LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
February 19/09

Bible Reading of the day.
Luke 12/13-21/The Parable of the Rich Fool/ And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you? And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consist not in the abundance of the things which he possessed. And he spoke a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take things ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy [1] soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? 21 So is he that layed up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
Election plots/NOW Staff ,18/02/09
The wine of the Syrian regime/Future News 18/02/09
Israel engaged in covert war inside Iran.Reuters 18/02/09
Nasrallah tells it like it is - but how does he think it should be? The Daily Star 18/02/09
Lebanon stunned by Suleiman's poll choice-The National 18/02/09

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for February 18/09
Hariri Tribunal Confirms It Will Open Doors March 1 -Naharnet
Key U.S. Senator Meets Lebanese Leaders -Naharnet
March 14: Insistence on Veto Power Is Indirect Effort to Amend Taef -Naharnet
Murr: Egypt Ready to Arm Lebanese Military, Pledged Unlimited Support to Army -Naharnet
Bullet-riddled Body of MEA Pilot Found in Ouzai -Naharnet
Gemayel urged Europe to help release the Lebanese detainees in Syria/Future News
Gemayel Accuses Syria of Obstructing Attempts to Solve Shebaa Dispute -Naharnet
Al-Husseini to Berry: your suggestion severely endangers the interest and regime of the state/Future News
Berri Warns: Calm ... or a-Province-a-Week Elections -Naharnet
Philippine Worker Sentenced to 3 Years for Beating Employer with Baseball Bat -Naharnet
Hariri from Cairo Calls for International Observers to Monitor Elections-Naharnet
Nadim Gemayel: Al Kataeb’s alliances are imperative to block the opponents’ project/Future News
Qoleilat Trial Postponed for Last Time-Naharnet
March 8 Ministers, Berri in Last-Ditch Bid to Untangle Knots of Budget Crisis-Naharnet
Fadlallah: Wiretapping Report Next Week-Naharnet
Solution to Hospital Crisis in the Offing-Naharnet
Report: Sader in Army Intelligence Custody Despite Denial-Naharnet
Assad: Sending an Ambassador to Beirut Sovereign Issue-Naharnet
Sfeir: Lebanon Situation Critical-Naharnet
Murr Seeks Egyptian Weapons-Naharnet
Murr: Our Alliance with Phalange is 'Final'-Naharnet
Army Arrests Suspected Spy for Israel-Naharnet
Baroud: Failing to Hold Elections Would Be Very Serious-Naharnet
EU Ready to Monitor Lebanese Elections-Naharnet
Ferrero-Waldner pledges EU help for parliamentary polls-Daily Star
Abu Jamra, Michel Murr trade accusations over 2005 elections-Daily Star
Hariri indictments to precede elections - report-Daily Star
Damascus keen on ties with Beirut - Assad adviser-Daily Star
Hariri tribunal will have no impact on June 7 elections, analysts say-Daily Star
Much at stake for Lebanon in US opening to Syria-By Inter Press Service
'Deal in the works' to break up logjam over Council of the South-Daily Star
One man hurt as two grenades tossed in Beirut-Daily Star
MEA workers to strike over abducted colleague-Daily Star
Security officials confirm arrest of Lebanese spy for Israel in Nabatiyeh -Daily Star
Censors revoke license for film, demand cuts-Daily Star
Trial of 29 terror suspects kicks off in Beirut-Daily Star
New student facility at AUB garners honor from US architectural group-Daily Star
Two generations of Lebanese, grappling with globalization/Daily Star
'Syria building chemical weapons plant'-Jerusalem Post
Egypt’s Critics Have a Voice, but Never the Last Word-New York Times

THE INTERNATIONAL LEBANESE COMMITTEE FOR UNSCR 1559
2300 M Street NW, Suite 800 Washington , DC 20037
(202) 416 1819 fax (202) 293 3083
WWW.UN1559.ORG SG1559@UN1559.org
Press release
Tom Harb: Nasrallah is breaching UN resolutions with weapons declaration
Washington, 16th of February 2009
Commenting on Hezbollah Secretary General speech today, NGO leader Tom Harb said the United Nations must take note of Hassan Nasrallah's statement that his militia will acquire or maybe has acquired anti aircraft batteries. Harb, who serves as the Secretary General of the Lebanese International Committee for the Implementation of the UNSCR 1559 (ILC-1559), said "we heard loud and clear through international and local media that Mr. Nasrallah doesn't want to abide by a binding UN resolution calling on all militias including his to disarm. Worse, Mr. Nasrallah said in public that he has obtained, will deploy and he will use anti aircraft weapons systems on Lebanese territories. This is a flagrant breach of UNSCR 1559 and 1701 which calls clearly for the disarming and discontinuing of arms shipments."Harb, who monitors the application of the UN resolution on behalf of an international non Governmental Organization and briefs the United Nations missions and the US and European Governments on all issues related to these resolutions said "the international community is in obligation to ask the Lebanese Government to investigate Mr. Nasrallah's statements and must send a fact finding mission to Lebanon to check the reception and deployment of these forbidden weapons." Harb added that the UNIFIL, which insures the implementation of UNSCR 1701, must conduct its own investigation in the areas of its own deployment while the Lebanese Army, under UNSCR 1559, must investigate the deployment of these weapons in the rest of the country." He added: "The UN is spending significant amounts on deploying UN troops in Lebanon. The Nasrallah statements ridicule the UN Security Council by asserting that he will breach UN resolutions which are being implemented by the UNIFIL."Mr. Harb said the NGO will initiate a series of letters, and meetings in the goal of addressing this challenge. "Besides, we have been contacted by a number of local civil society NGOs in Lebanon who expressed their concerns about Nasrallah's weapons statements. They told us that they would be willing to volunteer to scout the country to find these weapons. But they said they are intimidated by Hezbollah's militias which arrest, kidnap and jail Lebanese citizens after they accuse them of being agents to Israel."

