LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
July 03/08

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 8,28-34. When he came to the other side, to the territory of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs who were coming from the tombs met him. They were so savage that no one could travel by that road. They cried out, "What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?" Some distance away a herd of many swine was feeding. The demons pleaded with him, "If you drive us out, send us into the herd of swine." And he said to them, "Go then!" They came out and entered the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea where they drowned. The swineherds ran away, and when they came to the town they reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. Thereupon the whole town came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him they begged him to leave their district.

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
Sleiman must play the game.NowLebanon.com 03/07/08
Sound advice for Iran's notoriously outspoken president-The Daily Star 02/07/08

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for July 02/08
Britain bans Hezbollah's military wing-CBC.ca
Britain Adds Hizbullah to List of Banned Terrorist Organizations-Naharnet
Maronite Bishops: Interests of the Nation and the People Top Other Priorities -Naharnet
Karami Criticizes Opposition Leaders -Naharnet
Hariri's Visit to Suleiman Freshened Up Cabinet Talks -Naharnet
Aoun: Can Hizbullah Live Without Me?-Naharnet
Geagea Attacks Aoun-Naharnet
Experts Tell President: Neutral Transitional Government … Or?-Naharnet
Ban Raises Issue of Israeli Overflights, Shebaa and May Clashes in Report on Resolution 1701-Naharnet
What Role is Hizbullah Playing in Iraq?-Naharnet
Arslan Urges Partisans to Welcome Qantar-Naharnet
Muslim Brotherhood Urges Qatar to Protect Lebanon's Sunnis-Naharnet
Israel plans captives swap with Hizbollah-Financial Times
Direct Syria-Israel talks imminent, Turkish officials say-Ynetnews
Israel plans captives swap with Hizbollah-Financial Times
Fatfat: “There is one obstacle and it is General Michel Aoun”-iloubnan.info
MP Hbeich urges Aoun not to violate the areas he represents-iloubnan.info
Fire in Ashrafiyeh -Naharnet
Gemayel Rejects Auto Sovereignty -Naharnet
Turks host third round of talks over return of Golan Heights-AFP
U.S. Trains More Lebanese Police Officers -Naharnet
Talbani Criticizes Nasrallah-Naharnet
1701 report notes 'unprecedented' Israeli air violations-Daily Star
Hezbollah said to train Shiite militiamen in Iraq-The Associated Press
Official: Israeli delegation in Turkey for 3rd round of talks with ...Jerusalem Post
Siniora hails prisoner swap as win for Hizbullah, Lebanon-Daily Star
Will they or won't they? Lebanese await word on long-overdue cabinet-Daily Star
Experts debate prospects for electoral reforms-Daily Star
Druze council urges rapid creation of government-Daily Star
Assad calls for haste in formation of unity cabinet-Daily Star
Saudi king confident Lebanon 'will win over' foes-Daily Star
Israeli quake warning sows panic in parts of South-Daily Star
Lebanese staples up almost 50 percent in two years-Daily Star
Electricite du Liban loses whopping $662 million in first five months of 2008-Daily Star
Sison congratulates ISF training-program graduates-Daily Star
'Personal quarrel' in Baalbek leaves two dead-Daily Star
AUB honors alumni 25 and 50 years after their graduations-Daily Star
Political frenzy offers plenty of fodder for daring advertisers-Daily Star

Britain Adds Hizbullah to List of Banned Terrorist Organizations
Naharnet/Britain on Wednesday moved to ban the military wing of Hizbullah, adding it to its list of designated terrorist groups, the Home Office said.
"This means that it will be a criminal offence to belong to, fundraise and encourage support for the military wing of the organization," junior Home Office minister Tony McNulty said in a statement. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith laid an order in parliament that would proscribe Hizbullah's entire military wing.
If approved by parliament, the order would substitute the existing proscription against the External Security Organization, which the British government considers as Hizbullah's "terrorist wing". " Hizbullah's military wing is providing active support to militants in Iraq who are responsible for attacks both on coalition forces and on Iraqi civilians, including providing training in the use of deadly roadside bombs," McNulty said. " Hizbullah's military wing also provides support to Palestinian terrorist groups in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, such as Palestinian Islamic Jihad. "It is because of this support for terrorism in Iraq and Occupied Palestinian Territories that the government has taken this action. "Proscription of Hizbullah's military wing will not affect the legitimate political, social and humanitarian role Hizbullah plays in Lebanon, but it sends out a clear message that we condemn Hizbullah's violence and support for terrorism," he said. Beirut, 02 Jul 08, 13:35

