LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
February 03/2010
Bible Of the
Day
Matthew 6/24-34: “No one can serve two
masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be
devoted to one and despise the other. You can’t serve both God and Mammon. 6:25
Therefore I tell you, don’t be anxious for your life: what you will eat, or what
you will drink; nor yet for your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than
food, and the body more than clothing? 6:26 See the birds of the sky, that they
don’t sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns. Your heavenly Father
feeds them. Aren’t you of much more value than they?
6:27 “Which of you, by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan? 6:28
Why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they
grow. They don’t toil, neither do they spin, 6:29 yet I tell you that even
Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these. 6:30 But if God so
clothes the grass of the field, which today exists, and tomorrow is thrown into
the oven, won’t he much more clothe you, you of little faith?
6:31 “Therefore don’t be anxious, saying, ‘What will we eat?’, ‘What will we
drink?’ or, ‘With what will we be clothed?’ 6:32 For the Gentiles seek after all
these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
6:33 But seek first God’s Kingdom, and his righteousness; and all these things
will be given to you as well. 6:34 Therefore don’t be anxious for tomorrow, for
tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day’s own evil is sufficient."
Free Opinions, Releases, letters & Special
Reports
Hezbollah is not the IRA/By: Tony
Badran/February 2, 10
EXCLUSIVE: US intelligence finds
5,000 Hizballah trained to seize Galilee towns/Debka File/February
02/10
Yemen
requires assistance, not criticism/By
Khalaf Ahmed Al Habtoor/February
02/10
Iran's countdown to February 11/The
Daily Star/February
02/10
Latest News Reports From
Miscellaneous Sources for February 02/10
Barak:
Israel Won't Limit Itself to Hizbullah Targets when Attacked/Naharnet
Cassese Prepares for
Public Trial, Considers Appointment of Liaison Judge/Naharnet
Lebanon in Race against Time before
Arrival of New Storm, One Body Recovered off Khaldeh/Naharnet
Report:
Hamas Can Rely on Hizbullah to Avenge Mabhouh Murder/Naharnet
Hariri-Jumblat Deal with Differences/Naharnet
'Proportional
Representation' Dispute Reveals Divide among Cabinet/Naharnet
French Engineer Commits
Suicide in Hamra/Naharnet
Report:
Jumblat Met Feltman in London, Called for Major U.S. Policy Changes/Naharnet
Cabinet's Monday Session
Reaches Dead-End, Another Meeting on Municipal Elections Wednesday/Naharnet
Hoss to Qabbani: Clear
Your Name or Resign/Naharnet
Tense
Iran remembers Khomeini/AFP
Cabinet
again fails to agree on key reforms to electoral law/Daily
Star
Lebanon
ranks 41st globally in outstanding external debt/Daily
Star
Berlusconi: Bring Israel into the European Union/Daily
Star
Gorbachev holds talks with Lebanon's top three leaders during Beirut visit/Daily
Star
Foreign
Ministry: Israel main threat to UNSCR 1701/Daily
Star
Fraudster imam transferred to Bekaa prosecutor/Daily
Star
STL
chief, deputy hold talks with Lebanese president/AFP
Hariri
follows up on demarcation of Syria border/Daily
Star
Berri,
Fadlallah discuss defense, plane crash/Daily
Star
Israel
returns abducted Lebanese shepherd after 'severe beating/Daily
Star
Plane
crash search team to get help from submarines/Daily
Star
Study
finds gaps in HIV, reproductive health services/Daily
Star
First
Lady urges women to help fight climate change/Daily
Star
Parliament committee mulls regulating nursing/Daily
Star
Woman
severely injured in Kfarseer house fire/Daily
Star
New TV
fined LL5 million for slandering governor/Daily
Star
Hoss
tells Qabbani to clear name or step down/Daily
Star
20
percent women's quota in polls not enough/Daily
Star
Barak: Israel Won't Limit Itself to Hizbullah Targets when Attacked
Naharnet/Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has reiterated that the Jewish
state would hold the Lebanese government responsible for any eruption of
violence on the border.
Speaking to the Israeli army's top officers, Barak said: "The government of
Lebanon is responsible for everything Hizbullah does. The organization has an
internal Lebanese identity, in addition to its well-known affiliation to Syria
and Iran." "If Israel is attacked, we will not limit ourselves only to Hizbullah
targets," the minister stressed. In the absence of a peace deal with Syria,
Israel could find itself at war with its neighbor to the north, Barak warned.
"In the absence of a deal with Syria we could reach an armed conflict that could
develop into a full-fledged war," he said. "As is in the Middle East,
immediately after the war we will sit down and negotiate exactly what we have
been talking about for the past 15 years." Commenting on the Iranian nuclear
threat, Barak told the officers: "I repeat: All options are on the table and we
mean it." Beirut, 02 Feb 10, 07:59
Report: Jumblat Met Feltman in London,
Called for Major U.S. Policy Changes
Naharnet/Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat reportedly met with
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman in
London last Wednesday.