Hariri Tribunal Confirms It Will Open Doors March 1
Naharnet/The Special Tribunal for Lebanon, due to try the suspected killers of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri, said Wednesday it will open its doors in a suburb of The Hague on March 1. "To mark this historic event, a short public ceremony will be held at the STL court building," the tribunal said in a statement. Officials expected to attend the ceremony include Canadian prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, registrar Robin Vincent, and Patricia O'Brien, the UN under secretary general for legal affairs. United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon had said in late November that the tribunal could start its work on March 1. The court, known informally as the Hariri tribunal, has existed on paper since June 10, 2007, when it was brought to life by a resolution of the UN Security Council. Eleven judges, including four Lebanese, have been nominated to work at the tribunal, housed at the former headquarters of the Dutch intelligence service in the town of Leidschendam. The judges' names are being kept under wraps for security reasons. Seven suspects are being held in Lebanon in a probe into a series of attacks on Lebanese political and media personalities, notably Hariri's assassination in a car bombing in February 2005 that also killed 22 others. German Detlev Mehlis, who preceded Bellemare as head of the international investigation, has previously said there was evidence implicating Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services in Hariri's assassination. Damascus has denied any involvement.
Bellemare has indicated he would seek the transfer of suspects to The Hague within two months of the tribunal's opening. The court's budget will amount to some $51.4 million (36 million euros) in 2009 - 49 percent of it financed by Lebanon.(AFP) Beirut, 18 Feb 09, 18:26

Key U.S. Senator Meets Lebanese Leaders
Naharnet/Former U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Senator John Kerry held talks with Lebanese leaders on Wednesday on the latest leg of a regional tour. Kerry met Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and was also to meet President Michel Suleiman and parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri. On the agenda of the talks are Lebanon's June 7 parliamentary elections as well as relations between the two countries after President Barack Obama took office last month. Kerry, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is on a regional tour that will also take him to Egypt, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Syria. He arrived in Beirut from Jordan where he met King Abdullah II. The tour comes as the Obama administration works to convince the Arab world that it will ramp up U.S. involvement in the Middle East peace process. Kerry was to head to Jerusalem after his stop in Beirut.(AFP) Beirut, 18 Feb 09, 16:25

Election plots
It seems March 8 is trying to postpone the elections or influence them with their guns
NOW Staff , February 18, 2009
Recent attacks by opposition politicians have indicated that the March 8 bloc plans, by hook or by crook, to postpone the June 7 parliamentary elections or influence it with their guns. It has begun its campaign by revisiting the new electoral law passed at the end of September.
This week both Speaker (and Amal leader) Nabih Berri and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun suggested holding the election in one day might not be possible. Aoun flat-out said no to holding the vote in a single day, while Berri said the country must be calm for the aforementioned to be accomplished. He did not mention the fact that it is the opposition with the track record for creating civil disturbance. Berri is also attacking the electoral law by insisting that parliament should discuss lowering the voting age from 21 to 18.
But parliament has already debated and decided these issues. The new electoral law clearly states that the election will be held on one day and that the voting age is 21. While we may disagree with the decision on the voting age, the law must be respected. Opening the law for debate after it has been passed not only undermines it, but appears to be nothing more than a cynical step to cast the doubt on the validity of the ballot itself.
The opposition is trying to create a dispute in parliament. The message is clear: if these issues are not resolved, the opposition will use them as a pretext for postponing the elections. Creating political constipation is nothing new to this particular opposition bloc. It closed parliament for over 18 months between December 2006 and May 2008 and obstructed the presidential election for six months. Meanwhile, the budget debate, centered on funding for the Council of South, is yet another example of March 8 trying to create a parliamentary dispute by threatening to use the obstructing third.
Furthermore, the violent behavior of March 8 supporters last weekend that left one man dead, is worrisome and, given their track record, it would not be farfetched to suggest this is only the beginning of a calculated campaign of terrorism to keep voters away from polling stations.
Simply put, March 8 is scared it will lose, given the extraordinarily strong showing of March 14 supporters on the 4th anniversary of the killing of Rafik Hariri last Saturday and the fact that Aoun’s electoral odds are lengthening by the day. The Christian vote will decide the next parliamentary majority and Aoun needs to make a strong showing a feat that is looking less and less likely given his break with Michel al-Murr, in the Metn and, attempts to discredit it, the emergence of a centrist bloc. He is also at loggerheads with Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, a state of affairs which will alienate many of his Maronite supporters.
With Aoun’s chances of handing March 8 a parliamentary majority looking increasingly slim, it is not surprising the opposition is trying to muddy the electoral waters by reopening debates on the election law and intimidating the public. Will the elections be free and fair? Not if the opposition has its way.

