LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS
BULLETIN
October 05/08
Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 10,17-24. The seventy
(-two) returned rejoicing, and said, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us
because of your name." Jesus said, "I have observed Satan fall like lightning
from the sky. Behold, I have given you the power 'to tread upon serpents' and
scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you.
Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice
because your names are written in heaven." At that very moment he rejoiced (in)
the holy Spirit and said, "I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have
revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is
except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the
Son wishes to reveal him."
Turning to the disciples in private he said, "Blessed are the eyes that see what
you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see,
but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it."
Paul VI, Pope from 1963-1978/Apostolic exhortation on
Christian joy 'Gaudete in Domino' (©Libreria Editrice Vaticana)
"At that very moment Jesus rejoiced"
Christian joy is essentially a spiritual participation in the boundless
joy, at the same time both divine and human, in the heart of Jesus Christ
glorified... Let us now pause to contemplate the person of Jesus during His
earthly life. In His humanity He had experienced our joys. He has manifestly
known, appreciated, and celebrated a whole range of human joys, those simple
daily joys within the reach of everyone. The depth of His interior life did not
blunt His concrete attitude or His sensitivity. He admires the birds of heaven,
the lilies of the field. He immediately grasps God's attitude towards creation
at the dawn of history. He willingly extols the joy of the sower and the
harvester, the joy of the man who finds a hidden treasure, the joy of the
shepherd who recovers his sheep or of the woman who finds her lost coin, the joy
of those invited to the feast, the joy of a marriage celebration, the joy of the
father who embraces his son returning from a prodigal life, and the joy of the
woman who has just brought her child into the world. For Jesus, these joys
are real because for Him they are the signs of the spiritual joys of the kingdom
of God: the joy of people who enter this kingdom return there or work there, the
joy of the Father who welcomes them. And for His part Jesus Himself manifests
His satisfaction and His tenderness when He meets children wishing to approach
Him, a rich young man who is faithful and wants to do more, friends who open
their home to Him, like Martha, Mary and Lazarus. His happiness is above all to
see the Word accepted, the possessed delivered, a sinful woman or a publican
like Zacchaeus converted, a widow taking from her poverty and giving. He even
exults with joy when He states that the little ones have the revelation of the
kingdom which remains hidden from the wise and able. Yes, because Christ was "a
man like us in all things but sin," (PE 4) He accepted and experienced affective
and spiritual joys, as a gift of God. And He did not rest until "to the poor he
proclaimed the good news of salvation...and to those in sorrow, joy." (PE 4; cf
Lk 4,10).
Free Opinions,
Releases, letters & Special Reports
Why isn't Sunni-Shiite strife in the past where it
belongs? The Daily Star 04/09/09
Latest News Reports From
Miscellaneous Sources for October
04/08
The Five Goals of Syria's Military Deployment
Off Lebanon-Naharnet
Najjar Wants Lebanon to Sign the Arab Treaty on
Combating Terror-Naharnet
Marada Rejects Bilateral Reconciliation-Naharnet
Syria
Thwarts Attempt by Abssi Aides to Bomb Out Soccer Stadium-Naharnet
Christian Killed in Clash with Muslim in Egypt-Naharnet
Israel
Vows to Destroy Lebanese Villages in Next War with Hizbullah-Naharnet
Swiss
President Lauds Suleiman's Efforts to Build a Peaceful Lebanon-Naharnet
Report:
Tehran Tells Iranian Officials, Hizbullah to Keep Out of Syria-Naharnet
Aoun to Saniora: You Are
Sectarian and You Are Ruining Lebanon-Naharnet
Sighs of relief (for now) as US Congress passes bailout-(AFP)
Christian reconciliation 'has to start with LF, Marada-Daily
Star
Fadlallah: Deadly Tripoli bombing aimed at undermining reconciliation efforts-Daily
Star
'It won't work:' Analysts weigh in on Maronite reconciliation-Daily
Star
Major powers warn against any Syrian move into Lebanon-Daily
Star
Baroud asserts independence-Daily
Star
Ex-US commander ties 1983 bombing to 9/11-Daily
Star
Lebanon and Syria can't afford not to be friends-Daily
Star
Israeli general vows to punish villagers for any Hizbullah strike-(AFP)
Lebanese cement deliveries rise by almost 8 percent in first half-Daily
Star
IMF praises role of Banque du Liban in fending off credit crisis-Daily
Star
Swiss president visits Lebanon to bolster cooperation-Daily
Star
LOG urges Syria to help stabilize Lebanon-Daily
Star
Sidon mayor blames dump crisis on others-Daily
Star
Certification body receives EU accreditation-Daily
Star
Two of Lebanon's world-class wonders go head to head-Daily
Star
Israel Vows to Destroy Lebanese
Villages in Next War with Hizbullah
Naharnet/A senior Israeli military commander vowed on Friday to destroy Lebanese
villages in the Jewish state's next war with Hizbullah.
