LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
February 08/08

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 9,22-25. He said, "The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised." Then he said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?

Interview with Lebanese MP,Ghazi Zoaiter. Naharnet. February 07/08
MP Zoaiter: No Arab Initiative Would Succeed if Inter-Arab Entente Was Not Achieved. Naharnet. February 07/08

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
Bernard Kouchner scores an own-goal-By Michael Young. February 07/08
What's to Negotiate?By Herbert London. February 07/08
Iran Sex Changes Get Mullahs' Money as Regime Persecutes Gays.By Ladane Nasseri. February 07/08

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for February 07/08
March 14 Calls for Massive Turnout to Commemorate Hariri's Murder-Naharnet
France, Saudi in Fresh Bid to Salvage Lebanon Elections-Naharnet
Enquiry key to preserving Lebanon army - Nasrallah-Reuters
Nasrallah, Aoun Stick to Veto Power Demand-Naharnet
U.S. Ambassador-Designate for Unconditional Presidential Election-Naharnet
Suleiman: Army Unity Deeper Than Ever-Naharnet
Geagea: March 8 Attacks the State to Block the Tribunal-Naharnet
Feltman: Hizbullah is Individual Decision-Maker-Naharnet
Maronite Bishops Caution Against Attempts to Create Despair-Naharnet
Jamaa Islamiya Criticizes Hizbullah-Naharnet
Syria Distributes Invitations to Damascus Summit-Naharnet
Hamadeh Pledges 'Stern Decisions'-Naharnet
Fragmenting Lebanon's Basic Institutions Leads to Collapse-Naharnet
Concentrated Effort to Disband Army-Naharnet
Nasrallah thanks Winograd for his 'honesty'-Ynetnews

Nasrallah and Aoun say partnership is still strong-Daily Star
Lebanon majority calls mass rally to commemorate Hariri murder-AFP
Winograd good for Hizbullah-Ynetnews
doubts over Lebanon war inquiry-Telegraph.co.uk
Lebanon opposition demands veto power-AFP
Israelis threaten UNIFIL troops in Ghajar area-Daily Star
Lebanese businesses set on expansion despite crisis-Daily Star
Azour releases official 2007 budget numbers, finds silver lining in cloud of red ink-Daily Star
March 14 calls for February 14 rally-Daily Star
Maronite Bishops lament disputes 'over everything-Daily Star
No going back on setting up Hariri tribunal - UN legal chief-Daily Star
New US envoy repeats old message about 'meddling-Daily Star
In Lebanese politics, it's still 2006 - which was 1975-Daily Star
'Foreign political considerations' taint Winograd findings-AFP
Grandson of Khomeini barred from elections-AFP
Israel 'plans new barrier' along Egyptian border-Daily Star
Suleiman: Army Unity Deeper Than Ever-Naharnet
Jamaa Islamiya Criticizes Hizbullah-Naharnet
Geagea: March 8 Attacks The State to Block The Tribunal-Naharnet
Maronite Bishops Caution Against Attempts to Create Despair-Naharnet
Syria Distributes Invitations to Damascus Summit-Naharnet
Hamadeh Pledges 'Stern Decisions'-Naharnet
Nicolas Michel Hints at Legal Action Against Hariri Suspects-Naharnet

Maronite Bishops lament disputes 'over everything'
By Maroun Khoury
Daily Star correspondent
Thursday, February 07, 2008
BKIRKI: The Council of Maronite Bishops said in a statement after its monthly meeting on Wednesday that the overall situation in Lebanon was anything but reassuring. "People are disagreeing over everything. Constitutional institutions are being blocked, starting with the presidency, the Parliament and the government," Monsignor Youssef Tawk said as he read a statement issued by the council. "There have been several attempts to paralyze the army and to thwart the role of the Church. This is part of the plan aimed at emptying Lebanon and driving its youth to emigrate," Tawk added. In January, opposition member and former Cabinet Minister and Suleiman Franjieh launched a vehement attack against Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, accusing him of being biased and of taking sides, and urged him to quit his post "because he has gotten too old." The bishops also warned against paralyzing the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and stirring strife among the Lebanese. Clashes broke out last week between Shiite protesters and the LAF in Beirut's southern suburbs and left seven protesters dead and scores wounded.
Hizbullah on Monday expressed "full support" for the LAF but added that some army officers did not abide by the mission and principles of the armed forces.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and the March 14 Forces also voiced support for the LAF on Tuesday, saying targeting the military was "taboo."
The bishops expressed their "deepest regret" over the assassination of Internal Security Forces Captain Wissam Eid and those who died along with him.
"The ongoing obstruction of state institutions is damaging citizens' rights," they said. Legal expert Ziyad Baroud participated in part of the bishops' meeting and presented his legal opinion on Lebanese electoral law, which is stirring hot debate at the moment.