Al-Akhbar newspaper said Tuesday that the two men discussed the latest situation
in Lebanon and the region. Sources close to the Druze leader told the daily that
Jumblat was in London for personal reasons but a meeting was set up between him
and Feltman because the U.S. official was also visiting the British capital at
the time. Jumblat told Feltman that he believed it was necessary to introduce
major changes to the U.S. policy in the region "because things are changing on
the ground," the sources said. They told al-Akhbar that Feltman invited Jumblat
to visit Washington. The Druze leader announced late last year that he
rejects such an invitation. However, members of his parliamentary bloc, mainly
MP Marwan Hamadeh, have backed such a trip, the newspaper said. Beirut, 02 Feb
10, 09:31
Report: Hamas Can Rely on Hizbullah to Avenge Mabhouh Murder
Naharnet/Hamas has limited military capabilities overseas but can rely on other
groups, such as Hizbullah, to attack Israel in retaliation for the assassination
in Dubai of one of its top operatives Mahmoud Mabhouh, The Jerusalem Post
reported. It quoted Israeli defense officials as saying that unlike Hizbullah,
Hamas does not have much experience operating overseas.
"The assessment in military intelligence is that Hamas will try to strike at
Israeli targets overseas, to avoid disrupting the status quo between Hamas in
Gaza and Israel," the Israeli daily said.
Hamas is strongest in Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon and could work together
with Hizbullah to attack Israel in other places as well, according to the
report.
Israel has been on high alert in recent weeks ahead of the second assassination
anniversary of Hizbullah commander Imad Mughniyeh in February. A number of
attempts by Hizbullah to avenge Mughniyeh's death have been thwarted, including
a plot to bomb the Israeli embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan, last year, The Post
said. Israel Security Agency, the Shin Bet, has recently boosted security for
Israeli officials traveling overseas, the newspaper added. Beirut, 02 Feb 10,
10:15
EXCLUSIVE: US intelligence finds 5,000 Hizballah trained to seize Galilee towns
DEBKAfile Special Expose February 1, 2010
http://debka.com/article/8575/#8575
Jones was not talking out of the top of his head, but on the strength of solid
US intelligence gathered over months on detailed war plans Iran, Syria,
Hizballah and Hamas have drawn up to send five Hizballah brigades sweeping
across the border to seize five sectors of Galilee, while also organizing a
massive Israeli-Arab uprising against the Jewish state.
Hamas would open a second front in the south and in the east. Syria is expected
to step in at some stage.
This plan with attached special map was first published exclusively by DEBKA-Net-Weekly
430 on Jan. 22, 2010. Key excerpts appear here.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards instructors at especially established training
facilities near Tehran are already well advanced in training a cadre of 5,000
Hizballah fighters in special operations and urban combat tactics to standards
equivalent to those current in similar US and Israeli military forces.
At the outset of the course, the group was split up into five battalions, each
given a specific northern Israeli sector for capture with details of its
topography and population for close study.
1st Battalion:
This unit will break through the Naqura-Rosh Haniqra border pass and sweep south
along seven kilometers to seize Nahariya, the Israeli Mediterranean city of
55,000 - or parts thereof.
UN peacekeepers have their headquarters at Naqura, the other side of Rosh
Haniqra, and Israel defenses there are lax, so no military or geographic
obstacles to this Hizballah drive are anticipated. This battalion will capture a
large number of Israeli hostages for use as live shields against an Israeli
counter-attack
A small group of 150 fighters, trained by Revolutionary Guards marines, will
also try and reach the coast by swift boats. They are already standing by in
Lebanon.
2nd Battalion:
This unit is assigned to capture the northern Israeli town of Shlomi, 300 meters
southeast of the Naqura border pass and home to 6,500 inhabitants. Holding this
town and its environs will give Hizballah control of a key road hub and stand in
the path of Israeli reinforcements heading for Nahariya through routes 89 and
899 from key Israeli bases in the Galilee and Upper Galilee regions to the east.
3rd Battalion:
Driving further south than any other Hizballah unit, this battalion must reach
the three Israeli-Arab villages of B'ina, Deir al-Asad and Majd el-Krum, which
are located north of the town of Carmiel and alongside Israel's Route 85 which
connects Acre on the Mediterranean with Safad in the central Galilee mountains.
Iranian war planners want Hizballah to control the three Israeli-Arab locations
for two advantages:
One: As a commanding position for stirring up the disaffected Israeli-Arab
villages and towns of Lower Galilee and Wadi Ara to the south into a full-blown
uprising. The incoming combat force will be backed up by clandestine Hizballah
cells which for some years have established, armed and funded the underground
"Galilee Liberation Battalions” in Sakhnin, Araba and Deir Hana, by means of
drug smugglers.
Hizballah's West Bank cells have been active for some time in the Wadi Ara
region, through which National Route 65 connects central Israel to the North.
Two: To gain fire control of Acre-Safed Route 85 from positions in occupied Arab
villages and so have a shield ready for the Hizballah units holding Nahariya and
Shlomi, and seriously impede the passage of Israeli forces from bases in the
center of the country to relieve these northern towns. The Israeli Air Force
will be constrained from attacking the areas held by Hizballah by the presence
of large civilian populations.