Maj. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, Israel's army Northern Command chief, told Yedioth
Ahronoth that in any future war Israel would use "disproportionate" force on
Lebanese villages from which Hizbullah will fire rockets at its cities. "From
our point of view, these are not civilian villages, they are military bases,"
Eisenkot said.
Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has told a rally in honor of Jerusalem
Day that "no one has the authority to concede a grain of earth, wall or stone of
the holy land." He said Hizbullah will continue resistance against Israel. "What
happened in Beirut's southern suburbs in 2006 will happen in every village from
which Israel is fired on," Eisenkot warned. "We will apply disproportionate
force on it and cause great damage and destruction there," he vowed. "This is
not a recommendation. This is a plan. And it has been approved," Eisenkot
assured. He said Hizbullah had significantly improved its rocket fire capability
since the end of the July-August 2006 war. He said Israeli overflights were
necessary given that Iran and Syria continue to arm the Shiite group in
violation of the U.N. ceasefire.
"Hizbullah is building capabilities against us that breach the agreement signed
by the Lebanese government at the end of the war," Eisenkot said. "As a result
there is legitimacy to continue the flights over southern Lebanon and over
Lebanon in general." Beirut, 03 Oct 08, 22:23
Marada Rejects Bilateral
Reconciliation
Naharnet/Suleiman Franjieh's Marada Movement on Saturday rejected
bilateral reconciliation with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, which
threatens to topple efforts by the Maronite League aimed at launching
intra-Christian reconciliation. Marada's media official also named Suleiman
Franjieh said "bilateral reconciliation is rejected." "We prefer to manage our
differences (with the Lebanese Forces) along the lines of our relations with the
Phalange Party," he added in a statement to LBC television network. He said
concluding "bilateral reconciliation aims at isolating Free Patriotic Movement
leader Michel Aoun" who is an ally to the Marada leader in the Hizbullah-led
March 8 coalition. Geagea has said he is ready to meet Franjieh "any time." The
Maronite League on Friday said reconciling Geagea and Franjieh is the first step
in a move to achieve intra-Christian reconciliation. The daily An-Nahar reported
Saturday the long-awaited reconciliation between Geagea and Franjieh is expected
to take place at the Baabda Palace under the auspices of President Michel
Suleiman.It attributed the report to a Maronite League source. "The League has
managed to overcome a condition by Franjieh that he refused to meet Geagea with
the absence of Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun," the source said.
Aoun, according to the source, said he has no problem with Geagea that requires
reconciliation, therefore, opening the door to a Franjieh-Geagea
meeting.However, the source added, the League failed to arrange a bilateral
meeting between Franjieh and Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir.
Sfeir would receive Franjieh only as a member of a joint delegation of
reconciling Maronite leaders, the report added. However, it hasn't been
determined if the delegation would visit Bkirki first or the Baabda Palace, it
noted. Beirut, 04 Oct 08, 13:34
Why Should Christian Lebanese Forces Apologize to Hezbollah
Terrorists?
Posted by W. Thomas Smith Jr. on 3 October 2008 at 10:17 pm UTC
Say it ain’t so, Samir!
NOW Lebanon is reporting:
“[According to sources] nonpolitical meetings were taking place between the
Lebanese Forces and Hezbollah, in preparation for broader negotiations that will
occur after the Eid al-Fitr vacation. The sources said that the atmosphere of
the meetings was positive, and noted that they came after [LF leader Samir
Geagea’s] apology for LF abuses committed during the civil war, which, the
source said, Hezbollah had accepted.”
Reports of any such meetings have barely registered a blip with Western media —
which either doesn’t understand the dynamics or doesn’t care about the
criticality of the Lebanese front in the broader war on terror — when in fact
any possibility of any reconciliation between the Christian Lebanese Forces and
the Shiia terrorist group Hezbollah would be nothing less than disastrous for
democracy in Lebanon and Lebanon’s pro-democracy majority (which already is
experiencing a systematic usurping of its power and a degradation of its
majority status at the hands of the Syrian-Iranian-Hezbollah axis).
