LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
December 20/08

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 1,5-25. In the days of Herod, King of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah of the priestly division of Abijah; his wife was from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Both were righteous in the eyes of God, observing all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly.  But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren and both were advanced in years.
Once when he was serving as priest in his division's turn before God, according to the practice of the priestly service, he was chosen by lot to enter the sanctuary of the Lord to burn incense. Then, when the whole assembly of the people was praying outside at the hour of the incense offering,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right of the altar of incense.  Zechariah was troubled by what he saw, and fear came upon him.
But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth,
for he will be great in the sight of (the) Lord. He will drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the holy Spirit even from his mother's womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God.
He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord." Then Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years." And the angel said to him in reply, "I am Gabriel, who stand before God. I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you this good news. But now you will be speechless and unable to talk until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time." Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah and were amazed that he stayed so long in the sanctuary.
But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He was gesturing to them but remained mute. Then, when his days of ministry were completed, he went home. After this time his wife Elizabeth conceived, and she went into seclusion for five months, saying, So has the Lord done for me at a time when he has seen fit to take away my disgrace before others.

Origen (c.185-253), priest and theologian
Commentary on Saint John's Gospel, 2, 193f. (cf. SC 120, p.339)
"You will be speechless... until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words"
In us voice and word are not the same thing since the voice can be heard without it conveying any meaning, without words, and the word can likewise be communicated to the spirit without a voice, as in the wandering of our thoughts. In the same way, since the Saviour is Word..., John differs from him in being voice by analogy with Christ, who is Word. This is what John himself answered to those who asked him who he was: «I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, 'Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight his paths'» (Lk 3,4).
Perhaps this is the reason - because he doubted the birth of the voice that would reveal the Word of God - why Zachariah lost his voice but recovered it again when that voice was born who is the Word's forerunner (Lk 1,64). Since, for the mind to be able to grasp the word intended by the voice, we must hear the voice. It is also why, according to the time of his birth, John is slightly older than Christ – for we perceive the voice before the word. Thus John points to Christ since it is with the voice that the Word is made known. Likewise, Christ was baptized by John, who admitted his need of being baptized by him (Mt 3,14)... Briefly, when John pointed to Christ it was as a man pointing to God, the incorporeal Saviour, as a voice pointing to the Word...

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
Leveraging the Clintons .By Jacob Laksin/FrontPageMagazine.com 19/12/08
Lebanon cannot afford to get caught between a Russian-US power struggle-The Daily Star 19/12/08
Man on the moon. Hanin Ghaddar, NOW Staff , 19/12/08

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for December 19/08
UN investigation of Hariri assassination has its new head-Xinhua
US to supply tanks to Lebanon in spring 2009-AFP
Sunny times return for Lebanon tourism-AFP
Hezbollah supporters in Lebanon protest Gaza siege-The Associated Press
'Important development in Syria talks'-Ynetnews
Israel opposition leader dismisses Syria talks-AFP
US confident Lebanon will hold free, just elections - Hale-Daily Star
Siniora defends Cabinet in speech to Parliament-Daily Star
Former generals divided over Russian offer to provide LAF with jets-Daily Star
Mapping out a new social policy for the ESCWA region-Daily Star
Israeli troops throw smoke grenades at farmer-Daily Star
Bassil reiterates need to liberalize telecom sector-Daily Star
Policeman wounded, car-thief killed during pursuit-Daily Star
Illegal bird hunting drives rare species toward extinction-(AFP)
Lebanese divided over Iraqi's shoe attack on Bush-Daily Star
Recent political thaw with Syria puts spotlight on missing Lebanese-By IRIN News.org
Zaidi apologizes to Maliki over shoe-throwing-(AFP)

US confident Lebanon will hold free, just elections - Hale
Daily Star staff/Friday, December 19, 2008
BEIRUT: US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Hale said on Thursday that the Lebanese people will vote in next year's parliamentary elections for "the leaders who will lead them to a better future." Hale, who arrived in Beirut Wednesday afternoon amid low publicity, said after meeting Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir in Bkirki that the United States was sure that Lebanon would hold "free and just elections."
Following the 50-minute meeting, Hale told reporters he had assured the patriarch of the United States' continuous support for Lebanon's freedom, independence, and sovereignty as well as "the work of the international tribunal" to try suspects in the murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and related crimes.
Later on Thursday, Hale discussed with former Prime Minister Najib Mikati "the recent change in the US administration and its reflection on US policy in Lebanon," the Central News Agency said on Thursday.
Hale then visited former Parliament Speaker Hussein al-Husseini before having lunch at Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt at his residence in Beirut.
Earlier news reports said that Hale's visit would last for three days.
In October, the US official said during a visit to Lebanon that Washington was concerned about equipping the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF).
US Embassy sources told The Daily Star on Wednesday that Hale's trip was routine and had nothing to do with either former US President Jimmy Carter's recent visits to Lebanon and Syria or Russia's gift to the LAF, referring to the 10 MiG-29 fighter jets.
The US has pledged $410 million in military aid to the LAF since 2006 but this has been limited to light weapons and vehicles. - The Daily Star