4th Battalion:
This battalion will push southeast into the Kadesh Valley, on the rim of which
the Makia and Yiftah kibbutzim and Makia moshav are clustered. Capture of these
locations would afford Hizballah fire coverage of Israel's northernmost Galilee
Panhandle.
5th Battalion: Hizballah's Strategic Reserve.
Rocket attacks from Lebanon will focus on disabling Israel's strategic military
sites, such as air force bases, missile bases, its nuclear facilities and naval
bases. Targeting Israeli population centers is a lower Iranian priority.
Syria's initial involvement will be limited to cover by artillery or air for
Hizballah operations. But if the fighting escalates or drags on, Hizballah will
invite Syrian back-up forces to go into Lebanon; Damascus will open Front No. 4
against Israel from the Syrian side of the Golan Heights.
The Tehran-Hizballah war strategy is all but ready for any contingency. The
obvious trigger would be an Israeli military operation against Iran's nuclear
facilities, but once all the elements are in place, they could be activated by
any other pretext conjured up in Tehran or Damascus.
In recent weeks, both Hizballah and its Syrian allies have mobilized their
forces while telling the Arab world that the Jewish state is about to attack
Lebanon.
Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah is straining at the leash to attack Israel
however the crisis over Iran's nuclear program turns out.
Sunday, January 17, he said: "I promise you, in view of all the threats you hear
today… that should a new war with the Zionists erupt, we [the Lebanese
resistance movement] will crush the enemy, come out victorious, and change the
face of the region.
"God willing, Israel, the occupation, hegemony, and arrogance are in the process
of disappearing!"
Nasrallah was not alone in anticipating a troubled year for the Middle East.
Lebanon in Race against Time before Arrival of New Storm, One Body Recovered off
Khaldeh
Naharnet/Rescue teams continued hunt Tuesday for bodies of the victims of an
Ethiopian plane that crashed into the Mediterranean sea killing 90 people as
Beirut was hanging onto hope that a submarine would arrive soon to help in
recovering the jet and the black boxes before another storm invades Lebanon.
The Boeing 737 that crashed last week south of Beirut is thought to be at least
1,500 meters beneath the sea.
On Tuesday, the body of a male was recovered from the Ethiopian plane crash site
off the coast of Khaldeh.
Families of the victims flocked Rafik Hariri state Hospital around midday to try
to identify the body. A Lebanese army officer said a vessel carrying a submarine
was on its way to help.
The plane crashed into the Mediterranean sea on Jan. 25 just minutes after
takeoff from Beirut in a fierce thunderstorm with all 90 people on board feared
dead.
Rescue teams have recovered 14 bodies as well as a few body parts and pieces of
the plane. Chances, however, of finding survivors has dwindled. The aircraft's
main body and the two black boxes have not been found.
U.S. Navy ship the USS Ramage has picked up signals from the flight recorders at
a depth of 1,300 meters.
While the army official said he does not know when the vessels will arrive,
Transportation and Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi said the submarine has left
and should be in Lebanese waters in the "next few days."
The government has formally asked the U.S.-based Odyssey Marine Explorations to
send a submarine to help in recovering the plane and the black boxes.
The civilian ship, Ocean Alert, has also been searching Lebanese waters for the
plane's body and the flight recorders.
On Monday, an Iraqi man who died in the plane crash was buried in Beirut's
Rawdet al-Shahidain cemetery.
Akram Jassem Mohammed, 55, was buried next to his son and daughter who died in a
car accident in Beirut last year, an Iraqi diplomat said. Officials are
especially keen on knowing why the plane veered off course after takeoff, but
have ruled out sabotage
Ethiopian Airlines spokesperson Wogayehu Tefere said the pilot was experienced
and had been with the company for 20 years.
The probe into the disaster includes French and U.S. experts, among them a
technical advisor from Boeing. Beirut, 02 Feb 10, 08:08
Cassese Prepares for Public Trial, Considers Appointment of Liaison Judge
Naharnet/Special Tribunal for Lebanon President Antonio Cassese's visit to
Beirut is reportedly aimed at assuring both Lebanese officials and the public
that the trial will take place to prosecute the killers of former Prime Minister
Rafik Hariri. Al-Mustaqbal newspaper, which carried the report, said Tuesday
Cassese's visit also intended to stress that the STL was ready for an open trial
soon as Prosecutor General Daniel Bellemare issues his charge sheet against
those involved in Hariri's assassination and related crimes.
It cited a well-informed Lebanese official source as saying that Cassese's trip
also came to emphasize that the international tribunal "is not subject to
political pressure and will not succumb to any blackmail."The daily As-Safir,
meanwhile, said Cassese has discussed with Lebanese officials the issue of
assigning a liaison judge to serve as a link between the STL in The Hague and
Lebanese authorities. It said Cassese is likely to appoint a Lebanese judge for
that post. Beirut, 02 Feb 10, 10:09
Hariri-Jumblat Deal with Differences
Naharnet/Druze leader Walid Jumblat's absence from Sunday's meeting of the March
14 coalition did not prevent Prime Minister Saad Hariri from staying in touch
with the Progressive Socialist Party chief. Hariri and Jumblat met Monday at
Center House in the presence of Transportation Minister Ghazi Aridi.
