LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN

LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِApril 11/2010

Bible Of the Day
Proberbs25:21 If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat. If he is thirsty, give him water to drink: 25:22 for you will heap coals of fire on his head, and Yahweh will reward you.

Free Opinions, Releases, letters, Interviews & Special Reports
The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Statement on Iran’s Uranium Enrichment Claim/April 10/10
Worry That New Sanctions Will Not Curb Iran’s Nuclear Goals/By Gal Beckerman/April 10/10
For country or sect?/By: Bassel Oudat/Al-Ahram Weekly/April 10/10

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for April 10/10
Nigeria gunmen kidnap Lebanese, Syrians in/AFP
Recriminations fly after clashes by Palestinian militiamen/Daily Star
US drops Iran and Syria from airport watch list/World Tribune
Family defends Lebanese psychic jailed in Saudi/The Associated Press
Congress wants to know: Is Syria rearming Hezbollah?/Foreign Policy
US: al-Qaida exemplifies new-age nuclear threat/The Associated Press
Hariri tribunal's registrar to visit Lebanon/AFP
Jumblatt voices support for Hizbullah/Daily Star
Iran to display new centrifuges for nuclear work/Daily Star
Iran says its nuclear drive is n ow 'irreversible'/Reuters
Israel viewed as sixth n uclear power despite secrecy/AFP
Column One: Israel t he strong horse/Jerusalem Post
Israeli premier calls off trip to US nuclear conference/Daily Star
Hariri: Failure to advance peace process is a 'time-bomb'/The Daily
FPM officials in dispute over proper forum to tackle problems/Daily Star
UN urges Lebanon to sign Ottawa land-mine treaty/Daily Star
Commissioner files law suit against spies for Israel/Daily Star

Statement by Minister Cannon on Iran’s Uranium Enrichment Claim
http://www.international.gc.ca/media/aff/news-communiques/2010/132.aspx
(No. 132 – April 9, 2010 – 7:45 p.m. ET) The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today issued the following statement in reaction to Iran’s claim that it will unveil faster uranium enrichment capabilities:
“The claim that Iran is advancing its enrichment technology is a clear example that the regime is further testing the patience of the international community. The Iranian regime continues to threaten global security and ignore its international obligations.
“The Iranian regime must address the serious lack of confidence that members of the international community have in its nuclear program. The military links to Iran’s nuclear program remain completely unresolved, and Iran has made no attempt to live up to the minimum standard of compliance.
“Canada strongly supports further sanctions through the United Nations Security Council. Canada will work with its allies to encourage effective responses to the threat that Iran poses to international peace and security.
“Canada continues to express its serious concerns over the Iranian regime’s continued suppression of the Iranian democracy movement, the regime’s blatant disregard of basic human rights, and its use of brute force against the people of Iran. While we are deeply concerned with the actions of the regime, the people of Iran must know that we stand with them in their struggle.”
For further information, media representatives may contact:
Ève Cardinal
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
613-995-1851
Foreign Affairs Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
613-995-1874

Recriminations fly after clashes by Palestinian militiamen
ISF confirms arrests of four PFLP-GC members
By Wassim Mroueh and Patrick Galey
Daily Star staff
Saturday, April 10, 2010
BEIRUT: Recriminations flowed Friday following the armed clashes between Palestinian militiamen in the Bekaa Valley.
Internal Security Forces (ISF) confirmed the arrest of four members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), following gun battles at the group’s Ain al-Bayda base near the town of Kfar Zabad on Thursday.
One person was injured in the incident, which was reportedly the result of an internal PFLP-GC dispute. Initial reports of a death sustained in the fighting were proved false.
A statement released late Thursday by the ISF said four members of the group had been arrested following the incident.
“Armed clashes broke out with men in the base after which four of the [PFLP-GC]’s militants were arrested,” the statement said.
The ISF named the detained men as Ali Qassem Araji, Khaled Ramzi Araji – both Lebanese nationals – and Palestinians Mahmoud Alyan and Rejeh Saleh. All of the men were close to Colonel Dureid Shaaban, who was recently removed from his PFLP-GC post.
It is thought that Thursday’s clashes were a result of Shaaban’s unwillingness to relinquish his role at the Ain al-Bayda base.
The daily Al-Akhbar, citing a security source in the Bekaa, said that the mutiny had begun several days earlier, before spilling outside the compound, and that Lebanese security forces were not involved in internal clashes.
The rebellion at Ain Al-Bayda base started several days ago and talks between the rebelling group and the PFLP’s command broke down due to financial issues, the paper reported.