The World Council of the Cedars Revolution
2300 M Street NW Suite 800, Washington DC, USA 20
Phone ( 202) 416 1819, Fax ( 202) 293 3083
www.cedarsrevolution.net cedarsrevolution@gmail.com
Press Release,
The World Council of the Cedars Revolution (WCCR) Calls on the president of Lebanon and the Parliamentary Majority to Postpone the Parliamentary Elections Until Hezbollah and All Armed Militias have surrendered their Arms.
Washington DC, CR News Dec 19th, 2008
Dialogue sessions which have been convened by President Michel Sleiman as a result of the Doha Agreement are designed specifically to allow each political faction to express without ramification, their utmost concerns regarding any issue which might create or in itself become an obstacle in the process of government asserting its total authority over the governance of the whole nation.
Thus far, during the first two sessions, we have not seen any indication of cooperation or concession on any issue from Hezbollah (classified as a “terrorist organization”); and it has managed to avoid the discussion of surrendering its arms to the Lebanese army. Furthermore it has refused to allow any such discussion about this very issue to take place. In seeking to postpone the effective discussion and planning of granting exclusive military control to the Lebanese army, Hezbollah has asserted its intentions of no discussion and no surrender of arms. Therefore it is blatantly obvious that it has established itself as the over-riding authority in any course of action in Lebanon.
This has not been achieved by democratic procedures but exclusively by the use of their force against the people of Lebanon.
It should be clearly stated that Hezbollah is not the only faction to be fully armed. There are of course its very close affiliates such as Amal Movement, the Palestinian Camps, and other terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda, The Syrian Social Nationalist Party, Fatah al-Islam and Islamic Jihad, who are all proxies for and subservient to Syria and Iran.
Therein lies the real dilemma for the people of Lebanon and the Cedars Revolution. Most of the military arsenal within Lebanon is in the possession of organizations classified by the free world as “terrorists.”
No one any longer believes the deception and lies these terrorists actually represent the safety of the very people against whom they wage attacks; rape, assassination and destruction of property (refer to May 7 of this year). These acts are carried out as callous and calculated operations of oppression against the decent and honorable people of Lebanon.
Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah and his band of assassins and murderers are committed to the conversion and deliverance of Lebanon at the hands of the divine ruler of Iran.
There can be no doubt that the armed terrorist militias in Lebanon have every intention of unleashing their weapons and ferocity against the Lebanese voters at the next election as a means of forcing victory for the March 8 coalition. It would be a grave mistake to leave the rest of the nation unarmed against such a malicious group.
The WCCR and the Lebanese Diaspora are supporters of peace, and fully respect the rule of law. We would prefer to see Lebanon as a nation where the Lebanese Army is the sole protector of its territorial integrity; to achieve this, all armed organizations must surrender their arms. Failing that, we would strongly urge the president and the parliamentary majority to postpone the parliamentary elections until the nation is free from armed militias and terrorist groups.
End…

