LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS
BULLETIN
June 13/08
Bible Reading of the day.
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to
Saint Matthew 5,20-26.
I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and
Pharisees, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it
was said to your ancestors, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be
liable to judgment.' But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be
liable to judgment, and whoever says to his brother, 'Raqa,' will be answerable
to the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, 'You fool,' will be liable to fiery Gehenna.
Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your
brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first
and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Settle
with your opponent quickly while on the way to court with him. Otherwise your
opponent will hand you over to the judge, and the judge will hand you over to
the guard, and you will be thrown into prison.
Amen, I say to you, you will not be released until you have paid the last penny.
Free
Opinions, Releases, letters & Special Reports-Naharnet
A logic of power that threatens
Lebanon-By Michael Young
12/06/08
Can the FPM find purpose with
Baabda off the table?
By Rabih Haddad 12/06/08
Both Lebanese and Palestinians
are way ahead of their leaders-
The Daily Star 12/06/08
Fallout from Shiite-Sunni Split-Middle
East Times 13/06/08
Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for June
12/08
Bush
Warns 'All Options' Open on Iran-Naharnet
Gunman Killed, Lebanese Army Officer Wounded in Ain
al-Hilweh Shootout-Naharnet
Saniora
Offers Opposition 2 Baskets of Cabinet Line-Up-Naharnet
Jumblat: Vacuum Could be Used in Critical Manner-Naharnet
Assad
Invited to France as Ties Suspended over Lebanon Thaw-Naharnet
Can Bilateral Talks Break
Standstill?-Naharnet
Mottaki: Lebanon Situation
Heading Towards More Stability-Naharnet
Rice Hopes France Will
Deliver Right Messages to Syria-Naharnet
Hizbullah: Government
Should Create Climate of Confidence-Naharnet
LF Wants Suleiman to Name
Defense and Interior Ministers-Naharnet
Saniora Asks U.S. to
Pressure Israel Into Withdrawing from Shebaa-Naharnet
Aoun Meets Saniora
Representative-Naharnet
Berri, Jumblat for Speedy
Efforts to Form Cabinet-Naharnet
UNIFIL: Tel Aviv Office is
Not a New Issue-Naharnet
Lebanon Rejects Israel
Offer for Launching Peace Talks-Naharnet
Shaker Abssi Says it's Vengeance Time-Naharnet
Syria's Assad invited to French national day ceremonies-AFP
Farmer killed in land mine explosion in south Lebanon-International
Herald Tribune
LAF: Force will be used to
contain security flare-ups-Daily Star
Sleiman adds independent
judiciary to priorities-Daily Star
Politicians' machinations
continue to spur clashes-Daily Star
Bishop warns against identity
theft after falling victim-Daily Star
Beirut rejects Olmert peace
feeler-Daily Star
Situation in South 'under
control,' says Graziano-Daily Star
National conference discusses
key reforms to electoral law-Daily Star
Officials mark founding of
first Lebanese newspaper-Daily Star
Beirut nightspot opens doors
for summer season-Daily Star
Growing prize attracts
increasing number of Lebanese to lottery-Daily
Star
Hezbollah official rejects UN plan to control Shaba Farms-Ha'aretz
Officials: Militant killed, 2 soldiers hurt in gunfight in south ...International
Herald Tribune
Lebanon Dismisses Israel's Call for Peace Talks-Voice
of America
Qatar-led Arab delegation for Lebanon to reach tomorrow-Peninsula
On-line
Lebanon says Israeli withdrawal needed prior to peace talks-Ynetnews
Lebanon says no to talks with Israel-Jerusalem
Post
Troubling Tehran-The
Australian
Abdo: Hezbollah considers Aoun a 'winning lottery ticket'-Ya
Libnan
Middle East News-Daily Star
Lebanon rejects call by Olmert for peace talks (Roundup)
Jun 11, 2008, 15:54 GMT
Beirut - Lebanon on Wednesday rejected a call by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert for peace talks and demanded that Israel withdraw from disputed area of
Shebaa in southern Lebanon.
'There are pending bilateral issues between Lebanon and Israel which are
governed by international resolutions which Israel must respect ... and which
cannot be the object of political negotiations,' a government statement said.
'Israel ... must respect Lebanon's sovereignty over its territory and its water,
release prisoners and provide maps on mines and cluster bombs' left in Lebanon
during past conflicts, it said. On Tuesday the Israeli prime minister suggested
holding peace talks with Lebanon, following last month's announcement of
indirect, Turkish-mediated negotiations with Syria. In May 2000, Israel withdrew
from south Lebanon after a 22-year occupation in line with UN Security Council
Resolution 425 but the Jewish state still held onto the Shebaa Farms on the
borders with Lebanon and Syria.
Lebanon and Israel have officially been in a state of war since 1948, when the
Jewish state was established, despite having signed an armistice agreement in
1949.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora pledged two years ago that Lebanon would
be 'the last Arab country to sign' a peace treaty with Israel.
Earlier Wednesday, the leader of Hezbollah deputies in the Lebanese parliament,
Mohammad Raad, rejected an initiative to place the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms
under the control of the United Nations.
Raad told Hezbollah-run al-Manar television that such a move would prevent the
militant group from achieving its goal of liberating the occupied territories.
The initiative to place the territory under the control of the United Nations
was reportedly put forward by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who visited
Lebanon last week. Lebanon's newly-elected president, Michel Suleiman, said
Monday that he would provide the world body with documents 'that will prove the
Shebaa Farms belong to Lebanon.'
Israel occupied Shebaa in the 1967 Middle East war and has refused to return it
on the grounds that its status is ambiguous.
According to the plan proposed to the UN, the Shebaa Farms would be demarcated
and returned to Lebanon at some future stage.