— Visit W. Thomas Smith Jr. at uswriter.com.
The Five Goals of Syria's Military Deployment Off Lebanon
Naharnet/The Syrian army has deployed an 8000-strong division off Lebanon's
northern borders with the aim of enforcing counter-terrorism cooperation with
its neighbor. The daily al-Akhbar on Saturday quoted an unidentified ranking
Lebanese Army officer as saying the Syrian move aims at achieving five goals.
Such goals, according to the report, include besieging anti-regime factions
operating in Syria in preparation to "uproot them."Syria also wants to underline
"seriousness of its commitments to the international community" in combating
terrorism and blocking the infiltration of terrorists to Iraq, the report said.
The move aims at "reminding the Lebanese (people) and the world that
militarily-mighty Syria is here," according to the report. The Syrian move helps
in "boosting the morale of the Syrian army" after its withdrawal from Lebanon in
2005. The deployment within three-kilometers from the Lebanese borders, leads to
"security coordination" between Syria and Lebanon that "would enable the
Syrians, sooner or later, to coordinate with the information branch being the
Lebanese department most interested in counter terrorism," the report noted. It
was referring to the intelligence branch of the Internal Security Forces. The
report said Syrian troops off Lebanon's northern borders were not on alert as
soldiers have been granted off service permits. Beirut, 04 Oct 08, 10:02
Syria Thwarts Attempt by Abssi Aides to Bomb Out Soccer
Stadium
Naharnet/Syrian security operatives have thwarted a suicide
bombing at a soccer stadium in Damascus by aides to jailed Fatah al-Islam leader
Shaker al-Abssi.
The daily newspaper al-Liwaa said Saturday that the five-member terrorist cell
had planned to bomb out al-Abbasiyeen soccer stadium during a major competition
a month ago to avenge Abssi's arrest. The report said Syrian intelligence
operatives arrested Abssi two months ago at the low-income Meliha district in
southern Damascus. Intelligence operatives carried out a "major house raid in
the district, which resulted in arresting Abssi," the report added.
Abssi escaped an assault by the Lebanese Army on his base at the northern
refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared more than a year ago and went missing.
Al-Liwaa said Lebanese authorities are to officially ask Syrian authorities for
information on Abssi. Beirut, 04 Oct 08, 13:04
Christian Killed in Clash with Muslim in Egypt
Naharnet/A Coptic Christian was killed by a stray bullet during an overnight
gunfight between Christians and Muslims in a town in southern Egypt, a security
official said on Saturday. A Christian and a Muslim were also wounded in the
shooting, which took place in Al-Tayeba, near Minya, some 230 kilometers south
of Cairo.
The dead man was identified as Yeshua Gamal Nashed, 28. The cause of the
violence was unclear, but the official said it appeared to be linked to reports
that a Christian woman in the village was selling a property to a Muslim. The
predominantly Christian Al-Tayeba has been cordoned off and several arrests have
been made, the official said. Egypt's Copts -- the largest Christian community
in the Middle East -- account for an estimated six to 10 percent of the
country's 80 million inhabitants.(AFP) Beirut, 04 Oct 08, 14:20
Swiss President Lauds Suleiman's Efforts to Build a
Peaceful Lebanon
Naharnet/Swiss President Pascal Couchepin, who arrived in Lebanon
Friday for a three-day visit, praised President Michel Suleiman's efforts to
build "a peaceful and tolerant Lebanon." Couchepin, whose visit is the first for
any Swiss leader, said after talks with his Lebanese counterpart that his
country supported "the national dialogue and the elections law that has been
agreed upon." "I believe that we could do more to improve our bilateral ties.