Siniora defends Cabinet in speech to Parliament
Deputy premier storms out of session
Daily Star staff/Friday, December 19, 2008
BEIRUT: Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said Thursday that he supported calls to "implement the Taif Accord before amending it." In a speech delivered before Parliament in response to Lebanese lawmakers' questioning sessions held over the past four days, Siniora said: "The Taif Accord, which some said was imposed on us, is in fact the accord which brought the Civil War to an end and led the country toward peace."
He went on to say that "thanks to the Taif Accord, the process of reconstruction was launched and the constitutional institutions were revived."
Siniora added that he was not against developing the country's political system. "However, this development should fall within the democratic framework and in the adequate circumstances," he said.
"The Taif Accord put an end to the war and we will not accept that some parties attempt to take Lebanon back to war," Siniora added.
"In this context," he said, "I have to support the positions that stress the need to implement this accord before finding the means to amend it."
Regarding the constitutional powers of the president and premier, which Free Patriotic Movement Leader MP Michel Aoun recently said should be amended, Siniora said: "The powers of the president and the prime minister are not conflicting, and as a prime minister, I am keen on the powers and the role of the Lebanese president as the head of authorities."
On the Higher Relief Commission, Siniora said that attacks by some parties against the commission were "unfair and unfounded."
He defended the commission, which was in charge of managing the post July-2006 war reconstruction and relief efforts.
"The government, as you remember, launched the widest Arab and international campaign to call on both Arab and international communities to help Lebanon," Siniora said. "The major part of support was in form of grants of specified relief and reconstruction purposes," he added.
"However, this support was not enough to meet our needs for reconstruction and compensation for the damage incurred by the residents," he said.
"Despite all the assistance provided to us by these countries, it was not enough to remove the effects of Israeli aggression on the relief and reconstruction levels," he added. Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri interjected to say that reconstruction projects after the July war still need "$500 million to be completed."
Concerning the 2009 parliamentary elections, Siniora said that the government was "keen on holding the upcoming elections with transparency, integrity and neutrality."
The prime minister added that the government was "maintaining its efforts to continue the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701."
Deputy Prime Minister Issam Abu Jamra abruptly left Parliament when Siniora touched on the privileges of the deputy premier, after saying he was "angry that the words we hear about coexistence and national unity are just empty words ... that break the walls of the [Grand] Serail."
"All governments have a deputy prime minister, often with a portfolio and sometimes without a portfolio," he said, adding that no other government had a decree saying the deputy's position was "honorary or to drink coffee only."
Abu Jamra said he would continue to refrain from attending Cabinet meetings led by Siniora in the Grand Serail until he gets his rights.
Three parliamentary sessions were held on Thursday. A morning session was held to continue the questioning of the Cabinet, followed by a legislative session and then an electoral session that witnessed the election of five members of the Constitutional Council.
The Cabinet is expected to meet on Saturday.
Prior to the morning session, Speaker Nabih Berri met with Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt and MPs Marwan Hamadeh and Nehmeh Tohme. Talks focused on the Parliament discussions.
Also on Thursday, President Michel Sleiman met with the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams. Talks focused on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701.
Separately, Lebanese Forces boss Samir Geagea said Thursday that "the acknowledgment of Lebanon by Syria and the establishment of diplomatic ties are the first part of the costs that Damascus has to pay."
"Syria is paying the high price of Western and French openness toward it," Geagea said in a news interview that will be published on Friday.
The Lebanese Forces boss expressed his regret over what he sees as the return of Syrian interference in Lebanon and confirmed his desire to see national dialogue take place. "If we had succeeded in implementing the item [in the Taif Accord] on collecting the arms of militias, starting with non-Lebanese weapons ... we would not have reached where we are today," he told the Phalange Party-owned Al-Aaamal weekly.
"But the insistence of Syria and its allies at the time to collect the weapons of Mount Lebanon was aimed at ending first the Lebanese Forces and the Progressive Socialist Party and left all the rest."
On a different level, Free Patriotic leader MP Michel Aoun told Orange television on Wednesday that he did not discuss Lebanese internal affairs during his visit to Syria. In an interview Wednesday, Aoun said: "I never discussed a Lebanese issue in any country I visited. However, I comforted the Syrians that our position in the coming elections is good, and they hope we would win."
Regarding the establishment of the international tribunal that would try those accused in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri, Aoun said the investigation into the assassination was "not clear." "If Syria was put on trial, then we would take the appropriate position," he said.
On whether he believes the Syrians would return to Lebanon, he said: "If Syria returns [militarily] back to Lebanon, we would declare a war of liberation, but why make such assumptions."
Five members of constitutional council appointed
BEIRUT: The Lebanese Parliament on Thursday elected five members for the Constitutional Council, setting the stage for forming the 10-seat highest constitutional court. The March 14 Forces succeeded in electing three Christian members for the council: Maronite Antoine Kheir, Roman Catholic Antoine Msarra and Greek Orthodox Zaghloul al-Atiyeh. The Sunni and Shiite members, Tareq Ziadeh and Ahmed Taqieddine respectively, were elected through a consensus agreement among MPs. The Cabinet has yet to appoint the remaining five members to the council, allowing it to be operational prior to next year's elections.
The constitutional council is the only body that has the power to look into complaints related to election fraud and challenge the results. - The Daily Star

Former generals divided over Russian offer to provide LAF with jets
'The road is now open for more arms purchases'
By Nicholas Kimbrell /Daily Star staff
Friday, December 19, 2008
Analysis
BEIRUT: Lebanon's Defense Ministry has expressed its surprise and pleasure with Russia's decision to send 10 MiG 29 fighter-bombers to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), but retired members of Lebanon's military brass seem to be at odds over how valuable the aid actually is.
The addition of 10 fourth-generation MiG 29s - single-seat, air-superiority fighters with various ground-attack capabilities - will certainly boost Lebanon's tiny air force, currently composed of a few Hawker Hunter jets from the 1950s and 60s and just over a dozen helicopters. But questions remain over what affect, if any, the planes will have on Lebanon's operational capacity in the region.
"We need everything possible to enhance the army's situation," defense analyst and retired LAF general, Elias Hanna, told The Daily Star. "At the least, it [the delivery the MiGs] is good for Lebanon."
Hanna added that even if some question aspects of Russia's decision to deliver the planes the deal works to strengthen the institutions of the Lebanese state. "Maybe some are concerned: Why Russia? Why now?" he said. "But it's good for the government and the army."
Retired LAF general Amin Hotteit offered a different take.
"I think that that Lebanese army needs more weapons to be operational against foreign offensives, but the MiG 29 is not enough, independently," he said. "We must have radar and surface-to-air capacities. Ten aircraft alone can't do anything against foreign offensives."
In addition, Hotteit noted that big questions remain over how and to what extent the MiGs will be armed.
Announcing the deal from Moscow on Tuesday, Defense Minster Elias Murr expressed his "surprise" over Russia's decision to gift the warplanes, calling the visit "the most important one that I have made since my appointment as defense minister."
Until this week, the United States had been the exclusive supplier of advanced military hardware to Lebanon, with over $410 million in military aid projects. But some in Lebanon, including Future Movement chief and parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri, have reportedly voiced concern that US aid is limited to lighter weaponry.
High ranking US Defense Department official Chris Straub seemed to affirm that belief earlier this month when he said that Washington always considered Israeli concerns before sending equipment to Lebanon.
For some Russia's apparent willingness to supply the LAF with heavier weaponry offers a significant compliment to Washington's aid packages.
Indeed, Hanna suggested that the fighter-bombers could help deter Israel's serial violations of Lebanese sovereignty. After the delivery of the MiG 29s, he said, Israel will have to "redraw its rules of engagement, particularly concerning overflights."
When asked if additional weaponry could from Russian-Lebanese defense cooperation, Hanna seemed confident that it would. "The road is now open for more arms purchases," he said. "We'll have to wait and see what Lebanon asks for."
Hotteit, however, said that the agreed upon shipment of arms represented "no change in [regional] military power."
He said Russia's move rested on two factors: the desire to "open the door for Russian policy in Lebanon," and the ongoing effort to garner regional support for Palestinian-Israeli peace talks that Moscow hopes to host.
Hottiet also noted that the supply of the MiGs could fuel additional domestic debate about the role of Hizbullah's arms.
The March 14 Forces, he said, will try to use the weapons delivery to undercut the legitimacy of the resistance's defensive capacities. Whereas the resistance, Hotteit said, "holds the belief that 10 aircraft are not enough to make the LAF an operational army against Israel."
Hanna alluded to a similar division between Lebanon's rival political coalitions. "March 14 has welcomed the deal," he said, adding that the Hizbullah-led March 8 camp has been relatively "silent."