News reports on Tuesday said the two leaders exchanged points of view on a
number of internal issues which stirred controversy between them.
While Jumblat had announced on more than one occasion that his withdrawal from
March 14 forces does not mean giving up his alliance with Hariri, his latest
stances has shown disparity between them. Observers, quoted Tuesday by Pan-Arab
daily Al-Hayat, described as a "silent crisis" the Hariri-Jumblat dispute.
Al-Hayat raised fear that the dispute could spiral out of control if the two men
fail to reach an agreement anytime soon, particularly in light of the ongoing
bickering between Hariri and ministers from Jumblat's Democratic Gathering bloc
during recent Cabinet meetings. It quoted sources as saying that an agreement
between Hariri and Jumblat that they would not abandon each other has collapsed
since the two leaders failed to agree on political issues that are supposed to
be subject of convergence between them. Al-Hayat said circles close to Hariri
and Jumblat led them to infer that the gap has dramatically widened between the
prime minister and Jumblat. They believed that bridging the gap requires an
agreement on the main political guidelines so as to reach deal on an extended
truce. Beirut, 02 Feb 10, 09:11
'Proportional Representation' Dispute Reveals Divide among Cabinet
Naharnet/No breakthrough has been reached during a Cabinet meeting regarding
reforms on municipal electoral law that had been initiated by Interior Minister
Ziad Baroud.
Opinions were divided regarding proportional representation, ministerial sources
told the daily An-Nahar. It said several Cabinet ministers demanded proportional
representation that would cover entire Lebanon and not just the 16
municipalities comprising 21members as determined by Baroud in his proposal.
Other ministers, according to the sources, believed proportional representation
was a "complicated" issue and not easily applicable. An-Nahar said some
ministers also raised technical questions about proportional representation
which reflected skepticism over the possibility of its implementation. Beirut,
02 Feb 10, 11:09
French Engineer Commits Suicide in Hamra
Naharnet/A French citizen has died after he threw himself off a balcony on the
18th floor of the landmark Gefinor building on Beirut's main Hamra street.
Preliminary reports showed that the Frenchman worked as an engineer at Oger
Liban. He left a suicide note behind saying that he was fed up of life. Beirut,
02 Feb 10, 08:38
Hoss to Qabbani: Clear Your Name or Resign
Naharner/Former Prime Minster Salim Hoss slammed Grand Mufti Mohammad Rashid
Qabbani on Monday over corruption allegations in the highest Sunni authority Dar
al-Fatwa.
In a letter sent to Qabbani, Hoss asked the Grand Mufti either to respond to the
allegations and clear his name or to step down in order to prevent the rumors
from tarnishing the Sunni sect's reputation. Media reports had said that Qabbani
used the name of Dar al-Fatwa to embezzle thousands of dollars. "Keeping quiet
about this issue for so long proves that the accusations are true," the former
premier said in the letter. Hoss said Qabbani should file a slander lawsuit
against his offenders in order to regain the people's trust. "Clear your name or
leave in peace." "I am afraid that a decision to remain in your post, which you
are no longer worthy of, would be a cause for sectarian strife within the ranks
of your confession," the ex-prime minister told Qabbani. Beirut, 02 Feb 10,
08:43
Fraudster imam transferred to Bekaa prosecutor
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
BEIRUT: State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza transferred on Monday Majdel Anjar Imam
Sheikh Mohammad Abdel-Fatah al-Majzoub, who staged his own abduction, and his
accomplice Kamal Ali Handouss to the Bekaa prosecutor’s office. The two were
taken into custody on charges of false abduction and inciting sectarian
tensions. Majzoub’s shaving machine and laptop, in addition to other items, were
kept as evidence. The Sunni Sheikh staged his own kidnapping allegedly in a
desperate bid to secure a ransom and repay debts.
But police found Majzoub, who is in his 20s, in a house near Majdel Anjar last
week, with his beard and hair shaven off but otherwise unharmed. The cleric’s
neighbors told the media that the young sheikh had been having financial
troubles and in debt. His “kidnapping” had prompted a major search operation in
the eastern Bekaa where sectarian relations between Sunni and Shiite Muslims are
tense Urging residents to remain calm, MPs and officials had met with the
Lebanon’s grand mufti and called on the police to find the sheikh immediately to
preserve “civil peace.” The sheikh was now being grilled by investigators, said
the security official. On Monday, former Premier Fouad Saniora said Majzoub’s
case was being handled by the judiciary. He added that the case “could have had
severe repercussions on civil peace.” – The Daily Star
Foreign Ministry: Israel main threat to UNSCR 1701
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
BEIRUT: The main challenge to implementing Resolution 1701 comes from Israel’s
constant violations, said the media office of the Lebanese Foreign Affairs
Ministry on Monday. The office was responding to claims of a weak implementation
of the resolution made by US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern
Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman. “We don’t find any seriousness in implementing this
resolution in south Lebanon and this is frankly worrying,” Feltman had said in
an interview published by the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat on Sunday. He had also
referred to Lebanese violations and to weapons reaching the south and Hizbullah.