France, Saudi in Fresh Bid to Salvage Lebanon Elections
Naharnet/Saudi Arabia and France were reportedly engaged in a new effort to salvage the ongoing Lebanese presidential crisis, press reports said Thursday.
The pan-Arab daily Al Hayat, citing well-informed sources, said Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal held talks in Paris on Tuesday with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The sources said Faisal's visit comes within the framework of a global tour to rally support for Lebanon in a bid to free the country from its prolonged political impasse. They said that Faisal's talks with Sarkozy tackled "French, Arab and Saudi Arabia efforts that have all collided with Syria's stance which refuses to cooperate with the international community."They said both leaders also discussed ways to help strengthen Prime Minister Fouad Saniora's government as well as the Lebanese army and Internal Security Forces. Al Hayat said Sarkozy and Faisal were determined to exert every possible effort to "urge the international community to support all legitimate Lebanese institutions" by dispatching delegates to Lebanon and sending messages of political and economic support.
The sources said France continues to assist the Lebanese military through equipment and training. Beirut, 07 Feb 08, 09:54

March 14 Calls for Massive Turnout to Commemorate Hariri's Murder
Naharnet/The anti-Syrian March 14 alliance called on its supporters to join a mass rally on Feb. 14 to mark the third anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. "March 14 Forces call on all the Lebanese to gather at Martyrs' Square (in central Beirut) on February 14," to mark the 2005 car bombing that killed Hariri, former president Amin Gemayel said. "We call on the citizens of Beirut, Mount Lebanon, the south, the north and the Bekaa provinces to meet at Martyrs' Square to salvage Lebanon and prevent its assassination," Gemayel said in a statement after a meeting of the ruling coalition late Wednesday.
The rally is also intended as a protest against the protracted political deadlock that has left Lebanon without a president since November 23, Gemayel said.
"The Lebanese will descend on Martyrs' Square to tell the world, both friend and foe... that the presidency will not remain vacant. Lebanon will have a president and we will use our constitutional rights to achieve this goal," he said from MP Saad Hariri's mansion in Beirut's Qoreitem neighborhood.
Pro-Syrian head of state Emile Lahoud stepped down at the end of his term in office in November without a successor in place, plunging Lebanon into its worst political crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. So far 13 sessions of parliament called to elect a new president since September were postponed amid a power struggle between Prime Minister Fouad Saniora's government and the Syrian- and Iranian-backed opposition, led by Hizbullah. A new session is scheduled for February 11. Arab League chief Amr Moussa is due to return to Beirut on Thursday after two previous mediation trips last month during which he proposed a three-point rescue plan. The initiative calls for the election of army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman as president, the formation of a national unity government in which no one party has a veto power and the adoption of a new electoral law. March 14 has accepted the Arab plan but the opposition is demanding a third of the seats in a new government in order to secure veto power. "On February 14, the Lebanese will say out loud that they will not allow the failure of the Arab initiative," Gemayel said. "On February 14 the Lebanese will reiterate their rejection of…civil war," he said. Hariri was killed along with 22 others on the Beirut seafront on February 14, 2005, the first in a series of political assassinations in Lebanon largely blamed on Syria. Damascus has repeatedly denied any involvement.(Naharnet-AFP) Beirut, 07 Feb 08, 11:06

U.S. Ambassador-Designate for Unconditional Presidential Election
Naharnet/The newly appointed U.S. ambassador to Lebanon Michele Sison has reiterated the Bush administration's rejection of foreign interference in Lebanon's internal affairs and the unconditional election of a new president. "Outside forces must stop obstructing Lebanon's democratic process. The Parliament should meet and elect a president now, without conditions," she said Wednesday after meeting Premier Fouad Saniora at the Grand Serail. "It is regrettable that a vacuum continues, and that presidential elections have been postponed twelve times. An agreement on a consensus president was reached long ago," said Sison, who will replace outgoing ambassador Jeffrey Feltman. She also emphasized "U.S. commitment to a sovereign, democratic, and prosperous Lebanon." Earlier Wednesday, Sison presented her accreditation letter to resigned Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh. She also visited Speaker Nabih Berri. Sison will serve as charge d'affaires until her credentials are accepted by the country's next president. "I look forward to offering the congratulations of the U.S. government soon to a new Lebanese president– one who is elected freely and according to Lebanon's constitution," Sison said. About the tribunal that would try suspects in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination and related crimes, Sison said: "We are encouraged that the process of establishing the Special Tribunal for Lebanon is moving forward. We urge others to join those governments who are providing donations to support" the international court. She also stressed that the U.S. is committed to end "terrorist attacks that seek to undermine Lebanon's state institutions and democracy." Beirut, 07 Feb 08, 09:16

Nasrallah and Aoun say partnership is still strong
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Daily Star/BEIRUT: The leaders of Lebanon's largest Shiite and Christian opposition parties declared Wednesday that their two-year old alliance was still strong and that its greatest achievement was the maintenance of civil peace despite a long-running power struggle with the ruling March 14 Forces coalition.
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, secretary general of Hizbullah, and MP Michel Aoun, head of the Free Patriotic Movement, made the announcement during a three-hour joint interview that was broadcast by the FPM's Orange TV on the second anniversary of their "memorandum of understanding."
Both described the pact as a kernel for a broader national accord. Nasrallah said it changed the way people deal with one another in all areas of the country and helped to prevent the spread of violence after the shooting deaths of seven protesters during the "Black Sunday" protests on January 27.
"Thus when Black Sunday happened [attempts to create] strife were defeated because of the memorandum," he said. "In the last two years the language of conflict and the 'Green Line' [which divided Beirut along Christian-Muslim lines during the 1975-1990 Civil War] was
defeated ... This civil peace is the greatest achievement."
Concerning the presidential crisis in effect since Emile Lahoud left office without a replacement in November, Aoun said that partial implementation of the Arab League's three-point plan - a new president, a government of national unity and the promulgation of a new electoral law - would not do. When Arab League boss Amr Moussa returns to Beirut later this week, he added, agreement needs to be sought on all three areas.
"We must come to an understanding as Lebanese, this is what I told the French president [Nicholas Sarkozy]," the MP said. Given the possibility of "international and regional policy shifts," he added, "we need guarantees between one another as Lebanese."
Responding to media reports that the opposition would withdraw its support for the presidential candidacy of the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), General Michel Suleiman, over Black Sunday, Aoun referred to the same theme. The MP said that so long as agreement was reached on the makeup of a new Cabinet and the terms of a new electoral law, Suleiman was was still acceptable as a consensus candidate.
Nasrallah agreed, adding that Suleiman needed to ensure a "swift and serious" investigation into Black Sunday in order to preserve both national unity and that of the LAF."We in Hizbullah decided not to give our perspective on what happened so we do not place pressure on the investigation," he added.
The Hizbullah leader also said the memorandum had been the "blueprint" for national dialogue undertaken in 2006, stressing that most of the matters discussed - including his party's weapons and Israel's continuing occupation of the Shebaa Farms - were addressed in the document.
On the subject of missing Lebanese believed to be held in Syrian prisons, Nasrallah said he had brought a list of names to Damascus and been told that they were not in custody, adding that while he could play an intermediary role, the rightful interlocutor with Syria's government was Lebanon's.
Responding to the release of Israel's Winograd report on the summer 2006 war, he said it only confirmed that the resistance had prevailed in the conflict, singling out Christians for having embraced some of the 1 million displaced. "If this had not been the case," he added, "we would have lost the war and gone to a civil war."