Debate continued to simmer over who was responsible for the clashes, even after order was restored in the vicinity. LBCI television reported Friday that calm had returned to the area.
PFLP-GC media officer Anwar Raja, during an interview with New TV, blamed an ISF intelligence head for the clashes.
He also “totally” refuted that “any gunfight or internal clashes among PFLP-GC’s members” had occurred.
“What was reported by the media is inaccurate and these media leaks are deceptive,” Raja added.
PFLP-GC senior officer Abu Ramez Imad Mustafa, however, appeared to confirm that fighting had been internal and instigated by Shaaban.
“One member of PFLP-GC, who has personal problems with his comrades that he tried to solve in a wrong manner, came with a number of his non-PFLP-GC relatives to the Kfar Zabad base, where clashes took place,” he said.
“The PFLP-GC was able to arrest four members of this soldier’s family and the investigation is under way,” he added.
The ISF’s statement also refuted Raja’s claims.
“The remarks made by Raja were false, and it would have been better if Raja had examined closely what has been happening in his organization before making his accusations,” it said.
The PFLP-GC was founded during the 1975-90 Lebanese Civil War with Syrian backing. It has bases in the Bekaa Valley and close to the Syrian border.
Its bases are officially illegal, but Lebanese authorities remain reluctant to challenge PFLP-GC presence for fear of violent ripostes from the group’s partisans.
The government has previously called for Palestinian factions outside the country’s refugee camps to disarm; UN Security Council Resolution 1559, drawn up in 2004, included clauses to this effect.
For his part, Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea called on Syria to halt its training, equipping and financing of Palestinian military bases in Lebanon.
Commenting on a recent Syrian offer to intervene and control the situation in the Bekaa, the LF leader said: “We can say a lot of things about Syrian officials, but they’re certainly ‘not cute,’ since the Palestinian camps are located near the Syrian-Lebanese border … and can only be accessed from Syrian territory.”
Labor Minister Butros Harb said that it was unacceptable that the Lebanese state tolerated the possession of arms by the Palestinians, especially those outside the camps.
He called for tackling this issue with the Syrians, given that it was agreed upon in the Taif Accord and during dialogue sessions, or else “it will jeopardize civil peace.”
Beirut MP and Minister of State Michael Pharaoun called for the issue of Palestinian arms within Lebanon to be tackled by National Dialogue sessions.
“We agreed upon this issue in 2006 dialogue sessions, and we integrated it in the ministerial statement. However, we need to implement it as soon as possible as it threatens the national security,” Pharaoun said in a Friday statement.
Tripoli MP Mohammad Abdel-Latif Kabbara said Thursday’s incident represented a threat to Lebanese security.
“Those who tamper with national security must know that illegal arms are a threat to Lebanon,” the lawmaker said in a statement.
“The Kfar Zabad incident is a major threat to Lebanese stability based on national reconciliation within the national unity government,” he added. “We have always called for implementing National Dialogue decisions regarding Palestinian arms outside the camps. However, some parties refuse to abide by these decisions and cover up for these dubious actions.”
Al-Liwa, quoting diplomatic sources, reported on Friday that Syria may be willing to help deal with the issue of armed Palestinian groups operating in Lebanon. Any such intervention would need the official support of the Lebanese Cabinet, the sources added.

Jumblatt voices support for Hizbullah
By The Daily Star /Saturday, April 10, 2010
BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader MP Walid Jumblatt stressed during a meeting Thursday night with Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah his support for the resistance and the need to embrace it, according to a statement by Hizbullah. Jumblatt also thanked Nasrallah for mediating his last trip to Damascus after five years of ruptured relations with Syria. The PSP leader accused Syria in 2005 of the murder of former Premier Rafik Hariri and voiced support for UN Security Council Resolution 1559, which called for an end to Syrian intervention in Lebanon. The tense relation between Jumblatt and Syria’s allies in Lebanon reached its peak in May 2008 when clashes broke out on in West Beirut and spread out to the Chouf region between PSP and Hizbullah militants following the Cabinet’s decision to dismantle Hizbullah’s telecommunications. – The Daily Star

UN urges Lebanon to sign Ottawa land-mine treaty
By The Daily Star /Saturday, April 10, 2010
BEIRUT: Lebanon should sign the Ottawa Treaty banning the use of land mines, the UN’s special coordinator said Friday. After a meeting with Speaker Nabhi Berri, Michael Williams praised Lebanon’s status as a signatory to the Oslo Convention banning cluster munitions, but urged it to go further. “Given [Lebanon’s] tragic experience and its current membership of the Security Council, we believe it would be helpful to ratify both treaties on cluster munitions and land mines,” he said. Williams praised the recent announcement of electoral coordination between Amal and Hizbullah during next month’s polls, saying the UN “stands ready to to lend its technical assistance for these elections if requested.” – The Daily Star

Israel viewed as world's sixth nuclear power: analysts
LONDON (AFP) - Israel, whose prime minister withdrew Friday from next week's US-hosted nuclear summit, is viewed as the sixth country to have acquired nuclear weapons -- a title it has neither denied nor confirmed.