However, the media office said that the main threat to the resolution came from
Israel, which has been constantly breaching Resolution 1701. “Israel has
committed over 6,000 violations since 2006, the latest of which was the
abduction of Mohammad Zahra from Lebanese territories on Sunday,” the office
said. It added that Israel has not yet withdrawn from Lebanon even 30 years
after the release of Resolution 425 on which Resolution 1701 was built.
Resolution 425 was issued in 1978, five days after Israel invaded south Lebanon,
and called for an immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces. Resolution 1701
reiterated the need for Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territories after the
war in 2006. “Why doesn’t Mr. Feltman point his finger at Israel in order to
reveal the reasons of not implementing Resolution 1701?” asked the office. It
added that by accusing Lebanon of holding back the implementation of the
resolution, Feltman and other officials who expressed their relief when Lebanon
had formed its national unity Cabinet were contradicting themselves. “They
forgot that the policy statement mentioned Lebanon’s right to defend itself
against any aggression as well as its right to liberate its land by any legal
means possible.” – The /Daily Star
Gorbachev holds talks with Lebanon's top three leaders during Beirut visit
Daily Star staff/Tuesday, February 02, 2010
BEIRUT: Former President of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)
Mikhail Gorbachev arrived in Beirut on Monday and met with Lebanon’s three top
officials. Speaking to reporters following a meeting with President Michel
Sleiman at the Baabda Palace, Gorbachev saluted the current state of stability
prevailing in the country. The former USSR president described Lebanon as a
complicated country and praised measures taken to preserve Lebanon’s stability.
Gorbachev stressed “the importance of the role played by Russia in the new world
order,” adding that small nations “can also play a role and participate
considerably in international politics.” Gorbashev also held talks on Monday
with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Gorbachev is
due to deliver a lecture on Tuesday at the Mzaar Intercontinental resort in
Oyoun al-Siman as part of the MENA Cristal Festival. His lecture is titled
“Bringing down the walls between the present and the future.” Gorbachev was the
second-to-last general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union,
serving from 1985 until 1991, and the last head of state of the USSR, serving
from 1988 until its collapse in 1991. Following his resignation and the collapse
of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev remained active in Russian politics. In September
2008 Gorbachev announced he would make a comeback to the Russian politics. His
party is known as the Independent Democratic Party of Russia. Gorbachev is also
the founder of Green Cross International; an environmental organization. Green
Cross International’s mission is “to help ensure a just, sustainable and secure
future for all by fostering a value shift and cultivating a new sense of global
interdependence and shared responsibility in humanity’s relationship with
nature.” The organization publishes a newsletter and also came out with a
publication entitled “Antarctica: the Global Warning.” Thirty-one countries have
established Green Cross National organizations which are part of Green Cross
International. – The Daily Star
Cabinet again fails to agree on key reforms to electoral law
Ministers to hold final session on proposed changes on Thursday
By Nafez Qawas /Daily Star correspondent
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
BEIRUT: The government once again failed on Monday to reach an agreement on
reforms presented by Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud related to the municipal
electoral law. Ministers gathered at the Baabda Presidential Palace seem to have
only agreed to schedule yet another session on Thursday at the Baabda Palace to
pursue discussions on reforms. The Cabinet will also convene on Wednesday at the
Grand Serail with regular items on its agenda. However, Information Minister
Tarek Mitri expressed hope that Thursday’s meeting would be the last one to
discuss electoral law reforms. “It is imperative that democratic discussion
reaches an end,” he said.
Mitri also reiterated the Cabinet’s commitment to holding the elections on time.
The minister said both President Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister Rafik Hariri
were keen on giving the debate on electoral reforms “ample time.” “The president
and the prime minister believe in the need to discuss reforms because reforms in
the municipal electoral law herald larger reforms in the parliamentary electoral
law,” Mitri said. The discussions concerning the municipal electoral law center
on three main proposed reforms: the lowering of the voting age to 18, the
division of districts and the adoption of proportional representation.
Mitri told reporters that Monday’s session was mostly dedicated to discussing
the adoption of proportional representation in counting votes. He added that the
matter needed further deliberations. Mitri said that while certain ministers
pushed for the adoption of proportional representation in the next municipal
elections, “others saw that such a format was more appropriate for parliamentary
elections.” Mitri said another proposal being examined was to allow for
proportional representation in certain districts but not in others.
“The ministers agreed that this issue needed further deliberations this is why
we will hold another session,” Mitri said.
In a session on Friday Cabinet approved the adoption of a 20 percent quota for
women, but dismissed a reform related to electing the mayor and his deputy
directly by voters.
The Cabinet also rejected a proposal by Baroud requiring candidates running for
the post of mayor to hold a bachelor degree and those running for the mukhtar
post to hold a Lebanese baccalaureate. Also Monday, the Cabinet meeting
discussed the latest on the search operation attempting to salvage the black box
and wreckage of the Ethiopian Airlines plane which crashed into the sea off the
coast of Lebanon.
