LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
January 14/08

Bible Reading of the day
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 3,13-17. Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. John tried to prevent him, saying, "I need to be baptized by you, and yet you are coming to me?"Jesus said to him in reply, "Allow it now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed him. After Jesus was baptized, he came up from the water and behold, the heavens were opened (for him), and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove (and) coming upon him. And a voice came from the heavens, saying, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

Releases, Editorials, and reports
Is Sleiman Still a Consensus Candidate?By: Elias Harfouche. January 14/08

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for January 13/08
Bush Urges UAE to Help Lebanon Preserve its Government-Naharnet
Moussa Preparing to Relaunch Inter-Lebanese Dialogue-Naharnet
Rice: Bush to Tackle Issue of 'Extremists,' Including Hizbullah, During Gulf Tour-Naharnet
Germany Takes Seriously Terrorist Threat Made in Beirut-Naharnet
Bush says Iran threat to world security-Reuters
Bush: Iran threatens global security-AP
Raad: Any Initiative without Partnership with Opposition is Doomed to Fail-Naharnet
Sarkozy: Lebanon is Gateway to Normalization of Ties with Syria-Naharnet
'Management failed in 2nd Lebanon War'-Jerusalem Post
Arab League Mediation in Lebanon Fails-The Associated Press
Musharraf Rules Out U.N. Probe of Bhutto Murder, Says Pakistan is Not Lebanon-Naharnet
Moussa: Arabs Won't Be a Party to State Collapse in Lebanon-Naharnet
Jumblat: No to Three 10s, No to Veto Powers-Naharnet
Hariri Urges Opposition to Elect President-Naharnet
Mofaz: Lebanon resolution worthless-Ynetnews
Mubarak calls for implementation of Arab initiative on Lebanon-Xinhua
Report: Syria rebuilds on site hit by Israel-Ynetnews
'Management' failed in 2nd Lebanon War-Jerusalem Post
Bush Continues Gulf Tour in Bahrain-Naharnet
Iraqi Parliament Passes Law to Rehabilitate Baathists-Naharnet
Turkish President to Visit Egypt for Middle East, Iraq Talks-Naharnet
NYT: Syrians Are Rebuilding Site Bombed by Israel-Naharnet

A New Message From Lawson Kass Hanna/Subject: Lebanon/Subject: Karim Bakradoni
Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2008 -To all Lebanese patriots,
It will be a long way before the Syrian regime stops the evil plans in Lebanon. Please be aware of the new plan. Now that Mr. Michel Aoun is having problems in getting the Christians to support him, the Syrian regime is asking Mr. Karim Bakradoni to get involved and help Aoun. The Syrians know that Mr. Bakradoni is a smart and experienced politician who can help Aoun. you will most likely see Mr. Bakradoni visiting Bkerki in the next few days and giving rhetorical speeches about the unity of the Maronites, the Leadership of the country and the salvation of the Christians in Lebanon. He will try to play on the feelings and instincts of the Maronites. We would like to ask Mr. Bakradoni to tell us if Mother Teresa came to him in his dreams and asked him to come for help or it was the Syrian regime asking him to support Aoun. We appreciate if Mr. bakradoni would focus his efforts on uniting the Armenians in Lebanon and leave the Maronites in peace.