Analysts at British defence specialists Jane's believe the Jewish state has between 100 and 300 nuclear warheads, putting them among the more advanced nuclear weapons states and roughly on a par with Britain.
The London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) estimates Israel has "up to 200" warheads delivered on land-based short-range Jericho 1 and medium-range Jericho 2 missiles. The Nuclear Threat Initiative, a US advocacy group co-created by Ted Turner, the founder of CNN, puts the figure at 100 to 200.
Israel is the only nuclear power in the Middle East with a programme dating back to the 1950s under Israel's first prime minister, David Ben Gurion.
It was developed with the help of France and is centred on the Dimona reactor in the southern Negev desert.
According to Jane's, the Israeli strategic force could be deployed by the Jericho 2 missile, which has a range of up to 4,500 kilometres (2,800 miles), or the five-year-old Jericho 3, which reaches up to 7,800 kilometres.
It is also believed to be able to deploy by air, using F-16 fighter jets, and even by sea through its submarine fleet, providing an opportunity for a second strike if its land systems are attacked.
Israel acquired three diesel-powered Dolphin-class submarines in 1999-2000 which are capable of launching adapted Harpoon cruise missiles fitted with nuclear warheads.
In addition, Jane's says some observers believe Jerusalem has developed tactical nuclear weapons such as landmines and artillery shells.
"Some analysts believe that Israel probably keeps most, if not all, of its nuclear arsenal in an unassembled mode," the latest Jane's briefing says, adding that "fully functional weapons could be completed in a matter of days".
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly withdrew Friday from next week's nuclear summit in Washington, underscoring Israeli reluctance to expose its own nuclear programme to scrutiny.

Iran says its nuclear drive is "irreversible"
By Parisa Hafezi
TEHRAN (Reuters) - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, taunting the United States for trying to halt Iran's nuclear program, showcased an improved centrifuge on Friday which officials said would enrich uranium faster than existing models.
U.S. President Barack Obama, who is seeking tougher U.N. sanctions against Tehran, acknowledged that such measures would not necessarily work, but said sustained world pressure could prompt Iran to revise its nuclear calculations over time.
Ahmadinejad, in a speech to mark Iran's annual nuclear day, called the nuclear arms reduction treaty that Obama signed with Russia this week "a masquerade" which hid his true intentions. "We consider nuclear weapons to be against humanity," he said.
"Iran's nuclear path is irreversible. The Iranian nation has reached a new point where no power can deter it from moving full speed ahead to reach peaceful nuclear energy," he said at a ceremony where he unveiled the centrifuge model from behind a white curtain.
Western nations fear Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons but Tehran says its program is entirely peaceful.
The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, said the latest "third generation" centrifuges had a separation power of 10, six times that of the first generation.
But it was not clear when the new machines would be introduced into full-scale enrichment.
"In the near future we will be ready to inject gas into this (third generation) centrifuge," Salehi told Iranian state TV.
The centrifuges Iran uses now are adapted from a 1970s design and have been prone to breakdowns. Tehran has been testing new models for several years at a site which is under the watch of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
"This is not unexpected and given what Obama is doing, I think they are really trying to show that they are getting past the sanctions," said David Albright, director of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington.
"The real issue is, are they able to build these in the thousands or ... in the tens, and when are they going to be installed? The other question is, do they work well?"
Western analysts say Iran has exaggerated progress in the past to bolster domestic pride about its nuclear program and to improve its bargaining position with major powers.
Diplomats close to the IAEA said it was unclear why Iran had not chosen to reveal a more significant advance, and questioned whether it was having technical problems or being cautious due to the current spotlight on the nuclear program.
PUSH FOR SANCTIONS
Western countries are seeking the support of Russia and China for a fourth round of U.N. sanctions against Tehran.
Obama, who hosts a nuclear security summit next week, wants them to back further measures to deter Iran from pursuing what the West believes is a covert drive to develop nuclear weapons.
