LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِMay
07/2010
Bible Of the
Day
Matthew 5:21 “You have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, ‘You shall
not murder;’ and ‘Whoever shall murder shall be in danger of the judgment.’ 5:22
But I tell you, that everyone who is angry with his brother without a cause
shall be in danger of the judgment; and whoever shall say to his brother, ‘Raca!’
shall be in danger of the council; and whoever shall say, ‘You fool!’ shall be
in danger of the fire of Gehenna. 5:23 “If therefore you are offering your gift
at the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you,
5:24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be
reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. 5:25 Agree with
your adversary quickly, while you are with him in the way; lest perhaps the
prosecutor deliver you to the judge, and the judge deliver you to the officer,
and you be cast into prison. 5:26 Most certainly I tell you, you shall by no
means get out of there, until you have paid the last penny.
Free Opinions, Releases, letters, Interviews & Special Reports
When will he (Aoun) stop
moaning?/Now Lebanon/May 6, 2010
Netanyahu's hump/Ha'aretz/May
06/10
Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for May 06/10
Israel Prepares for Possibility of Summer War with
Lebanon/AHN
Biden says Iran faces increased
isolation over nuclear program/Now Lebanon
Geagea: There is no Sunni
opposition in Beirut/Now
Lebanon
Mubarak challenges Egyptian
opposition; warns against chaos/Now
Lebanon
Maalouf accuses former General
Security chief of politicizing municipal elections/Now
Lebanon
Syria: Israel would never declare war without US
permission/Ha'aretz
IAF official: Israel's anti-missile systems are
insufficient/Ha'aretz
Are Lebanon and Israel Headed for Another War?/Newsweek
(blog)
Hizbullah received hundreds
of Syrian missiles/Jerusalem Post
Syria says US sanctions on Damascus fuel hostility/The
Associated Press
Hizbullah to boycott Beirut polls to avoid sectarian tensions/Daily
Star
US among
major powers backing Mideast nuclear-weapons ban/Daily
Star
WTO
members agree to hold membership talks with Syria/Daily
Star
International deals must pass through Foreign Ministry - Shami/Daily
Star
Lebanon
presides over first UN Security Council session/Daily
Star
UNIFIL:
No proof that Syria sent Scuds to Hizbullah/AFP
Lynched Egyptian had history of 'unbalanced' behavior/Daily
Star
Mitri launches Lebanese press
freedom report/Daily
Star
Commemorating 1,140 press martyrs/Daily
Star
Why not talk to terrorists?/Washington
Post (blog)
Hariri Holds Talks with Sudanese President Advisor/Naharnet
Jumblat: My Dad Took Me to
Visit King Faisal in 1972 and Today I Took Taymour to Meet with King Abdullah/Naharnet
Egypt Buries Ketermaya
Killer Amid Anger and Condemnations/Naharnet
Lebanese Expelled from UAE
Hold a Protest, Embassy Rejects their Demands/Naharnet
Taanayel, Mraijat
Municipal Elections Postponed/Naharnet
Suleiman Urges Political
Parties to Acknowledge Election Outcomes/Naharnet
Beirut Elections: Sunni
Opposition Seeking Penetration of Municipal Elections/Naharnet
Hizbullah to Boycott
Beirut Elections, Will Take Part in Election of Mayors/Naharnet
Geagea Calls on Aoun to
Admit Defeat besides Victory: He Wants a Mayoral Battle in Beirut, So Be It/Naharnet
Report Blames Pilot Error
in Ethiopian Plane Crash/Naharnet
Israel
Prepares for Possibility of Summer War with Lebanon
The Media Line Staff
Tel Aviv, Israel (TML) - Emerging from a briefing earlier this week with top
Israeli intelligence officers, one Israeli lawmaker quipped, “If you have a bomb
shelter, clean it out now.”
This warning came amid reports of the potential for summer war breaking out
between Israel and Lebanon, spilling over into Syria. Leaders on all sides have
tried to calm these fears, but they persist. This could be because intelligence
is being leaked that Hizbullah in Lebanon has obtained larger and more precise
rockets from Syria and Iran that put most of the Israeli population in its
reach. In addition, the redistribution to all Israeli citizens of kits to
protect them against chemical and biological attacks by Israeli army Home Front
Command has done little to calm fears that a conflagration is nigh.
