LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
July 12/08

Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 10,16-23. Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. But beware of people, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to another. Amen, I say to you, you will not finish the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports
A leader with no government-By: Hanady Salman -Al-Ahram Weekly 11/07/08
Lebanon: where political incompetence tips into murderousness. The Daily Star 11/07/08

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for July 11/08
Suleiman Decrees Lebanon's New Cabinet: 30 Ministers From Six Sects-Naharnet
Lebanese Cabinet Listed-Naharnet
Saniora Sets Cabinet's Priority-Naharnet
Christian or Shiite Challenge Hampers Cabinet Line Up efforts?-Naharnet
Hariri Withdraws Veto on Qanso -Naharnet
Moscow Sounds the Lebanon Alarm -Naharnet
Ghattas Khoury: The Remaining Obstacle is the Qanso Issue -Naharnet
Army Clashes with Gunmen Near Sidon-Naharnet
Berri Accuses Majority of Squandering Justice-Naharnet
Army Deploys in Tripoli with Orders to 'Firmly Confront' Troublemakers-Naharnet
Border Village Still Scarred by 2006 Israeli Offensive-Naharnet
2 Years after Israel-Hizbullah War Lebanon Still in Turmoil-Naharnet
Lebanese-American Man Caught in U.S. Federal Sting Gets 2 Years-Naharnet
Two years later / Hezbollah recovers, but still fears Israel-Ha'aretz
France Develops relations with Syria in Favor of Lebanon-Naharnet
Lebanon leaders agree unity government: sources-Washington Post
The Jacob Syndrome-Ha'aretz
Lebanese army occupies abandoned Shebaa Farm: witness-AFP
Prisoner exchange with Hezbollah set for Wednesday-Ha'aretz
Nasrallah won, and lost-Ynetnews
UN: Lebanon situation fairly fragile-Daily Star
Two years on, scars of 2nd Lebanon War haven't healed-Jerusalem Post
US beefs up sanctions against Syria-Xinhua
Syria back on world stage-The National
Iran test-fires more missiles in Gulf war games-AFP
Berri loses patience as cabinet tango goes on-Daily Star
UN: Lebanon situation 'fairly fragile'-Daily Star
Tashnak, Murr 'will run on same slate' in 2009 legislative elections-Daily Star
Zahra: LF will defend Lebanese sovereignty-Daily Star
Army restores measure of stability to Tripoli-AFP
Syria to slip back into diplomatic fold at Paris summit-AFP
Sleiman to attend Mediterranean Union summit-Daily Star
Banque du Liban fears real estate bubble-Daily Star
New center at AUB will aim to encourage entrepreneurship-Daily Star
St. George Hospital denies report of banning OTV-Daily Star
NDU holds first symposium on Executive Master Program-Daily Star
Steakhouse brings a taste of Argentina to Beirut-Daily Star
Foreign students of Arabic return to streets of Beirut-Daily Star
Salman Rushdie wins the Best of the Bookers prize-Daily Star

Suleiman Decrees Lebanon's New Cabinet: 30 Ministers From Seven Sects
Naharnet/President Michel Suleiman on Friday decreed the formation of a national unity cabinet, the first in his six-year term.
The cabinet, headed by premier Fouad Saniora, groups 30 ministers from the seven major sects in a nation made up of 18 religious communities.
Maronite Ministers: Ziad Baroud, Nassib Lahoud, Tony Karam, Gebran Bassil and Mario Aoun.
Greek Orthodox ministers: Issam Abu Jamra, Elias Murr, Ibrahim Najjar and Tareq Mitri, Raymond Audi.
Catholic ministers: Elie Skaff, and Youssef Takla.
Druze: Talal Arslan, Ghazi Aridi and Wael Abu Faour.
Sunnis: Fouad Saniora, Bahia Hariri, Mohammed Safadi, Tammam Salam and Mohammad Shatah and Khaled Qabbani
Shiites: Mohammed Fneish, Ali Qanso, Ibrahim Shamseddine, Mohammed Jawad Khalifa, Fawzi Salloukh and Ghazi Zoayter.
Armenians: Jean Ogassapian and Alain Taborian.
Beirut, 11 Jul 08, 15:08

Saniora Sets Cabinet's Priority
Naharnet/Premier Fouad Saniora on Friday set his cabinet's mission as managing differences among the various factions through state institutions and setting the stage for the 2009 parliamentary elections. Saniora, talking to reporters at the republican palace after his thirty-member cabinet was formed, said "It also aims at regaining international and regional confidence in Lebanon's political system.""We want to stress to the world that the Lebanese government takes interests of all the Lebanese into consideration," a smiling Saniora said. He termed his cabinet "The cabinet of unity and the cabinet of all Lebanon.""We have decided to manage our differences through institutes of the democratic system and not through submission", he added. Saniora said "We won't guarantee transparent elections. It's the government's duty in cooperation with parliament to guarantee peaceful competition" among candidates. Saniora emphasized that "The citizen's vote would decide who wins the elections and would lead the Lebanese to bolster Lebanon's sovereignty." In answering a question about harmony among the ministers who represent feuding factions, Saniora said:" Differences are behind us. The Lebanese people want a government that would lead them into the future.""This process should be given all the chances to succeed. It is a big challenge," he concluded. Beirut, 11 Jul 08, 15:56