Obama said there was no guarantee the sanctions that could be instituted now would automatically alter Iranian behavior.
"The history of the Iranian regime, like the North Korean regime is that ... you apply international pressure on these countries, (and) sometimes they choose to change behavior, sometimes they don't," he told ABC's "Good Morning America."
Russia, along with China, has long resisted calls for tougher sanctions on Iran but now chides Tehran for ignoring offers made by world powers aimed at defusing the nuclear issue.
Obama hailed what he called an "enormous shift" by Russia in efforts to get all countries, notably Iran and North Korea, to "start abiding by certain rules of the road."
"If we are consistent and steady in applying international pressure ... over time, Iran -- which is not a stupid regime, which is very attentive and watching what's happening in the international community -- will start making a different set of cost-benefit analyses about whether or not pursuing nuclear weapons makes sense for them," the U.S. president said.
(Additional reporting by Hashem Kalantari and Robin Pomeroy in Tehran, David Morgan in Washington, Sylvia Westall in Vienna and Adrian Croft in London; writing by Alistair Lyon; editing by David Stamp)

Worry That New Sanctions Will Not Curb Iran’s Nuclear Goals
Latest U.N. Push ‘Very Inadequate To the Task,’ Says AJC’s Harris
By Gal Beckerman
Published April 07, 2010, issue of April 16, 2010.
As another set of sanctions against Iran makes its way through the United Nations — the fourth in as many years — heads of American Jewish organizations and pro-Israel foreign policy analysts are wondering if these or any other measures will really be able to change the behavior of the regime in Tehran.
In conversations with the Forward, these observers repeatedly came to a stark conclusion: Either the world will come to accept and contain an Iran that has nuclear weapons, or some sort of military strike is inevitable.
The proposed sanctions slowly en route to a vote by the U.N. Security Council would not alter the inevitability of this bleak choice, these experts said.
The Obama administration, however, is pushing hard for this new resolution, which it hopes will pass with a broad consensus. At the beginning of April, the president spent an hour on the phone with Chinese President Hu Jintao in an effort to win over the most recalcitrant of the five permanent members on the Security Council. Following that talk and other recent hints, the administration said that both China and Russia are close to signing off on some form of sanctions.
“Between where we are today and the two ultimate options, there is still a lot of space to be filled,” said David Harris, executive director of the American Jewish Committee, referring to a military option or containment. “The question is: Will it be filled? I can only hope it will. What’s contemplated currently seems very inadequate to the task.”
In order to appease China and Russia — not to mention other, non-permanent Security Council members like Turkey and Brazil — the set of sanctions being considered will build on the efforts of three previous resolutions targeting Iran. These contained relatively mild measures that sought to prevent Iran from achieving its nuclear ambitions by limiting its ability to enhance uranium or develop nuclear weapons. (Iranian leaders deny this is their goal). The new resolution is still being negotiated, but it will most likely focus on creating economic difficulties for Iranians or anyone trying to do business with Iran. In the past, however, Tehran has been able to circumvent some of these financial barriers. The freezing of assets, one of the main punitive actions, has not had a deep effect. A recent Wall Street Journal story reported that under the current sanctions, only $43 mil- lion dollars in Iranian money has been frozen in the United States — a quarter of what Iran earns in oil revenue in a single day.
The previous sanctions have avoided the most extreme forms of economic isolation.
But even the two measures that could, by most accounts, create true hardships for Iran are not seen anymore as overwhelmingly crippling. One measure would involve blockading Iran’s refined petroleum supply; the other would sever all ties between Iran and external banks. In spite of the fact that Iran is a large oil producer, it depends on imports of refined petroleum for its own fuel needs. One analyst described this dependence as Iran’s “Achilles heel.”
Even if the Chinese and Russians drop their expected opposition to these two tougher measures, however, it is not clear that they would have the intended harsh impact.
“If the new sanctions touch on the Iranian energy sector — and that remains to be seen — Iranians are already, we’re told, trying to hoard more refined energy product to avoid any effect on their domestic economy,” Harris said. “If it has to do with banking, the Iranians have already created a number of front banks and third-party dummy corporations. The Iranians are quite skilled at all this and that’s why it’s not clear that even strong sanctions, however well intentioned, will have the desired effect.”
The Iranians have had the benefit of time, most analysts said.
“One of the problems when you have such a long run up is that you give the targeted country time to adjust its own resources, its own economy to the world that will be existing under the sanctions,” said Keith Weissman, former top Iran analyst for the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC. “There is no question that sanctions like this will hurt Iranian economic activity, but will they do what we want them to do, which is to affect Iran’s ability to do what we don’t want them to do, like build nuclear weapons?”
