LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
November 10/08

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 2,13-22. Since the Passover of the Jews was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, as well as the money-changers seated there. He made a whip out of cords and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, and spilled the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables, and to those who sold doves he said, "Take these out of here, and stop making my Father's house a marketplace." His disciples recalled the words of scripture, "Zeal for your house will consume me."At this the Jews answered and said to him, "What sign can you show us for doing this?" Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up."The Jews said, "This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and you will raise it up in three days?"But he was speaking about the temple of his body. Therefore, when he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they came to believe the scripture and the word Jesus had spoken.

Cardinal [Blessed] John Henry Newman (1801-1890), priest, founder of a religious community, theologian Parochial and Plain sermons, vol.4, no.12: «The Church a home for the lonely»
"Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up."
The Jewish Temple, visible and material, was confined to one place. It could not be a home for the whole world, nay not for one nation, but only for a few out of the multitude. But the Christian Temple is invisible and spiritual, and hence admits of being everywhere... Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, "The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth» (Jn 4,23). "In spirit and in truth;" for unless his Presence were invisible, it could not be real. That which is seen is not real; that which is material is dissoluble; that which is in time is temporary; that which is local is but partial. But the Christian Temple is wherever Christians are found in Christ's Name; it is as fully in each place as if it were in no other; and we may enter it, and appear among its holy inmates, God's heavenly family, as really as the Jewish worshipper betook himself to the visible courts of the Temple. We see nothing; but this I repeat, is a condition necessary to its being every where. It would not be everywhere, if we saw it anywhere; we see nothing; but we enjoy every thing. And thus is it set before us in the Old Testament, whether in prophecy or by occasional anticipation. Isaiah prophesies that "it shall come to pass, that the Mountain of the Lord's House shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow into it" (Is 2,2). And it was shown by anticipation to Jacob... when he saw in his dream "a ladder set upon the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven, and behold the Angels of God ascending and descending on it" (Gen 28,12), and to Elisha's servant when "the Lord opened the eyes of the young man ... and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." (2 Kings 6,17). These were anticipations of what was to be continually, when Christ came and "opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers;" and what that opening consisted in, St. Paul tells us—"Ye are come," he says, "unto Mount Sion, and unto the City of the Living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of Angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born which are written in heaven» (Heb 12,22).

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
The Apology to Saudi Arabia: Tariq Alhomayed. Asharq Al-Awsat 09/11/09
Will Obama Succeed? : Osman Mirghani.Asharq Al-Awsat 09/11/08
For its first challenge to Obama, Tehran fans Middle East frictions-DEBKAfile Special Analysis 09/11/08

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for November 09/08
Sfeir: Working Through the Willingness of Others for Gain Does not ...Naharnet
Lebanon interior minister to visit Syria-AFP
The Region: A letter to the president-elect-Jerusalem Post
Fatah stages show of force in Lebanon refugee camp-AFP
Lebanon leader says Russia will sell it tanks: reports-AFP
Olmert: Obama 'well-intentioned'. Israel News
Assad: Israel not genuine about peace. AP
Hizbullah spokesman attends UK parley-Jerusalem Post
Bin Laden's son not allowed into Egypt. AP
Mubarak 'feels betrayed' by Hamas-Jerusalem Post
Iran slams Obama’s rejection of its nuclear program-DebkaFile
Baabda Meeting to Announce Agenda of Barouds Damascus Visit on Monday-Naharnet
'Abul Abed" Arrested in Connection to Syrian TV Confessions-Naharnet
Suleiman: Border Demarcation with Syria is Soon-Naharnet
Suleiman: Border Demarcation with Syria Soon-Naharnet
Harb: Aoun's Defense Strategy Hurls Lebanon into Civil War-Naharnet
Mubarak Tells Suleiman Cairo Would Back the State of Lebanon-Naharnet
Lebanon: Campus elections are a preview of national vote-Los Angeles Times
Syria: Comments on the US Elections-Global Voices Online
Iran's Latin America push-Los Angeles Times
Livni: No alternative to direct talks with PA, Syria-Ynetnews
Syria's Assad says Israel must prove it wants peace-AFP
Syria's Assad says US should withdraw from Iraq-Canada.com
LebanonCameras Record incident Between Serail Guards and Minister Mario ...Naharnet