Mitri told reporters that President Sleiman reiterated Lebanon’s commitment to
intensifying searches in order to answer the questions concerning the crash.
Meanwhile, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt lashed out at
sectarianism, saying it was the main obstacle in the face of true and effective
reforms. “We witnessed a sectarian uproar at the mere suggestion of the
establishment of a committee to discuss the abolishment of political
sectarianism,” Jumblatt wrote in his weekly editorial in his party’s magazine
Al-Anbaa. Speaker Nabih Berri’s proposal to form a committee tasked with
abolishing political sectarianism sparked a heated debate on the political
scene, mainly from Christian parties of both the opposition and the
parliamentary majority. Jumblatt said that past reform experiences had also
failed in the presence of religious privileges. He mentioned the civil marriage
issue – a reform proposal that he said also failed as a result of powerful
religious influence. “What about lowering the voting age?” Jumblatt asked.
“Doesn’t it give the right to an even bigger portion of the Lebanese people to
voice their opinions in elections?” He also suggested the reinstatement of
mandatory military service. “The military service would give the Lebanese youth
a chance to mingle and unite in the face of political differences.”
Hariri follows up on demarcation of Syria border
Daily Star staff/Tuesday, February 02, 2010
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Saad Hariri met with the committee charged of demarcating
the border with Syria from the Lebanese side on Monday and with an array of
local and international political figures. Hariri met with the committee in the
presence of Defense Minister Elias Murr, Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud, Foreign
Affairs Minsiter Ali Shami, Finance Minister Raya al-Hassan, Internal Security
forces Director General Ashraf Rifi and several political and military figures.
He also met with MPs Marwan Hamadeh and Solenge Gemayel, and with the head of
the Beirut Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture Ghazi Qraytem. Hariri
then contacted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and congratulated him on his
country’s soccer team winning the Africa Cup of Nations. He also received a call
from his Belgian counterpart Yves Leterme who offered his condolences for the
victims of the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash. – The Daily Star
Plane crash search team to get help from submarines
Daily Star staff
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
BEIRUT: The search operation attempting to salvage the black box and wreckage of
the Ethiopian Airlines plane which crashed into the sea off the coast of Lebanon
is enlisting the help of submarines, the Army said on Monday. The team of
salvage experts, bolstered by international and UN support, is awaiting the
arrival of the US ship Odyssey Explorer and its submarine Zeus I which will scan
the seabed close to Beirut. Transportation Minister Ghazi Aridi said the
“submarine has left and should be here in the next few days.” A well-placed
security source told The Daily Star that the area from the crash site in Naame
to Khalde, approximately 10 kilometers south of Rafik Hariri International
Airport was scanned, and search vessels were dispatched to the sea floor. Flight
ET409 exploded into flames and plunged into the eastern Mediterranean on January
25 minutes after taking off from Beirut in a violent thunderstorm. All 90 people
on board are presumed dead.
The cause of the crash remains a mystery, with Lebanese and Ethiopian officials
ruling out terrorism. The adverse weather into which the plane flew remains the
most plausible explanation for the disaster. The plane’s flight recorders were
located Wednesday, after search vessels picked up signals from black boxes.
However, they are thought to be at a depth of up to 1,500 meters, making manual
retrieval impossible. Their location is approximately 10 kilometers offshore
from Manara, the Army has said.
So far 14 bodies have been pulled from the water, as well as parts of several
other corpses. Those identified through DNA testing have been returned to their
families and buried.
On Monday, the body of Iraqi victim Jassem Mohammad, 55, was handed to family
members and buried south of Beirut.
The Associated Press, quoting an unnamed Iraqi diplomat, reported that Mohammad
was buried along with his son and daughter in a Shiite cemetery.
The local daily As-Safir said the Internal Security Forces’ delegation of
physicians, who were dispatched to Addis Ababa to collect DNA samples from
relatives of Ethiopian passengers arrived back in Beirut at midnight on Sunday.
So far five bodies retrieved have been identified as Ethiopian – four women and
one man – according to the newspaper.
It quoted a spokesperson for Ethiopian Airlines, Yanini Piklais, who said that
blood samples had been taken from families of the 30 Ethiopian nationals – 23
passengers and seven crew, including the pilot – who were on board the flight.
He added that teams of French and US investigators, aided by a delegation from
the airline, had begun inquiries into the cause of the crash. Information being
sought by investigators includes the time of departure, weather conditions
during takeoff and the nature of the air traffic control permission given to the
pilot minutes before the jet disappeared off radar screens, As-Safir reported. –
The Daily Star, with AP
Study finds gaps in HIV, reproductive health services
Daily Star staff/Tuesday, February 02, 2010
BEIRUT: There are no unified sexual and reproductive health and HIV services in
Lebanese clinics, a new study has found. The study, conducted by the Hariri
School of Nursing at the American University of Beirut (AUB) and supported by
the United Nations Population Fund, the Health Ministry, and the National AIDS
Control Program, was conducted in an attempt to understand if there were any
ties between sexual and reproductive health and HIV services in Lebanon.
