LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِAugust 27/2010

Bible Of the Day
Luke16/9-13: " I tell you, make for yourselves friends by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when you fail, they may receive you into the eternal tents. 16:10 He who is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much. He who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. 16:11 If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 16:12 If you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? 16:13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You aren’t able to serve God and mammon.”

Free Opinions, Releases, letters, Interviews & Special Reports
The new world expansion of Hezbollah/By: John C. Thompson/August 26/10
Was Burj Abi Haidar a battle by proxy?/By Michael Young/Daily Star/August 26/10
The state must ensure security/By Jamil K. Mroue/August 26/10
Lebanon's elusive defence/By: Lucy Fielder/Al-Ahram Weekly/August 26/10
US military aid cut would strengthen Hizbullah/By Michael Bluhm/August 26/10
Lebanon in the event of an Iran strike/By: Alexander Lobov/August 26/10

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for August 26/10
Two terrorism suspects make court appearance/The Canadian Press
Hariri inspects Beirut’s clashes scene/Now Lebanon
Sarkozy: Unacceptable for Lebanon to Drown in Cycle of Violence/Naharnet
Ahbash Delegation Tells Ghazaleh it is in 'Single Ditch with Resistance'/Naharnet
Hizbullah, al-Ahbash Agree to Commit to Calm, Cooperate with Ministerial Committee/Naharnet
Suleiman Calls for Arrest of Those who Ignited Borj Abi Haidar Clashes/Naharnet
March 14 Urges State Measures to Declare Beirut Weapons-Free City/Naharnet
Hariri Says Political Rhetoric Escalation, Acts of Some Led to Tuesday's Incidents/Naharnet
Geagea: Authorities Would Be Surrendering to Armed Groups if they Don't Arrest Borj Abi Haidar Culprits/Naharnet
Farhat: We know Beirut clashes were planned/Now Lebanon
Security Council unanimously backs UNIFIL mandate extension/Daily Star
UNIFIL report reiterates conclusions about August 3 clashes/Daily Star
Lebanese Army receives 39 vehicles from UN/Daily Star
Hariri: capital must be free of weapons/Daily Star
UNIFIL report reiterates conclusions about August 3 clashes/Daily Star
Hizbullah, foreign minister unaware of Sadr's 'plans'/Daily Star
Lebanon moves to address widespread use of weapons/The Associated Press
UN mission's report on clash between Israel and Lebanon completed/Xinhua
Hizbullah Says it Would Study Requests of Lebanese Judiciary Not Tribunal/Naharnet
Zahra: Not a Single Weapon Was Seized Despite Defense Ministry Decision /Naharnet
Hay al-Sellom Gunmen Shoot Dead a Man /Naharnet
Cluster Bombs Hit Tractor in Yohmor al-Shqif, Driver Escapes Unharmed /Naharnet
Report: 2 High-ranking Non-civilians Arrested on Suspicion of Spying for Israel /Naharnet
Cabinet Forms Committee to Treat 'Widespread Arms Possession': For Lifting Political Cover Off Security Violators /Naharnet
Khalil from Bnachii: Franjieh a Strategic Ally with Whom We're in Agreement on All National Issues /Naharnet
Human Rights Watch: Lebanon Caught in 'Cycle of Impunity' /Naharnet
Report: Hizbullah Making Efforts to Renew Presence in West Bank /Naharnet
 

Two terrorism suspects make court appearance
By The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - Two terrorism suspects arrived by van at the provincial courthouse today as the spectre of homegrown radicals hovered over the suburbs of Canada's capital city. One of the men covered his face as he arrived in a police van for their first court appearance since the two were arrested early Wednesday. RCMP have said more arrests are likely and have called a news conference to discuss the matter later today. The pair were taken into custody Wednesday after residents awoke to a clutch of police cars gathered outside a townhouse in Ottawa's west-end Carlingwood area. A neighbour said a couple had been living at the property with young children for at least six months, one neighbour said. Police were refusing to divulge further details. "More arrests are anticipated," said a terse RCMP release. Matthew Weiler, a gardener who lives next door to the couple about 10 kilometres west of Parliament Hill, arose early Wednesday for a dental appointment to see eight or nine Ottawa police and RCMP cruisers on the street. Weiler said he didn't know the man, who had a full beard and appeared around 30, nor his wife, who was usually veiled in public. "I'm not that shocked. It's got to be somewhere, I guess," Weiler said in an interview. "I'm not too worried. They wouldn't do anything at their own home." Carolina Ayala, who lives four doors down from the couple, said she saw the man wearing blue hospital scrubs and thinks he may have worked at a hospital.
When she saw police cars in front of the home early Wednesday, Ayala's first thought was a possible case of domestic violence. "My husband has heard them screaming before," Ayala said. "I thought there was somebody hitting somebody but then when I saw the RCMP I knew that it was something different." The Mounties provided no details on the identity of the suspects, nor did they specify what the allegations are, other than to call them "in relation to terrorist offences."A few kilometres away, a police car sat outside an apartment building Wednesday afternoon where a second raid was carried out. Ottawa lawyer Samir Adam said he was contacted by a man arrested Wednesday, but had not yet been retained as counsel and therefore could not discuss details. Adam got the impression from police "it's a larger operation" involving a number of people. "How many? I don't know."
The Muslim Canadian Congress commended the RCMP. "But we hope that the accused will be tried with due process, the presumption of innocence, and with full guarantees that their constitutional rights will be protected," said Salma Siddiqui, the group's vice-president. She expressed dismay at the possibility an al-Qaida-inspired terrorist plot was being hatched in Canada's capital. "It's very frustrating and quite disappointing." The arrests come four years after apprehension of extremist plotters in the so-called Toronto 18 case, and the 2008 conviction of Momin Khawaja of Ottawa on several terrorism-related charges.
Canadian Security Intelligence Service director Dick Fadden alluded to the possibility of other homegrown terrorist cases in comments to the Commons public safety committee last month.
"We have had very clear evidence in this country that there have been terrorists seeking to do harm. The Toronto 18 are a clear example. We're monitoring a number of other cases in which we think there may be similar circumstances," Fadden said. "Do I think that everybody needs to go to their basement with an 18-day supply of food? Absolutely not. My point in raising this was simply to say that Canadians will need to know this. I think if Canadians know about this kind of threat they will be inclined to let us know if they find anything that's worrisome."
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said Wednesday he could not provide any details about the arrests. "Our government monitors national security concerns and is vigilant in protecting against any threats."
In summer 2006 the issue of homegrown terrorism came to the fore in Canada when 18 men and boys in the Toronto area were rounded up and charged with terrorism offences.
The group, comprised mostly of young men from middle class families, was quickly dubbed the Toronto 18, though there were actually two separate plots that formed after one of the ringleaders became frustrated with the other's inaction.
One group plotted to detonate trucks bombs outside the CSIS offices in Toronto, the Toronto Stock Exchange and an Ontario military base. The other group wanted to storm Parliament and attack electrical grids and nuclear stations.
Of the 18 arrested, charges were dropped or stayed against seven people, seven others pleaded guilty and four were found guilty after trials. Three of those convicted have already been released from prison.
Other than the so-called Toronto 18, few people have been prosecuted under Canada's anti-terrorism provisions.
Khawaja was sentenced last year to 10 1/2 years behind bars. He was convicted of five terrorism charges for training at a remote camp in Pakistan and providing cash and other help to British terrorists. He was also found guilty of two Criminal Code offences related to building a remote-control device to set off explosions.
Said Namouh was convicted in Montreal of plotting international terrorist attacks with a group tied to al-Qaida. Namouh, who spread jihadist propaganda on the Internet and had visions of martyrdom, received a life sentence and will not be eligible for parole for at least 10 years.
*With files from Allison Jones, Colin Perkel and Dominique Jarry-Shore in Toronto

