LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS
BULLETIN
October 30/08
Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint
Luke 13,22-30. He passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and
making his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, "Lord, will only a few people be
saved?" He answered them, Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I
tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. After the master
of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside
knocking and saying, 'Lord, open the door for us.' He will say to you in reply,
'I do not know where you are from.' And you will say, 'We ate and drank in your
company and you taught in our streets.' Then he will say to you, 'I do not know
where (you) are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!' And there will be
wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the
prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out. And people will come
from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at
table in the kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will be first, and
some are first who will be last."
Irenaeus of Lyons (c.130-208), Bishop, theologian and martyr
Against the heresies, V, 32,2 (SC 153)/"People will come from the east and the
west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom
of God"
The promise God made to Abraham in former times
still holds firm. What he said to him was: «Look about you, and from where you
are, gaze to the north and the south, east and west: all the land that you see I
will give to you and your descendants for ever» (Gen 13,14-15)... And yet
Abraham received no inheritance at all on this earth, «not even a foot's length»
but he remained «a resident alien» (Acts 7,5; Gen 23,4)... Therefore, if God
promised him that he would inherit the land and he did not receive it during his
sojourn here below, it must be that he receives it through his posterity, that
is to say those who fear God and believe in him at the resurrection of the just.
Now, his posterity is the Church, which, through the Lord, receives its adoptive
sonship through Abraham, as John the Baptist says: «God can raise up children to
Abraham from these stones» (Mt 3,9). The apostle Paul also says in his epistle
to the Galatians: «You, brothers, like Isaac, are children of the promise» (Gal
4,28). He says more clearly still in the same epistle that those who have
believed in Christ receive, through Christ, the promise made to Abraham: «The
promises were made to Abraham and his descendant. It does not say, 'And to
descendants' as referring to many, but as referring to one, 'And to your
descendant' who is Christ» (3,16). And so as to confirm all this, he says
further: «Thus Abraham 'believed God and it was credited to him as
righteousness'. Realize then that it is those who have faith who are children of
Abraham. Scripture, which saw in advance that God would justify the Gentiles by
faith, foretold the good news to Abraham saying: 'Through you shall all the
nations be blessed'» (3,6-8)...Therefore, if neither Abraham nor his descendants
– that is to say those who are justified by faith – receive an inheritance on
earth now, they will receive it at the resurrection of the just, since God is
true and holds firm in all things. And that is why the Lord said: «Blessed are
the meek for they shall inherit the land» (Mt 5,5).
Free Opinions,
Releases, letters & Special Reports
Why the West wants Syria to dump all its old
friends-Telegraph.co.uk
29/10/08
Ebbing tides. NowLebanpn 29/10/08
Saudi king invites Israel to New
York interfaith conference.Itamar Eichner. Israel News 29/10/08
Latest News Reports From
Miscellaneous Sources for October
29/08
Egypt
informed Syria and Iran: Attempt to Blackmail Us in Lebanon to Weaken Us in
Region is Forbidden-Naharnet
US embassy in Damascus may
close. Israel News
Abdo Accuses Lahoud of High Treason and Aoun of Following a ...Naharnet
Johny Abdo,
Former intelligence chief has
doubts over arrest of terrorist cell. NowLebanon
Investigations Reveal Hizbullah is
Training Yakan Followers-Naharnet
10 Lebanese MPs present draft law