Switzerland has to be more present in Lebanon through its investments," he told
a news conference at Baabda Palace. "The more the situation improves in Lebanon,
the more the chances of Swiss investments increase," Couchepin said. He said his
country has provided 14 million dollars of humanitarian aid since 2006 and vowed
to provide assistance in the clearance of land mines. Asked about presenting the
Swiss model as an example to solve crises in countries like Lebanon, Couchepin
said: "There is no model that can be circulated to all countries." "We have
succeeded over the past years in consolidating cultural and political
coexistence," he said, adding that in Switzerland, "there is no majority or
minority." On Palestinian refugees, the Swiss president said: "The presence of
Palestinians in a country like Lebanon is a complicated problem that can't be
solved by this country alone.""A just and comprehensive solution to this problem
in Lebanon and the region must be (found), and Switzerland is ready to help," he
added. Beirut, 04 Oct 08, 06:57
Report: Tehran Tells Iranian Officials, Hizbullah to Keep
Out of Syria
Naharnet/Iranian intelligence agencies have reportedly urged
officials holding sensitive positions and top Hizbullah figures to refrain from
traveling to Syria for fear of possible assassination attempts and terror
attacks against them. The report, carried by the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth,
said the car bomb explosion near Damascus last week, which killed a senior
Syrian army officer and 16 civilians, created an unprecedented tension between
Syria, Iran and Hizbullah.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said an Arab country was responsible for
smuggling into Syria the car and explosives used in the attack, but did not name
the country he suspected. In another sign of the deteriorating relations between
Syria and Iran, the Israeli daily said, Assad ordered the deployment of
thousands of troops along the border with Lebanon after branding the tiny
neighbor a "security threat." Yedioth Ahronoth said Hizbullah, in turn, has
accused Assad of leaking classified information regarding the Shiite group's
plans to kidnap Israeli businessmen abroad. According to information obtained by
the daily, top Assad advisor Brig. Gen. Mohammed Suleiman secretly visited Paris
two months ago and disclosed information regarding Hizbullah's plan to abduct
two Israeli businessmen in Thailand and in one of the Gulf States. Suleiman, who
served as the official liaison between Syria and Hizbullah, was assassinated in
the Syrian port city of Tartous shortly after Hizbullah's plans were made public
in Israel, Yedioth Ahronoth revealed. Beirut, 03 Oct 08, 21:00
Aoun to Saniora: You Are
Sectarian and You Are Ruining Lebanon
Naharnet/Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun on Friday
accused Prime Minister Fouad Saniora of sectarianism and of ruining Lebanon.
"Mr. Saniora is a sectarian man and he is ruining the state," Aoun told a news
conference from his residence in Rabiyeh. "Let him (Saniora) submit to financial
audit if he wants to challenge me," he added. He said Saniora was using the
Higher Relief Council to "relieve" parliamentary candidates backed by the
premier. "The Higher Relief Council pays money to asphalt roads in Kesrouan and
does not compensate to farmers whose crops were damaged during the (2006) war,"
Aoun said.
He said the Hariri Foundation, not the Higher Relief Council, was paying
compensation to Bekaa farmers. Aoun also lashed out at Maronite Patriarch
Nasrallah Sfeir over recent remarks he made on reconciliation efforts.
"Patriarch Sfeir had announced from Baabda that his previous reconciliation
efforts had been rejected," Aoun explained. "We did not run away; and we had
accepted the Honor Agreement and Bkirki's fundamentals unconditionally," Aoun
went on.
He was referring to comments made by Sfeir following his surprise visit to the
Presidential Palace on Tuesday in which the patriarch announced that he had
undertaken several initiatives in the past "but when we reached a vital point
everybody disavowed."He said reconciliation with the Lebanese Forces took place
when Aoun visited LF leader Samir Geagea at his prison. "We (LF and FPM) either
reach an understanding or compete through democratic means," he said.
On the adoption of a new elections law, Aoun said he hoped that "no new law
regarding municipalities would be adopted in 2013."
"How do they say that military personnel are a germ and are not allowed to
vote?," he complained. Regarding efforts to reconcile Christians, Aoun said the
FPM "has no problems with anybody." "I don't mind reconciling with MP Nayla
Moawad," Aoun acknowledged. "But in return I want an apology from her over
accusations that I was an accomplice in the assassination of President Rene
Moawad. "If she apologizes, that's good. And if she did not apologize, she will
be forgiven," he added.Aoun defended Syria's troop buildup along its border with
Lebanon. "Their talk against Syria is part of bickering over elections," Aoun
said in reference to the majority March 14 coalition. "Syria has the right to
take measures along its border and Lebanon has to do the same," Aoun said,
adding that he would like to draw the Prosecution's attention on an article
about a deal to smuggle Syrian nationals belonging to Fatah al-Islam during the
2007 fighting between the extremist group and the Lebanese army at the northern
refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared. "This article which was published by Ali Hamadeh
in An Nahar hurts the army, the President and the people," Aoun claimed. Beirut,
03 Oct 08, 17:33
Why isn't Sunni-Shiite strife in the past where it belongs?