Britain bans Hezbollah's military wing
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
CBC News
In this July 2007 photo, a poster showing radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, right, and Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah is held up during a protest march in the Amil neighbourhood in Baghdad. (Khalid Mohammed/Associated Press)Britain extended its ban on Hezbollah on Wednesday to include its entire military wing, saying the move was in response to the Lebanese-based militant organization's continued support of militant fighters in Iraq and the Palestinian territories.
The move, if ratified by Parliament, would make it a criminal offence to belong to, raise funds for and encourage support for the military wing of Hezbollah in Britain, the Home Office said in a statement.
Hezbollah’s "legitimate political, social and humanitarian" activities in Lebanon will remain unaffected, it said. The British government had already banned Hezbollah's external security organization. But Home Office Minister Tony McNulty said the group's military wing is "providing active support to militants in Iraq who are responsible for attacks both on coalition forces and on Iraqi civilians." The group also provides training in the use of deadly roadside bombs, he said.
"It sends out a clear message that we condemn Hezbollah’s violence and support for terrorism," McNulty said. McNulty called on the group to "end terrorist activity and its support for terrorism," and "participate in the democratic process on the same terms as other Lebanese political parties."Britain lists 59 groups as banned terrorist organizations, including al-Qaeda and the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK.
Backed by Iran, Hezbollah was founded in 1982 in response to the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982 in an attempt to wipe out Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization. Its stated aim is to create a Muslim fundamentalist state modelled on Iran. In recent months, members of Lebanon's parliament representing Hezbollah's political wing, backed by Syria, played a key role in a lengthy deadlock over the selection of a new Lebanese president. Hezbollah has been linked to a series of attacks against Israel, the United States and other Western targets, including the suicide truck bombings that killed more than 200 U.S. marines at their barracks in Beirut in 1983. The group's military arm fought an intense 34-day conflict with Israel in southern Lebanon in the summer of 2006.

Maronite Bishops: Interests of the Nation and the People Top Other Priorities
Naharnet/Maronite Bishops on Wednesday warned against the slow pace in efforts to form a new cabinet and called for placing the nation's interests on top of other interests. The bishops, in a statement following their monthly meeting under patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, cautioned that most of the citizens live on the verge of poverty which has forced many of them to immigrate. The statement criticized rhetoric exchanges between politicians saying its standard has "declined" and recalled that citizens have been used to politicians who address each other with respect and accuracy which makes room for understanding. "Causes of the people should be topics for discussion away from claiming imaginary heroism," the statement noted. Politicians, the statement added, should exert "maximum efforts" to confront challenges encountered by the Lebanese People. The bishops called politicians to tackle the challenge of soaring prices that is targeting the people. They expressed hope that tourists would continue heading to Lebanon for their summer vacations despite the ongoing situation. Beirut, 02 Jul 08, 12:19

