LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِDecember 02/2010

Bible Of The Day
The Good News According to Luke 19/1-10: " He entered and was passing through Jericho. 19:2 There was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 19:3 He was trying to see who Jesus was, and couldn’t because of the crowd, because he was short. 19:4 He ran on ahead, and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way. 19:5 When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 19:6 He hurried, came down, and received him joyfully. 19:7 When they saw it, they all murmured, saying, “He has gone in to lodge with a man who is a sinner.” 19:8 Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor. If I have wrongfully exacted anything of anyone, I restore four times as much.” 19:9 Jesus said to him, “Today, salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham. 19:10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Free Opinions, Releases, letters, Interviews & Special Reports
From the LBC/INterview with MP, Antoine Zahra/December 01/10
Politicians’ power stops at Tribunal’s door/By: Wissam Tarif/December 01/10
Women teach English in rural areas/By: Sarah Lynch/December 01/10

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for December 01/10
Maronite Bishops: Paralysis Sign of Weakness in National Will /Naharnet
Bellemare to clarify his appeal of Fransen’s September ruling/Now Lebanon
President Sleiman holds series of meetings/Now Lebanon
Geagea: Period after STL indictment will be better than before/Now Lebanon
Allouch: Hariri-Nasrallah meeting unlikely/Now Lebanon
Government must maintain security, says Mitri/Now Lebanon
Siniora defends Hizbullah against London critics/Daily Star
UN envoys discuss Ghajar pullout with Israeli officials/Daily Star
Hariri denies calling on US to strike Iran/Daily Star
Arab allies urged US to ignore human rights - memo/AFP
Hariri, Sarkozy Meeting - A Call for Lebanon Unity/Global Arab Network
March 14: Obstruction of State Institutions Doesn't Influence the Tribunal /Naharnet
Hizbullah Prepared to Fight from Lebanon's Coast to its Eastern Mountain Chain /Naharnet
Hajjar: STL is a Main Concern for France /Naharnet
Mneimneh: Suleiman is Trying to Restore National Dialogue through his Meetings with Officials /Naharnet
Geagea: Only Solution to Crisis is for State Institutions to Function Properly /Naharnet
Qassem: Hariri Responsible for Stopping Mockery of Accusations against Hizbullah /Naharnet
Azzam Brigades Urges Lebanon's Sunnis to Reject Hizbullah Dominance /Naharnet
Fatfat: Hizbullah is Only Group that Can Ignite Street Tensions /Naharnet
Sfeir: Current Situation Raises Concern /Naharnet
U.S. Lawmaker: Hizbullah Is Rearming, Lebanese Government Becoming More Subordinate to Iran and Syria /Naharnet
March 8 Forces Prepare to Face Post-Indictment Phase /Naharnet
Indictment Likely to be Issued in Batches /Naharnet
Despite his Illness, King Abdullah Discussed with Assad about Lebanon /Naharnet
Jumblat Backs Suleiman's Efforts to Revive National Dialogue /Naharnet
Hariri Meets Sarkozy, Calls for Activating Inter-Lebanese Dialogue /Naharnet
U.S. Helps Lebanese NGO Introduce E-Waste Management in Public Administration /Naharnet
Ashkenazi Says 'Slim Chance' Hizbullah May Attack Israel after Indictment /Naharnet
WikiLeaks: Egypt Has Started a Confrontation with Hizbullah, Iran /Naharnet

Sleiman holds series of meetings
December 1, 2010 /President Michel Sleiman met separately on Wednesday with Kataeb Party leader Amin Gemayel, Deputy Speaker Farid Makari, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, former Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Minister of State Jean Ogassapian, Marada Movement leader MP Sleiman Franjieh, and Syrian Social Nationalist Party leader MP Assaad Hardane, according to a statement from the president’s office. The meetings aim to reactivate state institutions, strengthen consensus, and renew national dialogue sessions, the statement said. -NOW Lebanon