Nasrallah, Aoun Stick to Veto Power Demand
Naharnet/Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and ally Michel Aoun, head of the Free Patriotic Movement, have demanded at a joint interview veto power in a future government to solve Lebanon's prolonged presidential crisis. In a rare television interview on the second anniversary of their controversial alliance known as the "Document of Understanding," Nasrallah and Aoun also insisted that their union helped spare Lebanon civil war.
"We cannot give up veto power because we cannot be mere spectators within the government," Aoun said Wednesday night in the three-and-a-half-hour interview broadcast on his FPM's Orange TV. "It would spell our destruction." "Any attempt to evict the opposition from decision-making is unacceptable," Aoun added.
Nasrallah for his part insisted that veto power "is the mechanism that guarantees building trust" with the anti-Syrian ruling majority in Lebanon.
"The problem today is the loss of trust and any political solution demands trust," Nasrallah insisted. Lebanon has been without a president since Emile Lahoud stepped down in November at the end of his term without a successor in place, plunging Lebanon into its worst political crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. So far, 13 sessions of parliament called to elect a new president since September were postponed by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri amid a power struggle between the government and the Hizbullah-led opposition. A new session is scheduled for February 11. Arab League chief Amr Moussa was due to return to Beirut on Thursday after two previous mediation trips last month during which he proposed a three-point rescue plan.
The initiative calls for the election of army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman as president, the formation of a national unity government in which no one party has a veto power, and the adoption of a new electoral law.
Both Nasrallah and Aoun said their two-year old alliance was still strong and that its greatest accomplishment was safeguarding civil peace despite the political bickering with the ruling March 14 Forces.
Aoun said that Suleiman was still acceptable as a consensus candidate provided that agreement was reached on the formation of the future government and the terms of a new electoral law.
Nasrallah agreed, saying that Suleiman needed to ensure a "speedy and serious" probe into the bloody riots in Beirut's southern suburbs last month in order to preserve both national unity and that of the Lebanese army.
Aoun said that when Moussa returns to Beirut, agreement needs to be sought on all three areas of the Arab plan.
"We must come to an understanding as Lebanese," Aoun insisted.He said that the Lebanese "need guarantees" given the prospect of "international and regional policy shifts." March 14 has accepted the Arab plan but the opposition is demanding a third of the seats in a new government in order to secure veto power.
The political crisis has been exacerbated after seven people, including two followers of Hizbullah, were killed January 27 in confrontations with the army when protests over power cuts turned into riots. "The army must undertake a serious and decisive investigation in order to protect itself," Nasrallah said.
"Is it the army's natural task to open fire on protesters?" he asked. Nasrallah, however, stressed that he considers "any attack on the army as an attack on the resistance." The military prosecution announced last week the arrest of 17 people, including officers and soldiers, as part of an investigation into the bloodshed which has become known as "Black Sunday." "On Black Sunday they (majority) tried to say that our alliance (with Aoun) fell apart. But we said that civil strife was prevented because of our alliance."(Naharnet-AFP) Beirut, 07 Feb 08, 08:21

MP Zoaiter: No Arab Initiative Would Succeed if Inter-Arab Entente Was Not Achieved
By Dalia Nehme-Naharnet
MP Ghazi Zoaiter said he was not "very optimistic" regarding success of any Arab initiative due to persisting inter-Arab differences.
Zoaiter, a member of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri's Liberation and Development parliamentary bloc, told Naharnet: "The state of affairs as currently observed regarding bilateral and trilateral relations, especially animosities between Arab League member states, do not encourage me to be very optimistic by any Arab initiative."
"There are basic facts that no one, not even (Arab League Secretary General) Amr Moussa can step aside," he said.
"There can be no exit out of the impasse, no logical, legal or constitutional solutions can be found without reaching understanding on the formation of a national unity government grouping all political factions represented in parliament," Zoaiter said.
"Again, I repeat, inter-Arab understanding is vital for success of any decisions by the Arab League," he added.
In answering a question as to whether Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman still enjoys backing by the Hizbullah-led opposition for his nomination for president, Zoaiter said: "I can clearly assure that there is agreement between all the opposition factions … that Gen. Suleiman is the consensus candidate as it is stated in the first clause of the Arab initiative.
"This does not involve only AMAL and Hizbullah … There is an understanding and consensus among all the opposition factions on this matter."
He called for completion of the investigation into the Jan. 27 Mar Mikhael-Shiyah events, noting that such an investigation is in the interest of the military establishment "but unfortunately, some factions try to say that the opposition is targeting the military establishment and that the opposition does not want Gen. Suleiman for president … This is not true … let us complete the investigation first and then we'll see if anyone is targeting the military establishment."
He expressed belief that a parliamentary session scheduled for Monday to elect a president "would be postponed if the present situation persisted."
Beirut, 06 Feb 08, 19:45