Christian or Shiite Challenge Hampers Cabinet Line Up efforts?
Naharnet/Would Lebanon's national unity cabinet be formed before President Michel Suleiman's Paris visit scheduled for Saturday?
The answer, be it yes or no, would become evident Friday as efforts intensify to overcome the so-called Ali Qanso obstacle that persisted despite efforts to convince Hizbullah nominate another Shiite personality replacing the former head of the Syrian Social National Party (SSNP) to a cabinet seat.
The March 14 majority has managed to overcome its Christian challenge, with Democratic Gathering leader Walid Jumblat giving up his nomination of bloc member Nehme Tohme and Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri withdrawing the nomination of Ghattas Khoury. The moves facilitated agreement on nominating personalities from March 14 Christian forces to the new cabinet. The majority also managed to overcome competition on the public works portfolio, agreeing on referring it to Ghazi Aridi of the Democratic Gathering in return for nominating Tripoli Gathering member Mohammed Safadi to the economy portfolio. Nevertheless, the Qanso obstacle persisted with Hizbullah rejecting, so far, all efforts to replace the controversial SSNP official, who is vetoed by Premier-designate Fouad Saniora, Hariri and other members of the March 14 majority alliance.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who had informed Suleiman that he would try to mediate in the Qanso controversy, tried to promote an alleged barter compromise aimed at throwing the obstacle back into March 14 Christian arena. Berri's barter goes along the lines of: no Qanso in return for no Lebanese Forces representative on top of the justice portfolio. Majority sources said Berri's approach also aims at pressuring Hariri into withdrawing his nomination of Shiite Ibrahim Shamseddine to the information portfolio. Shamseddine, son and political heir of the late higher Shiite Authority Ayatollah Mohammed Mahdi Shamseddine, "poses a major challenge to Berri in the 2009 parliamentary elections," a majority source said. "Berri would prefer to enter the elections without having to face competitor-candidate Shamseddine being a cabinet minister," added the source who asked not to be further identified. Berri is trying to "sting the majority in its Christian heart to avoid its Shamseddine sting in his Shiite heart," the source explained. Beirut, 11 Jul 08, 08:19

CHRONOLOGY: Lebanese rival leaders agree on national unity cabinet
Jul 11, 2008,
Beirut - Following months of political bickering, Lebanese leaders Friday managed to put their differences aside and agreed on the line-up of the new national unity cabinet.
Following is a chronology of political events since November 23, 2007:
November 23, 2007 - Former Lebanese president Emile Lahoud leaves the presidential palace at end of his term, but no successor has been elected. According to the constitution, the government of Prime Minister Fouad Seniora assumes executive powers.
December 5 - Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri says rival Lebanese leaders have agreed on General Michel Suleiman as a consensus president.
Deccember 12 - Car bomb kills Brigadier General Francois al-Hajj, the army's head of operations, and a bodyguard in a Christian town east of Beirut.
January 15, 2008 - Car bomb in Christian area of Beirut kills at least three people and wounds 16. The explosion targeted a US embassy car.
January 25 - Wisam Eid, a captain in a Lebanese police intelligence unit, is killed by a bomb blast in the mainly Christian East Beirut. At least five other people are killed.
May 6 - Tension increases between Hezbollah and the Western-backed ruling majority after the government accused the group of spying on Beirut airport. On the same day, the cabinet took the decision to fire the head of airport security who is close to the opposition.
May 7 - Some 10 people are wounded as government supporters clash with gunmen loyal to the Hezbollah-led opposition in Beirut after followers of Hezbollah paralyse the capital by cutting off roads and closing Beirut airport to protest the government decision.
May 8 - Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah says the government has declared war against the group after its decision to dismantle the group's communication network near Beirut international airport.
May 9 - Hezbollah takes control of the Muslim half of Beirut where most of the ruling majority leaders reside.
May 10 - Hezbollah fighters pull back from areas they had seized in Beirut after the army took control of the city.
May 11 - Hezbollah-led forces clash with gunmen loyal to Druze leader, Walid Jumblatt, in the Aley district east of Beirut before Jumblatt agreed to hand them over to the army.
May 21 - Rival Lebanese leaders sign a deal to end 18 months of political conflict. The deal, concluded after days of Arab-mediated talks in Doha, Qatar, paved the way for parliament to elect Suleiman as president.
May 25 - President Suleiman is sworn in amid Arab and international backing.
May 28 - Suleiman appoints Seniora to head a national unity government which was agreed on under the deal.
June 5 - French President Nicolas Sarkozy visits Beirut for five hours to urge leaders to reconcile.
July 11 - Leaders agree on a unity government that gives veto power to the Hezbollah-led opposition as agreed under the Doha deal.