Israeli troops throw smoke grenades at farmer
Daily Star staff/Friday, December 19, 2008
BEIRUT: Israeli Army soldiers threw two smoke bombs and opened fire at a farmer on the outskirts of the Southern border village of Blida in an attempt to frighten him and push him away from the border, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) said on Thursday. Mohammad Ahmad Hassan Daher, who was working on his field, was not hit by the fire. Two patrols from the Lebanese Army and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) arrived at the area and started an investigation into the attack, the NNA added. - The Daily Star

Policeman wounded, car-thief killed during pursuit
Daily Star staff/Friday, December 19, 2008
BEIRUT: Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud and Internal Security Forces chief Major General Ashraf Rifi visited on Thursday policeman Mohammad Taan at Saint George Hospital in Beirut following a security incident late on Wednesday. Taan was wounded as he was pursuing a car thief in the Northern Bekaa town of Brital, the National News Agency said. Fadi al-Mnaimi, who stole a Toyota Carina with the licence plate S128062 from Sidon, was killed in the incident. - The Daily Star

Lebanese divided over Iraqi's shoe attack on Bush
By Dalila Mahdawi /Daily Star staff
Friday, December 19, 2008
BEIRUT: Lebanese popular opinion seems almost as divided on Muntazer al-Zaidi, the Iraqi television reporter who hurled his shoes at visiting US President Georges W. Bush at a news conference earlier this week, as the Iraqi politicians this week seen squabbling in Parliament over whether to pardon him.
Zaidi, who works for the Cairo-based Al-Baghdadiya, became a household name last Sunday after he called Bush a "dog" and aimed his size 10 pumps at the outgoing president's head. In the Arab world, brandishing or even pointing an upturned shoe at someone is deemed tremendously insulting.
For the most part, the incident has been regarded with humor by the international community, who have coined a new verb, "to shoe," to describe Zaidi's now-infamous attack on Bush. Even Bush, who proved to have quick reflexes after ducking the flying shoes, managed to pull a smile after. Videos of the incident are making their rounds on the Internet, as are several games inviting players to throw their pumps at Bush. Cyber fanclubs and Facebook groups in support of Zaidi have also mushroomed. "I thought it was hilarious," said bank worker Hussein. "Bush is a joke, so how else should you expect people to react?"
Many, like translator Janet Khasham, saw the issue more soberly and shared Zaidi's resentment. The chaos Bush had unleashed "across the world and in our region in particular" meant Bush deserved to "have 1 million shoes thrown at him," she said. The world would be a "better place" when Bush leaves office in January, Khasham added. Meanwhile, system administrator Ashour launched an angry tirade at what he saw as ineffective, corrupt Arab leaders in bed with the US administration. "This is a time when we have hundreds of Palestinians and Iraqis being killed everyday and we see Arab presidents looking forward to meeting with killers and calling them their allies."
Arab leaders had lost every semblance of dignity or conscience, Ashour said, but their people had not. Zaidi's "shoeing" had been "a way to show Bush and his allies that we despise them and we are ready to always fight them anywhere and with any means." Zaidi's action was "full of courage and dignity and a lot of other acts of defiance will follow because we [Arabs] are a people with dignity and we refuse to be humiliated."
Salim, a hotel manager, also saw the shoe-throwing as a reflection of popular sentiment and anger against US policy in the Middle East. The only difference was that such "anger has previously been demonstrated in different ways,"he said.
While some Lebanese hailed Zaidi "the shoe man" as a modern-day hero, not everybody thought his action suited his profession.
"What he did may have spoken for the feelings of many people around the world, but it's also sullied the already tarnished reputation of Arabs," said Yasmina, a doctor. "A lot of people in the West already think all Arabs or Muslims are terrorists, and this shoe incident just makes us look worse."
Likewise, a political science student who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Zaidi's action gave off the impression that Middle Eastern journalists were "uncivilized."
"I think journalists should be responsible enough to reserve their personal sentiments at press conferences where heads of states are speaking," he said. Throwing a shoe may have given Zaidi 15 minutes in the spotlight, the student added, but "he'll be nothing more than a caricature in the future."
While throwing shoes was "probably not the most appropriate device of a journalist to display his criticism," agreed Michael, in the context of waging a war "marked by a heavily regulated media with its 'embedded journalists' phenomenon," it was perhaps a "fitting end to Bush's tenure and a reasonable protest to his failed Iraq policy."
On a lighter note, Michael said "Bush did get the opportunity to show some of his 'ducking' skills, which were far from lame."
Linda, an Iraqi living in Lebanon, said Iraqis divided by politics and religions were united only by the Iraqi national football team and Zaidi. "I wonder what is more civil - throwing a pair of shoes at a criminal responsible for turning Iraq into the most volatile place on earth, or hurling cluster bombs and unconventional weapons at innocent people, breaking into the homes of civilians, or torturing harmless 10-year-olds in prison camps."
"No matter what is recorded about the statements made that day by President Bush," said Jamilah, "this will be remembered above everything else." Perhaps more importantly, she said, Zaidi's shoeing would provide the "last 'sentence' recorded about a very, very long eight years" of Bush in office.
The current whereabouts of Zaidi is unknown, but his family told reporters that he suffered multiple injuries at the hands of Iraqi interrogators.
Meanwhile, British Premier Gordon Brown visited Baghdad Wednesday and successfully avoided being "shoed" after new security measures were introduced for his news briefing with Iraqi counterpart Nuri al-Maliki. "I was going to say before I spoke that you should take off your shoes," Brown later joked