The UN considers Shebaa Farms Syrian territory, while Lebanon - with the
approval of Damascus - claims sovereignty over the territory.
Security Council Resolution 1701 which put an end to a 33-day war between Israel
and Hezbollah in 2006 also demanded an Israeli pullout from the Shebaa Farms.
Gunman Killed, Lebanese Army
Officer Wounded in Ain al-Hilweh Shootout
Naharnet/A gunman was killed and a Lebanese army officer wounded
in a shootout near the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh in south
Lebanon.
Security sources said the incident occurred late Wednesday when three
unidentified assailants in a white Renault Rapid opened fire on the soldiers as
they tried to make their way through an army checkpoint at the western entrance
to the camp. They said army troops returned fire wounding one gunman, Issa
Qiblawi. The second gunman was arrested while the third fled, the sources said.
But Qiblawi died of his wounds soon afterwards.
"The vehicle drove past the checkpoint and when troops fired warning shots, they
were shot at and an exchange of fire developed," one reporter said.
A Palestinian official at Ain al-Hilweh said the three attackers were members of
the Islamic grouping Jund al-Sham and Issa Qiblawi was the brother of Sheikh
Qiblawi, killed in 2004 in Iraq while fighting for al-Qaida. The shootout came
almost two weeks after a would-be suicide bomber was shot and killed by Lebanese
soldiers as he tried to detonate an explosives belt at a checkpoint on the edge
of Ain al-Hilweh. A Palestinian official has said the suspect killed on May 31
was most likely a Saudi citizen. Members of extremist groups believed to have
links with al-Qaida have settled in Palestinian refugee camps across Lebanon in
recent years, particularly in Ain al-Hilweh, which is partly controlled by Jund
al-Sham. The refugee camps are off limits to Lebanese authorities with
Palestinian factions in charge of security. The latest violence comes as Lebanon
seeks to form a new government of national unity following a deal to end an
18-month political crisis that brought the country to the brink of a new civil
war. Beirut, 12 Jun 08, 08:05
Saniora Offers Opposition 2 Baskets of Cabinet Line-Up
Naharnet/Prime Minister-designate Fouad Saniora has on Thursday reportedly
offered the opposition two baskets of the new government line-up.
The daily An Nahar, which carried the report, said the first basket consists of
the ministries of finance, public works, education, tourism, environment, youth
and sports, culture and displaced. It said the second comprises of the
ministries of foreign, energy, justice, economy, trade and commerce,
agriculture, health and social affairs. Saniora was waiting for responses from
the opposition, the daily said. Beirut, 12 Jun 08, 12:03
Jumblat: Vacuum Could be Used in Critical Manner
Naharnet/Druze leader Walid Jumblat said that the obstacles
facing formation of the new cabinet were not political, adding that there is
consensus around the values of the Doha agreement. "But bringing everybody to
the cabinet table is not any easy task," Jumblat said in remarks published by
the daily As Safir on Thursday.
Jumblat hinted that "regional tensions still exist," but added that they "don't
create obstacles in the face of implementation of the terms of the Doha accord,
"particularly since everybody – inside and outside (Lebanon) – are tired of the
crisis in Lebanon." He said security remains the "real worry." "It (security)
exhausts not only the people, but the Lebanese army," he added. In separate
remarks to the daily Al Mustaqbal, Jumblat said the political vacuum is serious.
"Any vacuum could be used in a critical manner," he said. Beirut, 12 Jun 08,
10:08
Assad Invited to France as Ties Suspended over Lebanon Thaw
Naharnet/France has invited Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to
attend its national holiday celebrations next month after a Mediterranean summit
in Paris, an official at the French presidency said Thursday. Assad is among 50
heads of state and government invited to the July 13 summit on the launch of a
new Mediterranean Union, championed by President Nicolas Sarkozy as France takes
over the rotating EU presidency.
"Of course all of these heads of state have been invited to stay for the July 14
ceremonies", which include a military parade on the Champs Elysees with former
U.N. chief Kofi Annan as this year's guest of honor, the official said. Syria
for almost three decades was the powerbroker in Lebanon, a longtime focal point
of French interest in the Middle East. Paris has moved to relaunch top-level
contacts with Syria following the election of Lebanese President Michel Suleiman
last month, which put an end to months of sectarian strife in the country.
Visiting Beirut last week, Sarkozy said a "new page may be opening in relations
between France and Syria." France and the United States have accused Syria,
through its supporters in the Lebanese opposition, of meddling in Beirut's
political life, a charge denied by Damascus. Syria's culture minister, Riad
Naassan Agha, was in Paris Tuesday on the first visit by a Syrian government
member in three years, confirming the thaw in relations. Sarkozy's move to
resume ties met with a cautious reaction from Washington. U.S. Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday she hoped Paris would send the right
message to Damascus, both on Lebanon and on relations with Israel.(AFP-Naharnet)
Beirut, 12 Jun 08, 12:20
Can Bilateral Talks Break Standstill?
Naharnet/Meetings between Lebanese politicians have intensified
in an effort to accelerate the formation of the new cabinet.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri held talks with Progressive Socialist Party
leader Walid Jumblat late Wednesday. The two leaders agreed on the need to speed
up efforts aimed at forming the new government. The state-run National News
Agency said Jumblat visited Berri at his Ain el-Tineh residence and the two
agreed that forming the new cabinet would "consolidate security." The two also
reaffirmed their commitment to the path outlined by the Doha agreement, NNA
added.