Hariri Withdraws Veto on Qanso
Naharnet/MP Saad Hariri on Friday withdrew a veto on the participation in the cabinet by Ali Qanso, former chief of the Syrian Social National Party, paving the road to declaring a cabinet of national unity. Hariri made the announcement after talks with Premier-designate Fouad Saniora at the latter's office.
The Mustaqbal Movement has made "lots of sacrifices" to safeguard Lebanon, Hariri told reporters. The biggest sacrifice, he said, was "the blood of martyr ex-Premier Rafik Hariri" killed in a powerful explosion in 2005. The move, which Hariri said he would personally be responsible for, should eliminate obstacles facing efforts to form the cabinet. Beirut, 11 Jul 08, 13:29

Moscow Sounds the Lebanon Alarm
Naharnet/Russia has warned that persisting delay in forming Lebanon's government would have "negative repercussions." The Russian stand was outlined in a message by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to the Arab League. Indications to such negative repercussion surfaced during the "recent confrontations," Lavrov noted. He called for speedy efforts to form the new cabinet, emphasizing that Moscow would maintain contacts with international and regional powers interested in the Lebanon situation. Beirut, 11 Jul 08, 11:53

Ghattas Khoury: The Remaining Obstacle is the Qanso Issue
Naharnet/Ex-MP Ghattas Khoury announced Friday that the March 14 majority alliance has surmounted obstacles facing efforts to form the new cabinet by making "multi sacrifices." Such sacrifices apparently included withdrawal of Khoury's nomination to a cabinet seat in favor of Christian forces of the majority alliance.
Such moves, Khoury said after meeting Premier-designate Fouad Saniora, leave only the "issue related to Ali Qanso to be settled."Khoury also criticized March 14 Christian forces for "re-creating" factions that had been absent for over three years, such as the Qornet Shahwan coalition. Beirut, 11 Jul 08, 11:28

France Develops Relations with Syria in Favor of Lebanon
Naharnet/Secretary General of the French Presidential office Claude Gueant said efforts by Paris to develop relations with Syria are "in favor of Lebanon and the region." Paris, Gueant emphasized, would not go into any bargaining over the international tribunal that would try suspects in the 2005 assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri and related crimes. Permanent settlements to the Middle East problems, Lebanon included, are not possible without Syria's participation in efforts to work them out, he told the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat. French President Nicolas Sarkozy would "quickly meet an invitation to visit Damascus if the beginning of dialogue with Syria was fruitful," Gueant was quoted as saying. Beirut, 11 Jul 08, 09:45

Berri Accuses Majority of Squandering Justice
Naharnet/Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has accused the March 14 majority of "squandering justice and the justice ministry." Berri, in an interview with the Kuwaiti daily al-Qabas, did not elaborate on the charge that was apparently in reference to a decision by the majority to nominate a personality from Samir Geagea's Lebanese Forces to the justice portfolio in the forthcoming cabinet. "Whoever squanders justice and the justice ministry should accept the whole Syrian Social National Party (SSNP) in the cabinet, not just Ali Qanso," Berri said. Berri, who also heads the AMAL movement that is part of the Hizbullah-led opposition, said if the government was not formed prior to President Michel Suleiman's Paris visit on Saturday, he would call for a parliamentary session after the president's return to tackle "the delay in forming the cabinet.""I realize that the constitution does not set a timeframe for cabinet formation efforts, but this doesn't mean that Lebanon should remain like this forever," Berri added. Failing to form a government would lead "things back to the street, one way or the other," Berri warned. Beirut, 11 Jul 08, 09:03