The new world expansion of Hezbollah
Written by John C. Thompson
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
In the last 15 years, Hezbollah – on its own and as a proxy of Iran – rapidly expanded beyond the Middle East. Its recent entry into the cocaine trade makes it more dangerous yet.
Like al-Qaeda, Hezbollah’s ideology seeks the supremacy of Shari’a law and the global exultation of Islam. It seeks to supplant corrupt local governments, destroy Israel and defeat the United States. Hezbollah is capable of cooperating with Sunni terrorists against common enemies.
Although Iran’s junior partner, Hezbollah can operate on its own. Given Iranian support and 25 years of frequent clashes with Israel, Hezbollah has more expertise than any other Islamic terrorist group.
Hezbollah is well disciplined and always emphasizes intelligence gathering. Hezbollah’s political arm is a major Lebanese party, which lets it operate with impunity inside Lebanon.
It owns its own media services, as was evident in the fabricated ‘news’ that came out of Lebanon in 2006.
Hezbollah draws on charitable donations made by Lebanese Shiites, subsidies from Iran (much reduced for now) and from its own business activities. It has long been involved in organized crime; ‘taxes’ imports into Lebanon and takes a piece of transactions made by Lebanese Shiites abroad.
By 2010, Hezbollah had greatly reinforced its position in South Lebanon and now has more than 60,000 artillery rockets – some with the range to reach southern Israel. They have prepared four ‘brigades’ to capture Israeli border communities. Hezbollah has even drawn hundreds of new recruits from Palestinian groups. The threat it poses is rapidly growing. This makes examining its presence in the Americas even more important.
Lebanon’s population is around 4.2 million, but 10 to 11 million Lebanese are strewn around Africa and the Americas. Lebanese were the first Middle Eastern immigrants into North and South America; with some coming as early as the 1870s.
Not being as commercially oriented or as comfortable abroad as Christians and Sunnis, Lebanon’s Shiites were slow to follow, but they have come in increasing numbers since the 1970s.
Hezbollah startled the world by bombing the Israeli embassy in Argentina in 1992 and an Argentine synagogue in 1994. Attention was soon drawn to the tri-state area where Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina meet. This area has been home to a lively smuggling industry. In 2000, Paraguayan authorities insisted there were 460 Hezbollah operatives in the region.
Venezuela has 130,000 Lebanese; over half of whom are Muslim. Since Hugo Chavez took power, international cooperation with Venezuelan police over Hezbollah has markedly declined. Chavez has been making overtures to Iran and Hezbollah.
By 2006 Chavez sent 500 men to train in Iran for “Oil Field Security” but he really seeks a large new militia composed of his supporters. The IRGC was eager to help train the new force’s cadre. Since March 2007, Iran Air has run a weekly scheduled flight from Tehran to Caracas, a sign of the growing ties between the two governments.
Shiite Islamic Missionaries are hard at work, especially among Wayuu Indians – a tribe with a strong militant tradition whose reserves overlap the Columbian/Venezuelan border. An organization named Autonomia Islamica Wayuu announced its presence in 2007 on a Hezbollah web site.
A March 2008 Colombian raid inside Ecuador killed a senior FARC leader Paul Reyes and captured laptop computers, which detailed involvement in the cocaine industry by senior Ecuadoran and Venezuelan government figures. The ties between Chavez and FARC were confirmed in July 2009 when anti-tank rockets surfaced among FARC guerrillas after having been sold to Venezuela.
After the Colombian government got the upper hand on the narco-guerrillas of FARC in 2008, it became clear that Venezuela and Hezbollah had an increasing role in the cocaine industry.
With the recent slump in oil prices, Hezbollah had seen diminished subsidies from Iran. However, the group is more prosperous than ever and is even picking up the tab for Iranian-backed insurgents in Yemen. Hezbollah is also becoming the world’s leading distributor of cocaine.
With its own ships and aircraft, Lebanese government connections and their international alliances, Hezbollah can make hundreds of millions of dollars annually from cocaine.
In March 2009, the DEA chief of operations stated Hezbollah was involved in Mexico’s drug cartels. The FBI noticed Hezbollah agents on the US-Mexican border in early 2009. In July 2010, Mexican authorities broke up a Hezbollah network in Tijuana.
Since 1945, 180,000 Lebanese have immigrated into the United States. Shiites now form the majority in some old Lebanese neighbourhoods, which also attract many Palestinian Arabs and are forming radicalized hubs.
Hezbollah uses the US for money raising, technology purchases and recruiting. The Hammoud brothers in North Carolina were a case in point. They shipped low-taxed cigarettes from the tobacco-growing state into Michigan and New York for the black market. Another businessman made illegal bulk purchases of cigarettes from Native smoke-shops in upstate New York and resold them in Detroit. Federal investigators found he had funneled $8 million back to Lebanon.
More modest cases involved grocery stores selling promotional products or condemned and stale-dated goods – with the proceeds going to Hezbollah.
Hezbollah continually plans possible attacks. Since 9/11, there have been hundreds of reports inside the US of hostile surveillance of hospitals, schools, emergency responders, office towers, power plants, refineries and public sites.
James Woolsey, former head of the CIA, told a Senate committee in February 2009 that Hezbollah identified 29 key targets whose destruction would – in the words of Iran’s president Ahmadinejad – “end Anglo-Saxon civilization.”
Like the United States, Canada has attracted Lebanese immigrants since the 1880s; most were French-speaking Christians until the 1970s.
Canada’s 2006 Census found 270,000 Canadians claiming Lebanese origin. The Hezbollah-Israeli clash of that year revealed that 50,000 had returned to Lebanon as dual citizens.
Lebanese Shi’ites came to Canada in the tens of thousands with Hezbollah members among them. Ali Adham Amhaz, Fauzi Ayub, Mohammed Hassan Dbouk, Mohammed Hussein al Husseini and Omar el Sayed are among Canadian residents identified as Hezbollah members in the past. At least one was recruited in Canada. Three purchased high-tech equipment for Hezbollah, two used scams to raise more than $1.3 million for it; another trafficked cocaine and heroin.
One of the five was arrested in Israel travelling on a Canadian passport to position gear for Hezbollah. One produced propaganda material in Lebanon as recently as 2007. At least two gathered intelligence for potential attacks inside Canada. In 2008, CSIS monitored 20 Hezbollah members from four recently activated sleeper cells inside Canada. These conducted reconnaissance against targets in Canada in response to the February 2008 death of Imad Mugnniyah, Hezbollah’s master bomb-maker. After briefly sticking their periscopes up, Hezbollah’s Canadian assets have slid underwater again.
Hezbollah is the largest, best trained, best disciplined, best financed and best armed terrorist group in the world… and they are here.
**John Thompson is the president of the Mackenzie Institute, which studies organized violence and political instability. Last Updated ( Wednesday, 25 August 2010 )

Hariri inspects Beirut’s clashes scene
August 26, 2010 /Prime Minister Saad Hariri inspected on Thursday Beirut’s Bourj Abi Haidar neighborhood and its surrounding following Tuesday’s deadly clashes that left three people dead, according to a statement issued by the PM’s office. The PM’s tour also included areas of Mazraa and Basta, the statement said. Secretary General of the Higher Defense Council (HDC), Brigadier General Adnan Merheb, accompanied Hariri on his tour, the statement added. Clashes broke out in Bourj Abi Haidar on Tuesday between supporters of the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects—also known as Al-Ahbash—and Hezbollah, leading to the death of three people, including Hezbollah official Mohammad Fawwaz. Al-Ahbash is a Sunni pro-Syrian group and describes itself as a charitable organization promoting Islamic culture. -NOW Lebanon

Farhat: We know Beirut clashes were planned
August 26, 2010 /Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Bilal Farhat told Al-Manar television on Thursday that Hezbollah has information that certain individuals had plotted Tuesday’s Beirut clashes. “We will not allow the repetition of such incidents,” Farhat said. Clashes broke out in the Beirut neighborhood of Bourj Abi Haidar on Tuesday between supporters of the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects—also known as Al-Ahbash—and Hezbollah, leading to the death of three people, including Hezbollah official Mohammad Fawwaz.
Al-Ahbash is a Sunni pro-Syrian group and describes itself as a charitable organization promoting Islamic culture. When asked about Lebanon First bloc MP Okab Sakr’s earlier statement—that Hezbollah attempted during the May 7 events to take over Lebanon like the Hamas Movement did in Gaza, but that Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz prevented such a move—Farhat said that he does not understand on what basis these claims are made. -NOW Lebanon