The only sure thing about sanctions, Weissman said, was that they would “make the people doing the sanctioning feel better.”
The other major concern is that sanctions, if not thought out well, could end up backfiring. Iran is now in a fragile state, according to these observers, with a large portion of the population in a mood of revolt. Any sanctions that would end up hurting average Iranians might force people to rally around their government and against the Western world.
“Who will suffer? Will it be the revolutionary guard, the regime or the people?” said Yoram Peri, director of the Joseph and Alma Gildenhorn Institute for Israel Studies at the University of Maryland. “And if you make the people suffer, generally they will tend to support their government rather than revolt. So the sanctions should be fairly sophisticated. It has to be very well calculated.”
Peri said that in order to be effective, the sanctions would have to be targeted at Iranian elites and coordinated among many different countries.
“Once the Iranians see lack of coordination among the Western powers, they will find loopholes and ways to circumvent the pressure,” said Peri. “So all of this demands real coordination. And to tell you the truth, I’m not sure whether we’ll get there.”
According to observers, the strategy of the Obama administration at the moment is to devise a set of sanctions that will garner a wide consensus in the Security Council. As a trade off, the Americans have had to accept the fact that only a resolution with milder provisions — not ones, for example, that would destroy the Iranian energy and banking sectors — will achieve this goal.
So intent is the administration on reaching this international consensus in the next few weeks that, according to The Hill, a newspaper that covers Congress, it has asked lawmakers to push back a final vote on a unilateral American sanctions bill that contains tough measures against Iran. Both the House and Senate have already approved the measure.
“What the administration is doing is trying to trade off the intensity of sanctions for the breadth of the coalition,” said Gary Hoffbauer, a fellow at the Peter G. Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington and author of the book “Economic Sanctions Reconsidered.”
“Conceivably, opinion in Iran might be somewhat moved if the coalition were broader,” he said. “At least it’s a possibility. I wouldn’t say it’s a probability.”
But Hoffbauer, like others, thought this was a last, best option. “As I understand it, Obama’s strategy is to continue the delay until the Iranians test,” he said. “The crunch will come when they test.”
Contact Gal Beckerman at beckerman@forward.com

Canadian PM forces out minister, calls in police
Fri Apr 9,
OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper forced junior minister Helena Guergis out of his government on Friday and called in the police to investigate what he said were serious allegations against her.
Harper did not give further details. Guergis was already in trouble for losing her temper in an airport and had been pressured over the antics of her husband, a former legislator who alleged he had access to the top levels of government.
In a move unprecedented in recent Canadian politics, Harper referred the case to the police and Parliament's conflict of interest and ethics commissioner. He also booted her out of the ruling Conservative party's parliamentary caucus.
Although Guergis offered her resignation, Harper made it clear she had effectively been removed.
"Obviously, given the circumstances, a resignation was inevitable," he told a hastily arranged news conference.
"I'm very disappointed, it's a very sad day."
Guergis had become an increasing embarrassment to the minority Conservative government, which needs the support of other parties to pass legislation and remain in power.
The main opposition Liberal Party, noting that Harper had defended Guergis less than 24 hours previously, said the matter cast doubt on his judgment.
"I call on the prime minister to tell the truth about this affair," Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff told reporters.
Guergis is married to former Conservative member of Parliament Rahim Jaffer, who was charged with drunk driving and possession of cocaine last year. The case was then downgraded to a charge of dangerous driving, prompting critics to ask about possible political interference.
(Reporting by David Ljunggren; editing by Rob Wilson)

For country or sect?
By: Bassel Oudat
Al-Ahram Weekly
Jumblatt's talks with Al-Assad in Damascus last week will have lasting repercussions on Lebanese-Syrian relations
Following five years of animosity and rhetoric, the leader of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) and the Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc came to Syria. Walid Jumblatt met with Bashar Al-Assad to discuss past differences and turn a new leaf in relations.
Following the meeting, the Syrian presidency released a brief and cautiously-worded statement saying that Al-Assad reviewed with Jumblatt "the brotherly and historic ties that bind Syria and Lebanon and asserted the importance of consolidating Syrian-Lebanese relations and cementing the role of the resistance against Israel."
According to the statement, Jumblatt "praised Al-Assad's position on Lebanon and commended his eagerness to safeguard its security and stability." Syrian official media reported the statement verbatim, adding no commentary or analysis.
Although Jumblatt's visit was expected, only a handful of Syrian officials and members of the PSP and Hizbullah knew its timing. Hizbullah has been mediating the reconciliation between Jumblatt and Syria.