Rice: Bush to Tackle Issue of 'Extremists,' Including Hizbullah, During Gulf Tour
Naharnet/U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said President George Bush's talks in the Gulf will focus on the "threats of extremism" from groups like al-Qaida, Hizbullah and Hamas. She said Bush will discuss with leaders in the Gulf "the regional challenges of, on the one hand, the threats that we've seen in the Gulf, the problem of extremism, whether it be extremism from al-Qaida, Sunni extremism, or whether it be Iran and its tentacles, like Hizbullah and the part of Hamas that Iran supports."Bush started a two-day visit to Bahrain Saturday after holding talks with Kuwaiti officials. He will also travel to the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia and his week-long Middle East tour will end in Egypt on Wednesday. Before Kuwait, Bush made his first presidential trip to Israel and the West Bank.
Rice, who made the comments aboard Air Force One on Friday, expressed optimism that there are "opportunities" in the Middle East despite the challenges.
"There are some opportunities -- opportunities to support the creation of a democratic Palestine, to live side by side with Israel; opportunities to support the democratic forces in obligation, the majority forces in Lebanon," she said. The Secretary of State also urged the speedy election of a president in Lebanon after the adoption of a plan by Arab Foreign Ministers in Cairo last weekend calling for the election of Army Chief Gen. Michel Suleiman head of state.
"I thought it was very interesting that the Arab League came out with a statement in favor of presidential elections in Lebanon that ought to be held and held quickly," she said. Beirut, 13 Jan 08, 03:34

Sarkozy: Lebanon is Gateway to Normalization of Ties with Syria
NaharnetFrench President Nicolas Sarkozy has said relations with Syria could normalize if Damascus helps find a way out of Lebanon's presidential crisis.
"Contacts (with Syria were not) the beginning of normalization of relations. They were basically limited to solving the Lebanese crisis," Sarkozy told the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat in an interview published Sunday. "The moment we reach a tangible result on Lebanon…we could envisage a return to normal ties and the resumption of true political dialogue with Damascus over all regional issues and not just Lebanon," Sarkozy said. Earlier in the month, Syria decided to stop talks with France over finding a solution to end the deadlock in Lebanon's presidential vote, a tit-for-tat retaliation by Damascus after Sarkozy said he was ending discussions with the Assad regime over the Lebanese issue. "What we are waiting for is for Lebanese politicians to assume their responsibilities and put into action an Arab plan, beginning with the immediate election of the consensus candidate (Army Chief Gen.) Michel Suleiman," the French president said.
"That presupposes as well that all regional parties, beginning with Syria, play a positive role in this," said Sarkozy, who begins on Sunday a three-nation Gulf tour in Saudi Arabia. The French president also proposed holding talks between Iraqi factions in France similar to those it hosted in July for Lebanon.
He proposed "hosting in France, far from the heat of passions and on neutral territory, inter-Iraqi roundtable talks that are as large as possible."
"It is up to the parties involved to decide what steps to take next," he was quoted as saying in the London-based daily. Fourteen Lebanese factions held two days of talks outside Paris last July, bringing together pro-government and opposition members. On Iran, Sarkozy said he wants increased international pressure over Tehran's refusal to halt its contested nuclear program. "Iran is persistent in not respecting its international obligations, we want to continue to increase international pressure within the (U.N.) Security Council and European Union, until the country fulfills all its international obligations, that is to say it suspends sensitive activities and implements supplementary guarantees sought by the IAEA," Sarkozy told al-Hayat.(Naharnet-AFP) Beirut, 13 Jan 08, 05:34

Raad: Any Initiative without Partnership with Opposition is Doomed to Fail
NaharnetHizbullah MP Mohammed Raad said on Sunday that any initiative that lacks partnership with the opposition is doomed to fail. "There is no way out of the current crisis unless the opposition takes part in political (discussions) and decision making," Raad told Hizbullah supporters in the southern town of Zrariyeh. "Any initiative that is launched without ensuring that the opposition is working in partnership with the government will not find the road to success," he added. Raad accused U.S. President George Bush of "blocking all initiatives" that are based on giving the opposition true partnership. "The whole world at the end will acknowledge the existence of the opposition in Lebanon," Raad said Beirut, 13 Jan 08, 13:07