By The Daily Star
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Editorial
An ugly attempt to influence the US presidential elections by distributing
anti-Muslim DVDs to millions of households speaks volumes (none of them
flattering) about the state of politics in the world's most powerful country. In
addition, the involvement of a radical Zionist group in the sordid affair
illustrates the extent to which Israel and its supporters frequently warp
American political developments. Most distressing of all is the fact that while
pro-Israeli zealots are resurrecting yet another evil tactic employed by the
Nazis to undermine the image of Islam, many Muslims are too busy arguing with
one another at home to defend the legitimacy of their faith and the value of
their heritage abroad.
More than seven years after the September 11 suicide hijackings designed in part
to spark a "clash of civilizations" between the Islamic and Western worlds, much
of the Middle East is wrapped up in a quarrel that is centuries out of date.
Instead of putting up a united front that demonstrates the Muslim's basic desire
for coexistence but also his or her determination to defend the rights of his or
kin, instead of seeking a new language with which to communicate more
effectively with the rest of the world, we have been reduced to sectarian
sniping between the Sunni and Shia sects.
To say the least, the "conflict" is such a patently false one that those who
profit from it have had to weave it into regional power politics in order to
give it resonance. And they have succeeded, managing to revive hatreds,
prejudices and suspicions that should have been buried long ago - and even to
recruit relative moderates to the cause of sectarian slander.
Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a Qatari-based Egyptian and one of Sunni Islam's most
influential figures, recently referred to a better age, one in which more
Muslims went out of their way to seek reconciliation than to provoke discord.
Speaking in an interview with Egypt's Al-Youm television, he recalled that
during the 1960s, Daily Star and Al-Hayat founder Kamel Mrowa traveled to Qatar
to make the point (among others) that since the Holy Koran came first and the
Shiite-Sunni rift second, it was the former's emphasis on unity which must be
regarded as the last word.
But Qaradawi himself has apparently not been immune to the virus of sectarian
hostility. In other recent public comments attributed to him by Agence France
Presse, Reuters and The Associated Press, he described Shiites as "heretics"
whose proselytization work amounts to an "invasion" of traditionally Sunni
societies. This is hardly the approach required to bring about the unity which
alone can help the Islamic world overcome the monumental challenges it faces.
These include foreign ones like the perennial meddling of distant powers in the
Middle East, but also indigenous ones like distorted economies and chronic
misrule.
Bickering between Sunnis and Shiites will not solve any of these riddles. At
best (for some) it will distract attention from the need for change. Might that
be precisely the point that some have in mind?
Christian reconciliation 'has to start with LF, Marada'
Maronite league boss describes tensions between two parties as 'the pressing
issue'
By Hussein Abdallah -Daily Star staff
Saturday, October 04, 2008
BEIRUT: Maronite League chief Joseph Tarabay said on Friday that efforts to
achieve a general Christian reconciliation would begin by reconciling the
Lebanese Forces (LF) and the Marada Movement. "We would start with the pressing
issue, which is reconciliation between the Lebanese Forces and Marada," Tarabay
said after a meeting of rival Maronite MPs at the league's headquarters in
Karantina. He said the rival MPs agreed on not resorting to violence to resolve
their differences. "The participants also agreed that any Christian
reconciliation should earn the blessings of both Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah
Butros Sfeir and President Michel Sleiman," he added. Asked if Free Patriotic
Movement leader MP Michel Aoun would be invited to attend the reconciliation
between LF chief Samir Geagea and Marada leader Suleiman Franjieh, Tarabay said
Aoun was invited to "sponsor all reconciliations."
Aoun did not attend the meeting on Friday and sent members of his parliamentary
bloc to represent him. Aoun's bloc was represented by MPs Farid al-Khazen, Salim
Aoun, Ibrahim Kanaan, Chamel Mozaya, Camille Khoury, Youssef Khalil, Neamatallah
Abi Nasr, and Nabil Nicholas. MPs Nader Sekkar and Pierre Serhal also attended
the meeting on behalf of independent Christian MPs within the March 8 coalition.
The March 14 Forces were represented by MPs Butros Harb, Nayla Mouawad, Robert
Ghanem, Hadi Hobeich, George Adwan, Abdullah Farhat, and Elie Aoun.
Adwan told reporters after the meeting that the LF was looking forward to
reconciling with Marada, adding that such reconciliation required the holding of
a meeting between Geagea and Franjieh. However, senior Marada official Vera
Yammine told The Daily Star on Friday that a meeting between Geagea and Franjieh
was not likely to yield any results if held away from a comprehensive Christian
reconciliation. "We were the first to speak of reconciliation on the condition
that it would be a comprehensive one," she said. "We had previous contacts with
the Lebanese Forces, but every time we proposed the holding of a meeting, the LF
used to veto Aoun's participation ... Aoun's attendance is necessary in our
opinion given that he represents the majority of Christians in Lebanon," she
added.