Feltman: Hizbullah is Individual Decision-Maker
Naharnet/Former U.S. ambassador Jeffrey Feltman criticized Hizbullah for "demanding agreement based on what he wants" and accused him of "directly implementing decisions" without approval of others. "Therefore, you are facing a state within the state where there is no way to call them to account or share decision making with the rest of the Lebanese, and Hizbullah will continue to destroy the state," Feltman said in an interview published Wednesday.
He said that Lebanese factions aligned with Syria used the issue of privatization of the country's mobile telephone network against the government, while Prime Minister Fouad Saniora's administration "does nothing except for saying 'it has a plan.'"On the other hand, Feltman said, installation of a secret phone network and a "private communication system" by Hizbullah "went unchecked and without any supervision." He stressed that the problem lies in the way Hizbullah deals with the government. He said Hizbullah has aligned itself with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Free Patriotic Movement leader Gen. Michel Aoun so it could "veto anything the government does when, at the same time, it refuses to be subject to any questioning regarding its decisions."Feltman believed that the assassination of Brig. Gen. Francois el-Hajj was a message to army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman and the entire military. "Politicians and educated people have been assassinated and army officers are not far from being targeted," Feltman went on. In a separate interview, Feltman had cited Hizbullah's activities and the lack of financial transparency as well as the arming of Hizbullah, its tactics and history as reasons to consider the Shiite group a "terrorist" organization.
Feltman was also surprised by the fact that Aoun "has allowed himself to be used as a cover for the allies of Syria and Iran." He hoped that Aoun, instead, would "open Parliament doors so he could work from inside the legislature rather than from the streets." Beirut, 06 Feb 08, 22:15

Hamadeh Pledges 'Stern Decisions'
Naharnet/Telecommunication Minister Marwan Hamadeh said Wednesday that the government will take "stern decisions" against any attempt by the opposition to withdraw its backing of Army Chief Gen. Michel Suleiman as a consensus presidential candidate.
If the Hizbullah-led opposition backs away from its support for the army commander "the majority will assume its responsibilities first towards Gen. Michel Suleiman, second towards the shuttered parliament and third with stern government decisions," Hamadeh told Voice of Lebanon Radio station.
He confirmed that the ruling coalition was organizing a popular movement for Feb. 14 to commemorate the third anniversary of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination "to stress the Lebanese people's desire to elect a new president." Hamadeh also reiterated the rejection of the 10+10+10 formula in the future government. About the return of Arab League chief Arm Moussa to Lebanon, Hamadeh said: "On Feb. 11 we have two options: We either elect a president…or we tell Amr Moussa that there is nothing new about the Lebanese situation." Hamadeh was referring to a parliamentary session scheduled for next Monday in a fresh attempt to elect a new head of state after 13 previous sessions failed to materialize. Moussa, who will arrive in Beirut Friday, has said he will seek to bring together pro- and anti-government representatives for a meeting at Parliament. He traveled to Lebanon twice in January for talks with bickering politicians that turned out fruitless. Hamadeh said the pro-government camp will facilitate Moussa's efforts but "this does not mean turning over the state to a party that to us has no intention but to destroy this state." Beirut, 06 Feb 08, 15:29

Fragmenting Lebanon's Basic Institutions Leads to Collapse
Naharnet/An-Nahar's columnist Sarkis Naoum warned Wednesday against attempts to fragment Lebanon's judiciary, the security forces and the army with the aim of finishing off Lebanon. Under the headline : "The Judiciary, the Security Forces, the Army …and Collapse," Naoum wrote: "Judges assigned to look into major crimes committed since Oct. 1, 2004 … are hesitant and thinking of abstaining. "Their motive for considering abstaining is their belief that the state cannot protect them" from "political and non-political parties as well as foreign and domestic (intelligence) agencies that do not allow them to handle the cases freely."He recalled that the Internal Security Forces have been targeted by political charges and assassination attempts "and cannot carry out their duties in many areas."
"This is almost paralyzing the security force and could push many of its members to seek survival," he wrote. As for the Army, Naoum noted that "it is being targeted" with the aim of "stripping it of its credibility and hurling it into internal feuds."The campaign targeting the army, according to the article, is "escalating."
Naoum concluded that "the three institutions are instrumental … and cannot be salvaged one at a time, but they should be salvaged all together at the same time.
"The swift start should be related to the army by ceasing attempts to fragment it, electing a president and forming a national unity government … to salvage Lebanon before it is too late." Beirut, 06 Feb 08, 15:10