Recent political thaw with Syria puts spotlight on missing Lebanese
Families hope reconciliation will see them reunited with loved ones
By IRIN News.org
Friday, December 19, 2008
BEIRUT: It was the summer of 1982 when Zahira Najjar, 66, last saw her son Abdallah, then 17 years old. The family was in Bhamdoun, a mountain resort east of Beirut, at the height of Lebanon's 15-year Civil War. Only Syrian forces were on the ground when Abdullah went to find transport to the capital to get his wounded leg seen to, Najjar said. She has seen and heard nothing of him since.
"I can't describe my feelings. A mother's heart cries blood," Najjar said, pulling a black-and-white photograph of the youth from her wallet.
"But we live in hope. May God have mercy on the mothers and families of the missing."
Abdallah is one of 643 "victims of enforced disappearance" on a list drawn up by the NGO Support of Lebanese in Detention and Exile SOLIDE and based on family testimonies. Most are thought to have been detained by Syrian forces during the 1975-1990 Civil War, the group says, or handed over by allied Lebanese and Palestinian militias, to disappear into Syrian jails. A few were detained by the Lebanese or Syrian military during the 1990s, when Syrian forces dominated Lebanon.
Since the end of the Civil War, Sonia Eid has sought to learn the fate of her son Jihad, a fighter with then-General Michel Aoun, who rose against the Syrians at the tail-end of the war. She discovered at the time he had been taken to the "Palestine Branch" intelligence headquarters in Damascus.
In 2002 she was among a group of mothers who were permitted to go there. "We saw seven prisoners going past about 200 meters away with their eyes covered and one looked like him, but I can't be sure," she says. "They were like sheep, chained together, and he was pushed with a rifle butt."
But Syrian promises to examine the file came to nothing and the trail went cold. "It's a nightmare we're living, a disaster," Eid said. "I have faith that Jihad is coming back. I have the feeling he's still with us." Syrian forces pulled out in 2005 under intense pressure following the assassination of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri, which many in Lebanon and the West blamed on Syria. Damascus denies involvement.
"We know for sure there are Lebanese still alive in Syrian prisons," said Ghazi Aad, co-founder of SOLIDE, at the group's weekly sit-in in downtown Beirut. "After 2005 things have changed. We have to close this file," he added.
SOLIDE has had a few successes - the release of 121 detainees from Syrian prisons in March 1998 and a further 54 in December 2000, but has made little progress over the past eight years.
Syria and Lebanon established diplomatic ties in mid-October 2008 for the first time since the neighbors became independent from French rule in the 1940s. Ambassadors have not yet been exchanged.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem angered many Lebanese by saying since the victims' families had waited so long, they could "wait a few more weeks."
But he also said the issue was key to better relations, in what SOLIDE's Aad called unprecedented official acknowledgment that the Lebanese missing were in Syria's jails. "It's a first step. But it should trigger a future investigation, not just talks," he said.
Syrian officials have said they would launch their own investigation into the whereabouts of nearly 800 Syrians they say have disappeared in Lebanon, but nothing of the inquiry has been made public.
A committee formed in June 2005 meets regularly at the border to exchange information. It has the power to collect information from those who come forward, but not to seek witnesses and investigate, Aad said.
SOLIDE is calling for representatives of the missing people's families and concerned NGOs to join the committee, and for an expansion of its mandate. But Aad said Justice Ministry officials recently told him the Syrian side had rejected the proposal.
A Lebanese Justice Ministry source could neither confirm nor deny SOLIDE estimates of the number of missing, but said the committee was gathering information. Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar said in August that Lebanon was asking Syria to reveal the fate of 745 citizens missing in Syria.
"Resolving it depends on the Syrians," the source told IRIN. "At least now we know there are people alive in [Syrian] prisons."
Legal expert and justice editor for Al-Akhbar daily, Omar Nashabe, expressed cautious optimism, saying November's visit by Lebanese Interior Minister Ziad Baroud to Damascus had created a positive atmosphere.
"But it's insufficient. There needs now to be judicial coordination - that would be the way forward," Nashabe said, adding he hoped that would happen before the end of the year. - IRIN