Hezbullah's inevitable 'additional demand'
Arutz Sheva/You could just see this coming. On Sunday, Israel's cabinet prostrated itself at the feet of Hezbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah by agreeing to all of his demands in exchange for the dead bodies of kidnapped IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. And on Monday, Nasrallah issued a new demand, with the inevitable threat that if it is not fulfilled he will once again go to war.
Hezbollah considers itself free to strike Israeli soldiers and civilians unless it receives maps of minefields and areas peppered with cluster bombs during the Second Lebanon War, a Lebanese journalist believed familiar with the Shi'ite group's thinking wrote in an article appearing Monday.
"This will be a sufficient reason for the resistance (Hezbollah) to carry out a thousand operations and to kill the enemy soldiers as it wishes, and perhaps its civilians, as long as the Israeli killing machine continues," Ibrahim al-Amin wrote in Monday editions of Al-Akhbar.
Al-Amin added that Hezbollah's arms build-up, which includes training of its gunmen and the development of its military infrastructure, will continue "without permission from anyone."For those of you who thought that UN Security Council Resolution 1701 would prevent Hezbullah's arms build-up, maybe it's time for you to come out of your cave and admit that - like everything else in the Second Lebanon War - Olmert and Livni botched it.
But this time there's more. Hezbollah is also planning a terrorist attack against an Israeli target as retribution for last year's killing of arch-terror mastermind Imad Mughniyeh, al-Amin wrote. "We may see many things that can be portrayed as punishment, but there is one big event that nothing can prevent from happening," he said. "It will be on the scale of the crime (Mughniyeh killing)." Al-Amin did not provide many details on Hezbollah's expected response, but it would be reasonable to assume it would take the form of an attack outside of Lebanese soil. The writer noted that Hezbollah faces practical and technical obstacles as well as intra-Lebanese political considerations that are delaying the execution of the attack. Al-Amin said Hezbollah does not plan to publicly claim credit for the attack.
With the Olmert-Barak-Livni-Yishai government in power, this has to concern us all.

If you visit an enemy state, you can't run for the Knesset
Arutz Sheva/Finally, something good comes out of this Knesset session. In fact, this almost rates being a flying pigs moment.
On Monday, the Knesset passed the second and third readings of a bill that bans persons who have visited enemy states from running for the Knesset for seven years. The law is aimed at Arab MK's who have gone to Lebanon and Syria to declare their solidarity with terror groups and arose out of the Azmi Bishara (pictured) fiasco last year. Honestly, I'm shocked that it passed. It wasn't proposed by the government.
The bill was proposed by MK's Zevulun Orlev (NU/NRP) and Esterina Tartman (Israel Beiteinu) following the case of former Balad chairman Azmi Bishara. Bishara is wanted for questioning by police under suspicion of money laundering and of aiding Israel's enemies during the Second Lebanon War. He left Israel and has not returned since the allegations surfaced. The bill was approved by 52 votes to 24. Among the bills opponents were Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz, Education Minister [Comrade] Yuli Tamir, Vice Premier [sexual predator] Haim Ramon, Agriculture Minister Shalom Simhon and Minister [proven liar] Ami Ayalon. According to the amendment to Knesset Basic Law, whoever illegally visits an enemy country in the seven years prior to the submission of party lists, will be seen as giving support for the armed struggle against Israel, as long as it is not proven otherwise, and, therefore, will be banned from becoming an MK.
Orlev hailed the approval. "From today, Arab MKs will have to decide - the Syrian parliament or the Israeli parliament. The law will stop the infiltration of Trojan horses into the Knesset." He said that unrestrained loyalty to the state of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state must be demanded from the Arab leadership, just as an enlightened, democratic state demands of its elected officials. "The Bishara, case and the defiance of some of the Arab MKs, who traveled to Syria and met with Hamas leaders, are not in the realms of freedom of speech but an explicit encouragement for the armed struggle against Israel and for terror against its citizens," added Orlev. Let's see if the 'Supreme Court' lets it stand.

Karami Criticizes Opposition Leaders
Ex-Premier Omar Karami criticized the Hizbullah-led opposition for agitating factional tension.
Karami, in a televised statement, also accused "allies in the opposition" of restricting decision-making to themselves.
Karami, who had criticized Hizbullah for acts of violence that sparked early in July, has been kept out of meetings by the opposition leadership that has been grouping only Hizbullah's Hassan Nasrallah, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun and ex-MP Suleiman Franjieh of the Marada Party. He also noted that ex-MP Talal Arslan has not been invited to the opposition leaders' meeting although he is related to discussions regarding forming a new cabinet. Beirut, 02 Jul 08, 12:45