LEBANON: Campus elections are a preview of national vote
Los Angeles Times/
America's grueling elections may be over. But on the campus of the American University of Beirut, a potentially explosive campaign season is just getting started.
In less than two months, student council elections reflecting the political fragmentation among Lebanese youth will take place.
On AUB's leafy campus, rumors circulate about who will run for what office and how the vote will be managed.
AUB has often been a magnet for the elite of Lebanon as well as the Middle East, along with Westerners who want to study in the region.
But it is also located in a country that has one of the hottest and most tense political climates in the region.
Critical parliamentary elections are coming up in May. And AUB cannot help but be affected by what goes on beyond its campus walls, including the fights between pro- and anti-Syrian political factions, between Shiite Muslims and Sunnis and secular and religious groups.
On-campus political debates heat up as students go to classes charged with political conviction.
Some students believe the current political climate should bar students from bringing off-campus political affiliations to universities.
"We, as 'neutral' Lebanese students feel ashamed by the fact that our ... university allows political affiliations to take hold during its election," says a Sarah, a sophomore engineering student. "Bonding us together should be the administration’s main objective, and I do not see that happening."
Others say they can't imagine elections without such affiliations. "We are doing our best so far," said Salah, a supporter of the Sunni-led, pro-U.S. March 14 movement, which is battling the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition for dominance. "We will recruit as many supporters as we can and keep our spirits high during the elections period. It’s in the hands of voters to decide.”
But what about the international students, who have little stake in Lebanon's internal squabbles? This year university officials seem to finally be coming around to the idea that the school needs to be more conscious and supportive of its international student body during such critical times.
"It’s time for us, international students, to swim against the current and be more demanding of our rights," said Farah Abdul al-Kader, a public administration student of Palestinian descent. "In a university that stresses the importance of creating a cross-cultural atmosphere on its campus, we should not be thought of as inferiors to either of the two battling parties."
**Khaled Hijab in Beirut

"Abul Abed" Arrested in Connection to Syrian TV Confessions
Naharnet/Lebanese Security on Saturday arrested a Lebanese named Khaled al-Itter also known as "Abul Abed", whose name had surfaced during the confessions on Syrian television of a group accused of carrying out an earlier bomb attack in Damascus.
A Lebanese security source told Agence France Presse (AFP)" the arrested individual is in his thirties, arrested Saturday in Tripoli."
Last Thursday Syrian television broadcasted a program detailing the confessions of ten individuals who affirmed that Fatah al-Islam a group headed by Shaker al-Abssi is behind the explosive rigged vehicle that blew up on the Damascus Airport road last September 27th killing 17 and wounding 14.
According to these television confessions, an individual identified as security leader of the Fatah al-Islam group named Abdel Baqi Mahmoud al-Hussein, stated that he had earlier met with Shaker Abssi in Lebanon "more than once at the Bedawi Palestinian refugee camp following the Lebanese army takeover of the Naher al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp" adding that "Abul Abed" was the go between.
Hussein pointed that "Abul Abed" is a Lebanese residing in Tripoli. Shaker Abssi previously was imprisoned in Syria for his connection to the al-Qaeda group. He later moved to the Nahr al Bared Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon and lead the Fatah al-Islam group. Abssi succeeded to flee from Nahr al Bared following its capture by the Lebanese army in September 2007. Beirut, 09 Nov 08, 12:54

Baabda Meeting to Announce Agenda of Barouds Damascus Visit on Monday
Naharnet/A meeting is to be held on Sunday at Baabda presidential palace that will include President Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister Fouad Saniora and Interior Minister Ziad Baroud. The meeting comes on the eve of minister Baroud's scheduled visit to Damascus with his Syrian counterpart General Bassam Abdel Majid to revitalize security cooperation between both countries. A working agenda is expected to be announced prior to the visit that will include an added point concerning the confessions of the Fatah al-Islam group made on Syrian television last Thursday. The daily An-Nahar said on Sunday that Baroud will be accompanied to Damascus by the Director General of the Internal Security Forces General Ashraf Rifi and the Director General for General Security General Wafiq Jozini and two high level officers. An-Nahar pointed that the Lebanese cabinet that had adopted a decision supporting Baroud's visit to Damascus, did not issue a resolution on Saturday fro postponing it. The paper mentioned that a decision will be taken into consideration on Sunday concerning all developments including the "televised confessions."
Beirut, 09 Nov 08, 13:18