Sarkozy: Unacceptable for Lebanon to Drown in Cycle of Violence
Naharnet/French President Nicolas Sarkozy reiterated support for Lebanon's independence and sovereignty and said it was "unacceptable for Lebanon to drown again in the cycle of violence."In his opening of the 18th conference of French ambassadors at the Elysee palace on Wednesday, Sarkozy also reiterated support for President Michel Suleiman and Premier Saad Hariri. "All of Lebanon's neighbors should back and respect its sovereignty," the French president said. Paris "is working for stability in a diverse Lebanon where all sects should coexist," he told the audience of French diplomats. Turning to Iran, he said the Islamic republic was "nourishing terrorism and extremism in the region." Beirut, 26 Aug 10, 07:44

Geagea: Authorities Would Be Surrendering to Armed Groups if they Don't Arrest Borj Abi Haidar Culprits
Naharnet/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said on Wednesday that authorities would be giving up their role for armed parties if they don't arrest the suspects involved in clashes between Hizbullah and al-Ahbash earlier in the week. "Judicial and security authorities should take necessary measures to arrest the gunmen who took part in the incidents no matter to which side they belong to," Geagea said. "Or else these authorities would be giving up their role for armed groups that appeared on Beirut streets."No one has been arrested yet although hundreds of gunmen took to the streets of Borj Abi Haidar, the LF leader said. Explaining to a visiting delegation about his defense strategy proposal at the last national dialogue session at Beiteddine palace, Geagea said: "If the other party does not adopt it, it means that it wants … to keep the country in a standstill." Beirut, 26 Aug 10, 12:32

Zahra: Not a Single Weapon Was Seized Despite Defense Ministry Decision
Naharnet/Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra said Thursday all of Lebanon should be declared a weapons-free zone and urged authorities to "suppress" parties that disrupt security.
He told Voice of Lebanon radio that the defense ministry stopped issuing arms licenses although not a single arm was seized from the area where the clashes took place on Tuesday between Hizbullah and al-Ahbash gunmen. "The appearance of Hizbullah gunmen is a sign that there is a force capable of resorting to the street at a time when weapons should be in the hand of legitimate authorities alone," the MP said. Authorities "should suppress all those who want to disrupt security," he added. Beirut, 26 Aug 10, 11:01

Ahbash Delegation Tells Ghazaleh it is in 'Single Ditch with Resistance'
Naharnet/A delegation from al-Ahbash visited on Wednesday head of the Syrian military intelligence Maj. Gen. Rustom Ghazaleh who stressed the importance of consolidating ties with Hizbullah, al-Akhbar daily reported. The newspaper said the delegation informed Ghazaleh about the deadly clashes between al-Ahbash and Hizbullah gunmen in Borj Abi Haidar on Tuesday night. Al-Akhbar quoted informed sources as saying that al-Ahbash stressed to the Syrian official that the movement was "in a single trench with the resistance in Lebanon."
The delegation stressed that the clashes had no political background and were neither in the interest of al-Ahbash nor Hizbullah, the sources said. They added that the Damascus visitors asked Ghazaleh to inform Syrian President Bashar Assad about their stance. Beirut, 26 Aug 10, 08:48

Hizbullah Says it Would Study Requests of Lebanese Judiciary Not Tribunal
Naharnet/Hizbullah has said it would cooperate only with the Lebanese judiciary if it requests information unveiled by Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah about ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination. "Our stance from the court is known. We don't recognize it and we don't cooperate with it," Hizbullah sources told An Nahar daily in remarks published Thursday.
"However, if the Lebanese judiciary asks for (the information), then we will cooperate with it and study the requests," the sources added. Their comment came after General Prosecutor Said Mirza informed Hizbullah official Wafiq Safa on Wednesday about Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare's request to provide the remaining material to which the Hizbullah chief referred to in his press conference on August 9. "Hizbullah officials hand-delivered to the Prosecutor General of Lebanon an envelope containing six DVDs," Bellemare's office said in a press release. "The preliminary assessment of the DVDs has determined that the response is incomplete since the material that was handed over is limited to the material shown during the 9 August 2010 press conference and does not contain "the rest of the evidence" that Mr. Hassan Nasrallah referred to in his press conference," it added.
Beirut, 26 Aug 10, 08:26

Report: 2 High-ranking Non-civilians Arrested on Suspicion of Spying for Israel
Naharnet/Lebanese authorities are questioning two high-ranking non-civilian employees on suspicion of spying for Israel, the Kuwaiti al-Rai newspaper reported Thursday. It said the questioning was taking place in full secrecy. According to the daily, M. Kh. and W. Z. were arrested several days ago. Al-Rai said the two men's arrest came after the seizure of Ogero employee Tony Butros, whose post at the telecommunications company allowed him to easily communicate with the Israeli Mossad. Beirut, 26 Aug 10, 09:55

Hay al-Sellom Gunmen Shoot Dead a Man
Naharnet/A man was killed by two assailants riding a motorcycle in Hay al-Sellom at dawn Thursday, the National News Agency said. Voice of Lebanon identified the slain citizen as Hussein Ali al-Hajj. NNA said al-Hajj was hospitalized after the attack but later died. The incident resulted from a personal dispute between the man and the assailants, NNA added.
Beirut, 26 Aug 10, 11:29

Hizbullah Says it Would Study Requests of Lebanese Judiciary Not Tribunal
Naharnet/Hizbullah has said it would cooperate only with the Lebanese judiciary if it requests information unveiled by Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah about ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination. "Our stance from the court is known. We don't recognize it and we don't cooperate with it," Hizbullah sources told An Nahar daily in remarks published Thursday.
"However, if the Lebanese judiciary asks for (the information), then we will cooperate with it and study the requests," the sources added. Their comment came after General Prosecutor Said Mirza informed Hizbullah official Wafiq Safa on Wednesday about Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare's request to provide the remaining material to which the Hizbullah chief referred to in his press conference on August 9. "Hizbullah officials hand-delivered to the Prosecutor General of Lebanon an envelope containing six DVDs," Bellemare's office said in a press release. "The preliminary assessment of the DVDs has determined that the response is incomplete since the material that was handed over is limited to the material shown during the 9 August 2010 press conference and does not contain "the rest of the evidence" that Mr. Hassan Nasrallah referred to in his press conference," it added.
Beirut, 26 Aug 10, 08:26

Hizbullah, al-Ahbash Agree to Commit to Calm, Cooperate with Ministerial Committee
Naharnet/A second meeting was held on Wednesday between officials of Hizbullah and al-Ahbash at the office of the army's intelligence service unit during which both parties agreed to commit to calm awaiting the outcome of investigations into the deadly clashes. Abdul Qadir al-Fakhani, a spokesman for al-Ahbash, told An Nahar daily in remarks published Thursday that both sides stressed the incident should not be repeated. "The conferees agreed that what happened was a personal dispute and had neither political nor sectarian background," he said. The clashes "were a big mistake and should not be repeated." Al-Fakhani told ANB TV that al-Ahbash was working along with Hizbullah to preserve civil peace in the country.
An Nahar also quoted Hizbullah sources as saying that both sides stressed cooperation with the ministerial committee tasked by the cabinet to evaluate the large-scale spread of weapons throughout Lebanese territories. Hizbullah MP Mohammed Raad said the incident uncovered a scenario of what sectarian strife could look like. Beirut, 26 Aug 10, 09:13

Human Rights Watch: Lebanon Caught in 'Cycle of Impunity'
Naharnet/The Beirut director of Human Rights Watch Nadim Houry has said Lebanon is caught in a "cycle of impunity" in such a heavily armed society. "None of the gunmen is ever brought to justice. ... That is the real tragedy here," he said. "Gunmen are still above the law — and the civil war ended 20 years ago." His comment came after Hizbullah and al-Ahbash on Tuesday used machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades in a deadly, hours-long street battle that was the worst clash in Beirut since 2008.(AP-Naharnet)
Beirut, 26 Aug 10, 07:49