Lebanon majority calls mass rally to commemorate Hariri murder
BEIRUT (AFP) — Lebanon's anti-Syrian parliamentary majority called on its supporters on Wednesday to join a mass rally next week to mark the third anniversary of the assassination of former premier Rafiq Hariri. "The March 14 forces call on all the Lebanese to gather at Martyrs' Square (in central Beirut) on February 14," to mark the 2005 car bombing that killed Hariri, former president Amin Gemayel said. The rally is also intended as a protest against the protracted political deadlock that has left Lebanon without a president since November 23, Gemayel said after a meeting of the ruling coalition.
"The Lebanese will descend on Martyrs' Square to tell the world, both friend and foe... that the presidency will not remain vacant. Lebanon will have a president and we will use our constitutional rights to achieve this goal," he said. Pro-Syrian head of state Emile Lahoud stepped down at the end of his term of office in November without a successor in place, plunging Lebanon into its worst political crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.
So far 13 sessions of parliament called to elect a new president since September have had to be scrapped amid bickering between the Western-backed government and the Syrian- and Iranian-backed opposition. A new session is scheduled for February 11.
Arab League chief Amr Mussa is due to return to Beirut on Thursday after two previous mediation trips last month during which he proposed a three-point rescue plan. The initiative calls for the election of army chief General Michel Sleiman as president, the formation of a national unity government in which no one party has a veto power and the adoption of a new electoral law. The ruling coalition has accepted the Arab plan but the opposition is demanding a third of the seats in a new government in order to secure veto power. "On February 14, the Lebanese will say out loud that they will not allow the failure of the Arab initiative," Gemayel said.
Hariri was killed along with 22 others on the Beirut seafront on February 14, 2005, the first in a series of political assassinations in Lebanon largely blamed on Syria. Damascus has repeatedly denied any involvement.

No going back on setting up Hariri tribunal - UN legal chief
Daily Star staff
Thursday, February 07, 2008
BEIRUT: The United Nations' point man for the Special Tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri says the process of establishing the court is "irrevocable." "The more we observe the situation in Lebanon, the more we are convinced that the commissioning we received from the UN Security Council to establish the court is an appropriate one," Undersecretary General for Legal Affairs Nicholas Michel told Al-Hayat newspaper in remarks published Wednesday. He said justice had to be a major component of a permanent peace in Lebanon.
"Those seeking to get rid of the tribunal through political compromises are wrong," Michel said. "It is incorrect to think that governmental changes will end the Special Tribunal." He also said that major advancements have been achieved in the establishment of the tribunal, adding that the tense situation in Lebanon did not have "any influence on the process." "We call on those who have lost faith in the tribunal or those who wish that impunity will prevail to read between the lines and realize that its establishment is very imminent," Michel said.
"Any state refusing to hand over suspects must know that they will be tried [and, if convicted, sentenced] in absentia. So far, Syria is the only state that has said it will refuse to hand over its nationals to the tribunal," he added. Damascus has said that if sufficient evidence is produced against its nationals, it will try them at home.
Michel also said that the new head of the international investigation committee, Canadian prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, is preparing to take the next step.
"Bellemare is concerned about laying the groundwork for moving soon from the probe into taking legal action," Michel said. "The UN General Secretariat has chosen all the judges, is about to ensure the funding and is preparing a report to be submitted to the Security Council in this regard."
Michel also stressed the need for international commitment to end impunity. "The Special Tribunal for Lebanon is part of this culture," he said.
Addressing those responsible for assassinations in Lebanon, Michel warned: "It's time they understand that this will only bring them before justice ... This court is going to try all those who committed these operations."He also urged Lebanese politicians not to lose hope. "The court will soon be a reality," he said, urging them to "have faith in the progress we have achieved over the past few months." - The Daily Star

New US envoy repeats old message about 'meddling'
Michele sison urges election of president
Daily Star staff
Thursday, February 07, 2008
BEIRUT: The newly appointed chief of mission at the US Embassy in Lebanon warned against foreign interference in this country and called for the oft-postponed election of a new Lebanese president to be held as soon as possible. "Outside forces must stop obstructing Lebanese democratic processes and Parliament should meet to elect a new president," Ambassador-designate Michele Sison told reporters following a visit to Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
Earlier on Wednesday, Sison had presented her letter of credentials to resigned Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh. She also paid a visit to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri at the latter's residence in Ain al-Tineh.
Under the rules of diplomatic protocol, Sison will officially serve as charge d'affaires until her credentials have been accepted by whomever is elected as Lebanon's president. The ambassadors-designate of several countries have been in a similar situation for months.
Sison, who served as US ambassador in the United Arab Emirates until 2007, is a career diplomat. Prior to her posting in the UAE, she served as principal deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of South Asian Affairs, which is charged with providing broad policy oversight of relations with Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
Sison's overseas assignments have included service as deputy chief of mission and charge d'affaires at the US Embassy in Pakistan (1999-2002) and as consul general at the US Consulate General in Chennai, India (1996-1999). She has also served at the US missions in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire (1993-1996); Douala, Cameroon (1991-1993); Cotonou, Benin (1988-1991); Lome, Togo (1984-1988); and Port-au-Prince, Haiti (1982-1984), as well as in Washington.
Sison was born on May 27, 1959, in Arlington, Virginia. She earned her BA in political science from Wellesley College and also studied at the London School of Economics. Meanwhile, in the second part of an interview with pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat, former US Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey Feltman said he could not understand why the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, General Michel Suleiman, had still not been elected president.
"A portion of the Lebanese is ready to head to the Parliament and elect him while another group is trying to obstruct the election," he said, referring respectively to the ruling March 14 coalition and the March 8 opposition. In the first part of the interview with the Saudi-owned paper, Feltman had said that while foreign meddling in Lebanon remained intense, Syria's allies here have "not gotten stronger."In the comments published on Wednesday, Feltman described Siniora as a "tough and witty negotiator."UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the summer 2006 war with Israel, would have been less favorable for Lebanon "if it hadn't been for Prime Minister Siniora's resilience," he argued. Despite the crisis in Lebanon, the former ambassador also dismissed the possibility of the country sliding into a civil war like in 1975-1990. "I don't think that Hizbullah would want to ruin its image as a resistance or lose its credibility," Feltman said.
"Fears of a civil war breaking out will be the biggest incentive against such a war happening," he added. - The Daily Star