March 14: Insistence on Veto Power Is Indirect Effort to Amend Taef
Naharnet/The March 14 Forces accused on Wednesday parliamentary minority of trying to "indirectly amend the Taef accord" by insisting on maintaining veto power.
In a statement following its regular meeting, the Forces' general secretariat stressed the need for the majority to "handle executive power while minority should fulfill its tasks" as done in all democracies. It said that any insistence on behalf of the parliamentary minority to hold veto power is "an indirect attempt to amend the Taef accord and is a flagrant violation of constitutional provisions."The March 14 Forces called for the elimination of "security zones" in Beirut to pave the way for the government to maintain security across Lebanon calling on the security services to deal with violators of the law with an "iron fist." The statement said that March 14 "sympathizes with the Lebanese and shares their sentiments of concern and anger following a series of dangerous security incidents" the latest of which was Wednesday's discovery of the bullet-riddled body of Middle East Airlines pilot, Ghassan Hassan Miqdad. Beirut, 18 Feb 09, 16:50

Murr: Egypt Ready to Arm Lebanese Military, Pledged Unlimited Support to Army
Naharnet/Egypt has pledged full support to the Lebanese army and expressed readiness to manufacture the establishment's arms, Lebanese Defense Minister said Wednesday after talks with the Egyptian president, the Kuwait News Agency report. Murr arrived in Cairo Tuesday for talks with Egyptian officials on possible military assistance to the Lebanese Army. Speaking to reporters, Murr said President Hosni Mubarak reaffirmed Egypt's support for the Lebanese government and pledged "unlimited support for the Lebanese army," Kuna said. Murr added that Egypt "has expressed readiness to manufacture weapons for the Lebanese army should the need arise." Murr announced a trip to Egypt by President Michel Suleiman over the next three weeks. Suleiman will be heading a technical team to Egypt's plans to "provide the Lebanese army with the required military equipment and munitions."Murr's visit coincided with that of Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri, who also met with Mubarak on Tuesday. Hariri had set the stage for Russian military assistance that was declared during a visit by Murr to Moscow, which included 10 MIG29 jet fighters. In addition to military assistance, Murr and Mubarak discussed recent developments in the region including the Israeli-offensive on the Gaza Strip last month, the defense minister told reporters. Beirut, 18 Feb 09, 15:43

The wine of the Syrian regime
Date: February 18th, 2009 Future News
No Lebanese denies his animosity to Israel. Lebanese have all agreed that Israel hails different religious, human and moral traditions, hence, an awkward body in our region. They have reasserted this through the Taëf Accord. If there was any misunderstanding among any Lebanese regarding this position, then it is against the national peace accord and the doctrine that regulates the relationships among government institutions. Israel occupied our land, killed our women and orphaned our children. We did not receive its troops with rice throwing or coordinated with its command to twist the arm of the Palestinian resistance by besieging it as was the conduct of some of us, nor as did the regime of objections in the Bekaa valley and Tripoli by presenting the Palestinians as a bargain tool during discussions with American foreign ministers. We are all aware of the Hebrew State greediness towards our water and its hostility to our democratic regime which was distorted by some of us when they diverted their arms to the interior. Enmity and confrontation with Israel, we are the first runners, but what cannot be explained is diversifying this conflict towards defending a dictatorship that is no less cruel and vindictive than Israel. Should we mention how the Syrian army and intelligence did not spare any region in Lebanon from entering or shelling? Or where was the feeling of the brethren when they besieged Tel-Zaatar or when they stormed into Sidon and Nabatiyeh? Should we remember the massacre of “Fathallah” barracks in Beirut and the two wars of Apple Province (Iqlim el-tuffah)? Does our memory allow us to remember the “camps war” and its political motives, or on how Beirut was entered in 1986? How can the relation between Lebanon and Syria be that of two brethren while the latter has not appointed its ambassador to Beirut yet and refuses to demarcate the borders? Why should we always bare alone the consequences of the Arabo-Israeli conflict at the expenses of our people’s blood, future and our existence in our nation, while we heard no one commenting on what Haaretz published about the step Turkish premier Recep Tayyeb Erdogan made by putting Bashar al-Assad and Ehud Olmert over the phone.
The Conflict with Israel and our animosity to it is irrevocable and what is demanded- for the sake of what Grand Imam Moussa Sadr once said--:”The inner peace of Lebanon is the best facet of our war with Israel.”The success of our war against the Zionist state would be by evaluating its results rationally, and not by a rushed adventure risking everything even the national unity. If anything is to be considered and addressed seriously is Assad call to exploit the “victory” over Israel during the July 2006 war, and later, the release of the reports indicating that the Governor of Damascus agreed at the end of the same month on negotiating, and addressing even the subject of the Golan Heights wine.

Bullet-riddled Body of MEA Pilot Found in Ouzai
Naharnet/The bullet-riddled body of a Middle East Airlines pilot was found in his car in Beirut's Ouzai neighborhood on Wednesday, the National News Agency reported. MEA captain Ghassan Hassan Miqdad, 55, was found shot in the head in his Nissan Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), NNA said.
It said Miqdad's brother, Mohammed, was shot dead early December in the same area. Ghassan Miqdad's house was also robbed almost two weeks ago.
Family friends told Agence France Presse the pilot was not married and lived in the Ouzai area. His death came almost one week after the kidnapping of a MEA employee. Middle East Airlines Chairman Mohammed al-Hout said information reveals that Miqdad's murder was personal in nature.
The pilot's killing and the kidnapping of Joseph Sader do not target MEA, he stressed. Media reports said Wednesday that Sader who was kidnapped near Beirut airport last week was in the custody of the Lebanese Army's intelligence directorate despite denial by the military command. Sader was allegedly kidnapped by three unidentified assailants. Beirut, 18 Feb 09, 09:55

MEA Employees Protest Against Sader's Kidnapping
Naharnet/Middle East Airlines employees held a one-hour strike at 11 a.m. Wednesday in solidarity with the family of kidnapped MEA employee Joseph Sader. Last week, the syndicate representing MEA staff pledged to adopt "escalatory steps" if Sader was not released. He was allegedly kidnapped by three unidentified assailants near the airport last Thursday..Meanwhile, Ad-Diyar daily reported Wednesday that Sader was in the custody of the Lebanese Army's intelligence directorate despite denial by the military command. It said Sader was seized last Thursday when the Lebanese army arrested a network on suspicion of spying for Israel. The army denied in a communiqué on Monday that the man had been handed over to the intelligence. The daily An Nahar on Monday quoted high-ranking sources as saying that a "certain influential party" handed over Sader to the Lebanese army intelligence Sunday evening. Sader was arrested by a "certain party" and handed over to the army although the nature of the tie between the MEA employee and the network is not clear yet, according to Ad-Diyar. Beirut, 18 Feb 09, 08:43