Bush in Abu Dhabi, will Focus on Iran, Lebanon
NaharnetU.S. President George Bush arrived Sunday in Abu Dhabi, from where the White House said he is expected to reach out to ordinary Iranians from across the Gulf and tackle the Lebanon crisis. In a speech Bush intends to tell Iranians, for whom the UAE is their main trading partner, that there is a better alternative to the current regime of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, his spokeswoman Dana Perino said. Bush arrived in the capital of the United Arab Emirates from Bahrain, the Gulf state which is home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, after breakfasting on bacon and pancakes with around 150 U.S. sailors at the end of a two-day visit.
The Fifth Fleet's zone of operations includes the Strait of Hormuz, scene of a naval incident between Iranian and U.S. vessels last Sunday that sparked renewed tensions with Tehran. The president sat and chatted with the sailors at a long table at their base, but Perino said Bush did not raise the incident with the sailors. However, the White House spokeswoman said the fleet's commander Vice-Admiral Kevin Cosgriff did raise the issue during a discussion with Bush and said he was taking the incident very seriously. In Abu Dhabi, Bush is also expected to tackle the crisis in Lebanon, democracy in general and the fight against extremism in his speech, as well as summarize progress in Middle East peace talks, the main focus of his eight-day visit to the region.
Bush "will remind the region about the United States' commitment to Gulf security, his belief" that the crisis over Iran's nuclear program can be "solved diplomatically," said Perino.(AFP-Naharnet Beirut, 13 Jan 08, 11:25

Moussa Preparing to Relaunch Inter-Lebanese Dialogue
NaharnetArab League Secretary General Amr Moussa was preparing to relaunch the long dormant inter-Lebanese dialogue after failing to get the country's feuding leaders to agree on an Arab plan to elect a new president and end the deepening political crisis. The daily An Nahar said in its front-page report published on Sunday that Moussa will work on reviving the "prospect of dialogue" before heading back for Lebanon. It said some Lebanese political parties suggested to Moussa that the talks be conditional to the participation of the five members of the Arab ministerial committee that forged the Arab plan to resolve the presidential crisis.
They include Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Qatar and Oman. An Nahar said that in the event that this proposal was taken seriously, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem would then be part of the equation which would lead to the election of army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman president.
It said Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, after failing to work out a meeting between MP Saad Hariri and Gen. Michel Aoun, hailed Moussa's effort to relaunch dialogue. An Nahar said Arab diplomatic sources expressed fear that the decision to obstruct the presidential election will stay in effect until an Arab League summit scheduled to be hosted by Damascus in March. It quoted the sources as saying Moussa, who left Beirut on Saturday, will return Wednesday "with additional pressure for the implementation of the Arab plan." Moussa said on Saturday he will make another bid next week to convince rival parties in Lebanon to agree on a compromise that would allow the election of a new president. "My return is planned for next Wednesday," he said after a four-day visit.
"I am coming back because the situation remains dangerous" with the presidency left vacant since November 24, Moussa told reporters at Beirut airport before leaving the country. Beirut, 13 Jan 08, 09:12