Yammine said that Marada would not mind holding a four-way meeting among
Franjieh, Geagea, Aoun, and former President Amin Gemayel. Also on Friday, Sfeir
told reporters at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport before embarking
on a visit to the Vatican that he backed all reconciliation efforts in Lebanon,
be it among Christians or other communities in the country. Sfeir acknowledged
that previous attempts by the Church to achieve inter-Christian reconciliation
have failed, but "we could try again." His remarks drew criticism from Aoun, who
accused the patriarch of losing his memory. Aoun told reporters at his residence
on Friday that he had accepted earlier an honorary document that was forwarded
to him by the patriarch regarding inter-Christian relations.
Asked if he was ready to reconcile with the LF, Aoun said that such
reconciliation had already taken place when he visited Geagea at the latter's
prison cell in May 2005."We are not enemies to reconcile ... We either reach an
understanding or compete through democratic means," he said. On the chances of
his reconciling with Mouawad, Aoun said that the latter had to first apologize
to him after she implicated him in the assassination of her later husband,
former President Rene Mouawad.
Mouawad was killed by a car bomb immediately after his inauguration in 1989.
Aoun went on to launch a vehement attack on Prime Minister Fouad Siniora,
accusing him of sectarianism and corruption. The FPM leader said that Siniora
was treating Lebanese citizens "as if they were his clients."
Former Prime Minister Najib Miqati criticized Aoun's attack on Siniora and
advised the retired general to hold the premier or any other minister
accountable before Parliament and not the media.
Also on Friday, conciliatory meetings between Hizbullah and the Progressive
Socialist Party (PSP) continued as representatives from both parties met on
Friday under the auspices of Lebanese Democratic Party leader Talal Arslan.
Efforts to reconcile Christian leaders have kicked off following a number of
rapprochements between the country's Muslim leaders. Such rapprochements were
triggered by PSP leader Walid Jumblatt, who was the first to extend his hand to
his Druze rival, Arlsan. Jumblatt went on to engage Hizbullah as representatives
from his party met with resistance representatives under Arslan's auspices.
A similar effort to that of Jumblatt was carried out by Hizbullah toward Future
Movement leader Saad Hariri as a delegation from the group visited the March 14
leader late in September to prepare for a meeting between Hariri and Hizbullah
leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. The Nasrallah-Hariri meeting is still awaiting a
number of security arrangements. In a separate development on Friday, Parliament
Speaker Nabih Berri made a surprise visit to the Presidential Palace and met
with Sleiman. No details from the meeting were available when The Daily Star
went to press
'It won't work:' Analysts weigh in on Maronite
reconciliation
By Nicholas Kimbrell -Daily Star staff
Saturday, October 04, 2008
BEIRUT: The Maronite community has a long way to go before it can overcome its
political divisions, according to political analysts who spoke with The Daily
Star Friday after a meeting of the Maronite League. Recent reconciliation
efforts within the Christian community, the analysts asserted, are aimed
primarily at defusing tensions and preventing street violence before the
springtime parliamentary elections, not at establishing confessional and
political unity.
Although the Christian community was largely spared from the street fighting in
May, historic enmities and current political alliances have created unique
confessional fault-lines. "The Maronites will never reach or come to a
reconciliation before the elections," said Fadia Kiwan, head of the political
science department at Saint Joseph University. "There is pressure to bring them
to reconciliation but everything is working against it."
In mid-September, fighting broke out between Sleiman Franjieh's March 8-aligned
Marada Movement and the Lebanese Forces (LF), a member of the March 14 alliance,
in the Northern town of Bsarma, leaving two men dead. "They just want to avoid
losses ... [and] a solution to suspend offensive activities," Simon Haddad, a
Lebanon-based political analyst, said, calling the dialogue "symbolic.""Effectively,
I don't think this will mean anything politically," he added.
Since the clashes in May, a campaign of national reconciliation and
inter-confessional dialogue, headed by the newly formed unity government, has
taken center stage in Lebanon. President Michel Sleiman held a meeting with
national political leaders in mid-September and has announced a follow-up
session slated for November 5.The spirit of national reconciliation has spread
to intra-confessional dialogue, and, of late, there has been a particular
emphasis on divisions within Maronite community. Rival Druze leaders Walid
Jumblatt and Talal Arslan addressed intra-Druze disharmony during and after the
May fighting; and Future Movement head Saad Hariri has, in recent weeks, reached
out to disaffected Sunni backers in Tripoli and other areas.
