conference walkout
GENEVA (AFP) - An international conference on racism fell into disarray on Monday as Iran's president launched a verbal onslaught against Israel, triggering a mass walkout and a furious rebuke from the head of the UN.
The meeting which had already been boycotted by several Western countries such as the United States and Australia, as well as Israel, was plunged into further controversy as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took to the stage.
Several demonstrators were ejected as the Iranian president began his speech in Geneva and soon afterwards representatives of 23 European Union delegations quit the conference room after he labelled Israel cruel and racist.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who had earlier berated countries for boycotting the meeting, accused the Iranian leader of incitement while other world leaders lined up to condemn his remarks.
Ahmadinejad, who has previously called for the Jewish state to be wiped off the map, criticised the creation of a "totally racist government in occupied Palestine" in 1948, calling it "the most cruel and racist regime".
"They sent migrants from Europe, the United States... in order to establish a racist government in the occupied Palestine," he added.
But while the speech from the Iranian leader, who has also described the Nazi Holocaust as a "myth", was shunned by Western powers, other delegates who stayed to hear him speak greeted his words with applause.
After Ahmadinejad's speech, Ban said the Iranian had undermined the aim of the conference by sowing divisions.
"I deplore the use of this platform by the Iranian President to accuse, divide and even incite," he said in a statement. "This is the opposite of what this conference seeks to achieve."
Even before the speech, the diplomatic fallout from Ahmadinejad's presence in Geneva was spreading.
Israel recalled its ambassador in protest at the Swiss president's decision to meet the Iranian leader -- Ahmadinejad's first formal meeting with a Western head of state since taking office in 2005.
Israel's foreign ministry also criticised Ban for meeting Ahmadinejad, saying it was regrettable that he "thought it advisable to meet the greatest Holocaust denier who heads a UN member state."
Four EU nations were among a group of nine countries -- including the United States -- which boycotted the meeting.
The remaining 23 EU countries that did attend the event had warned they would walk out if Ahmadinejad made "anti-Semitic accusations" during the event.
The French government said the content of the speech made a walkout inevitable.
"The United Nations conference that opened on Monday in Geneva had a goal that should have united and mobilised the international community: the struggle against all forms of racism," said President Nicolas Sarkozy's office.
"The speech given by the President of Iran was the exact opposite: an intolerable appeal to racist hate, it tramples on the ideals and values recorded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights."
And British Prime Minister Gordon Brown "unreservedly condemned" the "offensive and inflammatory" comments.
At least three demonstrators, dressed as clowns and shouting "racist, racist," were hustled out of the conference as Ahmadinejad got up to speak.
The French Union of Jewish Students claimed responsibility for the incident, in a statement that denounced the five-day conference as a "masquerade."
In a later press conference, Ahmadinejad defended his comments and said those who had boycotted the meeting were guilty of "arrogance and selfishness."
The walkout was a repeat of the last such conference against racism held in Durban, South Africa, in 2001 when US and Israeli delegates stormed off over comments by delegates equating Zionism with racism.
The five-day Geneva meeting is meant to take stock of progress in fighting racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance since Durban. UN human rights chief Navi Pillay underlined recently that the goals set then had not been

Hostages freed, hijacker in custody after security storms CanJet airliner
Module body
By Jennifer Ditchburn, The Canadian Press
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica - Canadians bound for holidays and wedding celebrations in Cuba wept softly and prayed for their safety Monday after a lone gunman with "mental challenges" forced his way through security and stormed their airliner as it prepared to leave an airport in Jamaica.
After a quick-thinking flight attendant convinced their would-be captor to accept cash and belongings in exchange for their freedom, 159 passengers and two crew members were able to escape CanJet Airlines Flight 918 after less than an hour of captivity.
It would be seven more hours, however, before the remaining six crew members would be freed without bloodshed by members of a Jamaican counter-terrorism squad who stormed the Boeing 737's cabin and disarmed the gunman, who apparently wanted to fly to Cuba.
"I'm very relieved, extremely relieved, that it's over and nobody has been hurt," said Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who spent a sleepless night at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, helping to negotiate the release of the hostages.