Jumblatt arrived in Syria accompanied by a senior Hizbullah official. His first meeting with Al-Assad in more than five years lasted 90 minutes.
Jumblatt was less taciturn than the Syrians concerning the outcome. In Beirut, he described the first moments as being "very difficult". Jumblatt said that he was wary because it was hard to meet the man he had spoken ill about in the past. According to Jumblatt, Al-Assad proceeded to break the ice and asked the Druze leader to speak his mind. The talks were "very positive, cordial, and frank", Jumblatt stated.
Syria's cautious approach to the visit reflected how far the Syrians were keen to keep things official and formal. But the upshot is Syrians can forgive. Jumblatt's past confrontation with the Syrian leadership had left a painful wound, for the Lebanese leader didn't flinch from using foul language in reference to President Al-Assad.
Jumblatt blamed the Syrian regime for a spate of political assassinations in Lebanon. He once said that anyone who criticises the Syrian regime "would be killed by Bashar Al-Assad's regime." He accused the Syrian regime of killing his father, Kamal Jumblatt, as well as other journalists and politicians including Lebanese President Rene Moawwad, Mufti Hassan Khaled, prime minister Rafik Al-Hariri, Samir Qusayer, George Hawi and Jubran Tuweini.
Jumblatt's vitriol climaxed in the second anniversary of the assassination of Rafik Al-Hariri on 14 February 2007, when he called Bashar Al-Assad a "butcher" and a "tyrant".
Syrian and Lebanese commentators agreed that the meeting between Al-Assad and Jumblatt was wide-ranging, profound, frank, and cordial, and might lead to a strategic alliance between the two countries.
Since August 2009, Jumblatt has made a series of statements indicating a change of heart. He said that moments of anger made him say "improper things about Al-Assad" and called on Al-Assad to forget the past.
Al-Assad said that Jumblatt's remarks paved the way for a visit to Syria, adding that what matters to Syria is good intentions.
Damascus may have been hoping that as soon as Jumblatt goes back to Beirut, he would take sides with the Lebanese minority, basically Hizbullah, Amal and the Lebanese National Current. But Jumblatt doesn't seem in a hurry to part with his old friend, the March 14 Coalition of the Mustaqbal Current, the Phalangists, and the Lebanese Forces.
After the visit to Damascus, Jumblatt said that he is not bound by any arrangements with Damascus, but added that he wants to safeguard the resistance and to consolidate Lebanese-Syrian relations "through institutional channels".
One must keep in mind that Jumblatt didn't go to Damascus until after Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri. And he said nothing to suggest that he would distance himself from his allies. So far it seems that Jumblatt wishes to continue his alliance with the Lebanese majority while taking a reconciliatory approach towards the minority.
Speaking in a news conference held in his house in Beirut one day after the visit, Jumblatt said that starting afresh with Syria is more important than dwelling on the past. He pledged "to support the resistance and protect it and rebuild relations between Lebanon and Syria through institutional channels."
Jumblatt also called for the borders between the two countries to be drawn and urged stronger political, economic, and security ties between the two countries.
Syrian-Lebanese relations underwent steady improvement last year, following years of tensions that began with the assassination of Rafik Al-Hariri in 2005. With Syrian blessing, Lebanon was able to make a few achievements, including the election of President Michel Suleiman and the formation of a national unity government.
Syria and Lebanon have exchanged ambassadors for the first time since Lebanon's independence. And with Saudi prompting, Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri visited Damascus for talks with the men he used to accuse of murdering his father.
Observers say that Jumblatt's decision to visit Syria seems to be inspired by sectarian as well as political considerations. The greater part of the Druze community, which Jumblatt leads, lives in Syria.
Jumblatt admitted as much when he said that, "the safety of the Druze is something to be acquired within the Arab horizon overlooking Palestine. In other words, through pan-Arabism and through Syria."
The Druze community in Syria was pleased with the visit. Syrian Baath Party official Fayez Ezzeddin, a Druze, told Al-Ahram Weekly that Syrian Druze welcome the meeting between Al-Assad and Jumblatt. He added that Jumblatt's visit to Syria was "motivated by political rather than factional considerations."
"The Druze community in Suweidaa [southern Syria] is different from the Lebanese Druze. The Lebanese Druze live within a political and national political map that is sometimes influenced by sectarian considerations, for this is the nature of Lebanon. In Syria, the political map of the Druze community conforms with official politics... In recent years, the Druze of Suweidaa didn't support what Jumblatt was doing. They knew that Jumblatt lives in Lebanon and thinks in a Lebanese way... But when Jumblatt visits Syria in such a positive atmosphere, all the Druze would support him. Reconciliation is a good thing," Ezzeddin said.