Bernard Kouchner scores an own-goal
By Michael Young
Daily Star staff
Thursday, February 07, 2008
You know that French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner didn't expect to be long for the Sarkozy administration when he decided to talk to James Traub of The New York Times. Traub has just written a long profile of Kouchner in the paper's Sunday magazine, and the foreign minister used the occasion to make an unwelcome enemy at the Elysee Palace.
In a much cited passage, Kouchner criticized France's opening to Syria last November, the purpose of which was to bring about a Lebanese presidential election. At the time, the foreign minister had tried to push for an election by visiting Beirut. At the same time, two close advisers to President Nicolas Sarkozy, Claude Gueant and Jean-David Levitte, were dispatched to Damascus to meet with Syrian President Bashar Assad. They returned empty-handed, embarrassing Sarkozy, but also humiliating Kouchner, who had opposed dealing with Damascus, who was made to look like he had betrayed his Lebanese March 14 interlocutors, and who, the foreign minister told Traub, had anyway predicted the effort would fail.
When Traub then asked Kouchner whether the fiasco had shown the limits of his brand of intimate diplomacy, the foreign minister replied: "Sorry, no, the problem is to not play the game my people have been playing in Damascus." The problem, he continued, was at the Elysee Palace, but not Levitte who was "in agreement with me." It was plain that Kouchner blamed Gueant, a former prefect who is Sarkozy's most powerful adviser. Kouchner continued: "It's always the same game with them. It's a problem of experience. Those who know, know." It remains unclear precisely why Gueant - whose experience is indeed largely limited to domestic issues - should have taken on a central role in discussions with Syria. But let's venture a one-word guess: Qatar. The Gulf emirate has new-found influence in Paris, not least because of its financial prowess, and the relationship is now clearly run out of Sarkozy's office. It was Gueant who more recently was contacted, at Syria's request, by the Qatari foreign minister to float an alternative to Michel Suleiman as president. The French were forced to backtrack, however, since such a scheme would have effectively undermined the ongoing Arab League plan to get Suleiman elected. But if Suleiman's candidacy is derailed, expect Gueant and the Qataris to jump back into the name game, which is precisely what the Syrians would like to see happen.
Kouchner's interview was more than just a shot across Gueant's bow to define turf. There was some conviction in the foreign minister's statement that "the core of the danger is there, in between Iraq and Iran, in between Lebanon and Syria. This is the common enemy, not only for Americans but for all democracies. The common enemy is extremism."
In a sense that's a fair statement directed at Gueant, a quintessential political technocrat and professional civil servant who has little patience for burdening the machinery of politics with idealism. Sarkozy, being Sarkozy, probably sees an advantage in watching two of his senior officials fighting it out, as it allows him to play the balance. But Kouchner is not destined to stay around for long, while Gueant is, and this will have a significant impact on how France pursues its connection with Syria. Interestingly, Kouchner seemed in the dark on the details of Gueant's and Levitte's Damascus trip. Traub informed the foreign minister that Levitte had told him that "Sarkozy authorized the trip only after Saad HaririSaad-Hariri-Profile Sep-07 ... agreed that he should do so." Kouchner's reaction was to call Levitte "a loyal guy" who, again, "knew that I was right" about avoiding the Syrians.
However, an alert observer sent me an Al-Hayat article, dated November 28, 2007, outlining the details of the French effort. According to the newspaper, Gueant traveled to Saudi Arabia before heading for Damascus, to seek the advice of King Abdullah. The king was skeptical about the likelihood of success with Assad. However, he did tell the French envoy that if a visit might help Lebanon then he should go ahead with it - adding that a personal meeting with Gueant had a better chance of success than a telephone call between Sarkozy and Assad. Once the French had the Saudis' blessing, Levitte informed Hariri of their decision. Far from seeking his approval, Levitte presented Hariri with a fait accompli. Kouchner evidently had little idea of what had taken place.
French diplomacy in Lebanon has been anarchic in recent months, although there is general agreement that the current chief of mission in Beirut, Andre Parant, is a true professional. If so, he is poorly served by a ministerial hierarchy that is said to be developing few new policies for Lebanon, even as it is periodically circumvented by Gueant, whose familiarity with Lebanese affairs, and foreign affairs in general, remains questionable. At a time when Paris is frantically trying to carve out a new strategic role for itself in the Gulf, it seems to have abandoned the relative advantages it once enjoyed in the Levant, where, we are invariably reminded, France traditionally has had "ties and friendships."
The best thing the French can do today is to return to the international consensus on Lebanon. That may not be particularly exciting; it may even force Sarkozy to tone down his showboating. However, the Gueant-Qatar-Syria axis, with its mixture of baroque deal-making, financial incentive, and abandonment of principle, is just the kind of situation that is likely to explode in Sarkozy's face, much in the same way that similar arrangements blew up in the face of former President Francois Mitterrand more than a decade ago. You don't run diplomacy out of a onetime prefect's office, with an eye cocked at foreign checkbooks.
Meanwhile, we might spare a sympathetic thought for Kouchner. His sorties to Lebanon were unmitigated disasters; his presumption that he knew all the actors personally was nonsense, as his political template was the long-gone Civil War years. But the minister, all clatter and mayhem, still had and has better intuitions than Gueant. Nicolas Sarkozy once claimed to share Kouchner's humanist instincts. How true is that today?
***Michael Young is opinion editor of THE DAILY STAR.