Mubarak Tells Suleiman Cairo Would Back the State of Lebanon
Naharnet/Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday stressed to his visiting Lebanese counterpart Michel Suleiman that Cairo would back "the state of Lebanon and its constitutional institutions and would bolster the capabilities of its army throughout Lebanon." Mubarak made the remark in a joint press conference with Suleiman. Mubarak said inter-Lebanese dialogue does not require efforts by secretary generals of the United Nations or the Arab League, stressing it "depends on the Lebanese themselves." Suleiman said he discussed with Mubarak "the need to consolidate security in Lebanon and to achieve peace." He also agreed with his Egyptian host on the need to "follow up" implementation of decision that had been reached by the joint Arab committee on Lebanon. Egypt, Suleiman recalled, "had always sided with Lebanon." Beirut, 08 Nov 08, 15:15

Suleiman: Border Demarcation with Syria Soon
Naharnet/President Michel Suleiman has said demarcation of the border with Syria will begin the soonest possible, adding that Lebanon is regaining its role as the Switzerland of the east. At a common press conference with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak following their summit in Cairo, Suleiman said: "The goal is the demarcation and specification of borders between Lebanon and Syria.""If the demarcation of Shebaa Farms is impossible today, it will happen at a later time. However, the issue of demarcation and specification of borders between Lebanon and Syria has been decided. This will begin very soon following the completion of the technical and administrative bodies," Suleiman said. Mubarak said Egypt stands at an equal distance from all Lebanese parties.
"We understand the sensitivity of political balances in Lebanon. We look forward to its security, stability and consensus among its people. All other parties should respect Lebanon's sovereignty and independence," he said. Mubarak stressed Egypt's support to the Lebanese state and its constitutional institutions and expressed interest in responding to Lebanon's needs and strengthening the capabilities of the Lebanese army.
About the non-participation of Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa in the second national dialogue session, Mubarak said: "The Lebanese are capable of carrying out dialogue among themselves." Inter-Lebanese dialogue does not require efforts by secretary generals of the United Nations or the Arab League, he said.
Suleiman, during his visit to Cairo, announced to the Lebanese community that "Lebanon is regaining its status on the world map." "Lebanon is back following its absence to prove that it is the Switzerland of the east," he added. He stressed that "the process of dialogue and reconciliations must continue and reach their desired goals." Suleiman returned to Beirut Sunday following a brief summit with Mubarak.While in Cairo, Suleiman also met with Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, Director of Egyptian Intelligence Gen. Omar Suleiman, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit and Arab League chief Amr Moussa. Beirut, 09 Nov 08, 10:31

Harb: Aoun's Defense Strategy Hurls Lebanon into Civil War
Naharnet/MP Butros Harb on Saturday warned that a defense strategy blueprint proposed by Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun would hurl Lebanon into civil war. Harb said Aoun's proposal "would certainly lead to the creation of several armed groups in each and every village. These conflicting armed groups would lead Lebanon to civil wars." Harb, talking to reporters after meeting Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, said the March 14 forces would present a "unified" defense strategy blueprint … focusing on the Lebanese people's role in backing the state in defending the homeland without spreading chaos." He called for "quiet" tackling of the charges made by alleged Fatah al-Islam members through Syria's official television. "Mustaqbal Movement is our ally and we believe in the same national principles," Harb stressed. He recalled that Mustaqbal Movement had strongly backed the Lebanese Army in its crackdown on Fatah al-Islam terrorists in the northern refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared "contrary to other political forces … that had declared a red line against the issue." Beirut, 08 Nov 08, 16:45

Assad: Israel not genuine about peace
Syrian president says Jewish state must prove it wants peace by withdrawing from all Arab territory
Associated Press Published: 11.09.08, Israel News
Syria's president says Israel is not genuine in its professed desire for peace with its Arab neighbors.
Bashar Assad says Israel must prove it wants peace by withdrawing from all occupied Arab territory. Assad spoke Sunday at the opening session of a meeting of Arab parliamentarians in the Syrian capital Damascus. Syria and Israel recently held four rounds of indirect talks, mediated by Turkey. But the talks made no significant headway, and Syria said a fifth round was postponed at Israel's request. Assad also criticized a proposed American-Iraqi security pact that would keep US troops in Iraq for three more years. He said American troops contribute to regional instability and should withdraw from Iraq. A recent American raid inside Syria near its border with Iraq is confirmation that the US will use Iraq as a base to attack its neighbors, he added. Iraq has asked the US for an explicit ban in the pact on the use of Iraqi soil for attacks against the country's neighbors. The US has replied to the request, but the details are not known. US officials say the Syria raid targeted a top al-Qaeda in Iraq figure. Damascus says it killed eight civilians.