Gemayel Accuses Syria of Obstructing Attempts to Solve Shebaa Dispute
Naharnet/Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel on Wednesday accused Syria and some Lebanese sides of obstructing attempts to settle the issue of the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms. "Syria and some Lebanese sides are obstructing attempts to settle the issue politically so that they can use the (Shebaa) Farms as pretext to keep the situation explosive and so some sides could continue having their weapons," Gemayel said, in an indirect reference to Hizbullah.
He called for a "beginning of a diplomatic solution" to Shebaa Farms. On his alliance with MP Michel Murr, Gemayel told the Voice of Lebanon radio station from Brussels that he believes the Metn candidate is "fully ready to cooperate." Gemayel said that his son, Sami, will lead the Phalange candidates on Murr's ticket in the Metn Province. Beirut, 18 Feb 09, 13:13

Berri Warns: Calm ... or a-Province-a-Week Elections
Naharnet/Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Wednesday warned that unless calm prevailed throughout the period preceding the June 7 elections, polls would not be held on a single day. "There is a need for calm, calm, calm across Lebanon so that we can reach Election Day in an atmosphere which will allow us to conclude this issue the way it should be done," Berri said in remarks published by the daily An Nahar on Wednesday. "If an atmosphere of calm was not ensured," Berri warned, "we would not be able to hold elections in a single day." "Then, God forbids, we need to hold elections a-province-a-week, a matter that would exhaust security forces and cripple the election process," he added. Beirut, 18 Feb 09, 08:17

Hariri from Cairo Calls for International Observers to Monitor Elections
Naharnet/Mustaqbal Movement leader MP Saad Hariri on Tuesday called for international observers to monitor parliamentary elections scheduled for June 7. Hariri told reporters following a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit that it is "important that elections be held in a stable (security) situation."
He demanded international observers and others from the Arab League to monitor polls "so we can ensure fully democratic elections."
An Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman, in turn, said talks with Hariri focused on the issue of sending Egyptian observers to Lebanon to monitor the elections.
Hariri earlier met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Beirut, 17 Feb 09, 23:01

Philippine Worker Sentenced to 3 Years for Beating Employer with Baseball Bat
Naharnet/A Philippine house helper has been charged with attempted murder after beating her employer with a baseball bat while she was asleep.The worker was sentenced to three years in prison and liable for LL 15,000,000 for damage caused. News reports said the employer was surprised to wake up to the pain from a strike on her head with a baseball bat. Despite attempts to defend herself, the assailant continued beating her employer, dragging her by the hair into the living room and trying to kill her by suffocating her with a pillow. Another domestic worker made an unsuccessful attempt to rescue her employer but passed out only to wake up a few minutes later, this time able to push her colleague away and called for help. Meanwhile, the attacker fled to the Philippine embassy. Beirut, 18 Feb 09, 11:43

March 8 Ministers, Berri in Last-Ditch Bid to Untangle Knots of Budget Crisis
Naharnet/March 8 Cabinet ministers held an overnight meeting at Speaker Nabih Berri's mansion in Ein el-Tineh in a last-ditch bid to untangle knots of the Council for the South budget crisis. Telecommunications Minister Jebran Bassil as well as Ministers Mario Aoun and Talal Arslan did not attend the meeting for travel purposes.
News reports said the meeting would be resumed on Wednesday. They said outcome of the session will be conveyed to President Michel Suleiman.
LBC TV said in its evening newscast on Tuesday that Suleiman is likely to settle the Council for the South budget crisis at Thursday's Cabinet meeting by granting Berri LL 60 billion conditional he does not spend it before July, a month following parliamentary elections. Suleiman on Tuesday was also reportedly determined to settle the 2009 state budget crisis at the Cabinet meeting. Suleiman was said to have made a last-minute attempt to try to work out an agreement on the budget between the rival political camps – March 8 and March 14 forces. The daily An Nahar had said Suleiman threatened to adopt a budget based on monthly allocations if the two sides failed to agree on a compromise. Beirut, 18 Feb 09, 08:52

Fadlallah: Wiretapping Report Next Week
Naharnet/Head of Parliament's Media and Communications Committee, MP Hassan Fadlallah, has said he will hand over his report on the controversial issue of wiretapping to Speaker Nabih Berri next week. "The report will be 4-5 pages long and will summarize where we were in the wiretapping issue and what we have accomplished particularly when this issue requires a judicial and not just parliamentary committee," Fadlallah told An Nahar daily in remarks published Wednesday.
The committee, which has met three times, is now busy transcribing the minutes of the meetings, he said. The conferees – including some 40 MPs from various political sides, the interior and justice ministers as well as General Security head Wafiq Jezzini and Police chief Gen. Ashraf Rifi -- agreed in their last meeting held Thursday to move toward the establishment of a parliamentary investigative committee to look into the wiretapping issue. Beirut, 18 Feb 09, 09:30