Khalil from Bnachii: Franjieh a Strategic Ally with Whom We're in Agreement on All National Issues
Naharnet/MP Ali Hasan Khalil, Speaker Nabih Berri's Political Advisor, on Wednesday stressed "constant communication with Marada Movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh, the strategic ally with whom we're in agreement on all national issues." After visiting Franjieh in Bnachii along with an AMAL delegation, Khalil added: "It was an occasion to extend an invitation in the name of AMAL's leadership to the minister for participation in the ceremony marking the anniversary of Imam Moussa Sadr's disappearance." "We discussed the general situations in the country and stressed the need to preserve the prevailing pacification atmosphere and to further enhance it, in addition to deepening the level of internal dialogue in order to face the challenges in Lebanon and the region," Khalil added. Berri's advisor reiterated "keenness on preserving internal stability and security in the country," adding that all parties share the same stance in this regard. "It was an personal incident, and there is keenness not to repeat it, and we hope all parties across Lebanon would respond to this approach and give the essential role in preserving security to the army and security forces," Khalil added. As to the issue of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the information and data presented by Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Khalil said: "New (investigation) tracks were started after what Sayyed Nasrallah presented, and that is being tackled according to the way that is in interest of the truth and its uncovering in the case of the assassination of martyr premier Rafik Hariri." Beirut, 25 Aug 10, 20:58

Lebanon in the event of an Iran strike
Alexander Lobov, August 26, 2010
Now Lebanon/
The past few weeks have seen a flurry of discussion in US foreign policy circles about the potential for a unilateral Israeli strike on Iran. Much of this discussion has been focused around Jeffrey Goldberg’s lengthy and alarmist cover story for The Atlantic Magazine about the likelihood of such a strike happening within the next 12 months. However, no discussion of an Israeli, or indeed American, strike on Iran can ignore the unavoidable involvement of Lebanon, and the subsequent impact on the country.
Goldberg interviewed around “forty current and past Israeli decision-makers” as background for his piece, but many of them remain anonymous, and those who are named appear to contribute little different to what we already knew: Israel considers Iran an “existential threat” and is very worried, and all options are always on the table, some of them more likely than others. Thus, the motivation of Goldberg’s sources must be better understood. Why would Israeli decision makers be telling Jeffrey Goldberg that there’s a good chance of an Israeli strike on Iran? Because they understand Goldberg’s influence in Washington, and they want to mainstream the idea of not only an Israeli strike, but a potentially pre-emptive one from the US. This story has already had a broad ripple effect in the political media ecosystem, having been expanded into a fully-fledged debate on The Atlantic website and picked up by other outlets and blogs alike. This process helps an idea gain a legitimacy it didn’t have before the original big story dropped.
While, of course, such a story alone cannot be blamed for a military strike, in many ways, this process is reminiscent of similar discussions in the lead-up to the 2003 Iraq war, during which Jeffrey Goldberg played a remarkably similar role. In 2010, the potentially disastrous consequences of such a strike by the US, many of which would also eventuate in the case of an Israeli one, cannot be easily dismissed, and some are even mentioned by Goldberg himself: a closing of the Straits of Hormuz; a massive spike in the price of oil, exacerbating the global recession; destabilisation of the Gulf region; deadly reprisals from Iranian-sponsored terrorist outfits abroad; a nail in the coffin for the Iranian “Green Movement;” and a shoring up of sympathy for Iran’s regime internationally. Most alarmingly, Iran’s actual pursuit of nuclear-weapons capacity, both the details and progress of it, are still in doubt. A strike would, much as it did with Israel’s strike on Iraq’s Osirak reactor in 1981, impel Iran’s regime to redouble its efforts to reach such a capacity.
The consequences of a strike on Iran for the fragile détente between Israel and Hezbollah are unpredictable at best and a powder keg at worst. "Israel or the United States cannot just bomb Iran and (expect) things to continue normally," Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s deputy leader, told Reuters in March. "Any attack on Iran could ignite the whole region and the assailant will pay a heavy price whether it's Israel or the United States."
Cross-border rocket reprisals from Hamas and Hezbollah are widely expected in the case of a strike on Iran, but the extent of the potential conflict cannot be precisely anticipated. Many analysts already believe that the next war between Israel and Hezbollah is a matter of if, not when, and there are plenty of potential excuses for war already. One major cause for concern is the exploration of Tamar and Leviathan,two recently-discovered gas fields that could, as estimated by the US partner in exploration Noble Energy, contain up to 30 trillion cubic feet of gas. The maritime boundary between Israel and Lebanon is not well defined, and Beirut has also taken steps to begin off-shore exploration. Natural resources aside, Hezbollah’s steady rearmament since 2006 and Israel’s continued manned overflights over Lebanese territory, both in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, are reason enough for a major conflict to be sparked by either side.
Concerning Hezbollah’s rearmament, as noted by Daniel Kurtzer in his July report for the US-based Council on Foreign Relations, the party has improved both the quantity and quality of its weaponry since 2006, although it is unclear exactly by how much. Since Gabi Ashkenazi’s ascendancy to IDF chief of staff, Israel has also maintained that it is far more prepared today to fight a war with Hezbollah than in previous years. As repeatedly noted in Kurtzer’s report, Israel has not only levelled at Hezbollah the as-yet-unproven charge of acquiring Scud missiles from Syria, but also prepared for it, as well as the strategic threat from Syrian M-600 rockets or even advanced surface-to-air missiles, such as the S-300, which Israel considers a “red line.”
What this indicates is that Israel takes the threat from Hezbollah very seriously, and would be keeping this threat in mind in accompaniment to any potential strike on Iran.
If Goldberg’s story, particularly its many statements from Israeli officials, is to be viewed largely as an Israeli PR exercise, then Israel probably wishes to allow time for the off chance that the Obama administration will conduct a US strike on Iran, something Israel almost certainly prefers. The administration is in no hurry. As reported in the New York Times last week, administration officials believe that there is roughly a year before Iran achieves “breakout” nuclear capacity, or the time it would take to convert low-enriched uranium into weapons-grade. Iran’s distance from real nuclear-weapons capacity, and Israel’s current wariness of an immediate military conflict with Hezbollah indicate that a strike would likely occur toward the end of Goldberg’s proposed 12-month window, if at all.
No mistake should be made about the consequences for Lebanon. Benjamin Netanyahu has already made it clear that, as a result of Hezbollah’s inclusion in Lebanon’s cabinet, the whole country would be held responsible for attacks on Israel. This is an apparent extension of Israel’s supposed “Dahiyeh Doctrine” to cover not only southern Lebanon but the country’s institutions and infrastructure on a national level, bringing with it alarming possibilities stemming from Israel’s destruction of Gaza during Operation Cast Lead.
Obama does not have the stomach for the initiation of another major conflict, but only time will tell whether Israel is prepared to put aside concerns of a complicated entanglement with Hezbollah, along with the other host of issues mentioned above, and actually execute a strike on Iran unilaterally. The possibility for unmitigated disaster is great, and hopefully cooler heads will prevail.