Musharraf Rules Out U.N. Probe of Bhutto Murder, Says Pakistan is Not Lebanon
NaharnetPakistan's President Pervez Musharraf ruled out a United Nations probe into the assassination of former premier Benazir Bhutto, saying Pakistan is not Lebanon. Musharraf, in an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro, said that U.N. involvement was out of the question, and that the investigation into Bhutto's murder would be handled internally with the help of British police from Scotland Yard. Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, and her teenage son Bilawal have both called for a U.N. inquiry, along the lines of the world body's probe into the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
"This is not possible. Another country is involved? Pakistan is not Lebanon," Musharraf said in a transcript released by the Pakistani government, referring to the implication of Syrian officials in the Hariri killing. "It's a simple murder. We have our own institutions and we can count on the help of Scotland Yard. I hope that the investigation report will be made public before the elections," he added. Pakistan's general elections are due on February 18. They were postponed by nearly six weeks because of widespread riots over Bhutto's killing at a political rally on December 27 that threw the nation into turmoil.
Bilawal said last week that the family and Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) wanted a "U.N. sponsored investigation because we do not believe that an investigation under the authority of the Pakistan government has the necessary transparency."
The Pakistani president insisted the elections would go ahead and, while acknowledging an al-Qaida campaign to destabilise Pakistan, denied the country was "on the verge of disintegration." "They (the elections) will be held whatever happens. We have to defeat (the) terrorists' campaign aimed at derailing the democratic and economic process," he said. Pakistani security forces said Saturday that earlier this week they had killed more than 50 militants loyal to a Taliban warlord with links to al-Qaida accused of masterminding Bhutto's killing.
The Islamist fighters died after trying to besiege a paramilitary fort in the troubled tribal zone of South Waziristan, officials said.
Musharraf meanwhile said he would quit if he really believed that he no longer had the support of most Pakistanis, but that reports of his unpopularity were untrue.
"I know very well what is the support that I have from the masses, the elite and the army. The day I think that I am genuinely unpopular, I will be the first to resign," he told Le Figaro. But in a sign of growing scepticism about Musharraf's regime, a survey released on Saturday showed that almost half of all Pakistanis believe government-allied agencies or politicians were responsible for Bhutto's death.
The survey by Gallup Pakistan said 23 percent of people suspected government intelligence or security agencies of being responsible for her assassination, and a further 25 percent believed government-allied politicians were to blame. Only 17 percent of Pakistanis believed the government's official account that Al-Qaeda militants were responsible. Bhutto herself accused several senior government and intelligence officials of plotting to kill her following a double suicide attack on a parade to welcome her home from exile in October. Twelve percent suspected the United States, which counts President Musharraf as a key ally in the "war on terror", and four percent blamed Pakistan's regional rival India. On Bhutto's succession, 53 percent of those questioned said the PPP had made the right decision to choose 19-year-old Bilawal as its new leader. A further 28 percent said it was wrong and 19 percent said they did not know.
Gallup Pakistan said it interviewed 1,300 men and women in towns and cities across Pakistan and the poll carried a margin of error of plus or minus five percentage points.(AFP) Beirut, 13 Jan 08, 10:38

Bush: Iran threatens global security
By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - President Bush said Sunday that Iran is threatening the security of the world, and that the United States and Arab allies must join together to confront the danger "before it's too late."
Bush said Iran funds terrorist extremists, undermines peace in Lebanon, sends arms to the Taliban, seeks to intimidate its neighbors with alarming rhetoric, defies the United Nations and destabilizes the entire region by refusing to be open about its nuclear program.
"Iran is the world's leading state sponsor of terror," Bush said in a speech he delivered about mid-way through his eight-day Mideast trip that began with a renewed push for an Israeli-Palestinian peace pact — an accord he said whose "time has come."
"Iran's actions threaten the security of nations everywhere," Bush said. "So the United States is strengthening our long-standing security commitments with our friends in the Gulf, and rallying friends around the world to confront this danger before it is too late."
Bush lauded democratic reforms in Gulf nations ruled by authoritarian leaders. He said the Iranian government in Tehran needs to make itself accountable to its people. And he called on the Palestinians to reject extremists, although he did not mention the Islamic radical group Hamas, which has gained control of the Gaza Strip. "This new era is being built with the understanding that power is a trust that must be exercised with the consent of the governed," Bush said.
Bush spoke at the Emirates Palace, at an opulent, gold-trimmed hotel where a suite goes for $2,450 a night. Built at a cost of $3 billion, the hotel is a kilometer long from end to end and has a 1.3 kilometer white sand beach — every grain of it imported from Algeria, according to Steven Pike, a spokesman at the U.S. Embassy here. Half the audience was dressed in western attire and the other half in Arabic clothes — white robes and headdresses for men and black abayas, many with jeweled edges, for women.
Bush said advancing democracy and freedom is the core of his administration's foreign policy and critical to U.S. security.
"The United States has no desire for territory. We seek our shared security in your liberty. We believe that stability can only come through a free and just Middle East where the extremists are marginalized," the president said.
He noted democratic reform in Iraq. "You have made your choice for democracy and have stood firm," Bush said, speaking to the Iraqi people. "The terrorists and extremists cannot prevail."
Making an equally direct appeal to the Palestinians, Bush said "The dignity and sovereignty that is your right is within your grasp."
In renewing his "Freedom Agenda" — Bush's grand ambition to seed democracy around the globe — he declared that "democracy is the only form of government that treats individuals with the dignity and equality that is their right."
"We know from experience that democracy is the only system of government that yields lasting peace and stability," he added.
Yet he was speaking about democracy in a deeply undemocratic country, the Emirates, where an elite of royal rulers makes virtually all the decisions. Large numbers of foreign resident workers have few legal or human rights, including no right to citizenship and no right to protest working conditions.
Some human rights groups have accused the Emirates of tolerating virtual indentured servitude, where workers from poor countries like Sri Lanka are forced to work to pay off debts to employers, and have their passports seized so they can't leave.
Officials in Abu Dhabi and the neighboring emirate of Dubai have said they are taking slow and gradual steps toward reform, both democratic and in labor rights.
In the country's first-ever elections in late 2006, the government hand-picked a group of voters to cast ballots to choose members of a government advisory panel.
But there is little clamor for elections in a wealthy country whose citizens are a privileged minority with access to free housing and lucrative government jobs. Many here say the galloping economy is evidence the government has done a good job.