Qoleilat Trial Postponed for Last Time
Naharnet/The criminal court in Beirut has postponed for the last time the trial of Rana Qoleilat, the heroine of the $1.2 billion scandal that ruined Beirut's Al-Madina Bank. Qoleilat is being tried in absentia on charges of counterfeiting official documents. Qoleilat was arrested in Brazil in March 2006. She was often reported to have handled enormous financial transactions involving Syrian Gen. Rustom Ghazaleh when she was chief assistant of Al-Madina Bank's majority shareholders.
Former Syrian Vice-President Abdel-Halim Khaddam had said that Ghazaleh stripped the troubled Al-Madina Bank of $35 million and showered top Lebanese leaders, including former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, with threats and insults. Hariri was assassinated on Feb. 14, 2005 only five months after he was pressured by Damascus to vote in parliament for an amendment of the constitution to enable President Emile Lahoud to extend his term for another three years. News reports at the time linked Rana's arrest in Brazil with developments in the U.N. probe into Hariri's murder. Beirut, 18 Feb 09, 10:08

Solution to Hospital Crisis in the Offing
Naharnet/Health Minister Mohammed Jawad Khalife said a solution to the hospital tariffs problem is in the offing. The agreement is based on increasing hospital room rates to LL 70,000. It also calls for undertaking steps to circulate the new hospital admission rates approved by the ministry of health. Khalife, in remarks published Wednesday by the daily al-Akhbar, said other medical and hospitalization fees will only be subject to increase following a study currently undertaken by an expert committee. Khalife said this measure would lead to the completion of consolidation of funds by 70 percent. Beirut, 18 Feb 09, 11:08

Assad: Sending an Ambassador to Beirut Sovereign Issue
Naharnet/Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview published in London Wednesday that the exchange of ambassadors between Syria and Lebanon was "a sovereign issue." "We will not send an ambassador to Lebanon because Britain, France and the U.S. want us to. This is a sovereign issue. We are not doing it for Europe or for anyone else," Assad told The Guardian. Assad said he was unconcerned by the opening on 1 March of the international tribunal that would try ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's suspected assassins. Any request for the handover of Syrians to the tribunal would require Syria's agreement, he said.
Syria expects the U.S. to send an ambassador to Damascus soon to make good on Barack Obama's offer to engage in dialogue with countries the Bush administration shunned, the Syrian president said. Later this week, Assad will see Senator John Kerry, the influential chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee and the most senior American to visit Damascus in years. Kerry has been advocating the swift return of a U.S. ambassador, which was withdrawn in 2005 after Hariri's murder.
"An ambassador is important," Assad said. "Sending these delegations is important. This number of congressmen coming to Syria is a good gesture. It shows that this administration wants to see dialogue with Syria. What we have heard from them – Obama, Clinton and others – is positive." But he added: "We are still in the period of gestures and signals. There is nothing real yet."
Such a rapprochement would require Syria to break its links with Hizbullah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, both classified by Washington as terrorist groups, and to make a bigger effort to close its border to foreign fighters in transit to Iraq. There was no sign, however, that Assad is prepared to renounce or downgrade Syria's relations with either group – or, as the U.S. would like to see, with Iran, Syria's strategic ally since 1979.
Now the Bush era is over – Assad hopes he will see Washington act as the "main arbiter" in the moribund Middle East peace process. "There is no substitute for the United States," Assad said. Referring to Obama's call for countries to "unclench their fists," Assad said he believed the new U.S. president had been referring to Iran. "We never clenched our fist," he declared. "We still talked about peace even during the Israeli aggression in Gaza."Underlining his hopes for a significant shift from Washington, the Syrian leader said he would welcome a visit to Damascus by General David Petraeus, the head of U.S. central command, to discuss collaboration over Iraq and other issues. The Bush White House blocked a planned visit by Petraeus."We would like to have dialogue with the U.S. administration. We would like to see him (Petraeus) here in Syria," Assad said. Beirut, 18 Feb 09, 10:00