to drop electoral minimum age from 21.NowLebanon
Why the West wants Syria to dump all its old friends-Telegraph.co.uk
Raid in Syria shows US readiness to cross borders-Reuters
Lebanon charges 34 over Tripoli attacks-AFP
Syria sends letter to UN to protest US raid-Xinhua
AP IMPACT: Al-Qaida's route though Syria persists-The
Associated Press
Miqdad Accuses Lebanese, Arabs of Supporting Extremism in the North-Naharnet
Berri for Taking Advantage
of Positive Signs in Lebanon, Region-Naharnet
Barak: Israel Readier than
in 2006 War-Naharnet
Ghajar Council Reportedly
Asks U.N. Not to Separate Families-Naharnet
Security Council to
Discuss Thursday 8th Report on 1559-Naharnet
Stolen Iraqi Antiquities
Seized at Masnaa Crossing-Naharnet
Saniora: 'Very Good'
Hariri-Nasrallah Meeting-Naharnet
Lahoud Praises Iran's
'Positive Role" in Lebanon, Aoun's Visit-Naharnet
Chamoun for Reconciliation
Based on Frank Discussion-Naharnet
Gemayel: Hizbullah is a
Lebanese Party-Naharnet
Suspects in the Jawhar
Ring Charged with Terror Attacks-Naharnet
Qassem: We Would Win
Elections-Naharnet
Geagea: A Wide Gap
Separates Us from Aoun-Naharnet
Qinawi's Visit Seeks to
Confront Iranian Expansion-Naharnet
Aoun: I Will Run in Keserwan and Shall Visit Syria before Year's End-Naharnet
Nasrallah-Hariri talks inject optimism into political arena-Daily
Star
Enemy troops step up patrols along Blue Line-Daily
Star
Barak declares Israeli military readier than in 2006-Daily
Star
Baroud proposes regional crime-fighting force-Daily
Star
Aridi sees need for independent Parliament bloc-Daily
Star
Abu al-Aynayn relieved of duties - local daily-Daily
Star
Fadlallah predicts stability ahead of 2009 polls-Daily
Star
Atiyah expounds on 'Mind, Matter
and Mathematics-Daily
Star
Customs seize Iraqi artifacts at Masnaa crossing
-(AFP)
Sidon mayor defends decision to
lower fees for public transportation-Daily
Star
Bassil promises full effort to free
up cellular airwaves-Daily
Star
Changing times jeopardize Lebanon's
long relationship with pottery-Daily
Star
The scars no one can see: Too many
Lebanese aren't getting treatment for war-induced mental illnesses-Daily
Star
Lebanon
on the Egyptian mind- from Suzanne Tamim to Hizbullah's Occupation of Beirut-Naharnet
Why the West wants Syria to
dump all its old friends
By David Blair/Telegraph.co.uk
29/10/2008
When Syria's portly foreign minister - who bears an uncanny resemblance to
Israel's fallen strongman, Ariel Sharon - visited London this week, he used the
splendour of a mansion beside St James's Park to denounce America's raid on his
country as "terrorist aggression".
Walid al-Muallem's official visit for talks with David Miliband, the Foreign
Secretary, was the latest thread in the tangled web of contradiction forming
Syria's relations with the outside world.
Only three years ago, Syrian intelligence agents helped bring yet more carnage
to Beirut when a ton of high explosives killed Rafiq Hariri, Lebanon's former
prime minister, and 21 bystanders. Two years ago, Syria cheered on a key ally,
Hizbollah, when it started a war against Israel that claimed at least 1,300
lives. Last year, Israeli jets destroyed a suspected nuclear facility, perhaps
linked to North Korea's illicit weapons programme, concealed in the Syrian
desert.
All this might lead you to believe that Syria was a pariah state, sponsoring
terrorists and dabbling in the supremely dangerous game of nuclear
proliferation.
Yet only last week, Gordon Brown's foreign policy adviser, Simon McDonald, flew
to Damascus to meet President Bashar al-Assad. This week, Mr Muallem had three
hours of talks with Mr Miliband and invited him to Damascus. And President
Nicolas Sarkozy of France recently invited the Syrian leader to Paris.
If the Foreign Secretary accepts, he will find himself in the same city as the
leadership of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the radical Palestinian movements. As
well as issuing invitations to British ministers, Syria also manages to be
Iran's crucial ally - in fact, Iran's only real friend in the Middle East. Mr
Assad's regime juggles all this and still manages to hold indirect peace talks
with senior Israeli officials.