Col. Yossi Sagiv, who is responsible for the Home Front Command’s protective
kits distribution program, said the timing was coincidental.
“We had originally planned to start this in January 2009, but it was delayed
until now due to budgetary reasons, that’s all,” Sagiv told The Media Line.
Under the new plan Israelis are now ordering their newly designed gas masks from
the post office and an employee will deliver them straight to their door. For
decades Israel has equipped its citizens with kits to protect them from gas and
germ warfare. But it collected the old ones in 2007.
Since it started redistribution four weeks ago, about 4 percent of the
population has already renewed their kits, Sagiv said.
“We expect about 60 percent of the population to replace their kits within two
years, with the remaining 40 percent being apathetic and waiting for an
emergency,” he said.
“Still, if there is an emergency situation then we are capable of implementing
our plans that involve reserve units that can quickly distribute the protective
kits where they are needed,” Sagiv added.
Sagiv spoke to The Media Line amid revelations that the Home Front has been
quietly and steadily revamping its civil defense preparations to give the
Israeli rear better protection than it did when it came under Hamas rocket
attacks last year and Hizbullah strikes in 2006.
“For the last 62 years we couldn’t sleep even one night with both eyes shut,”
said Zeev Bielski, a legislator from the centrist Kadima Party, as he emerged
from the intelligence briefing with a long face.
“Since the last war [in 2006] Hizbullah has received four times [the] amount of
weapons they had then thanks to its cooperation with Syria. Iran, Syria and the
Hizbullah have brought about a situation where a terror organization like the
Hizbullah can ignite the whole Middle East,” Bielski told The Media Line.
Briefing the legislators was Brig. Gen. Yossi Baidatz, the Israeli army’s chief
intelligence assessment officer. He told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense
Committee this week that Syria had transferred larger and more sophisticated
surface-to-surface missiles, including about 200 M600 rockets that can carry a
half-ton warhead, much more powerful than the Katyushas Hizbullah fired in 2006.
Israeli intelligence claims Hizbullah now has more than 40,000 rockets and
missiles of various calibers. Baidatz said the arms transfers were the “tip of
the iceberg.”
In this volatile region, summer has historically been a season for wars,
particularly if initiated by Israel, such as the 1967 Six Days War, and the
First and Second Lebanon Wars. While dry ground favored Israel because it gave
its strong tank forces better maneuverability and clear skies for the air
forces, conflicts were often sparked by a strategic miscalculation.
“There is a process by which Hizbullah and Syria have been rearming in a serious
way and there is a potential, regardless of the weather, of Hizbullah making a
miscalculation. If they did, Israel would use the opportunity to redress the
stockpiles in a very serious way,” said Hirsh Goodman, a senior fellow at the
Institute for National Security Studies.
“Israel is not going to take drop-by-drop torture anymore. The possibility of a
real classical war is zero, but there is a slight potential for a major flare up
based on a miscalculation by some side,” Goodman told The Media Line.
Maj. Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror, a former member of the IDF general staff and
military attaché to defense ministers, told The Media Line that the top echelon
of the army today was itching for a fight with Hizbullah.
“Some Israelis believe we did not settle accounts with Hizbullah. I know some
people who are personally waiting for this opportunity,” Amidror said.
Geagea Calls on Aoun to Admit
Defeat besides Victory: He Wants a Mayoral Battle in Beirut, So Be It
Naharnet/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea on Wednesday stressed readiness for
the municipal elections in Beirut.
Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel "Aoun wants a mayoral battle in Beirut,
so be it, he also wanted it a municipal battle in Jbeil, Bejjeh, al-Aqoura,
Qartaba, Zouk, Hrajel, Sin al-Fil, Hazmieh and Deir al-Qamar, but the general
says that he doesn't know who lost in Hadath … we and our allies are the ones
who lost in Hadath, but also we and our allies won in Jbeil, Bejjeh, al-Aqoura,
Qartaba, Zouk, Hrajel, Sin al-Fil, Hazmieh and Deir al-Qamar," Geagea said. "The
worst thing in the world is when one recognizes his victory where he wins and
doesn't recognize his defeat where he loses, we admit that we lost in Hadath,
but others are not acknowledging their defeat in every other place," Geagea
said, addressing Aoun.
"Aoun refused to negotiate with us in the past few weeks, in an attempt by us to
reach an agreement on the Christian seats in Beirut Municipality, and in a new
attempt by him to isolate and eliminate us … and things ended up in Aoun
isolating himself, along with his dear ally (Hizbullah), from Beirut municipal
polls," Geagea added.
"What's more, my dear general, is that we have a new engagement: a democratic,
loving, peaceful, and civilized one, on Sunday, May 9 in the streets,
neighborhoods and alleys of Ashrafieh, Rmeil, Saifi and other areas of Beirut,
maybe this time you acknowledge what you have rejected to acknowledge after
Mount Lebanon polls." Beirut, 05 May 10, 21:55
Hizbullah received hundreds of Syrian missiles
By YAAKOV LAPPIN AND REBECCA ANNA STOIL
05/05/2010 22:59 /Baidatz: Recent transfers are only the tip of the iceberg
Hizbullah has received hundreds of advanced surface-to-surface missiles from
Syria that are capable of targeting Tel Aviv and causing extensive damage to
Israel in the event of a future war with the Iranian-backed Shi’ite guerrilla
groups, it was recently revealed. Meanwhile, Brig.-Gen. Yossi Baidatz, head of
Military Intelligence’s Research Division, told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs
and Defense Committee on Tuesday that Syria was unquestionably transferring
long-range rockets to Hizbullah, and that the recent reported transfers were
just “the tip of the iceberg.” The Syrian-made surface-to-surface missile,
called the M600, is based on a solid propellant and is a clone of an Iranian
missile called the Fateh-110. The M600 has a range of 250 km., carries a 500-kg.
conventional warhead and is equipped with a sophisticated navigation system,
giving Hizbullah accuracy it did not have until now.
Israel believes Hizbullah has obtained hundreds of M600 missiles, which pose a
direct threat to Israeli population centers. While the Scud missiles that were
recently transferred from Syria to Lebanon have a greater range, the M600 – due
to the number of missiles Hizbullah has, and their accuracy – is perceived to be
a more severe threat for the IDF.
Hizbullah is likely storing the M600 missiles in homes in central and northern
Lebanon like the Iranian-made Zelzal and Fajr missiles, which were also stored
in homes and were destroyed by the IAF on the first night of the Second Lebanon
War in 2006. Since the war ended, Hizbullah is believed to have accumulated an
arsenal of over 40,000 rockets and missiles. Alongside the Scuds, the M600 is
the most advanced missile in Hizbullah’s arsenal.
On Tuesday, Baidatz told the Knesset committee, as part of his regular briefing,
that “Syria has a very respectable part in the increase in force of Hizbullah’s
rocket arsenal.”
Baidatz said that despite Syrian denials, there had been transfers of
long-distance rockets from Syria to Hizbullah, describing the recent transfer as
“merely the tip of the iceberg.”
“Transfer of weaponry to Hizbullah is done regularly from Syria and is organized
by the Syrian and Iranian regimes, and thus we should not call it weapons
smuggling to Lebanon, but rather organized, real transfer.”He added that
Hizbullah currently had “an arsenal of thousands of rockets of all different
types that use solid fuel and have a longer range and better accuracy.”