But the results have shown no such links exist between the clinics. “These
results did not surprise us,” said Nuhad Dumit, assistant professor at AUB’s
School of Nursing. “We expected as much but just needed to document the
situation in Lebanon.”
During the study, face to face interviews were done with supervisors, service
providers and clients from a sample of 28 HIV and 30 sexual and reproductive
health centers. In earlier phases of the study, interviews were done with
related stakeholders, and a full review of all policies and guidelines related
to sexual and reproductive health and HIV services was undertaken.
Results show that a very low number (39 percent) of supervisors reported
providing unified SRH and HIV services, and more than half (52 percent) reported
no linkages whatsoever at the service level. Some 98 percent of supervisors
expressed the desire to be trained on how to form such linkages, however.
Almost half (47.5 percent) of providers of sexual and reproductive health
providers reported no linkages with HIV services, and only 13 percent of HIV
providers reported linkages with SRH services. According to the study, a
possible reason for this discrepancy is that providers are in closer contact
with the services.
The majority of clients (67 percent) expressed a desire to receive HIV and
sexual and reproductive health services from the same facility, but a minority
(41.3 percent) said they want to receive these services from the same provider.
Reasons listed for this included the fear of HIV transmission from other
patients and fear of the stigma and discrimination that could arise from
visiting an HIV health care provider.
The study’s main two recommendations for the creation of combined sexual and
reproductive health and HIV services including advocating for linkages at a
policy level, and the need to develop a mechanism for implementing these
linkages, such as manuals, tools and guidelines. Dumit said she was hopeful for
the future: “As health care professionals and health authorities, there is a lot
of work to be done regarding the quality of services related to sexual and
reproductive health and HIV, and a lot of educating and awareness of the public
to reduce fear of HIV, stigma and discrimination.”
The results were shared with stakeholders in January at AUB. Among those present
were Dr. Nader Nakib from the National Aids Control Program, Dr. Mohammad Kanaan
from the Health Ministry, Nada Naja Aghar, representative of UNFPA’s Asma
Kordahi, and Joumana al-Kadi Jurdi, representing Social Affairs Minister Salim
Sayegh. – The Daily Star
Hoss tells Qabbani to clear name or step down
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Salim Hoss told Grand Mufti Mohammad Rashid
Qabbani on Monday either to respond to corruption allegations or to step down
from his position. Hoss sent Qabbani a letter in which he asked that the mufti
clear his name or resign to prevent from tarnishing the name of the Sunni sect.
“Keeping quiet about this issue for so long proves that the accusations are
true,” he said. Hoss added that Qabbani should file a slander lawsuit against
his offenders in order to regain the people’s trust. “Clear your name or leave
in peace,” he said in his letter, adding that he feared a sectarian conflict if
Qabbani did face the accusations. Media reports circulated in late 2009 that
Qabbani used the name of Lebanon’s highest Sunni authority Dar al-Fatwa to
embezzle thousands of dollars. – The Daily Star
Iran's countdown to February 11
By The Daily Star /Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Editorial
The bells and horns that sounded throughout Iran on Monday were ostensibly a
celebration of the 31st anniversary of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s return to
the country, which generated one of the most important sparks for the Iranian
Revolution, if not the most important one. Back then, the momentum for the fall
of the shah had a lot to do with the rhythm of opportunities and events for
massing in public. The regime’s various opponents could suddenly turn a seven-
or forty-day commemoration of the death of a comrade into a rally against the
shah; the same function was performed by Ashura and other religious occasions.
For the last six months, we’ve seen opponents of the regime, as well as the
regime itself, use such events and occasions to gather followers for a show of
force.
In practical terms, Monday’s aural commemoration of the return of Khomeini
signaled a countdown to another key date: February 11, when the fall of the
shah’s regime will be celebrated. In 2010, Iran might not be in a revolutionary
moment, but weighty developments have taken place and more of the same remains a
possibility. The tempo of political life in the Islamic Republic is certainly in
a state of flux. Against this backdrop, the country’s top judge is pledging that
he won’t cave in to political pressure and endorse the execution of more
anti-regime protestors, following the hanging of two people last week.
While the statement is naturally a positive sign, there remain the questions of
exactly what merited these death sentences, how they could be justified, and the
exact degree of “political motivation” behind these acts. More importantly, the
issue clearly indicates how intense the political situation in Iran is at
present. Another recent significant signal has come from opposition leaders
Mirhossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi, namely that their side, such as it is,
might be stepping back from the abyss of total confrontation. Thus, there are
signs that soberly-thought-out political calculations are afoot; the signs might
be flimsy, but they are there. Amid all this movement, Iran remains a place to
watch, although no one has a crystal ball to ascertain the country’s future
course. Sound and precise analysis is hard to come by, due to a general
opaqueness and the difficulty of identifying the complex layers of actors.
With the countdown to February 11 having begun, Iran is on the boil, with the
only question being how intense the flame is. When the fall of the shah is
celebrated, it will be “big news.” The event might be calm and uneventful, but
nonetheless significant. Or it might be dynamic, and possibly tragic, but
equally significant. A date pregnant with possibilities for Iran’s future
stability looms.