Olmert: Obama 'well-intentioned'
Naharnet/Outgoing prime minister speaks with US president-elect, tells cabinet his tone and words indicate he will continue America's friendship with Israel
Roni Sofer Published: 11.09.08,
Israel News
US president-elect Barack Obama is "well-intentioned", outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told ministers during a cabinet meeting Sunday, relaying a congratulatory conversation he had held with the recently elected candidate.
Dennis Ross vehemently denies report by Lebanese newspaper saying Democratic presidential hopeful told Abbas, Fayyad he would support their right to stable sovereign state. Senior Abbas aide also says report 'completely unfounded'  In response to the question whether Obama would be good for Israel, the prime minister responded, "The question of whether a president of another country is good for Israel is not phrased appropriately. The president of the United States needs to be good for the United States and we in Israel need to be good for ourselves."
Nonetheless, he did express confidence that the Obama administration would continue to have cordial relations with Israel, noting that Obama's "tone and his words during the telephone conversation and during previous conversations indicated his good intentions and his good will towards Israel."
"I told him the truth, that the democratic process in the United States had awakened a lot of excitement in Israel and that we are convinced that President Obama will continue (America's) deep friendship with Israel," Olmert told the cabinet. Olmert also praised outgoing US President George Bush, with whom he is scheduled to meet and with whom he will "summarize a long era of strong cooperation that began with Ariel Sharon's government and continues until today." "I have already stated in the past that President Bush's name will be written in golden letters in Israel. What I know cannot be shared with the public or even with cabinet members. But what I can say is that he is a friend of Israel and deserving of much praise," the prime minister added.

Hizbullah spokesman attends UK parley
By JONNY PAUL, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT, LONDON
The British Home Office is under fire for allowing Hizbullah spokesman Ibrahim Mousawi to again enter the country. The visit comes only weeks after the home secretary announced new measures to prevent extremists from entering the United Kingdom.
"The program has a wide range of speakers with diverse specialisms," a spokesperson for SOAS said. "Mousawi was invited to participate in the program as he is a leading expert on Hizbullah. He had no problems in entering the UK."
On Tuesday, Mousawi addressed the conference on "The cases of Hamas and Hizbullah" in which he spoke about the history, strategy and ideology of the terrorist organizations and on Hizbullah's current politics vis-à-vis the US-Iranian confrontation.
In 2005, Al-Manar broadcast a program that portrayed Jews killing a Christian child to use its blood for matza. When French satellite television banned the channel for airing a 29-part Ramadan special which quoted extensively from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Mousawi said the ban resulted from "political pressure by the Jewish lobby."
In 2002 he allegedly told The New Yorker magazine that Jews are "a lesion on the forehead of history."
The Conservative Party condemned the government for allowing Mousawi's entrance, saying they are actively going out of the way to engage with extremists.
"This is alarming and betrays the fact that Labor does not have a clue about keeping undesirable people out of this country," Shadow Security Minister Pauline Neville-Jones, said. "It is outrageous that instead of seeking to engage with all moderate communities in Britain, the government is actively going out of its way to engage with extremists."
"It is extremely troubling that Mousawi was allowed into Britain and that he should then lecture on a university campus," said Mark Gardner, communications director at the Community Security Trust (CST), a charity that provides security, training and advice for the protection of British Jews and represents British Jewry to police, government and media on anti-Semitism and security issues. "The government's strong words on anti-extremism need to be backed up with equally strong actions, or else they will count for nothing," Gardner added.
"When the world is busy with fighting terrorism, I'm convinced that it annoys the citizens of the UK, and certainly the Israelis and Jews around the world, that a man such as Mousawi is allowed to enter the UK while the terrorist agenda of the organization which he represents is overlooked," Lior Ben-Dor, press spokesman at the Israeli Embassy in London, said. Last month British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced new measures to prevent extremists from entering the UK. The tougher rules were designed to stop so-called preachers of hate from stirring up tension and prevent neo-Nazis, Holocaust deniers and religious extremists from entering the country. The Foreign Office denied reports that the incident has caused divisions in government and the Home Office told The Jerusalem Post that it does not comment on individual cases. "The home secretary may decide to exclude or deport an individual who is not a British citizen if she considers that their presence in the UK is not conducive to the public good. "The UK will not tolerate the presence of those who seek to justify any acts of terrorist violence or express views that could foster inter-community violence," a Home Office statement said.