Is Sleiman Still a Consensus Candidate?
Elias Harfouche
Al Hayat - 13/01/08//
The bones of contention that surfaced during the mission undertaken by the Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa in Beirut, especially with respect to the government formation, have in all respects showed that the opposition still clings to the power to block any government decision that does not suit it even though the majority has accepted to relinquish its decision-making right within the government.
Hence, the Arab solution formula, which, as a means to defuse the current crisis, chose to put the deciding vote in the hands of General Michel Suleiman once elected president, is now blocked. The reason behind this hindrance has been summed up by General Michel Aoun, who said during his decisive meeting with Amr Moussa: We want 11 ministers and let the remaining seats, i.e. 19, be distributed among Sleiman and the majority. This discourse can be only construed as implying that the opposition does no trust Sleiman's neutral position, which in turn raises questions about whether the opposition still considers him as a consensus candidate, as proves his stances so far and as his role is supposed to be as a gateway to the solution.
The consensus concept basically entails agreeing on a solution through the "no winner- no loser" formula, which has always marked the way out of the Lebanese crises (except during the Syrian custody). It is this same formula that the Arab Foreign Ministers resorted to in their latest meeting in Cairo even though it does not match with the willingness of one of the parties to the conflict to achieve victory over a project that opposes his interests at home and is represented by the present government and its head. In this respect, the Secretary General of Hizbullah, Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, was upfront in his latest television statement on the eve of Moussa's visit to Lebanon, when he confirmed that, should he fail to get the third vote he labels as "guarantor," he would support neither General Suleiman nor even General Michel Aoun for presidency!
Thus, we are in front of two major problems that usually threaten the fate of nations when one party holds on thereto vis-à-vis his partners in the country: consider others as traitors regardless of their stances and seek to impose a solution he deems as the ideal one for all. Hizbullah constantly and smoothly reiterates the talk about partnership and the unwillingness to negate the majority. But its stances and those of its allies pave the way, should they be enforced, for a nation where partnership is stripped off from "traitors" and where all those who do not follow in their footsteps are cast aside, including General Michel Aoun, when their paths do not cross.
No wonder then that the trust in General Michel Suleiman is shaken in such a way as to cast doubts over his right to the deciding votes in the government for fear that he might transfer them to the other party! Despite the arduous "tests" he went through to earn trust, from the role the army played at his helm on the southern borders during the liberation to the latest Nahr el Bared battles, Suleiman is still considered by the opposition as untrustworthy when it comes to directing the votes of five ministers in the government!
This is on the Lebanese front. But when it comes to the outlook of the future relations with Syria, talks are ongoing in Beirut about a formula for "a test" of another kind, a formula that may be brought forth by the Qatari Prime Minister in order to determine whether General Suleiman is "eligible" to inherit the role formerly entrusted to President Emile Lahoud. Only when Suleiman passes this test can the so-called Lebanese hurdles to his election wane