2 Years after Israel-Hizbullah War Lebanon Still in Turmoil
Naharnet/Two years after the war between Israel and Hizbullah, Beirut is still grappling with political instability, sectarian unrest, economic stagnation, and an increasingly powerful Hizbullah. Prime Minister Fouad Saniora, who was premier when Israel unleashed its military might on Lebanon in July 2006, is battling to form a unity government despite an accord hammered out with the Hizbullah-led opposition in May. Regionally, there are peace moves afoot between Israel and Syria -- which backs the Lebanese opposition -- although Beirut has still ruled out any negotiations with the Jewish state.
At home, the Lebanese government faces persistent unrest, the latest violence in the northern port city of Tripoli where four people were killed in sectarian gunbattles this week. In Israel, the government is also in turmoil with the governing Kadima party expected to set a September date for a leadership election to quell a crisis over a corruption scandal embroiling Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Hizbullah underscored its political and military strength when it briefly seized control of swathes of mainly Muslim west Beirut in May during days of deadly violence that threatened to plunge Lebanon back into all-out civil war. "We have still not found a solution to the problem of how can a Lebanese sovereign state coexist with a sovereign Hizbullah state," said political analyst Michael Young. "The basic problem that was illustrated in the July war has not been resolved, and that is the issue of Hizbullah's weapons." Israel launched a massive ground and air offensive on Lebanon on July 12 two years ago after Hizbullah fighters waged a deadly cross-border raid and captured two Israeli soldiers.
In the ensuing conflict more than 1,200 people were killed in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 Israelis were killed, mostly soldiers, before a U.N.-brokered ceasefire took effect on August 14. Hizbullah claimed victory in the 34-day war, and in Israel the conflict was widely considered a failure and resulted in several high-profile resignations, although Olmert has so far resisted calls to quit.
Despite Israel's superior firepower, Hizbullah now has an arsenal of 40,000 rockets, three times more than in July 2006, according to Israeli intelligence officials quoted by local radio. "It's a mixed bag," said Young. "I don't think the 2006 war was a victory for Hizbullah, but they managed to persuade everyone that it was a victory. In a sense that was quite a success on their part." Israel has approved a deal to release five Lebanese prisoners and the remains of Hizbullah fighters in exchange for the bodies of the two soldiers snatched in 2006.
"It is ironic that Hizbullah was able to achieve through violence what the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas was not able to achieve through 10 years of negotiation," said London-based Chatham House's Lebanon expert Nadim Shehadi. "This sends the wrong message really."
Since the war, Lebanon has grappled with a protracted political crisis that pitted the ruling majority, backed by the West and most Arab states, against the Iranian- and Syrian-backed opposition led by Hizbullah.
The standoff boiled over in May into sectarian gunbattles that left 65 people dead and raised the specter of a return to the dark days of the 1975-1990 civil war.
As a result, Hizbullah's weapons became a major issue in Lebanon, where the movement insists it can retain its arms as a legitimate "resistance" to Israel.
The crisis ended under a deal brokered in Doha on May 21 which saw army chief Michel Suleiman elected Lebanon's head of state after a six-month void.
The agreement also called for the formation of a unity government giving the opposition veto power, but the cabinet has yet to be formed because of bickering over ministerial posts. "The incidents in May and the Doha agreement... represent a partial closure of a chapter that opened in 2006," said Paul Salem, who heads the Beirut-based Carnegie Middle East Center.
"Hizbullah used force and won. (The ruling bloc) had to retreat and we are back to an internal accommodation of Hizbullah." In the past two years, Lebanon has also faced an Islamist uprising in a Palestinian refugee camp, a series of political assassinations of mainly anti-Syrian public figures and an opposition sit-in that paralyzed the heart of the capital. "Basically we have lost two years of growth. We have been frozen in time," Economic Minister Sami Haddad told Agence France Presse. "We saw zero growth in 2006 and over three percent growth in 2007, whereas we saw six percent growth between July 2005 and July 2006 and this would have been easily achievable the following year." Finance Minister Jihad Azour said "the economic impact was very painful but the economy has demonstrated strong resilience and ability to spring back." Azour said the economy saw some recovery after the Doha agreement in terms of foreign investment, capital inflows and a decrease in interest rates. Despite some political progress, the future remains uncertain. "A key question for Hizbullah is if Israel and Syria come to a peace agreement, Syria might pressure Lebanon into peace with Israel, leaving Hizbullah with difficult choices to make," Salem said. "If they don't make peace Lebanon will remain with a two-state solution with the Hizbullah state and the Lebanese state co-existing as they are today."(AFP) (AFP photo shows a Lebanese boy collecting spent bullet casings from the ground as soldiers with an armored vehicle secure the street in the Bab al-Tabbaneh district of the northern city of Tripoli) Beirut, 11 Jul 08, 05:14

U.S. beefs up sanctions against Syria
www.chinaview.cn 2008-07-11 04:00:46 Print
WASHINGTON, July 10 (Xinhua) -- The United States is imposing new sanctions against Syrian entities for alleged public corruption, a Treasury Department official said on Thursday. The latest targeted is a Syrian mobile phone operator and a chain of duty free shops, which U.S. Treasury Department said are controlled by Rami Makhluf, a cousin of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Makhluf has used government contacts "to enrich himself at the expense of the Syrian people," Adam Szubin, a Treasury Department official, said. Under an executive order by the U.S Treasury, any U.S. assets that Syriatel and the Ramak duty free shops have Americans will be frozen while Americans are not allowed do business with the sanctioned businesses. The United States initially slapped a string of economic sanctions on Syria in May 2004, including a ban on the export of certain goods to Damascus and a freeze of Syrian assets.
It extended them in April 2006 and widened them in February to target officials engaged in "public corruption," amid charges Damascus was supporting militant groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah and has failed to stop guerrillas from crossing the border into Iraq. U.S. President George W. Bush in February expanded earlier standing U.S. sanctions against Syrian senior government officials and their associates deemed responsible for public corruption. In May, Bush announced to extend U.S. sanctions against Syria by one year after the Bush administration accused Syria of building a secret nuclear reactor with the help of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Syria has denied the charge