Bin Laden's son not allowed into Egypt
By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Egyptian authorities put one of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden's son on a plane to Qatar on Sunday after denying him entry into the country, a security official at Cairo's airport said. Egyptian authorities at the airport decided to deny them entry and instead sent them to the Gulf Arab country of Qatar, said the security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information to the media. It was not known why Egypt denied them entry.
There was no immediate comment from Qatar authorities, and it was not known whether they would be granted entry once they arrived there. It also was unclear why the two had not tried to go to Britain, because the younger bin Laden's wife, Zaina Alsabah, is a British citizen. Alsabah, 52, has said that the couple applied for asylum in Spain because their residency permits in Cairo were not renewed and they had been threatened. Spain's interior minister has confirmed that bin Laden's son was deported because he asylum application did not meet any Spanish requirements. Omar Osama bin Laden - one of the al-Qaida leader's 19 children - caused a tabloid storm last year after he married Alsabah. He has not renounced his father, but has said he wants to be an "ambassador for peace" between the Muslim world and the West.

Mubarak 'feels betrayed' by Hamas
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH -Jerusalem Post
Egypt informed the various Palestinian factions over the weekend of its decision to postpone indefinitely a long-awaited conference for solving the dispute between Hamas and Fatah, Palestinian Authority officials said. Slideshow: Pictures of the week The decision came shortly after Hamas told the Egyptians that it would boycott the conference, which was scheduled to open in Cairo on Sunday. The Egyptians ordered representatives of various Palestinian factions who had already arrived in Cairo for the parley to leave Egypt immediately. Twelve Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Fatah, were expected to take part in the conference, which was also being held under the auspices of the Arab League. Quoting top PA officials, The Jerusalem Post revealed Thursday that the Egyptians were "seriously" considering postponing the conference following threats by Hamas to stay away.