Hezbollah is not the IRA
Tony Badran, February 2, 2010
Now Lebanon/
Islamist groups have invited a whole set of analogies purportedly aimed at
better explaining them and how best to deal with them. One such analogy that has
gained currency in recent years is the oft-encountered comparison between
Islamist groups and the Irish Republican Army.
The point of the comparison is to show that as the IRA was purportedly co-opted
through dialogue, the same method can be applied to other armed organizations as
well. Hence, the argument runs, only such a peaceful process, and not military
coercion, will lead to any given group’s decision to abandon violence, and
ultimately to disarm and integrate into democratic politics. Of course,
forsaking violence is not a prerequisite for dialogue, and engagement is further
facilitated by a nifty conceit distinguishing a group’s “military wing” from its
ostensibly more moderate or pragmatic “political wing.” Indeed, the British are
currently pursuing this policy with Hezbollah – and going nowhere.
The argument has just been trotted out again in a rather fantastical and
factually handicapped piece by Steven Simon and Jonathan Stevenson on the
Foreign Affairs website.
The two authors get off to a sound start, noting a major difference between the
IRA and Hezbollah, namely the organic ties between the Party of God and Iran,
which have no parallel in the IRA. However, when they elide that inconvenient
fact and nonetheless claim that “the similarities between the two cases are no
less striking than the differences,” their argument goes off the tracks.
One “similarity,” they contend, is that both Hezbollah and the IRA have
“political wings.” But this is misleading, not least of all because Hezbollah
rejects and ridicules the proposition that it has a “political wing” separate
from a “military” one.
Even if everyone knew that the IRA and its political wing, Sinn Fein, were
separate only in name, Sinn Fein’s leaders still tried to deny any
organizational links or knowledge of IRA operations. But that’s not how
Hezbollah works. For instance, in an interview with the Los Angeles Times last
spring, Hezbollah’s deputy secretary general, Naim Qassem, dismissed the
supposed dichotomy outright. “All political, social and jihad work is tied to
the decisions of this leadership,” he said. “The same leadership that directs
the parliamentary and government work also leads jihad actions.”
In other words, far from being ready to “shift more decisively to the political
realm,” as Simon and Stevenson contend, Hezbollah sees involvement in politics
as serving its broader, regional, agenda: “resistance.”
It’s bad enough to misunderstand Hezbollah, but to make the case that engagement
in peaceful dialogue is what leads to moderation and disarmament is to distort
the historical record regarding the IRA as well. The British did not bring the
IRA “in from the cold” through peaceful talks with its “political wing.” Rather
they forced them to the table after infiltrating their ranks and cultivating
informers even in the top echelons of the movement. Information from these
informers was secretly passed to Loyalist paramilitary forces who used it to
target IRA members extra-judicially.
In the end, the IRA was cornered, unable to force a British withdrawal, and,
worse, unable to even protect its community from Loyalist gangs. It was not the
Brits but the IRA that initiated talks when its armed struggle had reached a
stalemate.
This is hardly where Hezbollah sees itself today, neither ideologically nor
operationally. Instead of finding itself cornered by its local rivals, Hezbollah
has used its weapons to extract powerful political concessions, neutralize the
unfavorable result of democratic elections, and impose its priorities on its
adversaries and the Lebanese government.
Why is Simon and Stevenson’s article riddled with so many errors and
misconceptions? Because they assume an affirmative response to a key question
that they never bother tackling: Does Hezbollah want to disarm? Without
addressing this question convincingly, further misconceptions are inevitable,
like the authors’ proposition, unsupported by any evidence, that Hezbollah is
trying to distance itself from Iran, whose Ruling Jurist (Wali al-Faqih), as
Hezbollah itself declares, has final say over all important decisions. The
proper answer of course is that Hezbollah does not want to disarm since it makes
no sense for it to do so, neither from a pragmatic perspective nor an
ideological one.
The issue here is not sloppiness, but a chronic ailment afflicting Western
writing on the Middle East, as what appears to be analysis is often something
else entirely. Simon (who was recently in Lebanon at the invitation of the New
Opinion Group) and Stevenson are not writing about Hezbollah or Lebanon, but
Washington.
In 2003 the two co-wrote an essay arguing that the example of Northern Ireland
was “a strong argument” against adopting a “lenient” policy with Hamas, so why
do they now argue that such treatment will work with Hezbollah? Perhaps it is
because there are figures in the Obama administration who are sympathetic to a
policy of engagement with Hezbollah, like the NSC staff’s counterterrorism czar,
John Brennan, who has publically implied an acceptance of the “political vs.
military wing” dichotomy in Hezbollah, claiming that the “political wing”
allegedly denounces the violence of the “military.”
Thankfully, when it comes to Hezbollah, as evident from the State Department’s
quick rejection of Brennan’s views, there is more sobriety in Washington than in
the poor Foreign Affairs article, or in the British Foreign Office for that
matter.
**Tony Badran is a research fellow with the Center for Terrorism Research at the
Foundation for Defense of Democracies.