Abu Jamra, Michel Murr trade accusations over 2005 elections
DEPUTY PREMIER ATTRIBUTES MP'S OUTBURST TO LOSS OF TEMPER
By Hussein Abdallah /Daily Star staff
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
BEIRUT: MP Michel Murr traded barbs with Deputy Premier Issam Abu Jamra Tuesday, describing his former ally as stupid, a remark which Abu Jamra attributed to Murr having lost his temper. Commenting on remarks by Abu Jamra, who accused Murr of blocking some votes from reaching Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) candidates in 2005, the Metn lawmaker said he had received 10,000 less votes than most FPM candidates, which he said negated Abu Jamra's argument.
"What he said proves that I was backstabbed by the FPM and not the other way around. He would not have said that had he not been stupid."
Murr also slammed Abu Jamra for criticizing Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir.
"The patriarch's national stances are his best defense. He does not need me or any other politician to defend him ... Who is Abu Jamra to criticize the patriarch?" he asked. In response, the deputy premier said: "I will not reply to such rhetoric ... it seems Murr has lost his temper."
Murr said Tuesday that his electoral alliance with former President Amin Gemayel in the qada of Metn was "final" and would be announced as soon as Gemayel returned from a visit to Belgium. "We met for three hours late on Monday in Bekfaya [Gemayel's hometown]. We intended to meet at night for security reasons. Our discussions focused on the upcoming elections and our alliance will be announced when President Gemayel returns from Belgium," Murr told reporters after receiving Qatari Ambassador Saad bin Hilal al-Muhannadi. Asked about names of possible candidates, Murr said it was too early to reveal names.
"Who would reveal names three months before the polls? I promised earlier to speak of names only three weeks ahead [of the elections] and I will keep my promise," he said. "Once the names of candidates are made public, a series of meetings will be held with the Armenian Tashnak Party to forge an agreement," he added.
Murr stressed that both Gemayel and the Tashnak were willing to overcome their unpleasant past experience, referring to the conflict between the two parties during the Metn by-election in 2007. At the time, Gemayel, who was running to replace his slain son former Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, lost to FPM candidate Camille Khoury, who enjoyed the support of most Armenian voters. Murr also stressed he was not personally at odds with FPM leader MP Michel Aoun while denying reports about contacts between his son, Defense Minister Elias Murr, and Aoun's party.
Meanwhile, Gemayel kicked off his visit to Belgium on Tuesday by meeting EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Belgian officials.
Gemayel called on EU officials to exercise pressure on Syria over the issue of remaining Lebanese prisoners in Syrian jails.
Damascus has repeatedly denied detaining any Lebanese nationals in its prisons.
Gemayel also said that some Lebanese parties' possession of "illegitimate arms" represented a serious threat to the country's stability.
Also Tuesday, Interior Minister Ziad Baroud said not holding the parliamentary polls on June 7 would have "very dangerous" repercussions.
"We intended to commit ourselves to a specific date in a bid to confirm that the elections will take place on time," Baroud told a news conference.
He added that security during the elections was not related only to the ability of security and armed forces to preserve order on June 7.
"Security is also related to the general atmosphere during the period of campaigning," Baroud said.
On Monday, Aoun voiced doubt about the ability of security forces to manage the situation if the elections were held on a single day.
On a separate front, parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri held talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on Tuesday.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Hariri reiterated his commitment to staying out of government if the March 14 Forces lose in the upcoming polls.
"We all acknowledge that Lebanon has a special sectarian situation, but we should not emphasize this confessional system at the expense of democracy," he said.
"If they [March 8 Forces] win, let them rule the country and we will constitute the opposition," he added.
Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Monday said the March 8 alliance would not mind ruling the country on its own if it won the June 7 polls.
However, Nasrallah said his camp's priority was to form a national unity government which includes both the parliamentary majority and minority.
Hariri also said that the international tribunal to try suspects in the murder of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, has become "a fact."
"We heard rumors about political deals that would hinder the establishment of the tribunal, but the tribunal has become a fact and it will kick off in the beginning of March."Hariri said Lebanon should not entangle itself in regional conflicts and concentrate on handling its internal problems.
Later on Tuesday, Hariri met with Defense Minister Murr, who arrived in Cairo leading a senior military delegation.
Murr is expected to hold talks with Egyptian officials on providing military assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces.
In a separate development, US Democratic Senator John Kerry is expected to visit Beirut for a few hours on Wednesday.
Local news reports on Tuesday said that Kerry, who heads the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, will meet Hariri, President Michel Sleiman, and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora

'Deal in the works' to break up logjam over Council of the South
Row between Berri and Siniora has threatened to derail budget
Daily Star staff
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
BEIRUT: The intense debate between Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Speaker Nabih Berri over allocations for the Council of the South may simmer down amid news that a compromise is being worked out before the next Cabinet meeting on Thursday. An informed source close to Berri's Amal movement told The Daily Star on Tuesday that there are signs the issue of allocations to the Council of the South may be solved soon.
"There are movements to settle the issue of the allocations. Let's hope a solution is reached soon," the source said.
The Amal movement earlier accused Siniora of trying to bloc the transfer of LL60 billion (close to $40 million) to the Council of the South.
The opposition argued that it was willing to scrap the Council of the South if all bodies such as the Council for Development and Reconstruction and the Higher Relief Council were also eliminated. Berri proposed the creation of a planning ministry to replace all the funds and councils.
Siniora and the Finance Ministry insisted that any further allocations to the Council of the South could affect the budget deficit which was projected to reach 30 percent in 2009. There were even hints that Siniora might recommend a higher VAT rate if Amal insisted on allocating LL60 billion to the Council of the South.
Observers feared that the opposition ministers could veto the 2009 draft budget if Siniora refused to allocate LL60 billion to the Council of the South.
Council of the South President Qabalan Qabalan met Finance Minister Mohammad Shatah on Tuesday and submitted a list of projects for the Council of the South.
This move was seen as an attempt by Amal to negate all the excuses cited by Siniora, who claimed that the Council of the South was refusing to show the list of projects that would be implemented in the south this year.
LBC TV said President Michel Sleiman intends to submit a compromise to end the dispute between Berri and Siniora.
It added that if the budget were not approved Thursday the Finance Ministry might be forced to spend money based on the 2008 budget accounts.
The station said that the president wanted the Cabinet to discuss and endorse the 2009 draft budget during the session on Thursday.
Apart from the issue of the Council of the South, most ministers do not have strong reservations about most clauses in the 2009 draft budget.
The 2009 draft budget, which has yet to be approved by the Cabinet and Parliament, projects expenditures at LL15.552 trillion ( close to $10 billion), an increase of 35 percent compared to the 2008 budget and revenues at LL11.1139 trillion, an increase of 33 percent. The budget deficit for 2009 is projected at LL4.413 trillion, or 28.37 percent of spending and 9.41 percent of the country's GDP.
The cost of debt servicing is expected to represent 39 percent of total public spending. - The Daily Star