Assyrian Man Killed in Mosul
12-1-2010 /Assyrian International News Agency
Mosul (AINA) -- According to the Arabic language website ankawa.com, an Assyrian man was killed in Mosul by Muslim terrorists on Tuesday, November 30. The man was identified as Fadi Walid Gabriel, 25, a member of the Syriac Orthodox Church. The killing of Mr. Gabriel brings to 8 the number of Assyrians killed since the Baghdad Church massacre on October 31, when Al-Qaeda affiliated Islamic terrorists stormed Our Lady of Deliverance Syriac Catholic church, killing 58 Assyrians.
A genocide of Assyrians (report) has been ongoing in Iraq since June 26, 2004, when the first church was bombed. 66 churches have been bombed since then, and thousands of Assyrians killed. Nearly 50% of Assyrians have fled to Syria and Jordan (report).

Geagea: Period after STL indictment will be better than before
December 1, 2010 /Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said on Wednesday that the period after the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) issues its indictment will be better than before because there will be documents that can be counted on for discussions, according to a statement issued by his press office. Commenting on Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s Sunday statement that evidence based on the telecommunications sector is worthless, Geagea said, “This is a technical issue. It is known that there is infiltration in the [telecom] sector…It is not new.” “Ninety-nine percent of this [infiltration] was present before 2005, why did they not discover it then?” he asked, adding that verifying the infiltration should be left to technical experts. Foreign countries can support Lebanon, but they cannot interfere in the STL, which March 14 and March 8 are divided about, Geagea said.
“It is shameful that the Lebanese [people] see their leaders wait for [foreign] attempts to resolve a domestic [issue],” the LF leader also said, adding however that foreign concerns are respected. Geagea added that the only solution lies in committing to civil peace and state institutions. The LF leader also criticized releasing radical Islamic preacher Omar Bakri, describing the move as a scandal. Bakri, who lived in Britain for 20 years, was found guilty, along with more than 40 other Lebanese, Palestinians, Syrians and Saudis, of "incitement to murder, theft and the possession of arms and explosives,” was arrested on November 15 in Tripoli and released on bail on November 24. During a joint press conference with Parliamentary Media and Telecommunications Commission head MP Hassan Fadlallah in November, Telecommunications Charbel Nahhas said Israeli penetration of Lebanon’s telecom sector is “clear and proven,” and added that the state and private sector must work together to defend the networks. Tension is high in Lebanon amid unconfirmed reports that the UN-backed probe will soon issue an indictment in its investigation of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s 2005 assassination. There are fears that should the court indict Hezbollah members, it could lead to clashes similar to those of the 2008 May Events – when gunmen led by the party took over half of Beirut.-NOW Lebanon

Allouch: Hariri-Nasrallah meeting unlikely
December 1, 2010 /Future Movement official Mustafa Allouch said on Wednesday that a meeting between Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah “will happen if it is beneficial, but given current conditions, I do not think there would be a benefit.” The Iranians advised for Hariri and Nasrallah to communicate, but “there is a clear and complete difference between the [the two leaders’] points of view on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL),” he told Akhbar al-Yawm news agency. Responding to Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem’s call on Hariri to stop the “farce” of the STL, Allouch said that “it is not Hariri that is accusing Hezbollah.”
“The farce is that there be a premature defense before the [STL’s] indictment is issued. The important thing is that if the indictment accuses anyone based on firm evidence, regardless of political affiliation, Sheikh Qassem and others must accept it.” Syrian-Saudi efforts toward a compromise have made progress but there is still a wide gap between “those who want to deal with the tribunal logically and those who want to abolish it completely,” he also said. “I do not think that Saudi-Syrian efforts will reach a result in this area.”Tension is high in Lebanon amid unconfirmed reports that the STL will soon issue an indictment in its investigation of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s 2005 assassination and that it will accuse Hezbollah members of the crime. Nasrallah has said that Hezbollah will "cut off the hand” of anyone who tries to arrest any of its members in the case and that telecom evidence reportedly used by the STL is worthless. In an interview published Wednesday, Qassem said that Hariri bears a special responsibility to resolve tensions and “knows the suitable ways to stop this farce of accusation against Hezbollah.”Saudi and Syrian officials are reportedly working toward a compromise settlement that would resolve tension in Lebanon. -NOW Lebanon