Meanwhile, several Beirut dailies on Thursday reported more bilateral meetings
between the various political parties. They said Prime Minister-designate Fouad
Saniora has dispatched an envoy to meet with Free Patriotic Movement leader
Michel Aoun, who insists he wants the finance ministry. Sources said there were
signs of a breakthrough in the talks between Aoun and envoy Mohammed Shatah. A
separate meeting also took place late Wednesday between MP Saad Hariri and an
envoy dispatched by Berri. No statements were made following the talks between
Hariri and Berri's envoy Ali Hassan Khalil. Beirut, 12 Jun 08, 09:01
Mottaki: Lebanon Situation Heading Towards More Stability
Naharnet/Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has said the
situation is gradually stabilizing in Lebanon, adding that his country has
played a positive role in the Doha accord. "The situation is heading towards
more stability in Lebanon after the different political sides reached an
agreement in Doha," Mottaki said during a press conference at the Iranian
embassy in Paris Wednesday. He said Tehran backed national reconciliation in
Lebanon and that "Iran played a positive role" in this regard. On Iranian-Syrian
relations, Mottaki said: "Iran backs Syria in its demand to return the Golan
(heights) which are part of Syria, as should the Lebanese Shabaa Farms be
returned." Beirut, 12 Jun 08, 09:37
Rice Hopes France Will Deliver Right Messages to Syria
Naharnet/U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed hope
Wednesday that France would deliver the right messages to Syrian President
Bashar Assad on the situation in Lebanon and the indirect peace talks with
Israel. The U.S. top diplomat was commenting on French President Nicolas
Sarkozy's decision to send envoys to Damascus and invite Assad to Paris for a
Mediterranean summit. Rice said she assumed the messages to Assad would include
taking advantage of the indirect peace talks with Israel brokered by Turkey and
living up to Damascus' obligations under Security Council Resolutions 1559 and
1701 which urge it not to interfere in Beirut's internal affairs, to demarcate
its border with Lebanon and establish diplomatic relations with it. The messages
should also focus on the need for Syria to "be supportive of the efforts that
the Palestinians and the Israelis are undertaking to try to find a two-state
solution" to end their decades-long conflict. Rice made the comments on her
plane heading to the French capital for a donors conference on
Afghanistan.(Naharnet-AFP) Beirut, 12 Jun 08, 08:12
Hizbullah: Government Should Create Climate of Confidence
Naharnet/Hizbullah's Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc
has stressed the need to carry out the Doha agreement and form a cabinet "as
soon as possible."
A statement issued at the end of a meeting headed by MP Mohammed Raad on
Wednesday said the government should "bear responsibility for managing national
affairs and create a climate of confidence, partnership and stability." The bloc
called for exerting all efforts to resolve the "concerns of Lebanese citizens."
It also stressed the adoption of amendments to the electoral law as stipulated
in the Doha agreement. Beirut, 12 Jun 08, 08:20
Hizbullah: Government Should Create Climate of Confidence
Naharnet/Hizbullah's Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc
has stressed the need to carry out the Doha agreement and form a cabinet "as
soon as possible."
A statement issued at the end of a meeting headed by MP Mohammed Raad on
Wednesday said the government should "bear responsibility for managing national
affairs and create a climate of confidence, partnership and stability." The bloc
called for exerting all efforts to resolve the "concerns of Lebanese citizens."
It also stressed the adoption of amendments to the electoral law as stipulated
in the Doha agreement. Beirut, 12 Jun 08, 08:20
LF Wants Suleiman to Name Defense and Interior Ministers
Naharnet/The Lebanese Forces on Wednesday said President Michel
Suleiman should name the new defense and interior ministers. The party's stand
was outlined by its vice chairman, MP George Adwan during a meeting with
Premier-designate Fouad Saniora. "The president, according to the constitution,
is the commander in chief of the armed forces," Adwan said. "So how can we say
we don't want the president to name the forthcoming interior and defense
ministers?" he asked. Press reports said the majority supports allowing Suleiman
to name the two ministers, while the Hizbullah-led opposition wants to control
one of the two key portfolios. Adwan said the president should name two
ministers trusted by him to control the two portfolios so that he can provide
security and stability to the nation.
Beirut, 11 Jun 08, 22:27
Aoun Meets Saniora Representative
Naharnet/Free Patriotic Movement leader Gen. Michel Aoun
discussed Wednesday with a representative of Premier-designate Fouad Saniora
principles of forming the new cabinet. A statement released by the FPM media
bureau said Aoun agreed with Saniora's representative, Mohammed Shatah, that
"consultations should be held prior to resuming discussions between the two
sides."The terse statement, distributed by the state-run National News Agency,
did not disclose further details that could clarify nature of the required
consultations prior to resuming the cabinet line-up talks. Beirut, 11 Jun 08,
20:48
Berri, Jumblat for Speedy Efforts to Form Cabinet
Naharnet/Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Progressive Socialist
Party leader Walid Jumblat agreed Wednesday on the need to speed up efforts
aimed at forming the new cabinet. The state-run National News Agency said
Jumblat visited Berri at the latter's residence and the two agreed that forming
the new cabinet would consolidate the improving security situation. The two also
reaffirmed their commitment to the path outlined by the Doha Accord, NNA added.
Beirut, 11 Jun 08, 20:39
A logic of power that threatens Lebanon
By Michael Young
Daily Star staff
Thursday, June 12, 2008
If there is one thing that has characterized commentary on the Middle East in
the United States in recent years, it is self-flagellation. One article after
the other, in tedious succession, tells us the same thing: The Bush
administration's policy in the region has been a disaster and America has lost
all standing among the Arabs. "Why do they hate us," the American lament after
9/11, has been picked up by a commentariat confirming that "they do indeed hate
us," and it's all Washington's fault.
To an extent that is mainly George W. Bush's fault. When a president provokes
such derision, he's lost the confidence of his people. But that doesn't make the
criticism necessarily right, and it doesn't mean critics should be allowed to
inaccurately represent US relations with the Arab world.