Iran Challenges Obama by Hiking Tensions on Israel’s Borders
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis
November 8, 2008
The strategy the Islamic regime has charted for the new US president hinges on fanning tensions on Israel’s northern and southern borders while putting a damper on the various Middle East peace initiatives. Syria was therefore discouraged from returning to its indirect peace track with Israel and Hamas ordered to boycott Egypt’s bid to patch up the quarrel between the Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah.
Tehran’s object is to show Barack Obama who holds the whip hand in the Middle East and force him to seek urgent talks to defuse rising tensions.
At his first news conference as president elect, Obama said Friday, Nov. 7, that Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons was “unacceptable” and its support for terrorist organizations “must cease.” He ducked a reporter’s question about whether he had read the letter of congratulation sent him by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and when he would answer. But Iran had already laid out its strategy for the incoming president, jumping in the day before the US presidential election.
Foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki arrived in Damascus on Nov. 3 with a briefing for Syrian president Bashar Assad. According to our Middle East sources, Mottaki said Tehran would enter into dialogue with the new US president only from a position of political and military strength and did not propose to await Obama’s convenience until he took office in the White House on Jan. 20.
Iran’s rulers want to force the new US president to seek them out for a back-door channel of communications, in the same way as Ronald Reagan did while Jimmy Carter was still president to solve the 1980 hostage crisis in Tehran. They plan to make him come to them by raising tensions to crisis level.
While avoiding an explicit order to halt the Syrian-Israel talks, Mottaki gave Assad to understand that he must keep Tehran in the picture on their progress and goals. Better they should lead nowhere. This would fit in with Iran’s intention of putting on the table an impressive crisis package including Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinians and so force the new US administration to accept the Islamic republic as the prime power in the region.
To drive this home, they are stirring the pot wherever they can.
DEBKAfile’s Exclusive military sources disclose that Iranian agents, aided by Hizballah, are enlisting Palestinian militias in the big Lebanese Ain Hilwa refugee camp near Sidon and other camps for terrorist missions on Israel’s northern border.
The Israeli government has watched what was going on but done nothing. But US military and intelligence were concerned enough to warn Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas that he had better act fast before his Fatah faction lost Ain Hilwa. This happened shortly before US Secretary of state Condoleezza Rice departed for the Middle East Quartet’s Sharm el-Sheikh meeting Sunday, Nov. 9.
Abbas reacted by sacking Sultan Abu Al Aynayn, the veteran Fatah chief for all the refugee camps in Lebanon, and appointing the Palestinian general Kemal Midhath in his stead. But our counter-terror sources strongly doubt that the new man can stem the defections of Palestinian militias from Fatah and halt Iran’s and Hizballah’s takeover of the Ain Hilwa camp – especially since, according to the latest US intelligence information, Col. Al Aynayn had already been bought.
In Gaza, Israeli forces last week pre-empted in the nick of time a Hamas cross-border kidnap operation by means of a tunnel leading under the border fence. Hizballah’s abduction of two Israeli soldiers, the late Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev in July 2006 triggered a full-scale war with Israel. The tunnel was destroyed but Hamas and Jihad Islami have maintained a four-day missile barrage against Israel.
In the diplomatic arena, Saturday, Nov. 8, Hamas suddenly announced a boycott of the oft-postponed Egyptian bid. It had been finally scheduled to take place in Cairo Monday, Nov. 9, to bring Hamas and Fatah together in Cairo for a power-sharing deal to bury the hatchet after three years.
This event was also intended to demonstrate to the Middle East Quartet that Egypt was back at center stage in the Middle East and had succeeded in drawing Hamas out of the radical Iranian orbit to embrace Palestinian unity and give the Quartet’s peace effort a major boost.
But Tehran was ahead of Cairo. Last Tuesday, Hamas leaders, including Khaled Meshaal, were given their orders from the Iranian foreign minister to boycott the Cairo talks. Following his script, a smiling Meshaal told a Sky interviewer: “If the new US president wants a role in the Middle East, he has no choice but to talk to us because we are the real force on the ground.”
By Saturday, Nov. 8, therefore, with missiles already flying from Gaza, Tehran had managed to spoil the last Middle East journey to be undertaken by Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state, and tip over Egypt’s Palestinian mediation bid and the prospects of Syrian-Israel talks. Still to come is a Lebanese-Israeli border flare-up - for which Tehran has already enlisted Hizballah and Lebanese Palestinian militias.

Iran slams Obama’s rejection of its nuclear program
November 8, 2008, 12:19 PM DebkaFile
Parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani said Saturday, Nov. 8, forcefully rejected US president-elect Barack Obama’s comment Friday that Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons was unacceptable and its support for terrorist organizations cease. “This signifies the same erroneous policy as the past, said Larijani. “If the United States wants to change its standing in the region it should send good signals."Most of Obama’s first news conference after election was devoted to the economic crisis. The president-elect said his top priority would be to confront the “greatest economic challenge of our time” head-on. “We need a stimulus program either before or immediately after inauguration focusing on economic growth and job growth.” He stressed there is only one president at a time and he would not be rushed into naming his team.Asked if he was satisfied with US intelligence after his briefing, Obama replied: “Our intelligence process can always improve. It has got better. “