Bellemare to clarify his appeal of Fransen’s September ruling
December 1, 2010 /Al-Markaziya news agency reported on Wednesday that Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare will clarify on Friday the reasons he appealed STL Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen’s September 17 ruling. Fransen ruled that former General Security head Jamil as-Sayyed’s request for information related to his four-year detention falls within the tribunal’s jurisdiction and that Sayyed has legal standing before the court. Bellemare appealed Fransen’s ruling later in September.Sayyed was arrested in Lebanon in 2005 for alleged involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and released in 2009 due to lack of evidence.-NOW Lebanon

Government must maintain security, says Mitri
December 1, 2010 /Information Minister Tarek Mitri told Al-Jazeera television on Wednesday that the Lebanese government must maintain the country’s security and stability as well as prevent the harmful effects of any Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) indictment. “It is the government’s duty to prevent the deepening of divisions.”
Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s visits to foreign countries are useful visits that aim to resume the work of state institutions,” Mitri said, adding that it is not Hariri who is obstructing a cabinet session from meeting. Hariri wants to encourage Lebanon’s friends to help maintain the country’s stability, Mitri also said, adding that it is the PM’s duty to make all possible efforts to maintain security. The PM went to Iran on Saturday for a three-day official visit. He then arrived in France on Tuesday, where he met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Tension is high in Lebanon amid unconfirmed reports that the UN-backed probe will soon issue an indictment in its investigation of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s 2005 assassination. There are fears that should the court indict Hezbollah members, it could lead to clashes similar to those of the 2008 May Events – when gunmen led by the party took over half of Beirut.
The cabinet has not met since its November 10 session, in which discussion of the “false witnesses” controversy was postponed to avoid a divisive vote.
March 8 politicians have called for the cabinet to task the Justice Council with investigating the issue of witnesses who gave unreliable testimonies to the international probe into the Rafik Hariri murder. However, March 14 figures have said that the regular judiciary should handle the issue.-NOW Lebanon

Girl accidentally shot by wedding gunfire
December 1, 2010 /A 25-year-old woman was accidentally shot in the shoulder during celebratory gunfire at a wedding in Dahiyeh on Wednesday morning, the National News Agency (NNA) reported. She was taken to the hospital for treatment, the report said.Also on Wednesday morning, police intervened after a knife fight broke out in the town of Hadath over a motorbike and some money. -NOW Lebanon

Aoun calls for resolution of tension before STL indictment is issued
November 30, 2010 /Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun told reporters Tuesday that the Lebanese should resolve tension over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) before its upcoming indictment is issued. He also said during a press conference following his bloc’s weekly meeting that if the STL issues its indictment, “the matter is over as far as we are concerned.” Speaker Nabih Berri and Nasrallah are the ones that should be asked about the status of the Syrian-Saudi initiative, Aoun added. He also said that March 14 cannot compromise on the issue of the tribunal and separate itself from the “international game” being played. Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah gave a clear speech on Sunday, Aoun added.
He said that the WikiLeak document alleging that Prime Minister Saad Hariri called on US officials to attack Iran “aimed to cause an explosion.”“When they find somebody going in one direction or another, they leak information.”Aoun added that Telecommunications Minister Charbel Nahhas updated the Change and Reform bloc on the funds in his ministry.
However, he also said that “there is a lack of clarity in the law regarding how telecom revenues are [to be] distributed to the municipalities.”According to a July 8 Al-Akhbar newspaper report, the Telecommunications Ministry owes money to the municipalities. The New York Times on Sunday cited a US State Department cable released by WikiLeaks as saying that Hariri told US officials in 2006 that “Iraq was unnecessary,” while “Iran is necessary.” The PM on Tuesday denied the statements. Nasrallah said Sunday that any evidence based on the telecommunications sector is worthless.Tension is high in Lebanon amid unconfirmed reports that the STL will soon issue an indictment naming Hezbollah members in its investigation of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s 2005 assassination.-NOW Lebanon