Lebanon cannot afford to get caught between a Russian-US power struggle
By The Daily Star /Friday, December 19, 2008
Editorial
Several politicians in Lebanon have hailed Russia's decision to provide 10 MiG-29 fighter-bombers to the Lebanese Armed Forces as a sign of Moscow's growing commitment to this country's independence and sovereignty. But as tempting as may be to consider Moscow's offer a purely benevolent gesture timed to coincide with the Christmas season, the gift probably has less to do with Lebanon and more to do with Russia's recent posturing on the international stage.
Seventeen years after the fall of what Washington once called the "evil empire," Russia is assertively re-entering the international arena. A windfall of oil and gas revenues over the last few years has powered the Russian economy to levels not seen since the collapse of the Soviet Union, giving the country the means to re-emerge from relative isolation. But European and American reluctance to acknowledge a renewed Russian role as a formidable global force has prompted the Kremlin to resort to imposing its weight as a counterbalance to the West, especially the White House. In various arenas around the globe, including the Middle East, Russia has been assuming an increasingly confrontational posture toward the United States, refusing to bend to its apparent efforts to curb Russia's growing influence.
Russia's offer of military aid ought to be accepted cautiously, with a view toward this international context. The gift could signal a broader Russian effort to resume its cold-war role of playing chief patron and arms supplier to Arab states, and this could put Moscow at odds with Washington. Over the last decade, the US has forcefully entered the region and shows no signs of retreating to isolationism anytime soon. In fact, a US proposal to provide Israel with a "nuclear umbrella" promises to draw Washington even deeper into the Middle East malaise. As Russia re-enters the region, it is unclear whether the two old foes will remain friendly or resume bumping heads.
The Lebanese should move slowly in forging any sort of military partnership with Russia, and allow time for President-elect Barack Obama to take office and thereby provide an indication of the direction in which Russian-American relations are heading. Lebanon, which is already at the crossroads of countless regional conflicts, cannot afford to get caught in the crosshairs of a renewed power struggle between Washington and Moscow.