But tensions in the Maronite community persist.
LF chief Samir Geagea and Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun have
continued to exchange barbs and jockey for power. And Franjieh has been
criticized for allegedly attacking the Maronite Patriarchate at Bkirki. "The
stakes are very high for these guys," said Elias Hanna, a retired Lebanese Armed
Forces general and a professor at Notre Dame University. Their differences are
political and personal, he added.
Aoun said on Friday that there was no enmity between himself and Geagea and that
political differences do not necessitate reconciliation, but Haddad suggested
that Aoun was unhappy about a potential rapprochement between Marada and the LF.
Hanna pointed out the absence of any authoritative body to facilitate
reconciliation talks and assuage tensions. "The Maronite League doesn't have any
leverage," he said, adding that Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir also lacked
the political influence to hold meaningful talks. Moreover, constructive
dialogue has been all the more difficult because the factions are competing for
influence before the parliamentary elections."They are trying to popularize
opinion before the elections," Kiwan said.Haddad also noted the importance of
the polls.
"The main issue here is the elections," he said, adding that "the government
cannot control or guarantee security before or during the elections."Indeed, the
analysts agreed that the talks are aimed more at avoiding intra-Maronite
violence than at addressing the substantive political cleft within the
community. "The [reconciliation process] is concerned with controlling the
streets but this doesn't mean that controlling the streets will work," Hanna
said. "It's not going to work."Kiwan agreed: "That is the unique objective: to
calm the streets. But it won't work."
Major powers warn against any Syrian move into Lebanon
Bombings, border deployment have raised suspicions
By Hussein Abdallah -Daily Star staff
Saturday, October 04, 2008
BEIRUT: French, Russian, and American officials were quoted by the Beirut press
on Thursday as rejecting any form of Syrian military intervention in Lebanon
following Syria's recent deployment of 10,000 soldiers on the border between the
two countries. Damascus has sought to explain the deployment as a means of
countering smuggling, but a number of Lebanese politicians have accused Syria of
wanting to send its army to Lebanon under the pretext of fighting Islamist
extremists in the North.
An-Nahar newspaper quoted an official US source Friday as saying that US
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch had told
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem that the United States totally rejected
any Syrian military intervention in Lebanon. The source said Welch made it clear
to Moallem that recent bombings in Damascus and Tripoli should not be used to
justify any kind of military intervention in Lebanon. At least 17 people were
killed in a car explosion in Damascus last Saturday. Two days later, a similar
blast targeting Lebanese troops killed seven people and wounded 33 others in
Tripoli.
Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri lashed out at Syrian President Bashar
Assad in the aftermath of the Tripoli bombing, accusing Assad of trying to
insinuate that Lebanon, the North in particular, was responsible for the
apparently deteriorating security situation in Syria. Prior to Hariri's remarks,
Assad told the head of Lebanon's Journalists Union, Melhem Karam, that North
Lebanon had become "a real base for extremism and constitutes a danger for
Syria."
Meanwhile, a French source was quoting as telling the pan-Arab Al-Hayat
newspaper on Friday that Paris believed it was not possible for Syria to send
its troops to Lebanon despite Assad's recent remarks.In a related development,
former MP Fares Soueid of the anti-Syrian March 14 Forces said on Friday that
French authorities have recently assured a delegation from the March 14 Forces
that Syria would not be given the green light to return to Lebanon. The
delegation, including Soueid, MP Marwan Hamadeh, MP Samir Franjieh, and National
Liberal Party chief Dori Chamoun, met with French Foreign Minister Bernard
Kouchner for talks in Paris on Thursday that addressed the mounting tensions
between Lebanon and Syria. Meanwhile, a Russian official was quoted as telling
the local Al-Mustaqbal newspaper on Friday said that Moscow was also against any
form of foreign intervention in Lebanon. The paper added that Deputy Foreign
Minister Alexander Sultanov stressed in a meeting with Iran's ambassador to
Russia, Golam Reza Ansari, Moscow's complete commitment to stability in Lebanon
Voting like a parent
Mon, Sep 29, 2008
By Ann Doughlas
We're three weeks into the federal election campaign, which means that things
are getting heated and nasty. Or getting even more heated and nasty, if that's
even possible. (If you pay any attention to politics, you know that the attack
campaign against the leader of the official opposition was launched 21 months
ago, making it the longest pre-campaign attack campaign in Canadian history.)