UNIFIL report reiterates conclusions about August 3 clashes
By Mohammed Zaatari and The Daily Star
Thursday, August 26, 2010
SIDON: The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon’s (UNIFIL) report on investigations into the border clash between Lebanese and Israel troops earlier this month reconfirmed previous conclusions reached by the peacekeeping force. Israel’s cutting down of a tree on the border with the southern village of Adaysseh sparked a firefight on August 3, which killed two Lebanese soldiers, one Lebanese journalist and a high-ranking Israeli officer. UNIFIL’s report on the probe, issued on Wednesday, reiterated that trees cut by the Israeli Army were located south of the Blue Line on the Israeli side. The report said UNIFIL sent the investigation report with findings, conclusions and recommendations to the UN Headquarters and the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations on Tuesday and to other concerned parties on Wednesday. A statement said both the Lebanese Army and the Israeli Army “fully cooperated with the UNIFIL team during the investigation.” UNIFIL Force Commander Major General Alberto Asarta Cuevas said the report was the result of “professional and impartial work.”
“[The investigation] is based on the facts and all the evidence available to UNIFIL at this stage,” Asarta was quoted as saying. “We hope this report will assist the parties to prevent the re-occurrence of such a serious and tragic incident,” he added, stressing the clashes “must remain an isolated event.” The UN task force has come under criticism from several Lebanese corners for appearing to side with Israel over the incident. A day after the fighting, UNIFIL military spokesperson Colonel Naresh Bhatt said although other precipitating factors were being looked for, “UNIFIL established that the trees being cut by the Israeli Army are located south of the Blue Line on the Israeli side.” – The Daily Star

US military aid cut would strengthen Hizbullah
Move would erode American credibility, drive LAF toward United States’ foes – analysts
By Michael Bluhm /Daily Star staff
Thursday, August 26, 2010
PRAGUE/BEIRUT: While some US congressmen are pushing to cut $100 million in military assistance budgeted for Lebanon over fears of Israel’s security and Hizbullah’s leading role here, slashing the aid would only make Hizbullah stronger, drive the army toward US rivals and erode US credibility here, a number of analysts told The Daily Star on Wednesday.
The issue erupted in Congress after an August 3 incident in Adaysseh near the Lebanese-Israeli border, where Israel’s cutting down of a tree sparked a firefight which killed two Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) soldiers, a Lebanese journalist, and an Israeli officer. Some US lawmakers voiced objections to the aid on the grounds that US weapons could wind up being used by the LAF against Israel, the closest US ally in the region.
In the years before the Adaysseh clash, US officials had backed aid to the LAF as benefiting Israel, subscribing to a philosophy that building up the LAF would weaken Israeli foe Hizbullah, while a stronger LAF could help keep the Israel-Lebanon border calm, said retired General Elias Hanna, who teaches political science at various universities. After the summer 2006 war between Israel and Hizbullah, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon was beefed up to about 13,000 peacekeepers, while the LAF deployed in south Lebanon for the first time in decades.
Although the US has poured some $700 million into the LAF since the Syrian military departed Lebanon in 2005, the LAF’s paltry arsenal still does not in the least represent a threat to the powerful Israeli military, Hanna added.
Considering that reality, the displeasure expressed by the congressional representatives could have also contained a political message to Israel, as an attempt to reassure it of unflagging US support for Israeli security while the administration was cajoling Israel to return to direct peace talks with the Palestinians, Hanna added.
At the same time, the legislators were venting their discontent over Hizbullah’s increased sway over affairs in Lebanon and its presence in the government, said Paul Salem, head of the Carnegie Middle East Center. Some congressmen said they worried that arms given to the LAF could end up under Hizbullah control or in the group’s possession.
“For them, that’s a very simple argument that you should punish Hizbullah by punishing the army,” Salem said. “It’s not a complex argument.”
Salem added that he anticipated that Congress would prevail in paring down US funding for the LAF, despite US President Barack Obama’s administration continuing to call for the full $100 million aid package as part of a regional strategy. The mix of US midterm elections, US fiscal distress, public opinion and staunch pro-Israeli feeling should add up to a loss in US assistance to the Lebanese military, he said.
“The US administration is clear that it wants to maintain the aid; the problem is in Congress,” Salem said. “This is going to have an impact and a negative impact.
“I expect there will be cutting – the question is how much.” Reducing aid to the LAF, however, would backfire against US interests, said former Ambassador Abdullah Bou Habib, a political consultant and executive director of the Issam Fares Institute, a non-partisan think tank. A weaker LAF would lead the population to feel a greater reliance on the weapons of Hizbullah; the historical justification for the existence of Hizbullah rests on the inability of the Lebanese military to protect south Lebanon from the frequent intrusions of Israel, Bou Habib added.
Shrinking US assistance to the LAF “would make the arms of Hizbullah stronger,” he said. Aside from concerns about Hizbullah and Israel, fortifying the LAF increases Lebanese sovereignty and allows the military to fight terrorists, he added. “It is in the interest of Lebanon and in the interests of the US that the US supply the Lebanese Army with the necessary weapons,” Bou Habib said. “The majority of Lebanese would like – and I think Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah agreed with it yesterday – American weapons.”
Not only would cutting support undermine the LAF’s status, but it could also force the military to turn to US foes Iran and Syria for assistance, Salem said. President Michel Sleiman and Defense Minister Elias Murr, in response to Congress’ objections to aiding the LAF, said they would propose to the Cabinet to seek military supplies from other sources.
Nasrallah, in his speech on Tuesday, said Lebanon should get military equipment from Arab states and Iran, which is Hizbullah’s main patron. Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said on Wednesday that the Islamic Republic could deliver military aid to Lebanon.
With so much invested in Hizbullah, though, any aid from Tehran would amount to more of a political gesture, demonstrating how widely Tehran can project its power, Hanna said.
“Iran is willing to help the Lebanese army to a certain degree – the Iranians don’t want a competitor for Hizbullah,” he added.
The constant rhetoric around the issue should also serve to alert other leading regional actors such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt that they could find a market for military goods in Lebanon, Salem said. But the LAF finds itself limited in where it can turn for aid, because so much of its arsenal is of US provenance – in other words, the military needs spare parts and ammunition for US equipment, which Iran could not easily supply, Salem said.
“The bulk of the equipment is US equipment,” Salem said, adding that the strapped LAF has difficulty even maintaining what it has. “The main needs of the army need to come from a source which has US-military style equipment.” If the US does squeeze the planned funding for the LAF, it would also be harming its standing among the Lebanese, Salem said. “It has the effect of lowering US credibility in Lebanon,” he added. US allies in the March 14 political coalition would then by association see their positions deteriorate, Bou Habib said. Cutting LAF aid “weakens the position of the friends of the US here … the March 14 groups,” he said. In the end, abandoning its support for the LAF would square with the US tradition in Lebanon of regular reversals of strategy and a failure to see its policies through, Hanna said. For example, the US undertook a major reorganization of the LAF in 1982 following the rise to power of Phalange Party leader Bashir Gemayel, Hanna added. “They changed the whole structure of the Lebanese Army; they made it a highly mobile army,” he added. But, following a suicide truck bombing that killed 241 Marines in 1983, the US military left Lebanon. The US kept up some support for the LAF, such as an officer-training program – Hanna attended four such programs during his career in the LAF, he said. But at the same time, the US only assented to sell the LAF second-rate equipment, such as the jeeps and other materiel the US no longer needed in the former West Germany after the end of the Cold War, Hanna said. “The Americans do it every time,” he added. “We are like pawns in the grand strategy that could be shifted or changed.”

Hizbullah, foreign minister unaware of Sadr's 'plans'
By The Daily Star /Thursday, August 26, 2010
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s foreign minister and Hizbullah have said neither was informed of Iraqi cleric and political leader Muqtada al-Sadr’s intention to relocate to Beirut. Sources from the Foreign Ministry told pan Arab-daily Ash-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper they were neither informed by Iraqi authorities nor by Sadr himself of such an intention. The Saudi-owned daily reported this week that Sadr was considering moving to Beirut to escape Iranian pressures to endorse a second-term for incumbent Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Tensions between Sadr and Maliki remain since the 2008 military operation launched by the Iraqi government against Sadr’s Mehdi Army in the southern city of Basra and Baghdad’s Sadr City and Shuala neighborhoods, where the Mehdi Army holds substantial power. Ash-Sharq al-Awsat reported Tuesday that Sadr was under pressure from Iran’s political and religious leaderships.
Sources in Beirut told Ash-Sharq al-Awsat Sadr owns property in Lebanon, potentially making a relocation easier.Sadr is of Iraqi and Lebanese ancestry and cousin of disappeared Imam Musa al-Sadr, founder of the Amal Movement. The sources also dismissed the suggestion that he would be a guest of Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah or reside in south Lebanon.
“Sadr does not want to undergo new pressures after freeing himself from Iranian ones,” the sources told Ash-Sharq al-Awsat, adding that Sadr and Nasrallah did not have a “solid relationship.” On Wednesday, a Hizbullah source told the daily the party was not informed by Sadr or his aides about his decision. Sadr has been living in self-imposed exile in the Iranian town of Qom since 2007. Iranian forces tasked with protecting him have kept his location secret. – The Daily Star