Women teach English in rural areas
Sarah Lynch, December 1, 2010 /Now Lebanon
Before last weekend, Nadine Abou-Maachar had never slept outside of her home, nor had she spent more than several hours at a time away from her eleven- and six-year-old children.
The case is the same for Tamam al-Moury Zahraman, a mother of one from Akkar, and Khadija al-Hajj Hassan, a mother of two from Hermel, with a third child on the way.
The story of women like these, who have rarely traveled outside of their home villages, is not unusual in Lebanon’s rural areas. They live in isolated communities where women have little access to education, technology, or even the means to leave their villages.
But Nadine, 43, Tamam, 23, and Khadija, 27, are just a few of the women trying to change that by teaching women English.
“What I like most is the spirit we have in developing our personalities as women,” said Nadine, who is a teacher with the program Teach Women English. “We are reinforcing our role in society, and that is it.”
The program, organized by Lebanese association Hayya Bina in collaboration with the US Embassy, aims to teach women in rural areas English to open them up to new opportunities. Hayya Bina held a three-day teacher training program last weekend in Broummana to prepare the women for their classes, which are offered to 1,000 students nationwide between the ages of 17 and 75.
“Hayya Bina wants to help improve their teaching skills and also prepare them for the challenges they may encounter in leading these classes,” said program director Inga Schei. “Most women will be working in isolated regions with impassible roads—especially in Akkar—and face interference and intimidation from political ‘parties,’ in particular Hezbollah and the Amal Movement.”
Some of the 25 women present at the three-day training session were urged by their families and other individuals involved in political groups not to attend the weekend of workshops, Schei said. The women came from the South, the Bekka Valley, Akkar, Hermel and Mount Lebanon. Only two of the 25 women had previously been to Broummana.
Schei said six additional teachers did not attend because their husbands did not want them to go.
Still, many women did attend, regardless of their reservations and hesitations about being away from home.
“Despite all these obstacles and the minimum financial reward for our partners, Teach Women English has expanded,” Schei said. “This demonstrates the demand by and the desire of people to learn English in the farthest reaches of this country.”
One goal of the program, now in its third year, is to teach women English at a basic level so they can use it simply as a means to communicate. Many of the women teaching the courses are already instructors at their local schools. The idea is not to bring in teachers from abroad, but to employ women already working in their communities.
“The effectiveness at the end of the day is whether or not a woman is able to use the English for her own betterment,” said Ryan Gliha, Public Affairs Officer for the US Embassy.
Riad Yazbeck, Cultural Affairs Specialist in the Public Diplomacy Section of the US Embassy, said the program is also a means by which the United States can promote understanding of American culture and politics. The Public Diplomacy Section gave $300,000 in funding to the program this year.
The past two US administrations have provided funding for the Lebanese Armed Forces in an aim to undermine Hezbollah. As it relates to extremism, one of the goals of this program is similar. “It would help marginalize extremism as well by giving women a tool that will help them economically,” Yazbeck said.
Bahiya, Tamam, Nayla and Nadine are four of more than 30 women teaching English in rural communities.