What's to Negotiate?
By Herbert London
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12693
Published 2/6/2008
At the recent Herzliya conference former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said, "there is almost no chance that President Bush will approve a military strike against Iran before he leaves office." If there was once a credible military option, it has been undermined by the National Intelligence Estimate, or I should say the interpretation given to it.
The foreign policy establishment, from State Department unnamed sources to many of those at the Council for Foreign Relations, has responded to the NIE report by arguing a military strike is unnecessary since Iran can be deterred. Yet an Iran with nuclear weapons the international community could not prevent would be emboldened to pursue a variety of goals in an already volatile part of the world.
We do know that a nuclear Iran would assert regional dominance. It is apparent, since the release of the NIE report, that Iran has vigorously pursued diplomatic overtures with Egypt and Saudi Arabia. It could be assumed that what they discussed are nuclear guarantees Iran will provide if Egypt and Saudi Arabia do not attempt to develop their own nuclear weapons. In this scenario, the United States is a mere bystander.
A second order threat posed by Iran with nuclear weapons is that it offers terror surrogates, Hamas and Hezbollah, a license to destabilize existing regimes with a reduced fear of retaliation Iran can derive these benefits without producing a weapon. All it has to do is get close: enrich enough uranium to produce a bomb, maintain a warhead development program, and secure delivery capability.
IS THE U.S. INOCULATED against a grand bargain in which Iran's regional dominance is acknowledged in return for non-deployment of nuclear weapons? It's doubtful, and even without the actual bomb, Iran might secure this concession.
Cheering on the sidelines would be Russia and China eager to diminish United States' influence in the Middle East and eager as well to either obtain oil for a growing economy as is the case with China or maintain high oil prices which benefit the relatively oil rich Russian economy.
Any way one looks at it, the U.S. would be bargaining from a position of weakness even if the mullahs were willing to bargain at all. After all, nuclear weapons represent an insurance policy for the survival of the regime and regional hegemony.
These weapons would also undermine the non-proliferation treaty and the role of the U.N. as an arbiter for stability, a role it has tended to exercise in the breach in any case. By thumbing its nose at the world, Iran can become a regional and arguably a world power capable of advancing its own agenda.
Rather than deter an enemy, which is the presumption behind evolving State Department logic, the administration will be deterred from actions. It is apparent in the five party talks with North Korea that the U.S. has very little leverage other than acting as a supplicant offering a carrot and yet another carrot to a rogue state with nuclear weapons.
IF IRAN CEASED its nuclear weapons program in 2003 as the NIE report asserts, it probably did not do so because of negotiation, another NIE assertion, but rather because of the American invasion of Iraq in that year. Guns often speak louder than words.
But counter force strategy used to deter Iran's nuclear weapon only works when you know what the mullahs want or are unwilling to give up. At the moment, intelligence about Iranian motives and strategy is deficient and in the face of theological politics, possibly irrational.
There is the belief advocated by Martin Indyk and Fareed Zakaria, among others that a Sunni-Shia rift can be exploited for America's advantage. This belief has the added merit, its adherents maintain, that it will bring largely Sunni nations such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt in alliance with Israel in order to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions or deter the use of an Iranian bomb.
However, evidence on the ground suggests the triumph of experience over hope. The Saudis may be scared to death of Iran, but their diplomats would prefer appeasement to confrontation. The spread of Shiism may be limited, but Iran is relentless in spreading its faith and has achieved some success in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, despite the fact there is distrust of Persian leadership in the Arab world.
Hezbollah has been vigorous in spreading Shia notions through the free distribution of books and pamphlets in Lebanon and Syria with titles like the "Sayings of Khomeini." It is also the case that converts to Shiism are often Alawites whose religious predilections are close to Shia beliefs. But the pamphlets do not only make the case for Shiism, they also reinforce anti-western sentiment.
Hezbollah controls the fate of stability in Lebanon and Iran's support for Hezbollah is dependent on spreading the Shia faith. It is not at all surprising that ninety thousand Maronite Christians have left or been forced out of Lebanon in the last few years. If there is a residual Shia-Sunni rift in Lebanon it is likely to be political, not religious. In fact, the Iranian mullahs often say "it is not a Shia Crescent we seek, but a full moon."
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, himself has said he seeks a Muslim brotherhood under the slogan "the family that prays together, stays together." He indicated that any attempt to create a divide between Shia and Sunni is a Zionist plot to promote dissension.
In negotiation between Egypt and Iran, it was noted that "we are Muslim brothers. It is the Copts who are the enemy of Islam." In addition, sources noted that "religious dignity means solidarity." As the Iranians have noted time and again, "the bomb creates equilibrium with Zionism," the real enemy along with Israel's American benefactors.
If U.S. influence in the Middle East recedes because of a withdrawal from Iraq or because of pubic impatience with troop deployment in the region, extremism will grow and the anticipated battle of religious faiths within Islam will be little more than a fantasy.
IT HAS BEEN argued in the Iraq Study Group (ISG) report and by the Democratic candidates on the presidential campaign trail that we should engage the Iranian leadership in direct negotiation, that "jaw jaw is better than war war." So widespread is this belief that low level conversations with Iranian diplomats have been occurring for some time under the media radar.
The question, of course, is what can we say that European leaders haven't already said. They have offered a variety of blandishments from planes to money without getting the slightest concession from the Iranians. Well, that isn't entirely true since the Iranians have agreed to continue talking.
For many, that is a concession since they rely on the notion that process itself is the end rather than a means to an end. For the Iranians, negotiation is cover for the pursuit of its goals.
When the weapons are produced or near production, there will be nothing to talk about. At that point, we will beseech the Iranian leadership to act responsibly. But why should they? It is irresponsible behavior that has led to foreign policy rewards.
Negotiation offers another level of benefits for the Iranians. It conveys the impression at home that the regime cannot be toppled and it conveys the impression abroad that the regime is in place and regarded as legitimate by western powers.
Should the U.S. promote a full scale regime change strategy, which it is apparently unwilling to risk, the mullahs, in order to insure their tenure, might accelerate uranium enrichment or buy a bomb or two from North Korea as an insurance policy against a successful coup. This scenario also reinforces the rationale for negotiation.
In the end, if U.S. action is neutralized by its own intelligence estimates and the much ballyhooed sanctions do not work in forestalling Iranian development of the bomb, there is little to do but pray. The question at that point is whether one prays to God or Allah.
**Herbert London is president of Hudson Institute and professor emeritus of New York University. He is the author of Decade of Denial (Lexington Books).