Golding issued an abject apology to his country's Canadian guests and offered them deluxe accommodations and cash in exchange for their forgone money and belongings. But foremost on his mind was the question of how it all happened in the first place.
There was quite clearly a breach of security at the airport," Golding said. "I've asked for an investigation to be done immediately and a report to be made."
Passengers told a harrowing tale of nerve-rattling moments and heroic efforts by crew, a sequence of events that began with angry shouts of, "I'm hijacking this plane," and included a flight attendant being blasted with a fire extinguisher and a shot fired out the aircraft's back door - at whom remains unclear.
For the passengers, the captivity was short-lived, but seemed to take forever to end, said Suzanne Ferguson, one of several people from Atlantic Canada who were headed to Cuba for a wedding.
"We were in the plane about 45 minutes, but in our heads it lasted about three hours - panicking," Ferguson said.
"Finally, someone said, 'Take out all your money and he'll let you out."'
The gunman was young, tall and good-looking, and kept talking and shouting at the passengers, Ferguson recalled: "I mean business, this is a hijacking, sit down, nobody move."
The passengers complied. "We were praying and crying a little bit, but everybody was quiet." Indeed, Ferguson added, the dominant image in many minds was that of airliners striking the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
"I thought he wanted to crash the plane, like in New York," she said. "That's what we were all thinking."
When the time finally came to exit the plane, Ferguson said many of the passengers had the remaining six crew members, particularly the flight attendants, in their thoughts. "We were praying for them because they were so good for us. They were calm and told us what to do. We were lucky."
There were several wedding parties on board the plane, including one comprised entirely of hearing-impaired people - including the bride and groom. Their efforts to communicate with sign language only served to agitate their captor, some said.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who was coincidentally in the capital city of Kingston to meet with Golding and address a joint session of Parliament, instead travelled to Montego Bay to congratulate his Jamaican counterpart in person.
"The prime minister of Canada just got off the phone with the Jamaican prime minister," said spokesman Dimitri Soudas. "Prime Minister Harper thanked Prime Minister Golding for his efforts to oversee the situation and congratulated him for the successful resolution."
The pair were expected to hold a joint news conference later Monday.
With the passengers long since disembarked, the eight-hour hijacker-and-hostage drama came to an abrupt but peaceful end when members of the Jamaican Defence Force Counter-Terrorism Operations Group "stormed" the cabin, said National Security Minister Dwight Nelson.
In all, 182 people - 174 passengers and eight crew members - had been scheduled to be on board, the airline said.
Kent Woodside, vice-president and general manager of Halifax-based CanJet, hailed the efforts of the airline's staff to deal with the situation and for getting all the passengers safely off the plane.
"I'm just so proud of how they dealt with it all and that it turned out to be a successful situation," Woodside told a news conference in Halifax.
A second CanJet plane was being sent to Montego Bay to pick up any passengers who want to return to Canada, while those who want to continue to their original destination of Santa Clara, Cuba, will also be able to do so, he added.
Woodside said CanJet will work with officials in Jamaica to determine how the gunman was able to breach security.
"The front-line security rests with the airport or the airport authority; (There are) many steps of security before he would have reached the aircraft, so that's the part of the investigation that we're going to be participating with the Jamaican authorities on, is how this was allowed to happen."
Police in Jamaica identified the man in custody as Stephen Fray, 23, a resident of Montego Bay. No other details were immediately available, although Information Minister Daryl Vaz earlier described him as a man with "mental challenges."
Alphonse Gosselin, whose son Christian was on board with girlfriend Nancy as part of a group of people from New Brunswick's Acadian Peninsula headed to Cuba for a wedding, spoke with his son shortly after the pair were released.
"He was kind of shaken up, but basically he said everybody in the gang was OK," Gosselin told media from his home in Tracadie-Sheila, N.B.
The flight was the first ever for his son's girlfriend, he added. "She was quite nervous, so I don't know if she'll ever fly again."
In an interview, Vaz said he was surprised about the fact that someone with a gun was able to breach security.
"That is something our investigation has already started with the police and the operators of the airport and of course, the government airport authority," he said. "That is something that is ongoing and in the early stages."