Leveraging the Clintons
By Jacob Laksin
FrontPageMagazine.com
| Friday, December 19, 2008
Ever since leaving office, Bill Clinton has adamantly refused to reveal the donors to his philanthropic organization, the William J. Clinton Foundation. This week’s disclosure of more than 200,000 donors to the foundation – part of a deal with President-elect Barack Obama to allay concerns about possible conflicts of interest should Hillary Clinton be confirmed as secretary of state – suggests a reason for the secrecy. Among those who’ve made a total of $492 million in contributions to the Clinton Foundation are several troubling figures and governments – including supporters of the terrorist group Hezbollah, and the rulers of Saudi Arabia – whose identities the former president would have preferred to keep private.
Hezbollah’s Ally
Notable on the disclosure list is that the foundation has received between $1 and $5 million from entrepreneur, politician and philanthropist Issam Fares, a former deputy primer minister Lebanon. In the United States, Fares is best known as the CEO of the Wedge Foundation, a Houston-based investment firm. In his native Lebanon, however, Fares may be better known as an outspoken supporter of Hezbollah and an apologist for the Syrian dictatorship’s previous military occupation of his country. In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, for instance, Fares insisted that “it is a mistake to make a comparison between the al-Qaeda network” and Hezbollah. The latter was actually a “resistance party fighting the Israeli occupation,” Fares informed Agence France-Presse, explaining that “Hezbollah did not carry out any resistance operation against American interests in Lebanon or abroad and did not target civilians in its resistance activities as happened on Sept. 11 at the World Trade Center.” In fact, Hezbollah carried out the 1983 bombing of the Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, killing a total of 241 American Marines, Navy, and Army personnel.
Nor was this a rare unguarded moment for the Lebanese politician. During a September 2004 address to the United Nations, Fares voiced support for Hezbollah on an international stage, describing the terror group as a “national resistance movement.” “It is…the policy of Lebanon to support the National Resistance Movement which has played an important role in forcing Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon,” Fares said. In the same speech, Fares condemned “Israeli forces” for their presence on the Lebanon’s border with the Golan Heights, while managing to excuse Syria’s far more brutal occupation of Lebanon. “There are Syrian forces in Lebanon,” Fares acknowledged. But he insisted that “these forces are on our territory upon the request of the Lebanese government” and that “Lebanon considers the presence of these troops dependent on security conditions in the region.” Fares’s stint as deputy prime minister ended the following year, with the fall of the pro-Syrian government of Prime Minister Omar Karami; Syria’s military occupation ended shortly thereafter. Fares’s services to the Syrian regime have not gone unnoticed. He has received the Syrian decoration of St. Ephrem, promoting him to the honorary rank of commander.
Clinton’s Kingdom Come
One of the Clinton Foundation’s largest donors is the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Disclosure forms indicate that of all government donors, the Saudi regime was the most generous, contributing between $10 and $25 million to the president’s foundation. This financial relationship has grown despite the fact that the home of the 9/11 hijackers remains the world’s leading financier of terrorism, including al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Testifying before the Senate Finance Committee this April, Treasury undersecretary Stuart Levey observed that “Saudi Arabia today remains the location where more money is going to terrorism, to Sunni terror groups and to the Taliban than any other place in the world.” Besides topping the list of terror-sponsoring states, Saudi Arabia continues to rank at the bottom by almost every measure of political freedom. A 2008 Freedom House survey placed Saudi Arabia among the least free county’s in the world, just a notch above Chinese-occupied Tibet and the war-torn Russian puppet state of Chechnya. The key Clinton foundation contributor also has the dubious distinction of being one of only seven countries in the world that punishes homosexuality by death.
Friends in Low Places
Direct contributions are just one source of financing that the foundation draws from the Saudi government. The foundation has also received between $1 and $5 million from the pro-Saudi advocacy group, Friends of Saudi Arabia (FSA). Launched in 2005 and supported by the Saudi royal family, the group acts as a kind of public relations agency, protesting what it considers the country’s unfair portrayal in the U.S. and otherwise working to “dispel misconceptions” about the kingdom. Among these supposed “misconceptions” is Saudi Arabia’s association with terrorism. Prior the release of the 2007 film “The Kingdom,” for example, FSA executive director Michael Saba wrote a letter to the chairman of Universal Studios expressing his concern “that the movie might present negative stereotypes about the people of Saudi Arabia.” Never mind that the film was loosely based on the very real May 2003 terrorist bombings of an American compound in Riyadh that killed 34 and injured over 200. Not content to criticize a still-unreleased film, Saba noted that the FSA “would like to review the script and see an advanced viewing of the movie.” (In his zeal, Saba had apparently confused the U.S. for Saudi Arabia, whose Islamist censors let no film, song, or article circulate without alteration.)
Given his Saudi sponsors, it comes as no surprise that Saba himself is an anti-Israel zealot and conspiracy theorist. His 1984 book, The Armageddon Network, alleges widespread Israeli espionage at the highest level of the U.S. government, complete with a Justice Department cover-up. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the book has found its most devoted readership in the Islamic world. Today, Saba continues to see a hidden Israeli hand in international affairs. Rehearsing a favorite theme in 2004, he claimed – on the basis of no evidence whatsoever – that Israeli interrogators played a role in the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison.
Dubai-ous Donors
In the company of fellow Gulf States Oman, Kuwait and Qatar, the United Arab Emirates is another rich source of the Clinton Foundation’s funds. Thus the president’s group has received between $1 and $5 million from the Dubai Foundation. Headed by Dubai’s ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the foundation’s goals include improving education and creating jobs in the Middle East. But Sheikh Maktoum’s interests frequently run in a very different direction. In the past, the Sheikh has reportedly donated at least 1 million United Arab Emirate (UAE) dirhams (approximately $270,000 on the current exchange rate) to “the families of the Palestinian martyrs” – that is, Palestinian terrorists killed in action. More recently, in November of 2006, the sheikh sponsored a concert by Lebanese songstress Julia Bourtos in honor of “Lebanese Martyrs” in Hezbollah.
Sheikh Zayed is just one of the Clinton Foundation’s prominent supporters in Dubai. The foundation has also received between $1 and $5 million from the Zayed family, the UAE’s Abu Dhabi-based royal family. That is not, however, the family’s most famous philanthropic outlet – a description more fitting for the now-defunct Zayed Center for Coordination and Follow-Up. Founded in 1999 and funded by Abu Dhabi’s later ruler, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the center was intended to serve as a kind of “think-tank” for the Arab world. Instead, the center became a notorious platform for anti-Semites, Holocaust deniers and supporters of terrorism. Typical of the center’s activities was an October 11, 2001, report titled “The Zionist Movement and Its Animosity to Jews” that likened Zionism to Nazism. Ironically, among the last speakers hosted by the Zayed Center prior to its August 2003 closure was anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist Michael Collins Piper, who took advantage of the occasion to posit a Jewish conspiracy behind everything from Watergate to the Monica Lewinsky scandal.
Unanswered Questions
President Clinton would no doubt reject the extreme views of such donors. But the irony of this week’s disclosure is that it raises as many questions as it answers. For instance, given his foundation’s declared mission to promote “racial, ethnic, and religious reconciliation,” how can he justify his willing association with governments that routinely abuse human rights and fuel sectarian violence? Further, in light of the Clinton foundation’s dependency on such donors, what assurances will Hillary Clinton provide that her husband’s philanthropic interests will not stand in the way of the nation’s diplomatic priorities?
At least when it comes to the second question, critics have a ready answer. Assuming she’s confirmed, the former first lady should begin her tenure at the State Department by taking a tough stand against some of the Clinton’s foundation more prominent funders. At that point, perhaps, the millions in Saudi donations really will have done some good.
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Jacob Laksin is a senior editor for FrontPage Magazine. His e-mail is jlaksin [@] gmail.com.