Much at stake for Lebanon in US opening to Syria
By Inter Press Service
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Ali Gharib/Inter Press Service
WASHINGTON: This week, two high-level US Congressional delegations are setting out for Syria to meet with President Bashar Assad. The trips are seen as a precursor for engagement with Syria, but the extent of possible diplomatic deal-making is still in question. Foreign Relations Committee chairman Senator John Kerry is spending this week touring the Middle East and is scheduled to stop in Damascus for talks with Assad, his third such visit. House Foreign Relations chairman Representative Howard Berman is expected to travel there later this month.
If, indeed, the congressional trips are a harbinger of President Barack Obama's desire to restore diplomacy with Syria, that would represent a sharp break with former President George W. Bush's policy of isolating Damascus. Obama campaigned on and has, since his inauguration, declared his intention to talk to US adversaries to try to resolve differences.
The top foreign-affairs legislators in the Senate and the House of Representatives are both traveling on their own and have said that they are not representing the administration. But both Democrats are allies of Obama, and would likely not make such a trip if the administration disapproved.
"Obama is preparing for serious engagement with Syria," said Oklahoma University professor Joshua Landis, who also writes the popular Syria Comment blog. "Obviously, Syria is trying to come in from the cold, but it's not easy."
Indeed, an initial thaw of relations may have gotten under way early in the Obama administration, with the US sending spare parts to Syria to repair two grounded Boeing passenger planes. The move was assailed by many critics of rapprochement, but the Obama team insisted that it was not an end to sanctions but rather simply a way to ensure public safety.
The meetings between Assad and Kerry this week, though unlikely to bring about substantive change in and of themselves, are widely seen as the opening salvo of a diplomatic offensive that will result in a US ambassador being dispatched to Damascus. Bush withdrew his top diplomat there after Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri was assassinated almost exactly four years ago, allegedly with Syrian complicity.
But while an initial effort to reach out to Assad may result in diplomatic ties being restored, it is unclear how far those re-established ties will go in resolving the innumerable differences between the US and Syria.
"These visits represent a new environment, but don't themselves constitute a warming of the relationship," said David Schenker, director of the Program on Arab Politics at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), a think tank founded by the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee. "The problem still remains and the fundamental issue in our bilateral relationship remains the same," Schenker told IPS. "You may have visits and discussions, but until you have a real Syrian commitment to change its policies on Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon, you're not going to have the kind of opening people are looking for."
Indeed, Syria has been accused of supporting Hamas in the Palestinian territories, Hizbullah in Lebanon, and allowing free movement of insurgents across its border into Iraq. The porous border with Iraq caused the US to strike kilometers into Syria last fall with several helicopters in order to kill a militant accused of facilitating the transportation of insurgents into Iraq. The incident created hoopla, but it quickly subsided. Among these US concerns, a particular challenge will be with regard to Lebanon, where Syria had troops for nearly 30 years, until its withdrawal of the last 15,000 men in 2005.
"The Lebanese lobby [in the US] is up in arms," Landis said about the potential thaw between the US and Syria. "Their stance is, 'Okay, engage Syria. But make sure you have a laundry list of demands, all having to do with Lebanese sovereignty.'"
An emerging obstacle to US-Syrian rapprochement may come from Syria's neighbor to the southwest: Israel, which had, until its assault on Gaza in December and January, been in peace talks with Syria mediated by Turkey.
Just ahead of the Israeli elections last week, Likud party head Benjamin Netanyahu, a leading contender to form a government and become prime minister, said that he would be unwilling to achieve peace with Syria by giving up Israeli control of the Golan Heights, occupied since the 1967 war. Reacquisition of the Golan is considered a top priority for the Syrians in any peace talks.
"There are people who say [Netanyahu] doesn't mean what he says and that he's the best choice for making peace with Syria," said Landis. "He says he is happy to talk to Syrians, but not about land. And he says he is going to build settlements." But Landis suggests the remote possibility that, just as Menachem Begin negotiated peace with Egypt by giving away the Sinai Peninsula, thereby deflecting criticism of the occupation of the West Bank, Netanyahu may be willing to cede the Golan to keep attention off Israel's internal Palestinian problems.
But Schenker of WINEP pointed to a poll indicating that Israelis were more likely to give up part of East Jerusalem than the Golan. Noting that the border with Syria is already "Israel's quietest," Schenker said Damascus was unlikely to deliver the type of offer that would allow Netanyahu to make a large concession with the Golan.
"In order to get peace between Israel and Syria, there would need to be a strategic realignment," he said, citing specifically the Israeli desire that Syria move away from Iran, crack down on its border with Iraq, and give up support for Hamas and Hizbullah. He said that was unlikely because if it made those concessions, Syria would then have "the foreign-policy impact in the Middle East of Yemen. That's not how they view themselves - as a third-rate Middle East player."
But the biggest obstacle of all may not be a negotiating party or player, but rather the precarious global economic climate. The upheaval is taking an immediate toll on the Obama administration, forcing the president to focus his initial energies on ending the crisis and getting the country's financial vital signs back to a healthy level. Foreign policy, as many have noted, is likely to suffer from a lack of attention.
"It raises the question of, 'Can you get anything done?'" said Landis. "How much capital can you spend on [Syria] when you need every farthing you have to spend at home?" "If Obama is going to carry out a revolution in the Middle East, God bless him. He's got a lot of revolutions to carry out," he added

Security officials confirm arrest of Lebanese spy for Israel in Nabatiyeh
By Andrew Wander
Daily Star staff
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
BEIRUT: Security officials have confirmed reports of the arrest of an Israeli spy who may have conducted espionage during the July war with Israel in 2006. A security official identified the man as Kamal Faqih, a petrol station owner from Nabatiyeh. "He is with Army Intelligence. The investigations are focusing on how much he was involved in spy work during the war with Israel in 2006," the official told The Daily Star. The source said Hizbullah had played a role in discovering Faqih's secret double life after becoming suspicious of his behavior. "Hizbullah watched him for several months, and it became known he was a spy," the source said. The man is believed to have been working for the Israelis since the mid-1990s, when he was recruited by Mossad in France and asked to provide information about Hizbullah and the Lebanese Army. Faqih's capture is the second such arrest in recent months. In October 2008, two brothers living in the Bekaa Valley were arrested after security services discovered that they had were part of an Israeli spy ring that had been operating since the late 1980s.