Hariri's Visit to Suleiman Freshened Up Cabinet Talks
Naharnet/Parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri's surprise overnight visit to President Michel Suleiman has given cabinet talks a fresh momentum.
Hariri said after the lengthy meeting that he discussed with Suleiman ways to speed up formation of the new cabinet. "Mustaqbal Movement is willing to facilitate things as much as possible and within reason in order to form the cabinet and ensure a good start for the President," Hariri told reporters at the end of the three-hour meeting which ended around midnight. Hariri denied there were differences among the ruling majority regarding the distribution of shares in the new cabinet, saying the March 14 alliance favors a speedy formation of the government. "The Lebanese are fed up of this (cabinet) issue," Hariri went on to say, insisting that the crisis should end soon on the basis of "no victor, no vanquished." Hariri believed that lack of communication between the pro- and anti-government camps could be the reason why the cabinet line-up continued to face obstacles. The MP announced he was going to launch fresh contacts, including talks with Aoun, and said so will President Suleiman and Prime Minister-designate Fouad Saniora in an effort to end the cabinet stalemate. Beirut, 02 Jul 08, 08:39

Aoun: Can Hizbullah Live Without Me?
Naharnet/Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun has said he is not a Christian in a religious sense, but rather a "model" Christian. "Can Hizbullah live without me?" he asked. "When you deal with others, this does not mean that you are relinquishing your personality, but it becomes a necessity so we could become complementary," Aoun said in a chat with journalists late Tuesday. "I am also aware that without a new equation I cannot be part of decision-making," Aoun said. The former army general, however, insisted that he is not in favor of hindering formation of the new government and vowed to facilitate efforts to make the cabinet see light soon. Aoun denied receiving any new cabinet packages recently. Beirut, 02 Jul 08, 11:01

Geagea Attacks Aoun
Naharnet/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea slammed Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun for claiming to fight for the rights of Christians in the new cabinet. "The new government will necessarily maintain a balance between Muslims and Christians," Geagea said in remarks published by several Beirut dailies on Wednesday. He accused Aoun of "pretending to fight for Christian rights, while in fact all he wants is to boost his personal gains at the expense of other Christians."
Geagea explained that under the constitution, the president and the prime minister are in charge of the cabinet make-up, adding that "such a cabinet will not see daylight if the Christian president disapproves it." "This alone guarantees that Christian rights will not be wasted," Geagea stressed, adding that Aoun's demands with regard to the cabinet line-up were "unreasonable." Beirut, 02 Jul 08, 11:03

Experts Tell President: Neutral Transitional Government … Or?
Naharnet/President Michel Suleiman seemed to have been left with only one choice – a neutral transitional government – meaning not belonging to any of the political groups. This phrase summed up what former Parliament Speaker Hussein Husseini wanted to tell the President. Suleiman, in a fresh bid to end the cabinet deadlock, has sought constitutional exits to the five-week-old crisis. In this regard, he has met, apart from Husseini, MP Robert Ghanem and constitutional expert Hasan al-Rifai. Ghanem told Suleiman that the constitution does not expressly provide for a deadline on the cabinet line-up. Rifai, for his part, briefed Suleiman on what the constitution says with regard to the government formation. Beirut, 02 Jul 08, 10:00

Ban Raises Issue of Israeli Overflights, Shebaa and May Clashes in Report on Resolution 1701
Naharnet/U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has voiced concern over the presence of armed groups in the area of peacekeepers' operations in south Lebanon and said Israeli overflights have reached record levels. The Secretary-General, however, said southern Lebanon has witnessed the longest period of relative stability in many years as the cessation of hostilities between Israel and Hizbullah following their 2006 war continues to hold. The presence of "unidentified armed elements" in the area of operations of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), along with restrictions on the Force's movement and the monitoring of its operations, are a source of serious concern, Ban said Tuesday in his latest report on Security Council resolution 1701. "They raise tensions and cannot but cast doubt on the motives of those involved," he said. Although Israel claims that Hizbullah is rearming in the south, the report said "it has found no evidence of new military infrastructure in (UNIFIL's) area of operations." Resolution 1701 helped end the fighting between Israel and Hizbullah in August 2006, and called for renewed respect for the Blue Line separating Israel and Lebanon, the disarming of militias and an end to arms smuggling, among other measures.
Ban underlined the importance of ensuring that the area between the Blue Line and the Litani River is free of unauthorized armed personnel, assets and weapons, and called on the Lebanese government to ensure the UNIFIL's full freedom of movement. He also urged Israel to cease all overflights, noting that air violations "not only continued unabated during the reporting period, but also reached record levels during the months of March and April 2008."
Ban noted the emergence of "several positive indicators in the region," which help in making further progress in implementing Resolution 1701, among them signals from Syrian President Bashar Assad on his regime's willingness to establish diplomatic ties between Damascus and Beirut.
"I urge both parties to capitalize on this potential momentum and to work together towards the delineation of their common border," the U.N. chief stated.
He said in his report that he was encouraged by renewed declarations from the international community on the importance of finding a solution to the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms area. However, the report mentioned that the Israeli military has remained in control of some territory north of the Blue Line and a part of the village of Ghajar. Ban stressed that this is a "continuous source of tension, which could easily escalate."
On the Doha agreement that ended Lebanon's political crisis, Ban said there are new opportunities for the Lebanese people to consolidate the country's political stability and create an environment conducive to further addressing critical challenges. "I look forward to the speedy establishment of a national unity government and to the revitalization of the constitutional institutions of Lebanon, which I believe will help the country make further concrete progress on the implementation of Resolution 1701," Ban wrote. The report also mentioned the events of May, which saw fighting between pro-government and opposition gunmen.
The Lebanese Armed Forces "will remain under considerable pressure" in the carrying out of their responsibilities, "particularly in the aftermath of the May events and the continuing clashes in some parts of Lebanon," Ban said. He urged the international community to assist the army in "becoming an adequately equipped and capable force." Beirut, 02 Jul 08, 09:13