Antoine Zahra
December 1, 2010
The Lebanese National News Agency carried the following report on November 30:
Lebanese Forces bloc MP Antoine Zahra told LBCI television that “ever since the series of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s [televised] appearances started (and until this day), Hezbollah’s resources have been maintained, its institutions are operational and it is proceeding with its work normally, while the institutions of the Lebanese state are quasi non-existent, its production and economic wheels are frozen and even receding, and all the promises regarding the best touristic year since 1974 collapsed due to the political tensions, the scenarios, the threats, the accusations of treason and the classifications. Therefore, the paralysis we are seeing today is part of the scenarios to get the state project and its institutions to retreat. The government cannot resume its work except in the presence of a major decision approved by all, despite the great dispute over a secondary headline represented by the false witnesses file.
The goal of the other team is to take Lebanon as some sort of a hostage, in order to lead it away from international law by announcing that the tribunal does not concern it. It has become difficult for the content of the indictment to surprise anyone in light of Hezbollah’s insistence on the fact that it will accuse it. Zahra [I call on the cabinet] not to commit a legal violation by voting in favor or against the transfer of the false witnesses file to the Judicial Council because this file is illegal to begin with. We will not offer them the gift of the obstruction of the Lebanese government. We are expecting an accusatory indictment from the tribunal and it cannot be built on assumptions. The goal of the Syria-Hezbollah-Iran axis is to prevent the issuance of the indictment and not to deal with its repercussions, so that we return to the notion of impunity at the level of political assassinations in Lebanon.
Today, they are trying to obstruct the work of the international tribunal by forcibly earning a Lebanese consensus over the rejection of the indictment and the tribunal. The obstruction of the tribunal is one of the steps to control the country and make everyone understand that it is its destiny to be affiliated with the Iranian-Syrian axis. [On Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s visit to Iran and the gift that was offered to him,] Iran offered arms for show and not for use to Prime Minister Hariri. As for the arms that can be used, they go to Hezbollah. The Supreme Guide of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Sayyed Khamenei, said that as long as Israel exists, the Resistance will stay. This confirms that regardless of the settlement that is reached with Iran, the latter will continue to arm Hezbollah and to perceive the South as being a friction line not only with Israel but also with America.
[Regarding the possible resignation of the March 8 ministers from the government,] they do not want to resign. Bringing up this issue merely aims at subjugating the entire political team, [it is impossible to form] a new government. In case the March 8 ministers resign, the current government will become a legitimate caretaker government. [About the telecommunications issue, what the opposition is saying about it and Nasrallah’s statements in this regard,] yes, Israel’s tapping is a possibility since nothing is 100 percent secure. However, depicting the situation as though everything was breached is not true. The experts are misleading the public and are using Sayyed Nasrallah to mislead the people. As for Minister Nahhas, he engaged the line of promoting this idea without adopting or confirming it.
[It is tedious to explain] the case of the four Iranian diplomats. The goal behind the insistence of the fact that Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea is responsible for it is purely political. We know who is promoting this and Maarab’s doors are open to all those who wish to discuss the overall situation with Dr. Geagea. [However, I agree] with Minister Bassil in saying that some were planting political hashish. Some of those selling illusions inside the Change and Reform bloc also planted political hashish, which is why they are currently witnessing the collapse of the popular support they enjoyed throughout the country. During their presence in power, the ministers of the Change and Reform bloc did not show a good example of transparency and their performance was extremely disappointing.
How did [Bassil] purchase the energy-saving light bulbs? The Ministry of Finance says that over 100 million Lebanese pounds could have been saved in the process. Now, there is talk about the solar heaters. When we look for a product, we must find the best price and the best quality, a thing which is not being done at the Energy Ministry. The non-agreement with the head of the Change and Reform bloc Deputy Michel Aoun is not personal. It is due to the fact that General Aoun chose a project that goes against the historical Christian project which is in support of the state and the institutions. As for Aoun, he is supporting a mini-state at the expense of the state. Had Aoun still enjoyed the popularity from which he beneftted when the people were numbed in 2005, Hezbollah would not have hesitated to carry out its threats.”