When you lead a poor country with hardly any oil, only 19 million people and a
pitifully weak army, you cannot afford to burn your bridges with anybody. Mr
Assad's foreign policy is to reach in all directions at once, play in every game
and explore every possible alliance.
This stems from his personal vulnerability. In a country that calls itself a
republic, Mr Assad inherited the presidency from his father, Hafez, who died in
2000. This makes him the world's only example of a very odd species - an
absolute monarch, with no throne, ruling a hereditary republic. When it comes to
lacking any shred of popular legitimacy, no one can compete with Mr Assad. He
cannot even claim the dubious standing that comes from having led a successful
coup. As every Syrian knows, Mr Assad is their president only because his Dad
ran a military coup 38 years ago.
As if this was not bad enough, the Assad family does not share the mainstream
Shia faith of Iran nor the Sunni traditions of Saudi Arabia nor, in fact, the
religious loyalty of any other regime in the Middle East. Instead, they are from
the tiny Alawite sect, making them a minority in their own country.
The elder Mr Assad needed every ounce of his remarkable political skill to
survive in power. He carefully divided authority within Syria, systematically
depriving any possible opponent of a power base. Instead of having one
intelligence agency, he created numerous rival outfits, whose energies were duly
devoted to fighting one another instead of threatening the Assad clan.
In the Assad school of foreign policy, no one is alienated forever. But the West
and Israel both want Syria to acquire the habit of spurning allies. The friends
they want Mr Assad to shake off are, in ascending order of importance, Islamic
Jihad, Hamas, Hizbollah and Iran.
In return for dumping all his allies, Mr Assad would get a normal relationship
with the West, the lifting of US sanctions and, in the event of a peace
agreement with Israel, the return of the Golan Heights. If this happened, the
strategic balance of the Middle East would be transformed. At present, Syria
forms the crucial supply route linking Hizbollah with its chief paymaster and
arms dealer, Iran. Mr Assad's goodwill also saves Iran from near total
diplomatic isolation in the Middle East.
By reaching an accommodation with Syria, the West could gravely weaken both Iran
and Hizbollah with a single blow. Hence the importance that Britain attaches to
sounding out Mr Assad. As it happens, his wife, Asma, is half-British and the
couple met when Mr Assad was a doctor in London.
Even if he was willing to make this extraordinary leap, would Israel hand over
the Golan Heights? At present, Israel sees the talks with the Palestinians as a
higher priority.
"When you look at the Palestinian issue, there's a sense of urgency. There's no
sense of urgency with Syria," said Professor Asher Susser, the head of Middle
East Studies at Tel Aviv University. "I don't see any Israeli government handing
over the Golan."
This would be doubly true if Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party wins Israel's
forthcoming election. If so, this would let Mr Assad off the hook and allow him
to continue his eternal game of keeping all doors open and every bridge unburnt.
US embassy in Damascus may close
Israel News
Reuters Published: 10.29.08, 13:12 / Israel News
The US embassy in the Syrian capital may close to the public indefinitely
following a raid on eastern Syria blamed by Damascus on Washington, a US embassy
spokesman said on Wednesday. "The American community in Syria should be aware
that unforeseen events or circumstances may occur that could cause the US
Embassy in Damascus to close to the public for an unspecified period of time,"
the spokesman said. He declined to comment on whether the number or status of US
diplomats in Syria could change. A message on the embassy's web site advised
Americans to avoid demonstrations and review their personal security. The
warning was posted Monday. A day earlier, US troops landing in helicopters
attacked a compound near the Iraqi border, killing eight people. The attack drew
an angry response from Syria. The government on Tuesday ordered an American
school and cultural center in the capital to close.
Former intelligence chief has
doubts over arrest of terrorist cell
October 29, 2008 /NowLebanon
Former Lebanese Ambassador Johnny Abdo on Tuesday night said he had serious
doubts about the news of the arrest of a terrorist cell in North Lebanon, as he
had information on an alleged detainee named Hindawi, who admitted that Abed al-Ghani
Jawhar had fled to Syria. “Hindawi introduced Jawhar to Syrian intelligence,
which then asked him to stop dealing with them as they would deal directly with
Jawhar.”