Man on the moon
Tales of mystical nature feed into the collective memory of the Lebanese Shia
Hanin Ghaddar,
NOW Staff , December 19, 2008
On Sunday, November16, 2008, Ali received a text message from a friend telling him that he should go look at the moon. “Allah Akbar (God is the greatest); Hajj Imad Mugniyah is on the moon,” it said.
The unemployed 24-year-old rushed up to the roof of his building in the Dahiyeh area of Beirut to check out the celestial body for a sign of Hezbollah’s feted military tactician who was killed by a car bomb in Damascus in February, 2008.
All around him rooftops were full of neighbors looking upward and shouting “Allah Akbar.” Still Ali was unable to see anything. He looked harder and was then able to make out a silhouette of a face. Feeling fulfilled, the experience became a talking point among Ali and his friends for weeks. The lionization process of Mugniyah had become, literally, out of this world.
“Divine” tales
Ali is typical of many poor young Shia who need an ideal on which to cling. Life holds few prospects for Ali, who saw both his homes – in South Lebanon and Beirut – destroyed in the 2006 July War with Israel, but he believes in the Resistance, as do his brothers, both of whom took up arms against Israel that dreadful summer.
The war, which cost of over 1,000, mostly Shia, lives and saw over a million, mostly Shia, displaced, was deemed by Hezbollah to have been a “divine” victory, and the party wasted no time in creating a swathe of urban myths to prove its point. Ardent Shia men could momentarily forget their suddenly-reduced circumstances by bathing in glorious stories of how the Resistance fighters defeated the Israeli army, assisted by ghostly men brandishing swords atop white horses.
Many Shia, like Ali, believe the story the rocket launcher that fired rockets on its own, and the deserted house that provided food and sanctuary to weary fighters. They believe the story of a Hezbollah fighter who, as an Israeli rocket was directed at him, shouted the name of Zahraa, the daughter of the prophet and the wife of Imam Ali, and summoned Thou al-Fiqar, the sword of Imam Ali, which deflected the rocket away from him.
It doesn’t stop there. Verses of the Quran put out fires, and long-dead martyrs, also riding white horses, appeared on the field of battle with members of Ahl al-Beit, the family of the prophet. All add to the divinity of Hezbollah’s victory and are now part of the collective consciousness of many Lebanese Shia. They have also helped ease the communal sense of suffering. “This is for a great cause because we are not only fighting the Israelis,” Ali stated. “We are in fact carrying on with the Shia struggle against injustice ever since the days of the Prophet and the battle of Karbala.”
Community of resistance
Since the high point of its support in 2000, Hezbollah has focused on its constituency and Shia voters. The religious and sectarian rhetoric and discourse has deepened as the party has sought to preserve its political and military autonomy by emphasizing its ability to defend its land and the “dignity” of its people. When the 2006 victory became “divine,” the rhetoric intensified accordingly. The Lebanese Shia lost lives and property, not mention national support. The leadership had to become sacred, and the victory had to be divine. Today, months before the elections, the politically driven and those seeking reassurance are once again united, this time by Mugniyah’s image on the moon. Mugniyah and other martyrs, according to Hezbollah’s discourse, make up the bond that brings the Shia together.
Back to Lebanon
The question remains: how to detach the Shia in Lebanon from Hezbollah and bring them back to the Lebanese state. To break these bonds, March 14 needs to stop looking at the Lebanese Shia as one block, but recognize them as an integral part of the fabric of Lebanese society and their vision of a new Lebanon. March 14 leaders must reassure the Shia that they are not the enemy and destroy fear and mistrust many Shia have toward the bloc.
Hezbollah has convinced many in the Shia community that protecting the Resistance is essential to the preservation of the Shia political strength, and that any attempt to disarm the Resistance should thus be seen as an attempt at communal disempowerment. The Shia, especially those who are Hezbollah supporters, must be assured that when politicians, or any other public or private figures, criticize Hezbollah, it is not in any way a step toward re-marginalizing the broader Shia community.