Nasrallah tells it like it is - but how does he think it should be?
By The Daily Star
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Editorial
One of the reasons that Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has proven such a formidable foe for the Israelis is that the Hizbullah leader has long had a knack for sizing up his enemy. The analysis he provided during his speech on Monday night about the current Israeli situation ought to give pause to those who doubt that Israel poses a grave danger, not only to its neighbors, but also to itself. As Nasrallah pointed out, successive Israeli governments, whether headed by Labor, Kadima or Likud, have showed equal disdain for peacemaking and a similar thirst for conflict and settler-driven conquest. The current assortment of racist parties that now dominates the Israeli political spectrum after the elections has only given the Jewish state a more honest face - one which the international community will eventually recognize for what it is.
Likewise, Nasrallah's assessment of the regional situation was insightful and correct. The Hizbullah leader voiced strong support for reconciliation efforts, including a possible Saudi-Syrian rapprochement and an inter-Palestinian accord. Perhaps these stances stem from Nasrallah's recognition that Israel's current regional strategy relies heavily on inducing divisions within the ranks of the Arab and Islamic worlds.
On the internal front, Nasrallah showed similar wisdom with his choice of words. He emphasized the need to avoid internal divisions and to continue to pursue the path of dialogue and reconciliation. He also reached out to his political opponents - and thereby curtailed the recent excesses of some of his allies - by paying homage to the late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and relaying his condolences over the violent death of Lutfi Abbas Zeineddine, a participant in Saturday's March 14 demonstration held to celebrate the legacy of the slain prime minister.
Much of what Nasrallah said on Monday night was in line with recent remarks made by his political rivals in the March 14 Forces. The fact that both the March 14 and March 8 leaders are keeping their commitments to maintain the current calm augurs well for the Lebanese as they prepare for the upcoming parliamentary elections.
Nasrallah's speech demonstrated that despite all the talk of Hizbullah constituting a hindrance to the Lebanese state, the party's leadership maintains a reasonable approach from which a strong and coherent state can emerge in a genuine spirit of partnership. All that remains to be done is for both sides to elaborate on the policy approaches that they have briefly outlined by identifying the exact steps that need to be taken if lofty objectives such as combating corruption, implementing reform and strengthening the state are ever to be achieved

Israel engaged in covert war inside Iran: report
Reuters – A technician works in the control room at the uranium conversion facility in Isfahan, 450 km south of …
(Reuters) – Israel is involved in a covert war of sabotage inside Iran to try to delay Tehran's alleged attempts to develop a nuclear weapon, a British newspaper said on Tuesday, quoting a former CIA agent and intelligence experts.
An intelligence source in the Middle East told Reuters last year Israel planned to target Iranian nuclear scientists with letter bombs and poisoned packages and had set off explosions in Iran. Analysts offered similar accounts and said such tactics would be credible, but no confirmation has been available.
Some analysts caution that reports of such a "dirty war" may form part of a psychological warfare campaign to unsettle Iran.
The intelligence source told Reuters that Israeli agents were working with Western governments and firms doing business with Tehran, whose Islamist leadership is a sworn enemy of Israel but denies accusations its nuclear program has a military purpose.
Israel's government, widely assumed to be the only nuclear power in the Middle East, declines all comment on such reports.
"Israel has launched a covert war against Iran as an alternative to direct military strikes against Tehran's nuclear program," Britain's Daily Telegraph said on Tuesday. "It is using hitmen, sabotage, front companies and double agents to disrupt the regime's illicit weapons project, the experts say."
Quoting intelligence experts and an unnamed former CIA agent, the newspaper said Israel's "decapitation" strategy had targeted members of Iran's atomic program, hoping to set back the country's nuclear ambitions without resorting to war.
"SABOTAGE GOING ON"
Meir Javendafar, an Iran expert at Meepas, a Middle East analysis group, told Reuters there were also reports Iran was being sold faulty equipment for its nuclear program, and that there were attempts to disrupt the electricity supply to Natanz, a uranium enrichment facility in central Iran.
"I think there is sabotage going on. It's a logical move and it makes sense in the game that is part of the overall struggle to disrupt Iran's nuclear ambitions," he said.
As evidence of Israel's reported strategy, Iran watchers have pointed to events such as the death of Ardeshire Hassanpour, a nuclear scientist at the Isfahan uranium plant who died at home from apparent gas poisoning in 2007.
The former CIA agent told the Telegraph: "Disruption is designed to slow progress on the program, done in such a way they don't realize what's happening. The goal is delay, delay, delay until you can come up with some other solution.
"It's a good policy, short of taking them out militarily, which probably carries unacceptable risks."
Asked about the newspaper report, Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, told Reuters: "It is not our practice to comment publicly about these sorts of allegations, not in this situation, not in any situation."
New U.S. President Barack Obama has taken a more diplomatic line with Tehran, quietening former Bush administration talk of a possible military strike against Iranian nuclear assets.
Israeli leaders have been careful not to rule out their military options, though analysts question how far a new Israeli government, still to be formed after last week's parliamentary election, will be prepared to act without Washington's backing.
Javendafar said there were indications several states were attempting to infiltrate Iran to disrupt nuclear development but also suggested much of the reported clandestine activity was more part of a psychological war than an actual one of sabotage.
"Numerous intelligence agencies are trying their best to do this. Not just Israel, but the Americans and many European spy agencies," he said. "If it's true, then it's putting pressure on the Iranian program technically.
"Even if there's no truth to it, it's part of what is a massive psychological war against Iran's nuclear program ... It's ... much more affordable than sabotaging equipment."