Abdo confirmed that the cell, however, was responsible for the assassination
attempt against Army Commander General Jean Kahwaji in northern Lebanon.
In an interview with the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation (LBC) on Tuesday
night, Abdo said he was surprised by the reactions of former Prime Minister Omar
Karami and former Minister Sleiman Franjieh to Lebanese Forces leader Samir
Geagea’s call for reconciliation. Abdo recalled that the Geagea had been a
minister in the Karami government alongside Franjieh, who heads the Zgharta-based
Marada Movement.
“Read the Syrian Al-Watan newspaper, and you know that reconciliation with
Geagea is forbidden,” he added.
Abdo said Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir was “a smart man” who “knows that
Christian reconciliation is very difficult because it is associated with Syrian
decisions.” Abdo said he was surprised by the rampant criticism of Free
Patriotic Movement leader General Michel Aoun’s visit to Iran earlier this
month. “Aoun has been from the outset part of the Iranian-Syrian axis - why
criticize it when proved?”
Abdo said that Aoun was aware that his choices would lead to losing the 2009
parliamentary elections, “and therefore he is working to make Christians choose
between himself and the image of a militant Geagea.” “Therefore, March 14 must
lead the elections according to a clear national program,” he added.
Abdo said the 2009 elections would be a struggle between those who wanted to
return to the era of former President Emile Lahoud and those who rejected Syrian
hegemony over Lebanon. And on Monday’s meeting between Hezbollah Secretary
General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri, Abdo
said, “It is a positive step, but was waiting for serious assurances that arms
will not be used again [in Lebanon].”
Abdo questioned why “some fear” the International Tribunal, a UN-commissioned
investigation into the 2005 assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri, if they
were not implicated in the murder. Abdo said a number of those who participated
in the assassination of Hariri and thirty others had been identified and would
be summoned to court soon.
He stressed that he had “no intention of targeting Major General Jamil Sayyed,
but the picture created by Sayyed himself during the reign of President Lahoud
reveals everything … He was aware of the crime of Hariri's assassination.”
Abdo expressed the hope that there would be a military intelligence unit in the
Lebanese embassy to be opened in Syria. “It is not important to know the name of
the forthcoming Syrian ambassador to Lebanon, but to know who the security
official will be in the embassy.”
Abdo also said he feared that security coordination with Syria was a cover for
imposing Syrian security on Lebanon.
The former ambassador condemned the US raid on the Syrian-Iraqi border earlier
week. Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid Mouallem, he said, had warned that Syria
would respond if the aggression was repeated. “But was Mouallem not aware that
this is not the first time? Why did Syria only send a letter to the UN Secretary
General, and not file a complaint with the Security Council?” he asked. -NOW
Staff
Syria is delaying Marada-LF reconciliation, says Boulos
October 29, 2008
MP Jawad Boulos told Free Lebanon radio station that the Syrian authorities were
using these influence to delay reconciliation. For example, he said,
reconciliation between Future leader MP Saad Hariri and Hezbollah Secretary
General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was facilitated by Iranian pressure on
Hezbollah.“As for reconciliation between Lebanese Forces and Marada, it is
affected by Syrian authority since [Marada leader Sleiman] Franjieh is related
to Damascus, that is why we see the reconciliation is being delayed,” he
said.-NOW Staff
Investigations Reveal Hizbullah is Training Yakan Followers
Naharnet/Investigations with 21 alleged followers of Islamic preacher Fathi
Yakan have reportedly revealed that the men were recruited by the Islamic Action
Front and sent to join a Hizbullah training camp.Citing Yakan's party sources,
An-Nahar newspaper said Wednesday that the IAF supporters have been sent to join
a Hizbullah camp. The front's politburo member Jamil Raad has also confirmed
that the movement sent several of its partisans to be trained by the Shiite
group.