What Role is Hizbullah Playing in Iraq?
Naharnet/Hizbullah instructors trained Shiite militiamen at remote camps in southern Iraq until three months ago when they slipped across the border to Iran presumably to continue instruction on Iranian soil, according to two Shiite lawmakers and a top army officer.
The three Iraqis claim the Lebanese Shiites were also involved in planning some of the most brazen attacks against U.S.-led forces, including the January 2007 raid on a provincial government compound in Karbala in which five Americans died. The allegations were made in separate interviews with The Associated Press.
Iran, Hizbullah's mentor, denies giving any support to Shiite extremists in Iraq. But the three Iraqis who spoke to the AP said the Iranians prefer to use Hizbullah instructors because as Arabs, they can communicate better with the Iraqi Shiites and maintain a lower profile than Farsi-speakers from Iran.
For Hizbullah, a high-risk role in Iraq could give the Lebanese movement leverage with the United States and broaden its appeal within the Arab world where anti-American sentiment remains strong, the AP says.
Iraqi officials have said little about a Hizbullah role in the country. However, President Jalal Talabani told U.S.-funded Alhurra television this week that "there have been several occasions" when Hizbullah members or those who "claim to belong to Hizbullah" have been detained in Iraq.
He gave no further details. But the two Iraqi lawmakers and the military officer said Hizbullah instructors work only with members of the Iraqi Shiite "special groups," the U.S. military's name for splinter factions of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia. The U.S. believes that Iran's elite Quds Force, a branch of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, supports the special groups.
All three Iraqis spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not supposed to release the information.
The lawmakers belong to al-Sadr's movement and were involved in the creation of the Mahdi Army in 2003. The military officer's job gives him access to highly classified intelligence information. They said Hizbullah began training Shiite militiamen in the second half of 2006 at two camps - Deir and Kutaiban - east of Basra near the Iranian border. They fled across the border in late March or early April this year after U.S.-backed Iraqi forces launched a crackdown against militias in Basra, Iraq's second-largest city. In Iran, training resumed in camps once used by Iraqi exiles who fought with Iranian forces during the 1980s war between the two countries, the lawmakers said. Instruction includes explosives, ambushes and use of rockets and mortars.
Citing testimony from special groups members in custody, the officer said the Hizbullah instructors never numbered more than 10 at any one time, kept a low profile and moved back and forth over the Iranian border.
Indications that Hizbullah was playing a role in Iraq first surfaced last July when the U.S. military announced the arrest of Ali Musa Daqduq, a Lebanese-born Hizbullah operative allegedly training Iraqi Shiite militiamen. At least one other Hizbullah operative, identified only as Faris, was detained in Basra during fighting there in April and was handed over to the Americans, the Iraqi military officer said. The U.S. military has said little publicly about Hizbullah's involvement there since announcing Daqduq's arrest, though it has frequently alleged an Iranian role in arming, equipping and training Shiite extremists.
"At this point in time, we do not have any new, releasable information regarding Hizbullah's involvement with special groups in Iran and Iraq," a military spokesman, Capt. Charles Calio, said in an e-mail to the AP. A Hizbullah spokesman in Beirut refused to comment on any role for his organization.
However, Ibrahim al-Ameen, a Lebanese newspaper editor close to Hizbullah, said in a recent interview in Beirut that Hizbullah's leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, spends several hours daily dealing with "the situation in Iraq." Nasrallah, who studied Shiite theology in Iraq, spoke at length about Iraqi "resistance" during a speech last May that analysts believed was aimed at bolstering his image as a godfather of Arab opposition to the United States and Israel throughout the Middle East.
Beside its alleged role in Iraq, Hizbullah is known to have ties to the Palestinian militant Hamas group. The charismatic Nasrallah has become a sort of folk hero in the mostly Sunni Arab world after his guerrillas fought Israeli forces to a standstill in a 34-day war in 2006.
A senior Western diplomat based in the Middle East said his government has information suggesting a growing Hizbullah interest in events in Iraq. However, the diplomat would say no more and insisted on anonymity because the subject is so sensitive.
Hizbullah's possible role in direct attacks against U.S.-led forces is murkier and more explosive.
The two Iraqi lawmakers said Hizbullah operatives planned and supervised both the Karbala attack and the brazen daylight kidnapping of five British nationals from a Finance Ministry compound in Baghdad in May 2007. The Britons are still being held. In the Karbala attack, English-speaking militants wearing American uniforms and carrying American weapons stormed the compound, killing one U.S. soldier and abducting four. The four were later found dead. A senior Mahdi Army commander in Baghdad, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Hizbullah's operations in Iraq had been supervised by Imad Mughniyeh, the top commander of the Shiite group killed in a car bomb in Syria last February. The shadowy figure was suspected of a role in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut and the 1992 attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina.(AP) Beirut, 02 Jul 08, 05:52