Lebanon: where political incompetence tips into murderousness
By The Daily Star
Friday, July 11, 2008
Lebanon's political players have too many disturbing habits to count, but one of the most dangerous is a propensity to accept the regular use of violence as a means of public discourse. The tragedies in Tripoli this week are not aberrations: They are the predictable and even inevitable product of a political class that steadfastly refuses to abandon the failed ways of the past.
Those who call the shots in this country are too wrapped up in their own self-interest and in their own rivalries to do the hard work of statesmanship. After their mutual efforts succeed in creating or prolonging an impasse, all Lebanese suffer the consequences in terms of constant stress, a foundering economy, and, occasionally, death when the politicians and/or their proxies resort to the gun. The cycle then moves to some form of "dialogue" and "compromise," after which most of them trot out words designed to communicate sympathy with the sufferings of the commoners. Some even express respect for one another, much as mafia dons do after the latest turf war has been brought to an end. All and sundry know full well, though, that the machinations continue, that the underhanded attempts to increase one's own power and wealth at the expense of one's rivals never end. Each "peace," therefore, is little more than a respite until the next round of competition.
Self-evidently, this cycle is not viable. Societies cannot prosper when the private citizen's existence consists of a series of lurches from one crisis to the next. Families cannot feel secure, companies hesitate to invest in employees or equipment, and no one can plan for the future. That might suit the politicians, whose own ill-gotten wealth is largely immune to things like perennial power cuts and recurrent administrative paralysis, but it constitutes a crippling drag on the rest of the country: The basics of economic and sociopolitical development are either held back or abandoned altogether by people whose more immediate priorities involve feeding their children.
The Lebanese "model," though, is not just untenable: It is also highly destructive, for as this country has seen before, the cycle is not always predictable. Sometimes the violence cannot be turned off because the vendettas are too numerous or too complicated. Thus the standard Lebanese politician is not just incompetent: He is also murderous, even if indirectly, because what he does helps make more likely the spilling of innocent blood. At least many mafia "families" follow a strict code of conduct regarding the use of violence. "Civilians" are usually not touched, and when they are, those responsible can expect to be ostracized - or worse - by their peers. Not so for Lebanon's political class, for whom the bystander is fair game in life and then, in death, a "martyr" justifying the next round of senseless bloodshed.
The Lebanese always find a way to survive, but those who wield political power do not make it easy. The current impact of their irresponsibility is relatively limited, but it is eroding the tourism sector's ability to compensate for two lost peak seasons in a row - and the population's patience for those who are supposed to lead them.
Perhaps the best way to guarantee a restful summer is to have the politicians take a vacation - somewhere else, and for a very long time.

A government or not a government?
By George Eid
http://www.iloubnan.info/politics/article/id/26802
July 10, 2008
… That is the question. We waited for it before the French President Nicholas Sarkozy’s visit to Lebanon. We waited for it before the Lebanese President Michel Suleiman’s departure to Paris. And we are still waiting… Are we waiting for Godot*? –who never came - Or will the government see light within the few hours or days? What do the analysts have to say?
The mystery surrounding the numerous failing attempts to form the government seemed to have found their explanations in both March 14 and March 8 statements. While March 14 accused the opposition of obstructing the government because of Hezbollah’s request to give SNP leader Asem Kanso a seat in the Cabinet. The opposition on the other hand pointed out that the conflict within March 14 members over the ministerial seats is the real reason behind the status-quo. However, MP Walid Jumblatt’s statement has definitely changed the picture.
The Political Analyst in the daily Annahar, George Nassif, said to iloubnan.info, “I was surprised by Jumblatt’s statement from Baabda yesterday, especially that his explanations were purely made for electoral purposes and were unjust and unconvincing”.
“He cannot talk about relativity and consider that because the Lebanese forces have five MPs in the parliament while he maintains seventeen, they should be less represented. He cannot talk about relativity because the Lebanese Forces represents the Christians in the coalition of March 14 in the government, and a large segment of the Christian society in the country”, Nassif added.
However, political Analyst in the daily Al-Liwaa’ Marwan Dbaisseh explained that “Jumblatt’s stand is neutral. According to him, Jumblatt is working for the benefit of the entire nation, while being at the same distance of all factions”
“Each political party is entitled to have its own vision and its own policy”, he added.
On the other hand, MP Zahra implied Thursday in a statement that the Lebanese forces might not participate in a government that would show the 8th of March as victorious.
Regarding this matter, Nassif said, “The refusal of the Lebanese Forces to participate in the government will drop the slogan of National Unity Government”.
“I believe that the Lebanese Forces and all other factions should be fairly represented,” he added.
Nassif explained that if any party is not fairly represented in the government, this will result in a conflict.
“I believe that General Aoun, Quornat-Chehwan gathering, and the Lebanese Forces should all be represented in the government”, he stressed.
Dbaisseh on the other hand feared “a state of tension” in case the Lebanese Forces do not take part in the new government.
Yet, Nassif talked about Hezbollah’s insistence on including Asem Kanso in the government and said, “Hezbollah’s request to give a portfolio to Asem Kanso was met by the refusal of PM Saniora for the soul reason that PM Saniora wanted a homogenous government that would work and collaborate well”.
Furthermore, and concerning a possible regional or international interference that would be halting the formation of the government Dbaisseh said, “What is happening in Lebanon today is a result of a foreign plan designed for Lebanon. This country has always been a platform to foreign players. The Lebanese people are merely spectators of the regional game being played on their land”.
Nassif responded saying that “The Syrian Regime never left Lebanon; it is present through its tools. Hezbollah and Amal represent the Syrian authority in Lebanon.”
“The Doha agreement gave the opposition a veto in the government. And the fact that the president has good relations with Syria proves undoubtedly the Syrian presence in Lebanon”, he pointed out.
Alternatively, Dbaisseh stated, “The Syrian role in Lebanon is not something new. It dates back 200 years.”
“And if March 14 is working for the benefit of Lebanon, so is the 8th of March”, he said.
Nassif concluded. “All the analysts and observers were certain that the government would see the light in the last 3 days, and especially before the president’s visit to France. Yet we are still without a government and we are most likely to remain so for a while”.
*Editor’s note: Waiting for Godot is a play by Samuel Beckett, in which the characters wait for someone named Godot, who never arrives. Godot's absence has led to many different interpretations since the play's premiere