Maronite Bishops: Paralysis Sign of Weakness in National Will
Naharnet/The Council of Maronite Bishops on Wednesday urged the Lebanese to pray for rain and said the paralysis in constitutional institutions are signs of weaknesses in national will.
"Paralysis in constitutional institutions and waiting for external solutions are signs of weaknesses in national will," Monsignor Youssef Toq said following the bishops' monthly meeting.
He said the bishops called for consultations among Lebanese officials and agreement on fateful issues. The statement also touched on a looming environmental crisis. "We call for the appropriate measures to preserve the environment and … urge believers to pray for rain," it said. Beirut, 01 Dec 10, 12:12

Politicians’ power stops at Tribunal’s door
Wissam Tarif, November 30, 2010
My journey to understand the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) did not begin with the first of my visits to The Hague this year. It is a continual attempt at understanding since UN investigators arrived in Lebanon shortly after a bomb blast over five years ago.
Before March 14, 2005, talk in Syria revolved around the regime falling – or at least opening up. In Iraq, Saddam Hussein had been captured, and his trial had begun. In Palestine, the spark of sharp division had emerged and quickly spread abroad. In the White House, Bush’s administration believed that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was either unable or unwilling to cooperate with the new regional project.
On the morning of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s assassination, it was clear during the meeting in the Syrian Foreign Ministry between Farouk al-Sharaa and the American ambassador to Damascus at the time, Margaret Scobey, that the two sides were not speaking the same language. Scobey was recalled to Washington, and American diplomatic representation in Damascus was reduced. The policy of isolating Syria began. The European Union's negotiations with Syria on Mediterranean partnership were postponed, and an unprecedented rapprochement began between the young presidents, Assad and Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The lines of the moderate and resistance camps were drawn on the Arab stage. In Lebanon, a bloodbath was launched with Hariri’s murder.
Today, the regional scene is different than it was on the morning of March 14, 2005. Talk has stopped about any change in Syria. The Iraqi elections have been held, and agreement has been reached on forming Iraq's government. The Palestinian president is negotiating for the sake of negotiation, and Hamas no longer doubts his legitimacy as president. Lebanon’s Martyrs' Square is empty of March crowds. The visit of Hariri's son, Saad, to Damascus has completed the division in the ranks of the March 14 coalition, and Jumblatt has finished his latest round of repositioning, now safe in the bosom of the strongest power. Hezbollah has become entangled in local politics, and its discourse has sunk from the "true promise" to "our women's honor."
The STL’s work cannot be separated from the political conditions that led to its establishment, just as the absence of a “Special Tribunal for Pakistan” to try former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto’s murderers cannot be considered a judicial decision. Unlike Bhutto, Hariri was not killed alone. Samir Kassir, Pierre Gemayel, George Hawi, and others were also killed. Many fell on the front lines between the camps of moderation and resistance. It was in this context – a political context, above all else – that the STL was established.
During my current trip to The Hague, I was struck by the fact that fewer than ten Lebanese employees (about 3%) work for the STL, which receives 49% of its funding from the Lebanese Republic. Also striking was how, for many of the STL’s top brass, the experience of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia – where many previously worked – is a strong presence in their spirits and minds.
When Lebanese journalists visited the tribunal for two media forums, its employees began to see more clearly a concentrated sample of Lebanon's divisions, which the journalists carried in their luggage. This luggage landed back in Lebanon full of media reports along differing lines. The next day, the Lebanese citizen read reports about two STLs in The Hague - a rogue tribunal destabilizing the country, and a sacred tribunal reinforcing the state and its institutions and laws. Two tribunals agreeing in one matter: the burden is more than the ailing Lebanese can bear. As politicians made intense round-trip movements between Beirut and Arab and Western capitals, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah announced his "optimism" regarding Arab efforts to resolve the Lebanese crisis, while Jumblatt talked about Western interference disturbing these efforts. In The Hague, the movement matched the cold temperature. Things were moving slowly in The Hague, except for the noticeable activity in the Office of the Prosecutor. There was serious talk, in judicial circles, that the indictment "will not only touch Hezbollah." Put more clearly, the STL's impending indictment - it appears - will not just name Lebanese.
About two months ago, a diplomatic source in New York quoted UN Security Council members with veto power as saying that not supporting the STL's work is "not an option" as long as the crime of terrorism is a vital priority for the international community, especially in light of all the definitive stances members with veto power have taken. It is worth mentioning, quoting from the same source, that STL Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare—a Canadian—did not please America because, as a judge, he was considered “quieter than he should be” and "less politically sophisticated" than American diplomacy accepts.
The tribunal's continuation is no longer tied to a Lebanese political decision, and perhaps it never was. In tackling a crime of terrorism, the tribunal is a precedent in international law. "Terrorism" did not begin or end in Lebanon, and "terrorism" will not push the UN Security Council to strangle the first international tribunal set up to try its perpetrators. Because it was established in a political context above all else, Lebanese politicians still have influence at least - or at most - on the street to control, not the indictment, but its consequences.
Beirut, for all its connections, has no power to stop the indictment.
**Wissam Tarif is currently in The Hague and works with the Insan Association, a Lebanese non-profit and civil society organization.