Sleiman must play the game
July 2, 2008
LebanonNow.com
The time has come for Michel Sleiman to play Christian politics or else run the risk of becoming a bit player in what is becoming a very nasty bit of power play. While the new president might be applauded for his cautious approach to the recent cabinet crisis, the time has come for him to step up to the plate and fulfill the role expected of him, that of a mediator, a head of state and a Christian figurehead. At the moment, his three portfolios are not going to give him much clout in the cabinet, if and when it is formed, and so his goal, assuming he wishes to have a stake in how the country is ‘run’, should be to develop – as he has said he wants to do – his own parliamentary bloc, allowing him influence in the various parliamentary committees and by extension have a say in government.
To achieve this, he must appeal to the street, enlist the support of the Patriarch – as well as rekindle the traditional presidential alliance with the Armenian community – to avert a catastrophe for which the Christians of Lebanon will no doubt pay the price. Indeed, on Wednesday, Sleiman must have heard Lebanon’s Maronite bishops’ statement from Bkirki after their monthly meeting in which they bemoaned yet another political crisis and declared that the interests of any political bloc must never be placed above that of the country.
Tell that to Sleiman’s current nemesis, Michel Aoun, a man who appears to be hell bent on putting himself before his country and who is in direct confrontation with the new president. Aoun’s fear is that Sleiman will ascend to the position of Christian zaim he so covets and, through the cabinet negotiations, Aoun is doing all he can to undermine the new president’s credibility and at the same time ensure he gets the service portfolios necessary to wage a successful election campaign in 2009. It is a cheap maneuver and one that ultimately plays into the hands of an opposition that is skillfully allowing Aoun to do its dirty work (Hezbollah and Amal are secure that they can deliver the crucial services necessary for garnering election votes without the service portfolios and have deferred the cabinet horse-trading bargaining to their Christian ally).
The deadline for Sleiman’s by-now infamous 48-hour ultimatum to form a government came and went without an inch of progress being made, and now, to avoid looking like a man who is firing blanks, the president must move to a Plan B and gather around him all those who genuinely wish to see a government formed without delay and redouble his efforts to break the deadlock.