UN: Lebanon situation 'fairly fragile'
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Friday, July 11, 2008
The United Nations political chief said Wednesday that the situation in Lebanon remains "fairly fragile" nearly two years after the cessation of hostilities following the 2006 war with Israel, and warned about the presence of armed groups in the country. "My main message today was that while the cease-fire has been holding, there still is a lot of work there to do," Under Secretary General for Political Affairs Lynn Pascoe told reporters after he briefed the Security Council on UN chief Ban Ki-moon's recent report on the implementation of Resolution 1701, which ended summer 2006 war.
Pascoe added that the deadly clashes in May between pro- and anti-government forces, as well as fighting in the Northern city of Tripoli on Wednesday, were indications of the fragile nature of the situation in Lebanon.
"We would urge them [Lebanese leaders] to move as quickly as possible to fulfilling the requirements of the Doha agreement," he said about the accord reached in May which helped break Lebanon's political deadlock by paving the way for the election of a new president.
He said the use of heavy arms, which were banned by Resolution 1701, and the closure of roads by armed elements "undermine the implementation of the resolution."
"The May clashes revealed the presence of heavy weapons in Lebanon outside the control of the army," Pascoe said.
In his latest report on Resolution 1701, Ban expressed serious concerns about the presence of "unidentified armed elements" in the area of operations of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), along with restrictions on UNIFIL's movement and the monitoring of its operations. In this regard, Pascoe welcomed President Michel Sleiman's efforts to move forward with the disarmament of militias, a key element of 1701, and stressed the need for neighboring countries and others to abide by the arms embargo imposed by the resolution.
Israeli intelligence officials told a meeting of the Israeli Security Cabinet Wednesday that Hizbullah now has three times more rockets than it had at the start of the war in July 2006.
Members of the Security Cabinet were told Hizbullah has an arsenal of 40,000 rockets ready to be fired at Israel, three times more than in July 2006 when Israel launched a devastating war on Lebanon after the group captured two soldiers in a deadly cross-border raid.
On "the very important issue" of Syrian-Lebanese relations, Pascoe said he was encouraged by the indications that diplomatic ties could soon be established. In addition, he lauded efforts by the Lebanese government to increase security on the borders with Syria.
On the prisoner-swap deal between Israel and Hizbullah, Pascoe said: "We are very pleased with the recent movement on humanitarian aspects of 1701."
"We call on all sides to faithfully carry out those commitments," he added.
On Ban's indication in this report about his willingness to intensify efforts to find a solution to the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms area, Pascoe said: "The question of ownership is one for the Security Council and the parties concerned."
"What we have said is we will certainly intensify our efforts on this but this is something that can't be imposed," he added.
Meanwhile, US Ambassador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad reiterated the importance of the international tribunal that would try former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's suspected assassins.
He said the court would "hold accountable" those who committed the crime in February 2005 and would help deter using assassinations as a way to promote political agendas.
Khalilzad also said after the Security Council's closed-door session that there were recently positive developments in Lebanon, including the signing of the Doha accord, the election of a new president and the nomination of Fouad Siniora as premier.
But he stressed that more work needed to be done to "disarm militias, demarcate the border, stop arms smuggling and find a solution to the Shebaa Farms area and Ghajar.
Khalilzad said it was important to demarcate the border between Lebanon and Syria in order to solve the Shebaa Farms issue. - Agencies