I've argued here before that, in retrospect, once tempers have cooled and Bush
has gone home, analysts will see that, other than the Iraq war in its early
stages, this administration has pretty much acted in the Middle East through an
international consensus, United Nations institutions, and in support of
international law; in other words in the very way that Bush's critics demanded
he behave in Iraq. This applies to US policy toward Lebanon, Iran, and the
Palestinian-Israeli track, even if there are those unhappy that the
administration has not engaged Hamas. However, that refusal is neither new nor
self-evidently misguided, and only echoes what previous administrations did,
particularly that of Bill Clinton. Even in Iraq, soon after the end of the
invasion in 2003 the US was obliged to go back to the international community to
gain UN sanction for its presence. Examined more closely, unilateralist American
neoconservative impulses in the region have been greatly overstated by Bush's
detractors.
Lebanon, more specifically, has suffered from the backlash against Bush.
American policy here, though it has been based since 2004 almost entirely on UN
resolutions as well as on enforcing international law by finding out who
murdered the former Lebanese prime minister, Rafik Hariri, has been condemned,
as has the isolation of Syria, though its regime was certainly behind Hariri's
assassination. And now it is all the rage to suggest that recent negotiated
breakthroughs in the Middle East, including the Doha agreement that ended the
recent fighting in Lebanon, have been the work of regional parties often
ignoring or acting against the preferences of the United States. This has been
repeated in articles by Rami Khouri and David Ignatius, and the latest version
came to us from Robert Malley and Hussein Agha in a June 3 New York Times piece.
Malley, a former Clinton administration official who directs the Middle East
program at the International Crisis Group (ICG), has often paired up with Agha
in penning articles, including, most prominently, a much-debated revisionist
view of what take place at the Camp David summit between Yasser Arafat and Ehud
Barak in 2000, for The New York Review of Books. In their Times opinion piece,
the authors wrote: "In the last few weeks, three long-frozen conflicts in the
Middle East have displayed early signs of thawing [in Gaza, Lebanon and on the
Syrian Israeli track] ... That so many parties are moving at the same time in so
many arenas is noteworthy enough. That they are doing so without - and, in some
cases, despite - the United States is more remarkable still."
Malley and Agha went on to observe that "[i]ntent on isolating its foes, the
United States has instead ended up marginalizing itself. In one case after
another, the Bush administration has wagered on the losing party or on a lost
cause." This conclusion is of particular relevance to Lebanon, because the
authors believe that the recent Doha agreement was a victory for Hizbullah and a
defeat for America's allies in the March 14 coalition. They ask, "How much
stronger would Prime Minister Fouad Siniora of Lebanon and his colleagues have
been had they agreed two years ago to the very power-sharing accord they were
forced to swallow last month?"
Their thesis, intriguing though it is, merits scrutiny. For one thing the Doha
agreement, as several commentators have pointed out, was perhaps not a case of
the US being marginalized. As the fighting in Beirut flared up, the Bush
administration held a conference call with its Friends of Lebanon partners.
Rather than object to Qatari mediation in the Lebanese crisis, Washington, for a
change, strongly endorsed Arab League action, in this case to end the fighting.
Far from being irrelevant, the administration may actually have added some teeth
to the Qatari efforts. And as Malley and Agha know well, there is more to Arab
diplomacy than just pleasing the US. The Qataris also needed Saudi and Egyptian
backing to mediate in the Lebanese crisis, and American support for the Qatari
mission must have encouraged Cairo and Riyadh in that regard.
Then there is the question of whether US allies in Lebanon actually lost. In
fact, no one was an outright loser in Doha, and Malley's and Agha's focus on the
fact that the opposition received veto power in the government, what they refer
to as a "power-sharing accord," is simplistic. Lest we forget, Hizbullah shared
power in the government until November 2006. But more significantly, that veto
power, while it was a gain for the opposition, came at a price: the election of
a president, when Hizbullah and Syria preferred to maintain an open-ended vacuum
in the presidency to bring in a more pliant government, and a new president, on
their own terms. One of their conditions, often restated, was that Siniora not
return as prime minister. The Qatari initiative derailed that strategy. Siniora
is back, Michel Suleiman has been elected, and while it would be a mistake to
see this as a loss for Syria, his election has allowed a political process to
resume in Lebanon with which Damascus feels uncomfortable, as it risks
consolidating a post-Syria order. That is precisely why the Syrians are still
pursuing, and will continue to pursue, their destabilization of Lebanon. And it
is why the Saudis and Egyptians still refuse to reconcile with the regime of
Bashar Assad.
But there is something else. In encouraging the US to take the realities of
power into consideration when it comes to addressing the Middle East, Malley and
Agha send a disturbing message. Their advice seems to be that if America's
allies are losing, then Washington should consider picking up with the winners.
Malley and the ICG have long advocated, for example, that the US resume its
collaboration with Syria, but they have thought little about guaranteeing that
this will not harm Lebanon and its fragile sovereignty. Lebanon is not a
priority to them, and now that Malley and Agha have all but declared that
Syria's Lebanese foes have lost, there seems to be no further reason to ignore a
call for engaging Damascus.
Yet nowhere in their article do we see a word on what Hizbullah recently did and
is still doing in Lebanon. Malley and Agha accuse the US of "[pushing] its local
allies toward civil wars ... [including by] financing some Lebanese forces
against Hezbollah." They might want to provide some evidence for so vague and
misleading a statement, which suggests that both sides in Lebanon are equally
guilty; that Hizbullah is armed and so are its enemies. Not a word is offered on
Hizbullah's massive advantage in weapons and training over its rivals; no
mention is made of its mini-state that on a daily basis defies the authority of
the legal Lebanese state, or the brutality of the party's armed takeover of
Beirut last month; nothing on the party's conscious intent to humiliate the
Sunni community in the capital; nothing on its openly expressed pride in what it
did, or on the dangerous, hubristic belief among its officials that when
Hizbullah decides to resort to its weapons, against the Lebanese state or the
Lebanese in general, there is simply nothing anyone can do about it.