Unlike during the Second Lebanon War, Baidatz warned, Hizbullah will now be able
to place the rocket launchers deep within Lebanese territories and yet reach
deeper than ever into Israel. In addition to the rockets, Baidatz said,
Hizbullah has placed thousands of trained combatants in hundreds of villages
south of the Litani River in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701,
drafted in the aftermath of the Second Lebanon War.“Hizbullah of 2006 is
different from the 2010 model in terms of military capability, in which it has
greatly improved,” Baidatz emphasized. Meanwhile, Hizbullah deputy head Naim
Kassem said the group reserved the right to rearm. Speaking to Hizbullah’s Al-Manar
television, Kassem added that the “land is our land, and no country in the world
can restrict our arsenal.” However, he ruled out the possibility of a war with
Israel being on the horizon, citing what he called Israel’s lack of logistical
preparation and its internal issues. “The hand of Hizbullah is on the safety
catch, and Israel is well aware of what awaits it,” he warned. Despite the ties
to Iran and support of Hizbullah, Baidatz said he believed Syria was honest in
its desire to reach agreements with Israel. **Jerusalem Post staff contributed
to this report.
Lebanon presides over first UN Security Council session
By The Daily Star /Thursday, May 06, 2010
BEIRUT: Lebanon presided over its first UN Security Council session on Wednesday
after it was appointed at the head of the council for one month for the first
time in 50 years.
Lebanon’s permanent envoy at the Security Council and current president of the
council Ambassador Nawwaf Salam presided over the closed meeting in the presence
of 15 state members and of UN chief Ban Ki-moon. The meeting tackled relations
between the European Union (EU) and the United States and was attended by EU
High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catharine Ashton. Salam gave a speech in
which he praised the work of regional bodies and said it was complementary to
the work of the UN. He referred to the UN charter which dedicated its eighth
chapter for such organizations. “We can note today the obvious presence of
geographical blocs and of some regional bodies, including the EU. They have been
able to confirm their role as an effective partner for the UN though their
activities, especially peace keeping,” he said. Salam encouraged cooperation
between various regional bodies, especially between the EU the African Union and
the Arab League, in the aim of exchanging information and expertise. He said
regional bodies could play a significant role before, during and after a
conflict. He explained that before a conflict breaks out, these bodies played a
preventive role; during the conflict they worked on limiting the damage and on
resolving the disagreement; and after the conflict they helped rebuild destroyed
nations and helped instill peace. “Lebanon praises the efforts of the EU for
working toward peace in the Middle East and toward putting an end to violating
international and humanitarian laws,” Salam added. Lebanon will stay at the head
of the council during the month of May and will address the issue of Palestine
and the Middle East. It is also expected to head the group of Arab states that
presented three papers for the 2010 nuclear NPT Review Conference. – The Daily
Star
Lebanon's no choice election (2)
Thursday, May 06, 2010
Editorial/Daily Star
All politics is supposed to be local, but this month’s rounds of municipal
elections are a fascinating and chilling example of how we have no “local
politics.”
This column has already discussed the disappointing lack of reform for the 2010
round of municipal polls, in the terrible and confusing run-up to the elections.
With the polls now in full swing, it’s clear that “politics” is something
dangerous for the citizenry, and should be left to the “big boys.”
Sane people should cringe whenever our esteemed political class announces that
it’s given us the gift of consensus, to spare us from the odious task of
exercising our constitutional rights.
They’ve mobilized us using dangerous “us versus them” rhetoric over the last
five years, but on election day, everyone has mysteriously agreed on a candidate
ticket that gives the various sides what they want – the prestige of having X
seats – and little else for the community.
In some places, rival political parties agree on unbeatable steamroll lists, and
in others, it’s decided that the voters are needed after all, because it’s all
right if a much-feared “battle” takes place. And if they can’t agree on a
consensus, or decide to battle it out, then there’s always option three:
boycott.
These parties and politicians are thus unwilling to find a single credible
person or persons whose candidacies they could support, and who could put
forward an actual slogan or cause that’s worth fighting for in a given
community. If we’re not going to get we want, we dismiss the entire process and
stay away, like cowards.
And then there are the politicians who realize they lack the votes in town X, so
they tell their supporters to join the dominant grouping and take credit for
“winning the municipal council,” with no significant effort spent, except on
generating political drivel and noise. As if anyone believes them.
The most frightening part of Sunday’s election day proceedings was how little
accountability and performance played a role. There were the blowhards talking
about “corruption,” which begs the question: corrupt? Have you taken the trouble
to go to the judiciary with this “corruption,” or otherwise do anything about it
in the last six years?