Lebanese Army receives 39 vehicles from UN
By Mohammed Zaatari
Thursday, August 26, 2010
NAQOURA: The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) delivered 39 vehicles to the Lebanese Army at a ceremony at UNIFIL’s headquarters in Naqoura on Wednesday.
“The transfer, which follows the donation of 24 vehicles in April, is yet another reflection of UNIFIL’s continued efforts to enhance the capacity of the Lebanese Army to improve security in the south. It also further enhances UNIFIL’s close collaboration with the army in bringing sustainable peace to southern Lebanon,” a UNIFIL statement said.
UNIFIL Force Commander Major General Alberto Asarta Cuevas highlighted that conditions on the ground have significantly improved and cooperation between UNIFIL and the Lebanese Armed Forces had become a “central cornerstone” of their work. “Our activities could not be implemented without the cooperation of the Lebanese Army, which has demonstrated – time and again – its professionalism and commitment to UN Security Council Resolution 1701,” Asarta said at the ceremony, which was attended by Brigadier General Louis Hanna and Brigadier General Khalil Msan, commander of the Lebanese Army in the south Litani area. The UN task force commander added that “ultimately, UNIFIL’s exit strategy is linked to the ability of the Lebanese Army to sustainably ensure stability in southern Lebanon.” Hanna relayed Lebanese Army commander General Jean Kahwaji’s “deepest feelings of gratitude” to UNIFIL Command for the initiative, which he said was “a clear expression of the ties of cooperation and coordination” between UNIFIL and Lebanese Army.
Hanna also praised the conduct of UNIFIL peacekeepers. – Mohammed Zaatari

Security Council unanimously backs UNIFIL mandate extension
By The Daily Star /Thursday, August 26, 2010
BEIRUT: The Security Council has expressed unanimous support for the upcoming extension of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) mission, media reports said on Wednesday. The off-the-record endorsement reportedly happened during Tuesday’s closed consultative session of the Security Council which was held in advance of the official vote on the extension of Resolution 1701 scheduled for August 30, a day before the current mandate runs out. The renewal will take place without any changes of the mandate or on the rules of engagement related to Resolution 1701, the reports said. The backing follows rumors, published in the Arabic-speaking press last week, but not confirmed by the UN Secretary General’s office, that Ban Ki-moon had lent his backing to the anticipated renewal.
“All member states endorsed extending the UNIFIL mandate without introducing any changes to its mission,” a diplomatic source told An-Nahar newspaper in comments on Wednesday.
The UN has thus far refused to comment on Wednesday’s reports but did confirm that “the consultation process is ongoing and is presently under way.”
“Members of the Security Council were briefed on the renewal of Resolution 1701 by the UN assistant secretary for peacekeeping, Alain Le Roy, and they will continue to evaluating the situation until the open, public vote Monday,” a spokesperson for the Secretary General told The Daily Star.
As in previous years Lebanon is looking for the Security Council to extend the duration, but not the scope, of UNIFIL’s mandate.
“We called for renewing UNIFIL’s mandate without introducing any change … no one has called for amending UNIFIL’s mission,” Lebanon’s representative Nawaf Salam told An-Nahar. The newspaper added that during Tuesday’s session the French mission to the council helped Lebanon repel moves to include provisions which strengthen some articles pertaining to freedom of movement, preserving the security of UNIFIL forces, arms smuggling and respecting the Blue Line which acts as a de facto border between Lebanon and Israel.
US ambassador and alternate representative for special political affairs, Brooke Anderson, is thought to have proposed an extension of UNIFIL’s freedom of movement mandate, which the US feels should be strengthened following incidents in July which saw villagers clash with UNIFIL troops in southern Lebanon.
But the newspaper also quoted a French diplomat as saying that in light of the skirmishes which broke out between UNIFIL troops and some southern villagers, France was looking to add amendments to the draft law saying that “the new draft proposal should deliver a strong message … because we are … worried by the incidents that have occurred in July and August.”
Whether or not Lebanon would accept an amended resolution remains unknown. “Lebanon has no problem with the draft law, including a clause in UNIFIL’s freedom of movement. Also, 1701 includes a provision on an arms ban so there is nothing new,” An-Nahar quoted a Lebanese diplomatic source who requested anonymity as saying.
Social Affairs Minister Salim Sayegh met with UN special coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams Wednesday to discuss the extension of UNIFIL’s mandate and the possible amendments. Moves to bolster UNIFIL’s mandate reportedly picked up steam earlier this month after the outbreak of deadly hostilities near the southern village of Adaysseh in which two Lebanese soldiers, one journalist and an Israeli officer were killed. It is feared that the ongoing UNIFIL probe into the causes of the accident could be used as a pretext to enhance the scope of the peacekeeping field of operations. But UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti has openly denied that the ruling could impact on the Security Council decision.
In a separate interview with An-Nahar he stressed that neither side was interested in resuming hostilities and indicated that they did not want an escalation.
Some reservations had been expressed by both sides regarding the exact points of the Blue Line, but Israel and Lebanon both “said they would agree on what the UNIFIL and UN decide on this issue.” – The Daily Star

UNIFIL report reiterates conclusions about August 3 clashes
By Mohammed Zaatari and The Daily Star
Thursday, August 26, 2010
SIDON: The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon’s (UNIFIL) report on investigations into the border clash between Lebanese and Israel troops earlier this month reconfirmed previous conclusions reached by the peacekeeping force. Israel’s cutting down of a tree on the border with the southern village of Adaysseh sparked a firefight on August 3, which killed two Lebanese soldiers, one Lebanese journalist and a high-ranking Israeli officer. UNIFIL’s report on the probe, issued on Wednesday, reiterated that trees cut by the Israeli Army were located south of the Blue Line on the Israeli side. The report said UNIFIL sent the investigation report with findings, conclusions and recommendations to the UN Headquarters and the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations on Tuesday and to other concerned parties on Wednesday. A statement said both the Lebanese Army and the Israeli Army “fully cooperated with the UNIFIL team during the investigation.” UNIFIL Force Commander Major General Alberto Asarta Cuevas said the report was the result of “professional and impartial work.”
“[The investigation] is based on the facts and all the evidence available to UNIFIL at this stage,” Asarta was quoted as saying. “We hope this report will assist the parties to prevent the re-occurrence of such a serious and tragic incident,” he added, stressing the clashes “must remain an isolated event.” The UN task force has come under criticism from several Lebanese corners for appearing to side with Israel over the incident. A day after the fighting, UNIFIL military spokesperson Colonel Naresh Bhatt said although other precipitating factors were being looked for, “UNIFIL established that the trees being cut by the Israeli Army are located south of the Blue Line on the Israeli side.” – The Daily Star