A leader with no government
Al-Ahram Weekly
By: Hanady Salman
Michel Suleiman was sworn in 45 days ago as the 12th president of the Republic of Lebanon after a political crisis that left the presidency seat empty for almost a year and half. Yet, these were days spent without a government. There is only one way to read the delay: preparing the grounds for the upcoming general elections in May 2009.
It took 40 days to reach an agreement with the opposition parties over the seats they required, which was later reversed. In fact, it took 40 days, a prisoners' exchange deal between Israel and Hizbullah, and an air of openness between Paris and Damascus. Just as much as filling the presidency seat required a "mini-civil war" that led to an agreement in Doha, sealed by the concerned international players.
The ball is now in the camp of the 14 March parties. However, filling the remaining governmental seats is proving to be harder than expected. Or probably, as hard as expected since the mission requires a certain amount of sharing and understanding between allies, and that seems to be lacking the 14 March group.
The Doha agreement sealed in May divided the 30 cabinet seats between the major political players in Lebanon, giving the president of the republic the right to name three ministers: defence, interior and a minister of state. The opposition was given 11 ministers and the rest of the cake was to be shared between the components of the 14 March coalition.
The main political players in the country decided that there are two kinds of ministries: one that provides services (crucial in a pre- electoral year) and one that pertains to sovereignty such as the defence, interior or foreign ministries. Those ministries were needed for political influence.
There was no problem in dividing the seats between the members of the opposition parties among themselves; namely, Hizbullah, the Amal Movement headed by Speaker Nabih Berri, the Free Patriotic Movement headed by Michel Aoun and a number of other small parties. The major obstacle was the number of seats Prime Minister Fouad Al-Siniora was willing to give to the opposition. For Aoun, what he will get was crucial in deciding the results of the next general election.
Here's how this country chooses its MPs: each is chosen along sectarian lines. Sunni Muslims choose Sunni Muslim MPs, Druze do the same and so on for all the rest. The electoral law of 1960 agreed upon in Doha seals the deal: each region (i.e. religion) chooses its own people.
In this case, everybody's share is guaranteed except for that of the Christians. Nobody will challenge Walid Jumblatt's political influence in the Druze Mountains, and his party's seats in parliament are guaranteed.
In the South, in the eastern Bekaa, and in the southern suburb (predominantly Shia regions), there are no opponents to Hizbullah and its major ally, the Amal Movement. Saad Al-Hariri will get at least 25 seats from Beirut, the north, and the western Bekaa (Sunni areas). Hence, there will be no electoral confrontations on the Muslim scene.
The major electoral campaign will be among the Christians. And that will be a crucial "battle" since its outcome will decide the whole political scene in the four years that follow the elections. The two main opponents are the pro- opposition Free Patriotic Movement (the opposition Christians), and pro-Hariri (so far) Lebanese Forces (the Christians of today's majority).
The movement, headed by Michel Aoun, had a surprise victory in the elections of the year 2005. Its alliance with the Popular Group of Zahle, lea by MP Elias Skaff, and the Armenian Tachnag Party led to the creation of the "Change and Reform" group that includes 21 MPs representing the regions of Zahle (Bekaa), Metn, Kesrouan and Jbeil.
The Lebanese Forces Party, on the other hand, due to its alliance with both Al-Hariri and Jumblatt, and thanks to the electoral law used in 2005, managed to get five MPs, one of them in the Druze mountain (on Jumblatt's list), and four from the north, who had run on Al-Hariri's list.
Late last week, Al-Siniora reached an agreement with the opposition, by which Aoun's group will get five cabinet seats (agriculture, communication, power, social affairs and the vice-president of the prime minister), whereas Amal and Hizbullah will get the ministries of foreign affairs, industry, health, work, youth and sports and a state minister. What's left today is the share of the majority. Sixteen seats are to be filled by the different components of the mosaic called the 14 March coalition.
Suddenly, the not so hidden differences came to surface: the Lebanese forces say they want as big a share as Aoun's. So in this case, what would be left to their Christian bigger "ally", the Kataeb? And what do the other 14 March Christians (close to the Maronite Patriarch) get?
On top of all that, Jumblatt is requesting the right to name a Catholic Christian, a Shia, and two Druzes, and refuses to let the Ministry of Roads go to anyone outside his group. And then, there is a mini-battle ongoing between Al-Hariri and Al-Siniora on naming Sunni ministers. Al-Hariri wants the upper hand in naming all the Sunni ministers, and a Christian one, too. This leaves no room for any Sunni minister to be named by the Sunni prime minister himself. Sixteen seats to be filled, including six Sunnis, seven Christians, two Druzes, and one Shia.
The Republic of Lebanon is waiting for the 14 March group to agree among themselves. The president of the Republic of Lebanon has to be in Paris on 12 July -- the second anniversary of the July war with Israel -- on an official visit to the Mediterranean union summit where he will meet with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. Will he go as a president without a government?
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved

Key events since Lebanon's bitter summer war
Agence France Presse
Published: Thursday, July 10, 2008
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Key events during and since the 34-day war between Israel and Lebanon's Shiite movement Hezbollah, which started a year ago Saturday:
2006
- July 12: Hezbollah captures two Israeli soldiers in deadly border clashes, triggering a devastating 34-day war in Lebanon which ends with a UN-brokered ceasefire on August 14.
The conflict is considered a failure for Israel. Nearly 1,400 people are killed, most of them Lebanese civilians.
- October 1: The last Israeli troops leave Lebanon.
- November 11-13: Six pro-Syrian ministers resign from the government to press for greater representation, effectively crippling the cabinet.
- November 21: Anti-Syrian minister Pierre Gemayel is shot dead, and over the following year three other anti-Damascus MPs are killed.
- December 1: Opposition supporters begin a long-term tent protest in Beirut, demanding the government's resignation.
2007
- January 23-25: Seven people killed in clashes between pro-government and opposition supporters.
- May 20: Gunbattles erupt between the army and Islamist militiamen in a Palestinian refugee camp. More than 400 people are killed in 15 weeks.
- November 23: President Emile Lahoud's mandate expires.
2008
- January 25: At least 10 people, including a top Lebanese security official, die in a bomb blast targeting a security convoy in a Christian suburb of Beirut.
- January 27: Clashes between the army and protesters in Beirut leave seven dead.
- February 12: A top Hezbollah commander is assassinated in Damascus. The group blames Israel.
- May 7-14: A government bid to curb Hezbollah leads to a week of sectarian clashes, killing at least 65 people.
- May 21: Rival factions agree in talks in Qatar to elect army chief Michel Sleiman as president, form a national unity government with veto power for the opposition and on a new electoral law.
- Israel and Syria confirm they have launched indirect peace talks, with Turkey as mediator, after an eight-year freeze.
- May 25: Parliament elects Sleiman as Lebanon's 12th president. He takes office the following day.
- May 28: The parliamentary majority chooses Sinioria to head the new goverment as Sleiman begins consultations on the make-up of the 30-member cabinet.
- June 1: Israel frees Lebanese-born Nessim Nisr after more than six years in prison. In return Hezbollah hands over the remains of Israeli soldiers killed in the 34-day war.
- June 16: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits Beirut to bolster Sleiman.
- June 18: Israel calls for direct peace negotiations with Lebanon but the offer is rejected by Beirut.
- June 22-23: Nine people are killed and 45 wounded in sectarian clashes in Lebanon's northern town of Tripoli.
- July 7: Israel signs a deal to swap the bodies of the two Israeli soldiers' whose capture triggered the war in exchange for Lebanese prisoners and the remains of Hezbollah fighters.
- July 9: Israel claims Hezbollah now has around 40,000 rockets - three times as many as it had at the start of the 34-day war.
- July 10: More than two days of bloody sectarian gunbattles in Tripoli end with four people killed and 58 wounded.
© Agence France Presse 2008

Phares in Berlin: on Hezbollah and Takfiris Terror: "Hezbollah and the Takfiris are both Terrorizing civilians in Lebanon"
Written by CRNews
Thursday, 03 July 2008
"Hezbollah and the Takfiris are both Terrorizing civilians in Lebanon"
International Terrorism Expert Professor Walid Phares conducted several meetings in Berlin during his European tour that began in Rome discussing among other issues the rise of radicalism in the Middle East and in Lebanon. Phares, who is the guest of the European Foundation for Democracy met a number of German legislators at the Bundestag including Dr Hans Peter Uhl, Stephan Mayer and Alexander Philip from the majority in Parliament. He also met with high ranking officials at the Federal Ministry of the Interior.
In his briefings, Professor Phares reviewed the present state of crisis in Lebanon and analyzed the evolution of events particularly since May 7 when Hezbollah forces invaded parts of the capital and assaulted the Mountain districts. Comparing the emergence of the two fundamentalist forces, Phares said: "from the reactions of Lebanese civil society which we can see and hear clearly Lebanon is being submitted to two types of fundamentalist violence, the one produced by the Takfiri groups associated with al Qaeda, and also from the forces of Hezbollah as well. But while the international community, and particularly Europe were traditionally defining the Takfiris as Terrorist groups, it is only lately that Hezbollah is being identified as a Terror group." The reason, said Phares, "is not really a change operated by Europeans in as much it is a reflection of Lebanese reactions to the action of the organization. For when the pro-Iranian militia began its assaults against the civilian population, public opinion turned naturally against it. We have statements by political, religious, labor, and youth leaders describing the May attacks as Terrorists. So even if an organization has members in the Lebanese Parliament, the fact that it engaged in anti civilian extreme violence actually identifies all of the organization, as Terrorist. In short, concluded Phares "whoever terrorizes a civilian population is a Terrorist."
Berlin, 3rd of July 2008, CRNews