If that is not behavior certain to provoke a new civil war in Lebanon, then what
is it? Are Malley and Agha suggesting that the US get real, abandon those in
Lebanon who, for all their shortcomings, seek a sovereign and independent state,
and instead deal with Syria and by extension Hizbullah, the stronger parties by
virtue of their capacity to intimidate and kill? That is precisely where they
are leading us. The US does need to overhaul its credibility in the Middle East,
but if a new strategy is based on looking the other way while Syria and
Hizbullah and Hamas use violence to advance agendas that cannot possibly be in
the US interest, then you have to wonder if the ritualistic denunciation of the
Bush administration is not feeding into a policy approach devoid of any moral
center, and worse, that will only end up favoring those destabilizing the
region.
**Michael Young is opinion editor of THE DAILY STAR.
Both Lebanese and Palestinians are way ahead of their leaders
By The Daily Star
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Editorial
Fatah and Hamas are showing signs of coming to their senses, and not a minute
too soon if the interests of the Palestinian people are to be protected. Already
it might be too late to forestall a massive Israel onslaught on the Gaza Strip,
but at least the two groups have articulated a willingness to put national
priorities above partisan rivalries. Lebanon's squabbling political parties
evinced a similar realization during the talks in Doha, Qatar, last month, but
now the fragile stability that resulted is in danger of succumbing to death by a
thousand cuts: Persistent clashes continue to take places in several parts of
the country.
The two situations are not identical in detail, but they are very similar in
both cause and effect - and both serve the purposes of the only government that
is an enemy to all Lebanese and all Palestinians: Israel's. Both internecine
disputes are partly about how to deal with Israeli occupation, but the arguments
differ. Hamas and Lebanon's strongest opposition party, Hizbullah, advocate
armed resistance, while Fatah has officially given up the gun in favor of a
negotiated solution, and the ruling March 14 coalition in Beirut appears to
reject both options. The debate between secularism and Islamism is another
factor in common, with the Lebanese situation also featuring a Sunni-Shiite
split.
Whatever the particulars, it should be clear by now that wherever Israel detects
divisions among the Palestinians, it will work to make things worse. America has
followed a similar strategy with regard to Zionism's other Arab and Muslim
opponents, most recently here in Lebanon. What all the belligerents seem to
ignore is that their own actions have opened the door for this foreign meddling.
Each day they spend arguing (or, worse, actually fighting) over a point of
principle, the region's noblest causes - Lebanese, Palestinian or Arab in
general - are made a little less vigorous.
Neither case is about the dreams of real Arab nationalists or the slogans of
ersatz ones. Instead, they are about common sense. There is strength in numbers
and there is virtue in standing with one's compatriots in the face of outside
pressure, facts that regular Lebanese and Palestinians seem to appreciate far
better than their respective leaders: The respite granted by the Doha agreement
was greeted with an immediate (however fleeting) outburst of euphoria, and
President Mahmoud Abbas' poll ratings shot up as soon as he made his recent
overture to Hamas. Public sentiment is not always an accurate measure of wise
policy, but the alternative scenarios are nothing short of fratricidal - and
therefore suicidal.
Both cases are also about national survival. The spirit of the Palestinian
people has proved remarkably resilient in spite of physical and administrative
ethnic cleansing, concerted attempts to write them out of history, and a
campaign to bully them out of their birthright. With similar perseverance, the
Lebanese have recovered from a nightmarish civil war, regained most of their
occupied land despite illegal tactics like collective punishment, and kept their
economy from imploding under the weight of a grasping political class. Both have
stood up to enormous pressures, but neither can do so for much longer if their
leaders will not start leading in the same direction.
Bishop warns against identity theft after falling victim
Thursday, June 12, 2008
BEIRUT: Bishop Gregoire Haddad issued a statement on Wednesday, condemning the
impersonation and acts of forgery committed against him and warning the Lebanese
against falling victims to such a "criminal project." According to Haddad, some
people have taken up his identity to ask for financial aid from several parties
on the pretext of ensuring medical treatment for a cancer-stricken person. "The
suspects have been caught and referred to the relevant authorities," it said.
Beirut rejects Olmert peace feeler
Daily Star staff
Thursday, June 12, 2008
BEIRUT: Lebanon on Wednesday rejected a call by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert for peace talks and demanded that Israel withdraw from occupied territory
along the international border. "There are pending bilateral issues between
Lebanon and Israel which are governed by international resolutions which Israel
must respect ... and which cannot be the object of political negotiations," a
government statement said.
"Israel ... must respect Lebanon's sovereignty over its territory and its water,
release prisoners and provide maps on mines and cluster bombs," left in Lebanon
during past conflicts, it said.
On Tuesday the Israeli prime minister suggested holding peace talks with
Lebanon, following last month's announcement of indirect, Turkish-mediated
negotiations with Syria.
"I see many advantages in this," a senior Israeli official quoted Olmert as
saying in a Cabinet meeting.
Also on Wednesday, Hizbullah refused to comment on Olmert's remarks.
In May 2000, Israel withdrew from most of South Lebanon after a 22-year
occupation but the Jewish state's troops still held onto the Shebaa Farms on the
borders with Lebanon and Syria.