President of the World Maronite Union (WMU), Sheikh Sami Khoury  to Erdogan: An ally of Iran and Syria shouldn't meddle in Lebanon
Cedars News/Friday, November 26, 2010
Washington,DCCommenting on the visit to Lebanon by Turkey's Prime Minister, the President of the World Maronite Union (WMU), Sheikh Sami Khoury said "we do not consider this visit as in the interest of Lebanon in general and in the interest of its civil society. AKP leader Rejeb Tayyib Erdogan is no friend of a free Lebanon but an ally to Lebanon's enemies."
Khoury said "Turkey's AKP can fool many in the West and in Lebanon but does not fool us at all. The AKP Government has signed a strategic alliance treaty with the Syrian regime the occupier of Lebanon in which jails hundreds of Lebanese detainees are still being tortured. Erdogan has been siding with the Iranian Khomeinist regime in the nuclear crisis but more dangerous, the AKP stood with Ahmedinijad the oppressor against the Green Movement of Iran. When the ally of terrorists come to Lebanon he is not welcomed by the Lebanese people.""We deplore the short sight political vision of the Lebanese Government which allowed this visit to take place giving Erdogan a platform for his Ottoman ambitions from the historic area of Akkar. The AKP's agenda is to reestablish the Ottoman empire, the very enemy that massacred the Lebanese people during WWI. Erdogan is meddling in Lebanese affairs when his intelligence services are coordinating with Syria's mukahbarat and with Hezbollah."Khoury said "the Lebanese Diaspora is a friend to the Turkish secular people and institutions but rejects the AKP Islamist and Jihadist policies wrapped with political Taqiya. Erdogan has no business delivering speeches about his regime's Jihadi agenda from Lebanon's soil. He and Ahmedinijad are two faces of one coin. They both want to expand their influence in Lebanon. Ahmedinijad wants to use the Shia card and Erdogan wants to use the Sunni card. But both are part of the same regional axis, the one that supports Hezbollah, Hamas and the terrorists of the region.We warn the Lebanese public not to fall to the propaganda machine which is trying to convince people that Erdogan will protect the Sunnis facing Ahmadinijad who supports the Shia. This is a game, the two regimes are in one basket and they are coordinating this game. They want Sunnis and Shia in Lebanon to look at these two regimes as their protectors while in reality they belong to the same axis.We warn the Christian public in Lebanon not to fall into the trap of believing that Erdogan is a neutral party who wants to help Lebanon. The AKP Government is anti-NATO, pro Jihadist and is claiming they have the support of the US. They don't have such support, they are only gaining time. We urge Christian politicians not to rush to Ankara and Istambul to obtain economic favors from the AKP as they did with Damascus and Tehran. We warn those politicians that we will expose them and their businesses if they sell out to Erdogan.
We stand by our brothers and sisters from the Armenian community in their quest to obtain an AKP recognition of the Armenian Genocide. We ask the Erdogan Government to solve its own problems inside their own Republic before teaching the region lessons in policies. Let them solve the Kurdish problem first. Let them withdraw from Cyprus which they have been occupying. Let them stop harassing the secular segments of Turkish society."Khoury concluded that the time for AKP games in the region is coming to an end. "The new US Congress and the current European Parliament knows what is the real agenda of the Islamist AKP. And the Lebanese Diaspora in 30 countries also knows. Mr Erdogan, your hands off Lebanon."