The Apology to Saudi Arabia
08/11/2008
By Tariq Alhomayed
Editor-in-Chief of Asharq Al-Awsat
Former Lebanese Prime Minister Dr. Salim al Hoss did well to apologize to Saudi Arabia for saying that Saudi invited Israeli President Shimon Peres to take part in a UN inter-faith conference to be held next week in New York. After the Saudi Ambassador [to Lebanon], Abdel Aziz Khoja, clarified Saudi’s position regarding Israel’s invite to the inter-faith conference stating that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was not responsible for extending an invitation to the Israeli president, ex-premier Salim al Hoss issued a statement that said, “I apologize for anything in my statement that has offended our big sister, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, directly or indirectly.” This was an excellent gesture by al Hoss following this rift; but what about others in Lebanon who spread the lie and believed it!? Will they have to come out and apologize?Riyadh was not responsible for inviting the Israeli president to the UN inter-faith meeting related to Item 45 entitled ‘A Culture of Peace.’ In fact, the invite came from the United Nations itself.
Whoever understands the basics of the United Nation’s work would realize the nature of the General Assembly meetings that are attended by all states including Lebanon and Syria, with the Israelis also present. Those in Lebanon who distort and attack Saudi Arabia have an open goal; to say that Saudi Arabia invited the Israelis. In that case, there would be no difference in what Riyadh is doing and what Damascus is doing. This is an exposed ploy.
There is a difference between those who call for inter-faith dialogue that will benefit everyone and those who lecture us day and night about following the same path, unifying the Arab rank and about the right to self-defense and resistance, only to surprise everyone by engaging in dialogue with the Israelis even if this is done so indirectly. We are not against peace nor are we against rationality; but we are against the outbidding that has caused our issues to be lost and our future to be gone with the wind. Even if some people in Lebanon seem to have bad memories, most of the Arab world remembers what was said against the backdrop of the 2006 summer war between Israel and Hezbollah.
At that time, heroic slogans were flooding the region, but after that we witnessed the Syrian-Israeli negotiations that were taking place indirectly and Syria begging for relations to be restored with Washington in almost all of Syria’s official statements.
That’s not all; we all saw Lebanon and Syria amongst the member states of the Mediterranean Union, side by side with Israel, and the Lebanese president attended the first conference of the Mediterranean Summit just as the Syrian president did. The Lebanese foreign minister returned from the Mediterranean summit in Marseilles immediately. Saudi Arabia’s critics know full well to whom the Lebanese foreign minister belongs.
What some people are doing in Lebanon is an attempt to wipe the political slate clean for Syria by distorting Saudi Arabia’s positions. Those people are forgetting that when Saudi Arabia presented its initiative to solve the Arab-Israeli conflict, it did not do so behind closed doors. Rather, it proposed a comprehensive Arab initiative and today it has presented an initiative for multi-faith dialogue that is now under the tutelage of the United Nations

Will Obama Succeed?
08/11/2008
By Osman Mirghani
Asharq Al-Awsat's Deputy Editor-in-Chief.
Barack Obama is not Martin Luther King who led the American Civil Rights Movement and changed the world’s conscience. Nor is he Andrew Jackson Young, the first African-American ambassador to the United Nations who was a product of the Civil Rights Movement. Barack Obama is not Jesse Jackson who stood by Martin Luther King in the protests against racism and who struggled time and time again to pave the way for African-Americans to enter the political field by nominating himself more than once for the presidency and by forming The National Rainbow Coalition. These figures, and others like Condoleezza Rice, pushed their way forward and led difficult lives in which they suffered discrimination and injustice, clearing the way for someone like Barack Obama to reach his “dream” of winning the US presidency.
Obama is a young, ambitious, Machiavellian politician whose life was different to most African-Americans. He spent many years living in a white household under the care of his grandmother who had a “fear of black men who passed by her on the street,” according to Obama himself, as he spoke about his life and experience between a white household and black reality.
Obama knew how to make the most of every opportunity and seized the moment embarking upon an election campaign that inspired many. Various circumstances worked in his favor, and the votes of women, youths, and a large number of whites collectively drove him towards the White House. Therefore, Obama deserves praise for his courage with which he overcame obstacles that would have hindered the ambitions of many others, and for running what critics described as one of the most successful, disciplined and effective election campaigns ever. Moreover, the young politician was successful in utilizing all available circumstances to defeat two powerful electoral machines to get to the White House; the electoral machines of Hilary Clinton and the Republican Party.
Now that the victory has been achieved, what’s next?
There are two ways that this historical achievement can be interpreted; the first is represented in the joy that gripped the US and several parts of the world as a result of this triumph that has given hope not only to African-Americans but also inspiring huge masses around the world. This is an emotional, timely interpretation that will be subjected to the test of practical experience.
The second interpretation is that the United States, by electing the first black president in America, and in the West in general, restored itself as a symbol of morality and as the country where anyone can realize his or her dreams and ambitions by working hard.
America can now re-polish its image that has been tainted severely over the past years since it has lost much of its credibility and moral leadership. Heavy responsibility weighs on Obama’s shoulders to uphold the strong momentum that was achieved through his victory and to make the most of the potentials of those inspired by this American accomplishment.
If Barack Obama adopts courageous and creative policies and slogans, and confronts the difficult problems with the same inspirational spirit to rectify historical mistakes, and if he removes the injustice that pushed voters to support him with a motivating spirit that is important for facing problems and crises that made the world welcome his victory with astounding zeal; then he will become an inspirational leader not only for America but for the entire world. However, he if misses his opportunity, then he will be judged harshly, the degree of which will be similar to the level of hope and anticipation that has been pinned on him and his historical win.