Israel captured the 25-square-kilometer area of land on the Israel-Lebanon-Syria
border and the Syrian Golan Heights during the 1967 war and later de facto
annexed it along with the rest of the strategic plateau.
The UN considers the Shebaa Farms as Syrian but Lebanon, with the approval of
Damascus, claims sovereignty over the territory.
Resolution 1701, which put an end to the 34-day summer 2006 war between Lebanon
and Israel, demanded an Israeli pullout from the Shebaa Farms.
On Wednesday, Siniora's office issued a statement saying the premier, during a
phone conversation with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, stressed the
need for Israel to withdraw from the Shebaa Farms.
"Premier Siniora stressed the need for Israel to pull out from the Farms, and
for the region to be placed under the control of the United Nations Interim
Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) until the border with Syria is demarcated," the
statement said.
Hizbullah is not opposed to the liberation of the disputed Shebaa Farms area
through diplomatic channels, press sources quoted French President Nicolas
Sarkozy as saying Monday.
Pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat reported that Sarkozy had asked Hizbullah MP Mohammad
Raad, during his visit to Beirut over the weekend, if "the possibility of
liberating Shebaa Farms though diplomatic means exists." Raad, according to the
Al-Hayat source, said Hizbullah would not be opposed to such an effort.
The issue of an Israeli pullout from Shebaa Farms was also discussed by Sarkozy
and Lebanese President Michel Sleiman, with Sleiman reportedly telling the
French head of state that "the withdrawal of Israeli troops would allow the
Lebanese to begin discussing a national defense strategy and address the
question of weapons in the country."
Sarkozy reportedly pledged to put forth the issue during an upcoming visit to
Israel and propose United Nations control of the area until the demarcation of
the Lebanese-Syrian border is completed.
Siniora pledged two years ago that Lebanon would be "the last Arab country to
sign" a peace treaty with Israel. - The Daily Star, with AFP
Officials: Militant killed, 2 soldiers hurt in
gunfight in south Lebanon refugee camp
The Associated PressPublished: June 11, 2008
BEIRUT, Lebanon: Security officials say a shootout between Lebanese troops and
militants on the edge of a Palestinian refugee camp has left a gunman dead and
two soldiers wounded.
The officials say the shooting occurred when gunmen riding in a car opened fire
as they tried to run away from an army checkpoint at an entrance to the Ein el-Hilweh
camp in southern Lebanon.
They say soldiers returned fire, killing one of the gunmen and injuring another.
The officials say an army officer and a soldier were wounded in the Wednesday
night gunfight. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the
sensitivity of the matter.
Ein el-Hilweh is notorious for violence among militants. On Monday night, gunmen
assassinated a militant.
Abdo: Hezbollah considers Aoun a 'winning lottery ticket'
Published: Wednesday, 11 June, 2008
Beirut- Former Ambassador Johnny Abdo said during an interview with May Chidiac
on LBC Television on Tuesday, June 10, that dialogue is the priority in Lebanon
today.
According to Abdo, "Not only is dialogue an urgent and more important need than
the formation of the government, but it will also help eliminate the obstacles
blocking the government's formation."
Abdo stressed that President Michel Suleiman should call for national dialogue
amid the latest Sunni-Shia tension. "Yet a meeting between MP Saad Hariri, head
of the Future Movement, and Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
is necessary to diffuse tension in Beirut and other regions."
"Head of the Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun does not want Michel Suleiman
as president," Abdo added. "Once he lost the biggest victory, that of becoming
president himself, he started creating illusory victories. This is like
psychiatric therapy for him."
"I don't believe that the role of Christians in Lebanon is only in the
Christians' interest. It is in all of Lebanon's interest... I can't be against
someone calling for Lebanon first."Abdo accused the Free Patriotic Movement of imposing unnecessary burdens on the
president. "Aoun was forced at Doha to accept Suleiman's election as president.
He was about to quit and withdraw from political life when Suleiman's election
was decided."
Abdo added that Hezbollah considers Aoun a "winning lottery ticket," because
"the General is providing a cover for Hezbollah's actions, whether right or
wrong." He also said that Hezbollah's controversial network of landlines
connects all of the party's allies. "There is a line to Rabieh, too," he said in
a reference to Aoun's home.
The former Lebanese intelligence chief further stressed the need for the new
president to be given the ministries of Defense, Interior and Justice, "as he is
the commander in chief of the Armed Forces."
On the security situation, Abdo said that "politicians must not give the
impression that there are no men in the country capable of solving the crisis,"
calling this a big problem that requires a quick solution.
Commenting on the violent incidents that started on May 7, Abdo said the Army
Intelligence Services passed MP Walid Jumblatt the information on Hezbollah's
telecommunications networks and the surveillance camera the group had set up at
the airport; information that that Jumblatt revealed, sparking the conflict.
"A campaign was directed against Jumblatt and not the source that gave him the
information," Abdo said, adding, "Did someone push Jumblatt to do this?"
He slammed the opposition, especially Hezbollah, for its attack on Beirut and
the Mountain. "Are the residents of the capitol and the Chouf the ones who made
the decisions regarding Hezbollah's network and Brigadier General Wafiq
Choucair?" Abdo asked, in reference to the head of the airport security
services, who was sacked for his alleged ties with Hezbollah.
Abdo also said that when Hezbollah gunmen invaded Beirut, they were looking for
specific people as if their search was based on a list of names, which "reveals
that the party possesses a reconnaissance network that covers Beirut."
Abdo compared Hezbollah's current status to that of the PLO during the Lebanese
civil war. "It is written on Hezbollah's flag: 'The Islamic Resistance in
Lebanon', not 'The Lebanese Islamic Resistance.' This means that Hezbollah's
agenda has nothing to do with the state."