Last Thursday, An-Nahar reported that security officials arrested 21 Yakan
followers in Beirut's southern suburb of Ouzai and released them to join a
Hizbullah camp for military training. Security agents, according to the report,
were suspicious about the group of men who started gathering on batches in the
seaside Ouzai suburb, a Hizbullah stronghold on Beirut's southern edge. They
arrested "five batches totaling 21 people" from north Lebanon, the newspaper
said.
The suspects reportedly told investigators they were advised to "gather near the
Imam Ouzai (Sunni) Mosque before joining a Hizbullah camp to receive combat
training." "Hizbullah intervened, the suspects were released and they joined the
Hizbullah training camp," the report added.
It specified that members of the group belong to Yakan. However, Hizbullah on
Sunday said the group of suspects arrested by a "military agency" in Ouzai was
not turned over to its officials. Upon interrogating members of the group "it
was found that they were not armed and were not involved in any illegal
activity," a Hizbullah statement said. It said members of the group were
"released and not turned over to Hizbullah."The Army command on Monday also
denied reports about arresting armed members of a fundamentalist group in Ouzai.
The statement said an army patrol while performing its duties in Ouzai "searched
a number of civilian vehicles driving a number of workers from the north."It
said the patrol did not confiscate weapons or arrest any of the workers because
they "did not break any law."
Beirut, 29 Oct 08, 09:44
10 MPs present draft law to drop electoral minimum age from
21
October 29, 2008 /NOW Staff
10 MPs proposed on Wednesday a draft law to amend article 21 of the constitution
and allow every Lebanese citizen who is 18 years old to vote in the 2009
parliamentary elections. The MPs who signed the draft law are: Hassan Fadlallah,
Wael Abu Faour, Mustafa Ali Hussein, Abdallah Farhat, Nader Sukkar, Osama Saad,
Abdallah Hanna, Ibrahim Kanaan, Ghassan Moukheiber and Ismail Sukkaria
Loyalty to the Resistance is committed to implement Hariri-Nasrallah
steps
October 29, 2008 /NOW Staff
In an press release issued on Wednesday after its meeting, the Loyalty to the
Resistance bloc said that the meeting between Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed
Hassan Nasrallah and Future leader MP Saad Hariri removed a lot of worries and
spread relief among the Lebanese. The bloc said it was seriously committed to
practically translate the "steps to calm the situation in the media and in the
street," mentioned after the meeting on Sunday.
Saudi king invites Israel to New York interfaith conference
Itamar Eichner Published: 10.29.08, 08:59 / Israel News
Peres, Livni consider attending interfaith dialogue conference in UN; first time
Israel invited to event organized by Saudi Arabia. 'Nothing can purify Islam's
reputation except for the extension of Muslims' hands to their brothers in other
religions,' says King Abdullah
Saudi King Abdullah has green-lighted Israel's participation in a meeting at the
United Nations next month to discuss his initiative to promote interfaith
dialogue, marking the first time the Jewish state has been invited to a
conference held under the auspices of the kingdom.
Official Israeli representatives were not invited to the previous interfaith
dialogue conference in Spain, but rabbis were on hand for the event.
President Shimon Peres and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni were reportedly
considering attending the conference, scheduled for November 12.
Saudi Arabia's Mideast peace initiative was attached to the invitation, which
was extended to 192 countries.
'World is criticizing Islam'
During a recent meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Sharm el-Sheik,
Peres said Israel welcomed
the Arab peace plan. "Peace has never been more possible than it is now. It
would be a mistake to miss out on this opportunity," he said.
On Saturday King Abdullah, whose country bans non-Muslims from openly practicing
their religion, called for religious tolerance and said such dialogue is the
duty of every human being. The king also urged fellow Muslims to reach out to
non-Muslims as a way to show that Islam is not a violent religion.
"I will go to America for the dialogue of followers of religions," the king said
at a meeting with Information Minister Ayad Madani and newspaper editors. "The
dialogue comes a time when the world is criticizing Islam."