Everyone was keen to talk about the need for “development,” an irritating
cliché. If we’re talking about an improvement utilities and public resources and
services, it sounds good. If we’re talking about tearing up a historic
residential area to create a parking lot or needless high-rise, it doesn’t sound
so good. What really needs development is our system of local government,
meaning that until elections are about accountability, and policies for the
future, they’ll just remain popularity contests among tribes, whether of the
“family” or “party” type.
A Decade after Israel Left Lebanon, Iran-backed Hezbollah
Continues to Re-arm
On May 6, Israel will mark 10 years since withdrawing from Lebanon with
international support and in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution
425.[1]
Israel commemorates the date of the withdrawal according to the Hebrew calendar;
the action was completed May 25, 2000 and the United Nations confirmed Israel’s
full compliance with the designated international borders June 16, 2000.
Israel’s 18-year presence in southern Lebanon began in 1982 when Israel launched
Operation Peace for Galilee to stop the threat of the Palestine Liberation
Organization, which had repeatedly attacked Israel from its stronghold there.[2]
In the decade since Israel’s withdrawal, the Iran-backed terrorist group
Hezbollah significantly expanded its terrorist operations including conducting
operations against Israeli forces inside Israel, staging attacks against Israeli
civilians and abducting or attempting to abduct Israeli soldiers.[3]
In the most recent such attack, on June 12, 2006 Hezbollah killed eight Israeli
soldiers and kidnapped two others in Israel, sparking Israel’s defensive war
against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon to try to significantly impair Hezbollah’s
terrorist activities and long-range rocket capabilities.[4]
But since the end of the 2006 war, Hezbollah has once again rearmed[5] far
beyond its pre-2006 capacity. Hezbollah’s rearmament directly contravenes UN
Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the war and called for the
disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon.[6]
At the time of Israel’s 2000 withdrawal from southern Lebanon, world leaders
including those from the Palestinian Authority supported Israel’s desire to
comply with UNSC Resolution 425.[7] But even in November 1999, when Israel was
considering a withdrawal plan, Hezbollah’s deputy leader Sheikh Nai’im Kassem
hinted in an interview with the Saudi weekly al-Majalla that the terrorist
organization would wage attacks against Israel if it withdrew in July 2000.[8]
On May 4, 2010, just ahead of the 10-year anniversary, head of the Israeli
army’s Military Intelligence Research Division Brig. Gen.Yossi Baidatz said in a
briefing, “The transfer of weapons to Hezbollah occurs consistently from Syria
and is organized by the Syrian and Iranian regimes. Therefore this is not
considered the smuggling of weapons to Lebanon - it is an official and organized
transfer.”[9]
Recent reports suggest that Syria has transferred medium-range ballistic Scud
missiles to Hezbollah, a report confirmed by Baidatz in his briefing.[10]
Also on May 4, President Obama extended U.S. sanctions on Syria for another year
because of the country’s continued role in supplying weapons to Hezbollah as
well as its attempts to obtain weapons of mass destruction.[11]
In May 2009, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Leon Panetta said,
“Iran is a destabilizing force in the Middle East.”[12]
Iran is the world’s chief state-sponsor of terror, providing Hezbollah with
significant financial and military support.[13] In recent years Iran has
positioned proxy guerrilla armies on Israel’s borders to further its ideological
fight against Israel’s existence.[14] The Iranian Revolutionary Guard, based in
eastern Lebanon, has trained Hezbollah fighters and, in the past few years, Iran
has supplied the organization with as much as $200 million annually as well as
large quantities of arms, according to the Pentagon.[15] In November 2009 the
Israeli navy intercepted the Francop, a ship containing 320 tons of arms sent
from Iran and destined for Hezbollah.[16]
Iran has also trained Hamas members in Iran and has financed and armed the group
in a similar manner to Hezbollah.[17] Following Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in
August 2005, a move designed to advance the peace process, Hamas militarized the
territory and turned it into a launching pad for rocket attacks against Israeli
civilians.[18]
When will he (Aoun) stop moaning?