Nearly 90 per cent of Syrian Druze live in Al-Suweidaa and have close family ties with the Druze who live in Mount Lebanon. Many Druze emigrated from Mount Lebanon to Syria two centuries ago due to tensions between the Druze and the Maronites. Syrian Druze have never had to worry about sectarian violence there like they did in Lebanon.
Jumblatt is the scion of a patriotic family that never reconciled with Israel. His visit to Damascus makes it possible to put together a political coalition hostile to Israel. He is also regaining a valuable strategic ally and making sure that the status of the Druze in Syria continues to be protected. Jumblatt needs to remain leader of all Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian Druze.
On Syria's part, the time was right to turn Jumblatt into an ally. Jumblatt is a force to contend with in Lebanon, and his friendship means a lot to the Syrians and their allies in Lebanon's minority coalition.

Listen to the Two Best Arab Journalists Warning What A Nuclear-Armed Iran Means
By Barry Rubin
The two Arab journalists I most respect have written of the fear in Arabic-speaking countries about Iran’s having nuclear weapons. They explain persuasively why a U.S. containment policy of reassuring Arab states and Israel against direct nuclear attack is totally inadequate.
Listen to what they’re saying as it is much more accurate in warning about the coming strategic shift in the region than what’s being written in the West.
Both Abd al-Rahman al-Rashid and Ahmad al-Jarallah are close to elements in the Saudi regime yet also maintain personal independence and support liberal reform. Rashid (often transliterated, Rashed) is a Saudi who is former editor of al-Sharq al-Awsat, probably the best Arabic newspaper, and is now director-general of the al-Arabiya network, possibly the best satellite television network. Writing in al-Sharq al-Awsat on February 21 (translated by MEMRI) he explained:
"An Iranian bomb…will not be put to military use; it will be used as a way to change the rules of the game. What we are afraid of is Iran's policy, that uses all means to force its existence [as a regional power], and nuclear weapons is only [one of these] means.” For example, if pro-Iranian militias “take over southern Iraq, no superpower will dare to use military means to stop it.”
"We fear the logic of the current regime in Tehran, which spent the country's funds on Hizbullah, Hamas, the extremist movements in Bahrain, Iraq and Yemen, and the Muslim Brotherhood, and supported every extremist in the region. The Ahmadinejad regime aspires to expansion, hegemony, and a clear takeover on the ground, and to do this he needs a nuclear umbrella to protect him from deterrence by [any] superpower.
"The Gulf states, that built giant cities and factories all along the coast, will, when Iran possesses nuclear weapons, become hostage to the caprices of Ahmadinejad and his extremist government.…”
Precisely right. Iran’s bomb will change the strategic balance, inspire revolutionary Islamist movements, lead Arab and Western states toward appeasement, and thus shift power in the region decisively toward Tehran.
Jarallah, editor of the Kuwaiti daily Al-Siyassa, has survived several assassination attempts which he attributes to Syria. He wrote on February 7:
“The entire region has become hostage to fears of [possible] rash actions by Iran that could cause nuclear catastrophes that neither Iran nor the world will be able to bear. After all, examples of such catastrophes, some of which were the result of unexpected events, are still etched in memory, and the world continues to pay for them."
He adds, "The current Iranian position is reminiscent of the stands taken by Saddam [Hussein], the Iraqi dictator who was the last regional leader who sought hegemony in the area. Clearly, the political path taken by the Tehran regime is controlled by imperialist aspirations; this inspires much fear...not only due to [Iran's] support for several extremist groups of various kinds, but also due to the nuclear issue and the real intentions that the Iranian leadership is concealing….
"Now more than ever, the entire international community must stop Iran's rashness and bring it back to the right path – particularly in light of the obvious signs of the beginning of a nuclear arms race in the region. Beyond the economic cost, this race will affect all areas of life, and will drown the region in a quagmire of chaos and [evoke] reactions that none can predict."
As an extra bonus, take a look at Fouad Ajami's piece on Afghanistan in the Wall Street Journal. It is a brilliant analysis--ok, it sounds like what I've been saying but it's still brilliant--about how as Obama shows his weakness and unreliability U.S. allies are running for cover. Isn't it funny how people who really know or live in the region understand this perfectly.
Yes, bland assurances that all will be ok because the United States will stop Iran from firing off nuclear missiles at its neighbors are very much beside the point.