"It is regrettable that some of our sons have been tempted by Satan or brothers
of Satan," the king added, referring to Muslim militants who have carried out
attacks around the world. "Nothing can purify (Islam's reputation) except for
the extension of Muslims' hands to their brothers in other religions."
*Associated Press contributed to the report
The Mullahs and the General
Aoun’s visit to Tehran is a declaration of loyalty and another betrayal to his
Christian bloc
Hanin Ghaddar, NOW Staff , October 25, 2008
Michel Aoun needed an excuse to justify his trip to Iran two weeks ago. He found
it by declaring that he would use the visit to protect and strengthen the
Christians’ role in the region. But in reality, it was a courtesy call, one that
was spun by the opposition March 8 bloc to style the Free Patriotic Movement
(FPM) leader as a Christian statesman with regional clout, while his main
Christian opponents such as Samir Geagea of the Lebanese Forces and Amin Gemayel
of the Kataeb are perceived as nothing more than minor players squabbling over
parochial scraps. However, Aoun’s latest attempt to position himself as the
defender of Lebanon’s Christian identity has backfired. Simply, he is Iran’s
Christian in Lebanon.
The visit in itself was not shocking; his alliance with Hezbollah is by
extension an alliance with Tehran but this recent cozying up to the mullahs in
their own backyard threatens to set the FPM on an agenda the course of which
contradicts the Lebanese Christians’ historical inclination of being open to
Western and moderate cultures. Given its record of religious persecution and
violations of human rights, Iran is a bizarre place to kick off his campaign,
and only Aoun’s hardcore supporters would have seen the trip as anything other
than another attempt to consolidate his Machiavellian alliance with Hezbollah
and feed his insatiable presidency fantasies.
A friendly mullah
Aoun’s statements from Iran were clearly a declaration of loyalty to one of the
world’s most controversial theocracies. Ignoring the fact that Iran is facing
international isolation, a situation that is impacting both economically and
socially, he told reporters, momentarily forgetting about the existence of both
India and Pakistan, that Iran was the most powerful regional power “from Lebanon
to China,” and that, also forgetting about Hezbollah’s attempted coup on May 7,
that Iran had “never helped one Lebanese party against the other.” In Aoun’s
world, using Iranian financed arms is not Iranian “help.”
By constantly attacking Saudi Arabia and brandishing the constant Sunni threat
with regard to the Palestinian debate and the Salafists of North Lebanon in
parallel with his statements of fealty towards Iran, Aoun is helping both Syria
and Iran neutralize regional Sunni influence on Lebanese politics.
A savior?
“Iran was open to all parties and for that reason MP Michel Aoun was invited to
visit Tehran, and because he represented the Christian majority in Lebanon,”
said Hezbollah MP Amin Cherri on al-Manar television.
The last part of the statement is debatable but even if it were so, one wonders
why Aoun, who is still trying to convince Lebanon’s Christians that the Taif
Accord gave-away their rights, would throw himself wholeheartedly and with such
gusto into the arms of a nation that is debating a draft law, that passed the
first of two votes in the Iranian Parliament, that mandates the death penalty
for anyone who converts from Islam. Tehran has executed Christian converts in
the past, and this legislation – which Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
lobbied for – would allow the regime to kill more (interestingly, although
Article 23 of Iran’s own constitution states that no one may be persecuted
simply for his beliefs, the majority in favor of the new law was 196 votes for,
with just seven against). No wonder the number of Iranian Christians has fallen
from 250,000 in 1973 to 100,000 today.
But does Aoun really care about the Lebanese Christians? One of his objectives
has been to attack the Patriarch, Christian institutions, and political parties.
In short his strategy has been to divide.
It’s about power
Aoun, a former general, has a fondness for dictatorships. In 1988, according to
Saad Kiwan, a columnist at the weekly al-Anbaa, during the presidential vacuum
created after President Amin Gemayel’s term ended, he wrote to former Syrian
President Hafez al-Assad, to tell him that he was a military figure, hoping that
Assad would consider him an officer in his army.