May 6, 2010
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=166360
There is a new mood in the country, one that offers a refreshing antidote to the
depressing reality that Syria has once again, through its allies in March 8,
reestablished a degree of influence in Lebanese affairs. It is simply that
another political milestone, in this case the municipal elections, has
illustrated the fading influence of Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun.
Not only has Aoun suffered defeats in last week’s polls in Jbeil, Bejjeh, al-Aqoura,
Qartaba, Zouk, Hrajel, Sin al-Fil, Hazmieh and Deir al-Qamar, he now appears to
be boycotting the Beirut ballots slated for this weekend. Meanwhile, the former
army commander is facing problems in Zahle, where he is reported to have fallen
out with his local ally Elie Skaff.
To make matters worse, Issam Abu Jamra, one of his closest political partners,
and a man who was by Aoun’s side during his 15 years of Parisian exile, is
blaming him for the weak showing at the polls in what looks like an all-out
attack on his leadership.
Aoun himself has been turning his famous scattergun on his opponents, most
notably his nemesis, President Michel Sleiman, whom he has accused of using the
office of the president to influence voting in Jbeil. On Thursday, in what
appeared to be a fit of pique, he took his fight into the very seat of
government by threatening to block cabinet activity and even hinting at an FPM
walkout.
Are the wheels well and truly falling off the Aoun bandwagon? If so, it is about
time. It is hardly surprising that Aoun has finally alienated himself from the
constituency that has so loyally stood by him, even in the face of appalling
hypocrisy and bad judgment.
While Lebanese Forces boss Samir Geagea has stuck doggedly to the principles of
March 14, putting the state above all else, Aoun has careered through Lebanese
politics supporting anything and anyone that he feels will give him the keys to
the Presidential Palace. In the end, it was probably his controversial 2006
Memorandum of Understanding with Hezbollah, a pact that ultimately served
Hezbollah more than it helped Aoun and which subsequently forced him to make
some truly shocking statements that proved to be the first nail in his political
coffin.
Here was the man who claimed to represent a new Lebanon free from the thrall of
the old order of warlords, sectarianism and corruption – a theme that resonated
with the professional middle class – who ended up playing sectarian politics.
Here was the man who styled himself as the ultimate patriot, whose supporters
took great risks to oppose the Syrian occupation, and who allied himself with
March 8, the political bloc that fought for, and succeeded, in winning a Syrian
“return” and supports the presence of Hezbollah’s Iranian-backed militia on
Lebanese soil. The passage of time has made the details of these adventures no
less shocking. Aoun supported Hezbollah’s actions that led to the catastrophic
war with Israel in 2006. He joined in the 18-month demonstration in the Beirut
central district that weakened the economy and forced the government to rule
from behind razor wire. He justified Hezbollah’s murderous attack on West Beirut
and then had the gall to claim that the residents of East Beirut should be
grateful to him for sparing them from a similar fate. His supporters were no
doubt further alarmed when, three months later in August 2008, Aoun did little
to condemn the murder of Lieutenant Samer Hanna, who was killed when his
helicopter came under fire from a lone Hezbollah fighter in South Lebanon. The
writing was on the wall for all to see when Aoun failed to hand March 8 the
victory he promised in the June 2009 parliamentary elections, which were in
essence a national referendum on Hezbollah’s weapons. The country said no, and
Aoun’s vanity was further exposed. His political obituary has been written
before. No one is saying that the Aoun phenomenon is over; merely that the
posturing and the ranting have counted for naught every time the Lebanese go to
the ballot box. These elections have so far proved no different.
Biden says Iran faces increased isolation over nuclear program
May 6, 2010 /US Vice President Joe Biden told EU lawmakers Thursday that Iran
“should either abide by international rules and rejoin the community of nations
or face further consequences and increased isolation.”The VP’s warning comes
amid Washington’s efforts to impose further UN sanctions against Tehran. "Iran's
nuclear program violates its obligation and... the nuclear non-proliferation
treaty, and risks sparking a nuclear arms race in the Middle East," Biden added.
-AFP/NOW Lebanon