Hariri: capital must be free of weapons
Premier attributes tensions to rhetoric as Cabinet calls for arms probe
By Elias Sakr
Daily Star staff
Thursday, August 26, 2010
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Saad Hariri blamed sectarian clashes on tensions building up as an outcome of provocative political rhetoric, and called for a capital free of weapons on Tuesday. “Isn’t it time for us to learn that no matter what happens no side will prevail over another and that no party is strong except for Lebanon and national unity?” Hariri asked.
Clashes in Beirut between supporters of Hizbullah and the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects, better known as Al-Ahbash, killed three men before coming to an end late Tuesday night after a meeting between officials of both camps under the sponsorship of the Lebanese Army Intelligence services.
Hariri also questioned claims that the incident was fueled by an individual dispute.
Shiite group Hizbullah and Sunni Al-Ahbash have both denied that the incident was fueled by sectarian tensions, stressing that it was the result of an individual dispute.
“After what happened we call for calm and we say that the dispute was an individual one. This is far more dangerous than the truth. Aren’t we witnessing the conspiracies around us?” Hariri asked. The premier added that the Cabinet would not stand neutral against resorting to violence and would act firmly to control the spread of weapons across Lebanese territories.
“As prime minister and Beirut MP [I] assure you that I will not allow the spread of weapons in every street and neighborhood because this is unacceptable,” he said.
On Wednesday the Cabinet tasked a committee headed by Hariri along with the interior and defense ministers to evaluate the large-scale spread of weapons throughout Lebanese territories and submit suggestions to resolve the issue. “We agreed in the Cabinet’s policy statement to the right of the resistance, people and armies to resist the Israeli enemy but in Beirut and other regions, it is not acceptable to have weapons. Who will we fight here? Or are we to fight each other and await strife to happen?” Hariri asked.
March 14 parties also called for a capital free of weapons on Wednesday while warning against compromises aimed at preserving security rather than imposing it by restricting the possession of arms to the state’s official security institutions.
While Hizbullah’s Loyalty to Resistance bloc leader Mohammad Raad said the incident uncovered a scenario of what sectarian strife could look like, top Lebanese political officials called on security forces to swiftly conclude investigations to block attempts to exploit the incident to instigate strife.
A second meeting on Wednesday joined officials of Hizbullah and Al-Ahbash at the office of the Army’s Intelligence Service unit during which both parties agreed to commit to calm awaiting the outcome of investigations. Commenting on the incident on Wednesday, President Michel Sleiman warned against “raising security tensions under any circumstances or pretext” and called on security forces to prevent any attempt to instigate strife, and to arrest perpetrators.
Similarly, a press statement from Speaker Nabih Berri’s office said the latter canceled his scheduled agenda on Wednesday to resume contacts to “prevent strife, [of] which signs started to emerge after attempts to exploit Tuesday’s incident to expand the clashes.” In a statement released the same day, the Lebanese Army Command said investigations in the incident were ongoing to uncover perpetrators and arrest them. “The army command stresses that it will not be lenient in pursuing perpetrators … and calls at the same time on the Lebanese to resist being dragged into attempts to instigate strife,” the statement added.
Hariri’s Future Movement bloc MPs said on Wednesday the clashes recalled the May 7, 2008, incidents and urged the Cabinet to turn Beirut into a weapon free city. On May 7, 2008, bloody clashes pitted pro-opposition and government gunmen against each other, following the Cabinet’s decision to dismantle Hizbullah’s telecommunication network.
The clashes ended with the Doha accord, which led to the formation of a national unity Cabinet after Lebanese groups agreed to refrain from resorting to weapons to resolve domestic disputes.
Future Movement MP Jammal Jarrah stressed the need for “the Lebanese Army and security forces [to] hit with an iron fist since Beirut shoudd be a city free of weapons.”
Echoing Jarrah, the March 14 Secretariat General underlined the need to abolish “security zones with weapons outside the state’s political and security authority” as well as put an end to provocative media campaigns that promote sectarian tensions. “Resolutions should not continue to be based on compromises where the state assumes the role of an intermediary between fighting groups,” the Secretariat’s statement said. Future MP Mohammad Qabbara also stressed the importance of the state imposing security by taking firm measures rather than “imposing security through compromise.” “Today, we demand what we asked for in the past and that is to make Beirut a city free of weapons,” said Future Movement MP Ammar Houri.
Meanwhile, the funeral of Ali Jawad of Hizbullah was held on Wednesday in the southern town of Kfarfila while that of Fawez Omeirat from Al-Ahbash was held on the same day in Burj Abi Haidar. The funeral of Hizbullah official Mohammad Fawwaz, also killed in the clashes, will be held in his southern hometown of Tebnin on Thursday.

The state must ensure security
By Jamil K. Mroue
Publisher and editor in chief
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Daily Star/
Tuesday night’s clashes in Beirut provided us with the latest evidence, as if we needed it, that armed mayhem can break out at any moment in Lebanon. The violence may be sparked by an “individual incident,” but what started out as a reported argument over a parking space ended up closing down a major part of a city. The clashes showed that the Lebanese state is a long way from exercising control over its populace and territory, where people can take the law into their own hands. Tuesday’s “events” contained a huge dose of irony, since the violence was exploding in Beirut as Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was tackling the issue of justice in his latest prime-time address. Nasrallah was citing the cases of the four officers who were imprisoned and released in the Hariri assassination case, and the issue of people who have misled the international investigation. Nasrallah demanded due process and cited the possibility of people taking the law into their own hands – as he discussed the issue, his own party was involved in extra-legal acts in the streets of Beirut. The point here isn’t Hizbullah itself, but rather the patchwork of various armed groups in Lebanon, and their patrons.
“Individual incidents” can spin out of control anywhere: we’ve seen battles and tensions between Christian political forces in the north of the country, and between clans in the Bekaa. The common denominator: am insufficiently strong state presence. There are two common approaches to the “weapons” issue. One is the regional-international track: Syria and Iran are responsible for seeing these weapons in Lebanon, and nothing substantive will happen before the Palestinian issue is solved. Another approach is closer to home, as in the selfish motivation to protect one’s own, which results in a heavily armed populace. Neither approach is useful, and both have their exorbitant costs. While no country is immune to violence, not every “individual incident” shuts down the capital and prompts the president, top officials and the army to spring into action. Our fractured civil society can’t mount an effective response, while much of the political class is directly or indirectly implicated in the state laxity that we see. Today’s edition of The Daily Star contains a profile of yet another Lebanese success story from the Diaspora, in the state of New Hampshire. These “success stories” abroad are piling up because of the utter failure of the Lebanese state to provide a level of security that allows people to invest their talents here, instead of leaving a nation that can’t look after its own.
**Jamil K. Mroue, Editor-in-Chief of THE DAILY STAR, can be reached at jamil.mroue@dailystar.com.lb