Now don't get me wrong. I know that politics are nasty. I've seen the ugliest of
the attack ads from campaigns past hauled up on TV screens, while pundits argue
about which party is winning the fight to the bottom of the political sludge pit
when it comes to political smear campaigns.
That's not what I'm hear to talk about. What I want to toss out to my fellow
parents is what the implications are to our kids to have political bullying
becoming our new national sport -- and the important role we parents have to
play in the current election campaign.
First, let's talk about the nasty business of political bullying.
We spend considerable time and effort as parents teaching our kids that
name-calling, rumor-mongering, and spreading out-and-out lies about other people
is the wrong thing to do.
And, as a society, we give a thumbs down to bullying. Increasingly, we're
running anti-bullying programs in our schools and in our communities. And,
world-wide, we're respected for the work that our researchers have done in the
area of bullying. But we undercut all that critically important work if we
directly or indirectly condone the actions of bully-politicians or, worse, if we
add fuel to the fire in front of our kids by engaging in such bullying behaviors
ourselves, perhaps taking potshots at whatever politician has been deemed to be
the target of the day. It's one thing to attack poorly thought out policies;
it's another to slam the person. (Remember, behind every smooth-sounding
campaign brochure or slick-looking website, there's an actual human being.)
So what's the matter with politicians bullying politicians?
For one thing, declaring your candidacy in a particular political race doesn't
mean that you're signing up to become a human target.
Secondly, over-the-top bullying is turning off the youngest generation of
voters. By the time our kids turn 18 or get into their early 20s, they are
incredibly cynical about politics. Only one in four young Canadians of voting
age votes in elections. If we want our kids to care enough about our country to
make the effort to have a say in how our country is being run, both today and in
the years ahead, we need to convince them that the democratic system has
something to offer them. Having our local and national politicians behave in a
way that is worthy of our kids' respect would certainly help a lot.
It's something to think about when you cast your vote on October 14th. (You will
be casting that vote and taking your kids to the polls with you, so they can
witness democracy in action, right? It's one of the simplest and most effective
things you can do to get your kids excited about democracy.)
Here's something else to think about. When you head into that polling booth,
vote with your parent brain. Not in a narrow, platform sense as defined by the
politicians, but in a broader way as defined by your own common sense.
You know what it takes to be a good leader. You use many of those same qualities
to be an effective parent. I'm talking about skills like collaboration,
motivation, getting all the facts before you make a decision, and having a
vision for where you want your family to end up. You also know what types of
actions can lead to problems within a family: being focused on your own needs
rather than the good of the entire family, being unwilling to learn from your
mistakes or to admit when you are wrong, ignoring facts that don't support your
own pre-conceived point of view, and so on. (You'll have your own list of
leadership qualities here. This is what I feel makes a good leader and a good
parent.)
So use that hard-won parent wisdom to research the various parties and what they
have to offer (just as you've researched every other important decision in your
parenting life ? from baby names to toilet training). That way, you'll be able
to make the best decision on voting day and you won't have to second-guess your
decision after the fact.
What matters most is that you take the time to do your research and that you
take the time to vote. Other parents and kids are counting on you to make
everything you've learned as a parent count on voting day, just as you're
counting on them.
http://ca.lifestyle.yahoo.com/family-relationships/blog/anndouglas/848/voting-like-a-parent
Syria Thwarts Attempt by Abssi Aides to Bomb Out Soccer
Stadium
Naharnet/Syrian security operatives have thwarted a suicide
bombing at a soccer stadium in Damascus by aides to jailed Fatah al-Islam leader
Shaker al-Abssi.
The daily newspaper al-Liwaa said Saturday that the five-member terrorist cell
had planned to bomb out al-Abbasiyeen soccer stadium during a major competition
a month ago to avenge Abssi's arrest. The report said Syrian intelligence
operatives arrested Abssi two months ago at the low-income Meliha district in
southern Damascus. Intelligence operatives carried out a "major house raid in
the district, which resulted in arresting Abssi," the report added.
Abssi escaped an assault by the Lebanese Army on his base at the northern
refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared more than a year ago and went missing.
Al-Liwaa said Lebanese authorities are to officially ask Syrian authorities for
information on Abssi. Beirut, 04 Oct 08, 13:04