Iran Sex Changes Get Mullahs' Money as Regime Persecutes Gays
By Ladane Nasseri
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=email_en&refer=home&sid=aKyg7EZs.8hA
Feb. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Nasser didn't think much of Iran's Islamic regime -- until it paid for him to become a woman.
Growing up in the city of Mashhad, Nasser knew he was different from the other boys, sneaking around in his aunt's skirts and experimenting with makeup. At age 14, he told his parents he wanted to have a sex change.
``I realized that I had a problem and that I needed to solve it through an operation,'' Nasser, now 18, says at a downtown Tehran clinic two days after he became a she called Hasti. ``Even if lots of negative things are said about the regime, they also do things that are good.''
In Iran, where men and women are segregated, and homosexuality is punishable by death, the government plans to spend 6 billion rials ($647,000) this year to help pay for sex- change operations. The policies aren't as contradictory as they seem, because in traditional societies there is more pressure to conform to standard gender roles, says Mahdis Kamkar, a Tehran psychologist who works with transsexuals.
``In closed cultures, a transsexual will be encouraged to clarify things, starting from his or her appearance,'' Kamkar says. ``Dressing up or behaving as the other sex is not satisfying enough.''
Hasti grew up in a religious family, shocking her parents by letting her curly hair grow, wearing tight pants and makeup.
At 14, she was expelled from an all-boys school in Mashhad, a city of 2 million in northeastern Iran, because her looks and behavior were deemed ``immoral.''
`Let Him Remain a Boy'
An article in a local magazine prompted Hasti to learn more about transsexuals. Then, like many Iranians seeking answers about issues not discussed at home, she turned to the Internet.
``Before that I thought I'm a homosexual, but fortunately I got more information and realized it wasn't the case,'' she says.
Hasti's transformation took four years. She worked at her uncle's clothing shop and then a candle factory to save money for the operation. At 15, she began 14 months of medical examinations and psychoanalysis to make sure she qualified for a sex change.
In May 2007, a panel of doctors gave Hasti permission for the surgery.
``It was very difficult,'' says Mahsoumeh, Hasti's mother, who like her new daughter spoke on condition their family name not be disclosed. ``I would go pray all night: `God, please don't let this happen, let him remain a boy.'''
Hasti, though, had made up her mind.
She applied to Iran's State Welfare Organization for financial assistance, and in November the agency agreed to pay 35 million rials toward the surgery.
Wearing a Chador
Hasti's parents finally agreed after her father set one condition: she must wear the chador, a full Islamic cover worn by women from traditional families.
``Before, when she went out and put makeup on, I suffered a lot because I thought people would look at her in a bad way,'' says Mahsoumeh, who also wears the chador.
Hasti's surgery, which involved removing the male genitals and creating a vagina from a section of intestine, lasted nine hours. Her doctor, Bahram Mir Jalali, is one of about 10 sex- change surgeons in Iran. He says he has performed more than 460 operations during the past 12 years.
Iran authorized such operations in 1984 under a decree issued by the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The government considers transsexuals to be people who are ``trapped'' in a body of the wrong sex, says Mohammad Mehdi Kariminia, a cleric who wrote a thesis on the rights and duties of transsexuals.
``It's extremely enlightened thinking, and it's most welcome,'' says Bernard Reed, who founded the Gender Identity Research and Education Society in Surrey, England, which promotes transgender issues in the U.K. ``Would you see President Bush or Tony Blair making such a statement?''
`Not to Blame'
Iran's State Welfare Organization is processing 116 applications for financial aid.
Transsexuals ``are not to blame,'' says Hassan Moussavi Chalak, head of the agency's office of social injuries. ``They have rights such as every other citizen.''
By contrast, the Koran condemns homosexuality as a ``moral deviation,'' Kariminia says. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who revived the so-called moral police to enforce Islamic laws, denied gays even existed in Iran during a speech last year at Columbia University in New York.
Hasti says she was arrested several times when, as Nasser, she walked down the street in tight jeans.
Now she wears the chador as a sign of her femininity, what she calls ``a girl thing.''
``I prefer going out with the chador in the heat of the summer rather than being considered a homosexual,'' Hasti says as she examines her nails. ``I've liberated myself from society, from people's perception of me.''
Hasti is now planning for her new life as a woman.
``I'm totally ready mentally for marriage,'' she says. ``They call us, transsexuals, women to the power of 1,000, in the pleasure we get from taking care of a husband or of the house.''
She raises the white sheet covering her naked lower body to glance down at her metamorphosis. ``I was born the day before yesterday,'' she says, smiling.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ladane Nasseri in Tehran at lnasseri@bloomberg.net .
Last Updated: February 5, 2008 19:07 EST