Was Burj Abi Haidar a battle by proxy?
By Michael Young
Daily Star/Thursday, August 26, 2010
You had to agree with the pro-Hizbullah daily Al-Akhbar when it observed in its Wednesday edition that one could only “naively” assume that the Burj Abi Haidar fighting the previous evening was the result of a personal dispute between supporters of Hizbullah and the Society of Islamic Philanthropic Projects, known as the Ahbash.
We can only speculate about precisely what did happen. However, most media outlets agreed that tension had been brewing in the neighborhood for some time. The Ahbash are close to Syria, not to say the Syrian intelligence services, which has long employed the group as a counterweight to Sunni militant groups the Syrian regime considers threatening, above all the Muslim Brotherhood. In the postwar period, the Syrians used the Ahbash against the Hariri family – indeed Ahbash members were suspected of involvement in the assassination of the former prime minister, Rafik Hariri – and to undercut the authority of the mufti and the Sunni religious establishment.
To interpret what happened as a Sunni-Shiite clash may be understandable, but there was really much more to it than that. Here was, perhaps, the first armed confrontation between Iran and Syria in Lebanon, through proxies, to determine who will dominate the country in the future. More specifically, the Syrians, in endeavoring to revive their hegemony, have entered into a struggle for power with the only force that can stand up to them locally, Hizbullah, on which Damascus seeks to impose its priorities. Not surprisingly, Hizbullah has refused to surrender the political gains it accumulated during the past five years – gains, above all, in the service of Iran.
The heart of the problem is the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. A decision is expected from the institution in the coming months – whether indictments or the identification of suspects. Hizbullah feels it will be targeted by such a step and has raised the heat on the government of Prime Minister Saad Hariri to immediately end Lebanon’s cooperation with the tribunal. Hariri has refused, and can afford to buy time. That’s because Hariri knows that Syria intends to use any tribunal decision as leverage over Hizbullah, to push the party to surrender to Damascus key posts it controls in the public administration and the security and military apparatus.
In light of this, Syria, like Hariri, is waiting for the tribunal to come out with something first, before opening negotiations with Hizbullah; while Hizbullah’s secretary general, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, keen to avoid any such bargaining, is out to create an intolerable situation on the ground so that Hariri is left with no choice but to scuttle the tribunal before its findings push the party into a corner.
Initially, Hizbullah felt that it had a range of options to intimidate Hariri. Party spokesmen ominously mentioned a return to May 2008, when Hizbullah and Amal overran western Beirut militarily and forced the government of Fouad Siniora to annul two decisions that the party regarded as threatening. Hizbullah officials also raised the possibility of bringing down the current government. However, at a summit in Beirut several weeks ago, President Michel Sleiman, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, and President Bashar Assad of Syria signed on to a statement that effectively ruled out both measures.
Consequently, it could be that Hizbullah’s fight against the Ahbash, even if the incident that prompted it was not premeditated, was a message to Damascus that Hizbullah would not readily bend. And this on a night when Nasrallah made a speech virtually calling for the “Iranization” of Lebanon. Hizbullah had no interest in assaulting Hariri’s Future Movement, as this would have transgressed all red lines, leading to a major breakout of Sunni-Shiite hostility. But by going after the Ahbash, Hizbullah was able to send a subtle warning to Hariri, but also a more pointed one to Damascus.
Conversely, some observers have suggested that what happened was a Syrian warning to Hizbullah. Yet there are problems with this theory, not least that time is on Syria’s side when it comes to the tribunal, and Damascus gained little by provoking the party. Either way, both Hizbullah and the Ahbash were armed and ready for one another.
What will be interesting to watch in the coming weeks is what happens on the margins of the Syrian-Iranian struggle over Lebanon. The Parliament speaker, Nabih Berri, whose allegiances are with Syria, must yet be very careful of how he manages his relationship with Hizbullah. It was indicative of Berri’s dilemma that during the Burj Abi Haidar incident Amal issued a statement saying it was not involved, even as some of its men fought on Hizbullah’s side.
Walid Jumblatt is another politician who must play the Syria-Hizbullah rivalry very carefully. He has been especially vocal recently in calling for the tribunal to be abandoned. That’s because it only exacerbates the tensions between Damascus and Hizbullah, and Jumblatt and his community happen to be caught in the middle. The Druze leader has been the target of repeated condemnation in Al-Akhbar lately, principally because Hizbullah views him as particularly vulnerable (which Jumblatt is), and wants to keep him in line.
Was the Burj Abi Haidar skirmish the first in a series of similar occurrences? It’s difficult to say, but for now nothing indicates that the Syrians and Hizbullah are near to reaching middle ground by tempering their ambitions. What divides Syria and Iran is power, which is something neither is presently inclined to share in Beirut. Even if Hizbullah and Syria avoid episodes like the one on Tuesday, there will be other outbursts of violence or political altercations as the tribunal nears the time when it takes some sort of action.
Particularly revealing is the extent to which Hizbullah feels confident that it can out-maneuver Syria in Lebanon. Damascus was never very good at anchoring itself among the Lebanese without its army and intelligence services around to enforce its dictates. Ironically, Hizbullah has become the principle bulwark resisting a Syrian comeback, because the party wants to preserve Lebanon for Iran. What abysmal choices we Lebanese are left with.
**Michael Young is opinion editor of THE DAILY STAR and author of “The Ghosts of Martyrs Square: An Eyewitness Account of Lebanon’s Life Struggle” (Simon & Schuster).

Lebanon's elusive defence
By: Al-Ahram Weekly.
By: Lucy Fielder
Despite the weakness of the Lebanese army, and recent clashes with Israel, Lebanon is no further forward towards a national defence strategy, writes Lucy Fielder in Beirut
Hizbullah's weapons were once again the topic of discussion for Lebanon's many sectarian and political chiefs last week when leaders sat down in the Beiteddin summer presidential palace for another round of national dialogue that began in 2006.
Many analysts see Lebanon as no closer to the holy grail of a "national defence strategy", and the formidable weapons arsenal that Hizbullah keeps to fight Israel is off the table of discussion. Ideas range from incorporating Hizbullah's units into the army -- advocated by the Shia political and military group's opponents and highly unlikely without a radical shift in relations with Israel -- to enshrining cooperation between the army and resistance fighters in some form of agreement.
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, a rightwing Christian figure and strident critic of Hizbullah, proposed the former plan during last week's talks, to vehement opposition from Hizbullah's representatives. "The first idea is impossible in the current situation; as to the second, there is already enough cooperation between the army and Hizbullah to satisfy the resistance," said retired Brigadier- General Amin Hotait, a strategic analyst and professor at the Lebanese University. "So I expect no change in the status quo, and no defence strategy," he added.
Hotait saw the dialogue as having started out as an attempt to disarm Hizbullah, but that as that plan failed, it persists as little more than a mechanism to release tensions that frequently plague the fragile political balance. "These talks will continue, mainly to get the conflicting sides together and keep the situation calm and release tension. It will take on the aspect of an advisory body," he said. Hizbullah and its allies also now how have an effective veto in the national unity government sworn in last year.
But border clashes between the Lebanese army and Israel in Adaysseh in early August, in which two soldiers and a local journalist were killed on the Lebanese side, as well as an Israeli officer, lent some urgency to the related subject of "arming the army". Lebanon's army is notoriously weak militarily and the long civil war that split the country along sectarian lines has not been forgotten. So regardless of who prompted the clash (it was widely seen in Lebanon that the army came under attack), the fact that the Lebanese army fought Israel and killed a high-ranking officer has been a source of great national pride.
The fire-fight started when Israel pruned a tree across the electrified border fence. The UN border force, UNIFIL, found the tree to be on Israel's side of the UN-drawn "Blue Line' that separates the two countries, but on the Lebanese side of a security fence that does not follow the border precisely, which may have given rise to confusion. Hizbullah, which stayed out of the incident and enjoys close relations with the army, joined the chorus of praise.
"This attention on the Lebanese army is putting to rest this post-2006 Western project, which is to try to convert the Lebanese army into an anti-Hizbullah and anti-terror mechanism," said Karim Makdissi, assistant professor of political studies at the American University of Beirut. "It brought into the open the silliness and hypocrisy of Western aid to the Lebanese army, which is not serious at all in terms of what it needs to defend the country." Support for the army had been political, rather than military, he said.
The US and several European states, most notably France, pledged increased support for the army after it deployed in the south following the 2006 war with Israel. More backing was promised after the battle of Nahr Al-Bared in the north. Pan-Islamic militant group Fatah Al-Islam, which had taken shelter in the Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli, attacked an army post in mid-2007. In response, the army bombarded Nahr Al-Bared camp, razing the refugees' homes amid a frenzy of national support, some stirred by rancour felt by parts of Lebanese society towards the Palestinians since civil war days. The army lost 170 soldiers and its lack of equipment was exposed.
After the August Adaysseh clash highlighted the contradiction inherent in Israel's key ally giving aid to the army of a country with which it is technically at war, Washington froze $100 million of approved funds destined for the army. Iran stepped in with an offer of help, responding to a call by President Michel Suleiman, and the United States is reviewing the hold. Hotait said US support had never been in the form of enhancing combat capacity with arms and munitions; he also saw it as unlikely that Lebanon would be able to accept arms from the Iranians, due to the diplomatic complications that would arise from receiving imports from a country under sanctions.
Makdissi sees talk of building the army, as well as the opening a few weeks ago of a bank account to enable individuals to send donations to the army, as "grandstanding", since it would take many years to build up the army into a force capable of defending Lebanon alone. Part of the political support for the armed forces was about attempting to drive a wedge between it and Hizbullah and remove any cover for resistance fighters supplied by the army, he said. "What Israel and the US don't want, above all, is to have the Lebanese army give legitimacy to Hizbullah."
With the discovery of more than 150 alleged Israeli spies in Lebanon over the last year and a half, integrating Hizbullah units into the army seems more of a pipedream than ever, analysts say. In the absence of a major geopolitical shift, the most likely outcome -- if there is any progress at all on a national defence strategy -- is a political agreement that sanctions coordination that already exists on the ground.
"The Lebanese army and the resistance have had a de facto strategy of coordination and cooperation in place, although there is no written text, since 1991," Hotait said.
Former president Emile Lahoud, who headed the army at the time, ordered that whichever is onsite at the time of a clash should fight Israel, whether the army or Hizbullah, and that they should coordinate and never come to blows. "That's the defence strategy, quite simply," Hotait said.
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