Aoun also expressed his appreciation of Syria’s role in Lebanon and what it had
offered the Christians. He also said that he understands Syria’s interests in
Lebanon, because Lebanon’s and Syria’s security are one. Aoun also wrote that he
supported legitimizing Syria’s military existence in Lebanon, and signing
security agreements between the two countries. When Damascus let him down, Aoun
turned to Saddam Hussein for military and financial support, later to be used
against Syria and other Lebanese Christians. Today, his visit to Iran and his
alliance with Hezbollah is just another example of how Aoun bets on power. But
in return for Iranian support he will have to obstruct any efforts to dismantle
Hezbollah’s arsenal and Iran’s interests in Lebanon. But then again, this is not
surprising. Aoun, as well as embracing Iran, forgives Syria for its past
mistakes in Lebanon, although the Syrian regime has never apologized. And yet he
cannot accept the apology made by Geagea. Who is dividing who?Then again, what
are his options? Since he signed the Memorandum of Understanding with Hezbollah,
Aoun has backed himself in a corner. He’s got no one else.
New Opinion: Ebbing tides
October 29, 2008
Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun is struggling to avoid a disaster
in the upcoming 2009 parliamentary elections. Most of the pro-Syrian parties and
politicians who backed him in the 2005 polls by giving his candidates the best
representation in all constituencies appear to be less generous to the former
army commander this time around, despite his recent cozying up to Iran and the
rumpus his ally Issam Abu Jamra is causing over the privileges of the deputy
prime minister.
It was all so different back in 2005 when the Syrian-Iranian strategy was to
back and then buy Aoun, a man who has since demonstrated by his policies,
alliances and agreements that he was for sale by eschewing his nationalist
platform in favor of choosing the political bedfellows he felt best served his
presidential aspirations.
But today, pro-Syrian Lebanese parties seem to be trying, with the blessing of
Damascus, to expand their influence with the former general. The Syrian Social
Nationalist Party has declared that it is looking to secure five seats in the
next parliament, while it is becoming abundantly clear that the current speaker
and Amal Movement leader Nabih Berri will not forego his share of seats in Shia
areas for any of Aoun’s candidates. On the Christian front, Marada leader Samir
Franjieh seems to have finalized his Zgharta list, which has no room for FPM
candidate Fayez Karam, and according to the Syrian daily al-Watan the Lebanese
Baath party also wants to expand its parliamentary representation. If that were
not bad enough, one of Aoun’s nemeses, President Michel Sleiman, has said that
that he is would like to see the formation of a neutral “national bloc” that he
would support in the 2009 polls.
Aoun, who must be beginning to feel the heat, has latched onto this declaration
in a desperate attempt to turn back the ebbing tide of support, launching a
strong attack on calls to form a neutral parliamentary bloc loyal to President
Michel Sleiman.
His argument is that “neutrality is the ugliest of all stands.” Funny, then, how
Aoun’s son-in-law, FPM stalwart and Telecom Minister Gebran Bassil, responded on
Sunday to Sleiman’s wishes by saying that, “The president needs our
parliamentary bloc” – this despite the fact that Sleiman will never agree to
play second fiddle to Aoun.
So why the mixed signals? Simply, Aoun is paying the price for abandoning the
principles of the Independence Intifada, and this latest clumsy move is another
attempt to consolidate what little support he has left, a situation created by
his disastrous visit to Iran and the cynical campaign, launched at the expense
of Deputy Prime Minister Issam Abu Jamra to sabotage the credibility of Prime
Minister Fouad Siniora and smear the Sunnis.
All this and the FPM’s threats not to attend cabinet meetings are hindering the
government’s efforts to address crucial economic and social issues. But then
again, conflict and chaos have always been Aoun’s way; more so now that his
so-called friends appear to be abandoning him.