"Hezbollah is saying, 'We have our own state and institutions, and we want a
share in your state and then take control,'" he added.
Abdo said that the violence in Beirut had to do with the 2009 legislative
elections, as the capitol district determines the parliamentary majority.
"The Beirut incidents were aimed at preventing MPs Jumblatt and Hariri and other
forces from participating in the upcoming legislative elections and raising the
question of Hezbollah's weapons. Hezbollah thought that if they force those
leaders to stay home, they would be able to get two-thirds of the parliament and
then rule over the country," he said.
According to Abdo, the climate will not remain the same between now and the 2009
elections; the situation will "favor sovereign and independent forces in
Lebanon."
In response to Nasrallah's ( pictured kissing the hand of the Iranian Supreme
leader ) statement that he is proud of belonging to the Guardianship of the
Jurist ( Wilayat al Faqih) , the governing ideology of Iran, which has not
ordered him to take power in Lebanon, Abdo said, "this means that if the
Guardianship of the Jurist orders him in the future to do the opposite, he will
comply."
Can the FPM find purpose with Baabda off the table?
By Rabih Haddad
Thursday, June 12, 2008
First person by Rabih Haddad
MP Michel Aoun and his Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) have had a single
overriding goal since the party's founding nearly five years ago: to pave the
way for his rise to the presidency. It has been no secret, and indeed they have
made public announcements on several occasions, that the only presidential
candidate they fully supported was Aoun.
Now that Parliament has elected Michel Sleiman as president, and its once
populous fan-base is beginning to dwindle, the FPM must take action quickly to
re-orient the party and answer many important questions. Can Aoun run again in
six years? If not, what is the FPM's new aim? Has too much time been spent
marketing Aoun rather than the party? Is there an FPM without Aoun?
There are obvious answers to some of the questions, but ones that need to be
formalized nonetheless.
For example, there are few scenarios in which Aoun, who was born in 1935 and
will subsequently be 79 years old in six years, will be a viable candidate for
the presidency in 2014. Assuming Aoun will not run for president in 2014, the
FPM must transform from a vehicle designed to deliver Aoun to the presidency
into an entity that has more sustenance and political views than him alone.
The FPM's current charter reads like an off-the-shelf manifesto, with generic
goals such as "people are individuals," "people are born equal and die equal"
and "to guarantee Lebanese sovereignty." This will need to change, in order to
define a unique concept and mission.
While up until now most of the FPM's decisions, and even debatably its political
alliances, have been guided by the question of which decision would increase
Aoun's chances to become president, now deliberations may need to take place in
a different matter.
The FPM has choices. It could, for example, build a niche for itself as an
on-the-fence party that would moderate between the March 14 and March 8
factions. Or it could continue to develop its current alliances and serve a
joint Christian-Shiite constituency. Numerous other options exist as well,
although none are as clear-cut as the goal of a Aoun presidency.
Over the next six years, FPM members, recruiters and supporters are going to
have a tougher time persuading the voting public (notably Christians) that there
is more to their party than the now-defunct dream of a Michel Aoun as president,
that they have more to offer. The really difficult question will be: What else
can the FPM offer?
The 2009 parliamentary elections will no doubt be a make-or-break event for the
FPM. It will have a much more difficult time convincing people to vote for a
party which is losing ground daily, rather than one led by a president in
waiting, as appeared to be the case during the 2005 elections. This is further
confirmed by the pre-emptive campaigning and rallies being organized by Aoun. It
seems clear to all, including Aoun himself, that there is a lot at stake for his
movement.
The problem facing Aoun, and the FPM for that matter, is that unlike most
typical Western democracies, Lebanon's voting public, unlike its leaders, are
not particularly swayed by external factors such as US foreign-policy shifts,
the economy and UN resolutions. Instead, the prevailing system is one of
political inheritance in which the majority of votes are won and lost through
last-minute political and feudal alliances.
This system may well work against Aoun and the FPM in the next election.
Although he is doing very well among certain groups, such as Shiites in Kesrouan
and Metn, and Tashnak loyalists in the Armenian community, Aoun's bread and
butter - middle- and upper-class Christians who have only relatively recently
become politically active - are beginning to have second thoughts. The situation
has not been aided by Michel Murr's recent deviation, the row with Bkirki, and
his inability to reach the presidency.
It is difficult to imagine a core voter for the Lebanese Forces or the Phalange
Party changing camps. Decades of family tradition and voting habits are to be
considered. Also, the Lebanese Forces especially seems to have significant
momentum on its side. On the other hand, Aoun's Christian base, which is to some
extent relatively new, seems to be showing signs of weakness.
Aoun's claim to the Christian majority is threatened, if not lost. However, the
next election will define his legacy: Will he prove to have been the founder and
cornerstone of a sustainable political entity that will continue beyond 2009, or
simply the presidential favorite who never was?
The only thing certain is that his strategy must change if he hopes to avoid a
major defeat in 2009, and even then, it must be a strategy that focuses more on
the FPM's other MPs and less on Aoun himself. This is something that he has thus
far seemed unable to do. What apparently is not evident to Aoun and FPM members
is that to preserve the ideology and long-term goals that Aoun stands for, he
needs to begin to stand aside.
***Rabih Haddad, an activist with the Phalange Party, wrote this article for THE
DAILY STAR. The views expressed herein are his own and not necessarily those of
the Phalange
National conference discusses key reforms to electoral law
Plan looks to 'protect pluralism, remove politics of elimination'
By Anthony Elghossain
Daily Star staff
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Editor's Note: This article details the initial proceedings and provides an
overview of issues discussed in a conference held on electoral law reform in
Lebanon. This piece will be followed by an in-depth feature concerned with the
entire "Report and Draft Law" of the National Commission on Electoral Law and
offering a more detailed glimpse into the discussions that took place at the
conference.