Lebanon's Samir Geagea: A Maverick - Hussain Abdul-Hussain - The Huffington Post Those who are familiar with the Middle East know that politics in the region are tantamount to mafia wars. Politicians pride themselves for being "realistic" as they frequently turncoat.
In Lebanon, political realism can rarely be differentiated from opportunism. Politicians flip-flop as they talk. Instead of calling out this kind of deception, journalists have become hired guns serving on payrolls. When Lebanese politicians change positions - often drastically - the media praises change deeming it "necessary for national interests."
As a result of the impunity of politicians and their conspiring media outlets, words and principles in Arab countries - especially Lebanon - account for little.
But one politician stands out for always sticking to his principles: Samir Geagea.
Coming from an economically underprivileged family, the exceptionally brilliant Samir Geagea won every available scholarship, and made his way to the medical school at the prestigious American University of Beirut.
In 1975, Lebanon was divided between Christians - who tied their existence to protecting an ailing Lebanese state that they dominated - and Muslims bent on replacing the Christians at the helm of state power. For their plan, Muslims borrowed the muscle of Lebanon-based Palestinian militias that were presumably fighting to liberate neighboring Palestine.
That was how Lebanon looked when Samir Geagea came of political, and for that matter paramilitary, age. Being a Christian, it was natural for Geagea to join the Lebanese Forces, an umbrella organization for Christian militias fighting for state sovereignty against armed Palestinian groups and their Lebanese allies.
Militias fought endlessly, and after Israel ejected the Palestinian leadership from Lebanon in 1982, fighting continued between Lebanese militias, some of which later imploded or split into warring factions.
A dedicated and talented Geagea ascended the ranks of the Lebanese Forces. By the mid 1980s, still 33, he became its undisputed leader. In addition to his paramilitary skills, Geagea displayed organizational abilities as his party launched a television program that still maintains the highest viewership in the region. The Lebanese Forces also created medical care and educational institutions.
Civil wars are never civil, and no matter his community services, Geagea remained a militiaman. In this capacity, he - like every other Lebanese politician - ordered battles and assassinations of rivals. Geagea's militia record tarnished his reputation.
In 1990, Lebanon became under Syrian control with American acquiescence. Damascus was finally allowed, not only to call the shots in Beirut, but also - as a victor - to write the history of the civil war.
Under the American-sponsored Syrian rule in Lebanon, which extended from 1990 to 2005, all militias - except for Hezbollah - were dissolved, as militia leaders repackaged themselves as politicians.
Except for Geagea who insisted on Syrian withdrawal and Lebanese sovereignty, all other Lebanese militia-leaders-turned-politicians were rewarded with senior state positions and lofty subsidies for their supporters.
Geagea never succumbed to Syrian rule and was punished. In 1994, a bombing charge was fabricated against him and he was sentenced to life in prison. The Lebanese Forces party, now a licensed political party, was banned by law. Meanwhile, Lebanese and Syrian media launched a campaign to vilify Geagea for the decade that followed.
A sudden turn of events in 2005 forced a Syrian withdrawal. Syria's former friends-turned-opponents then lobbied for Geagea's release.
Once out of jail, Geagea joined the anti-Syrian March 14 movement. While his allies had to publicly regret decades of behaving as Syria's puppets, at the expense of Lebanese sovereignty, Geagea stood tall. He had served 11 years in prison for refusing Syrian diktats, and in 2005, he resumed preaching his pro-sovereignty principles from the point where he had stopped.
A changing world leadership, however, later dropped the ball in Lebanon and completely halted support for democracy, especially after Barack Obama became president in 2008. As such, the mercurial Lebanese politicians jumped off the democracy and independence ship, which they deemed sinking, and humiliatingly begged Syria - now the focus of American and world attention - to take them back.
A maverick Geagea stayed on that ship. He became the last man standing in support of independence and state sovereignty, insisting that the Hezbollah militia disarm. With his militia history far behind most Lebanese, and with what had remained of it absolved by his decade in solitary confinement, Geagea started winning support from outside of the nation's Christian community, a rare phenomenon in Lebanon's fragmented population.
Samir Geagea today is betting against the political realities of Lebanon, the Middle East and the world. For doing so, he has earned the admiration of frustrated pro independence Lebanese - Christian, Muslim and Druze - and the ire of Syria and its Lebanese protégés.
Samir Geagea is proving to be the only man of principles in Lebanon. For that, he should be applauded as the last freedom fighter in the Middle East, at a time when the world is looking for dictators to entertain.