BEIRUT: The National Conference on an Electoral Law Tailor-Made for the Nation
was held by the National Commission on Electoral Law, the United Nations
Development Program (UNDP) and the Civil Campaign for Electoral Reform at the
Phoenicia Hotel Wednesday.
Held under the patronage of President Michel Sleiman and featuring several
members of the commission, prominent legal minds and political figures, the
conference was attended by numerous media correspondents, civil-society-group
representatives and diplomatic officials.
Commission member Ziyad Baroud - delivering a statement on behalf of commission
chief and former Minister Fouad Butros, who could not attend the conference
because of health concerns - began the proceedings by stressing that the
commission "sought to propose a [plan] that was not limited to the drawing of
districts, but moved toward new horizons of an electoral order that could
protect pluralism and remove the [politics of elimination]."
"This plan was carried by the last part of the Doha agreement," Baroud added,
alluding to a truce that ended an 18-month political deadlock and, in part, made
the question of broader reforms contingent upon parliamentary deliberations.
Martha Ruedas, the resident UNDP representative in Lebanon, noted some of the
key reforms proposed by the commission, such as lowering the voting age and
granting the Lebanese diaspora the right to vote.
"Lebanon has witnessed four parliamentary elections since 1992 and three
different electoral laws. The contentious issue of electoral districting was
agreed upon in the recent Doha agreement, [but] key reforms are still awaiting a
parliamentary discussion on the draft law submitted by [the committee]," Ruedas
said.
Ruedas added that her organization had focused largely on improving the
commission's "democratic-governance expertise," meaning the technical or
mechanistic aspects needed for a democratic system, and facilitating public
awareness of the Butros draft law (as the commission proposal is sometimes
referred to).
Ruedas, in what would become a trend at the conference, stressed that the "Doha
agreement has given us - has given Lebanon - an opportunity to address the
long-pending issue of electoral reform."
Justice Minister Charles Rizk, addressing participants on behalf of Sleiman,
traced the "struggle between the need for confessional balance and the need to
elect politically based, but confessionally diverse, [parliamentary majority and
opposition coalitions]" back to the National Bloc-Constitutional Bloc rift in
the 1930s up to the 1975-90 Civil War.
"A political movement bringing together many communities, in this view, should
face off with another communally diverse political bloc," Rizk stressed. Within
the scope of this vision, Rizk added, the commission balanced "between
qada-level or mohafaza-level electoral districting and between majoritarian or
proportional voting processes, while proposing fixed-list candidacies" which may
allow for "the restoration of a multi-confessional political divide."
Beginning in earnest after Rizk's speech, the conference was divided into three
sessions that clustered the issues as follows. The first focused on the proposal
to create an independent electoral panel, regulating campaign spending,
overseeing media coverage and automating the electoral process.
A second session centered on minority voting rights, instituting women-candidacy
quotas, lowering the voting age, instituting voting rights for the diaspora and
facilitating the disabled community's right to vote.
The final session dealt with the constituencies and voting system in Lebanese
elections, in what most conference participants had earlier described as the
vital aspect of the debate that nevertheless has overshadowed the entire reform
package proposed by the law.
Baroud, for Butros, said that in any case the goal behind the commission's
efforts, irrespective of the sphere of reform being discussed, was "a law made
for the nation
Fallout from Shiite-Sunni Split
By MIDDLE EAST TIME
SPublished: June 12, 2008
The mufti of Lebanon, the highest religious authority representing Lebanon's
Sunni Muslim community called Hezbollah's military takeover of West Beirut a few
weeks ago, "a military occupation." This comes as quite a reversal from the full
support the Shiite organization enjoyed during the summer 2006 war with Israel.
At that time Hezbollah was described as a "resistance force" fighting to
liberate Lebanese territory under Israeli occupation.
Years earlier Hezbollah's unrelenting harassment of Israeli forces in south
Lebanon eventually convinced the Israelis to pull out altogether from the south
of the country – except for a parcel of land called the Shebaa Farms where the
borders of Lebanon, Syria and Israel meet.
This earned the Shiite group the praise and respect of many Lebanese, including
a number of Christians.
But last month, Hezbollah reneged on an earlier promise never to turn their guns
on fellow Lebanese, costing them the support they previously enjoyed.
It also brought back to the forefront the question of Lebanon's militias and
their weapons, and the growing role Iran plays in the Arab world.
Geneive Abdo, a fellow at the Century Foundation, speaking at a conference at
the Nixon Center in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, said that some Sunni leaders
even described Hezbollah's military assault on West Beirut as "a Persian
invasion."
Indeed, many analysts believe Hezbollah miscalculated in its assault on West
Beirut. To be sure, they scored a quick military victory, but in the process
went on to lose the support of a great many Lebanese.
Their greater miscalculation, however, was that by so doing they awoke suspicion
and fear in Sunnis throughout the Arab world.
Hezbollah's hardline approach to solving a political problem has come as a
reality check to traditional Sunni Arab countries such as Egypt, Jordan and
Saudi Arabia, who worry that they might be losing their influence in Arab
affairs to Iran.
The U.S. invasion of Iraq has released the Iranian genie from the bottle. The
political and security void in Iraq that followed the collapse of President
Saddam Hussein's government allowed Tehran to infiltrate all levels of Iraq's
infrastructure and become a force of influence in the country; something Tehran
had been trying to accomplish ever since the 1979 Islamic Revolution overthrew
the shah of Iran.
**The Sunni world is interpreting Hezbollah's actions in Lebanon - where the
Shiite group has through its military action gained greater political muscle -
as yet another sign of Tehran's growing influence in the Arab World.