Siniora defends Hizbullah against London critics
By The Daily Star
Wednesday, December 01, 2010 /BEIRUT: Head of the Future Movement parliamentary bloc MP Fouad Siniora said in London Tuesday that Hizbullah represented a large and essential faction of the Lebanese people and played a major role in the liberation of the country’s occupied territories.
Speaking before a delegation of students at the King’s College University, Siniora said Israel was Lebanon’s only enemy in response to criticism against Hizbullah for resorting to violence during the May 7, 2008 events. Pro-Hizbullah gunmen overran neighborhoods of west Beirut in 2008 after the government then headed by Siniora decided to dismantle the party’s private telecommunications network. Siniora said an outbreak of violence in Lebanon over political disputes would impact the entire Middle East, leading to a race in the proliferation of nuclear arms in the region accompanied by sectarian and religious tensions. He was referring to controversies over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon expected to implicate Hizbullah members in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. Siniora said the failure of the Lebanese model as a prototype of coexistence representing cultural and religious diversity would encourage divisions and schism in nations with ethnic, cultural and religious diversity. The former prime minister said the global financial crisis along with security and political instability across the world were indicators that several superpowers were emerging after the US has been dominating as a unique superpower with military, economic and political supremacy.
Siniora warned that the repercussions of such a transition phase could promote religious, sectarian and ethnic struggles enforcing extremism and isolation among nations if practical steps are not taken to promote dialogue. “Lebanon represents an experience that is still struggling to prove its success, an experience that requires more development to represent a model for the region,” he said after highlighting the coexistence of 18 officially recognized sects in the country. “But weaknesses in the country’s political and religious make-up led in many instances to import or reflect conflicts and divisions in surrounding countries instead of exporting principles of diversity and democracy to its neighbors,” Siniora said.
Siniora was refering to The Taif Accord, which imposed parity between Christians and Muslims, and ended in 1989 15 years of civil war that tore the country apart. – The Daily Star

Hariri denies calling on US to strike Iran
By Patrick Galey /Daily Star staff
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Saad Hariri denied Tuesday allegations that he called for a United States strike on Iran back in 2006, as intercepted diplomatic documents suggested Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had voiced regrets over Israel’s war with Hizbullah. Hariri was quoted by the New York Times as asking US officials in 2006 to “go all the way if need be” in halting Iranian nuclear designs. “First, any suggestion that I said this is false,” the prime minister told reporters Tuesday during an official trip to Paris. “Second, Iran is a friendly country and we have always met with its ambassadors and all officials who came to Lebanon. And we reject any challenge to Iran.”
Although the precise diplomatic cable detailing Hariri’s meeting with US security advisers has yet to be released from WikiLeaks’ cache of some 250,000 secret documents, the site has said it possesses 4,790 files concerning US embassy correspondence on Lebanon. WikiLeaks has so far released just 13 cables on Lebanon. The leaked information includes an intercepted cable sent by former US Ambassador to Israel Richard Jones detailing a meeting held on April 11, 2007, between Netanyahu and Democratic Congressman Gary Ackerman. Netanyahu, then the leader of the Knesset opposition, is alleged to have told the US representative that Israel’s military had made a raft of mistakes during its 2006 war with Hizbullah. “Netanyahu said the problem was not the war’s goals but rather the disconnect between goals and methods,” the leaked cable said. “If the [Israeli Army] had used a flanking move by a superior ground force, it could have won easily.” Netanyahu is quoted as saying Israel was “stupid” in the way it “dripped troops into [Hizbullah’s] gunsights.” The cable added that Netanyahu had accused his army of being “afraid to take military casualties, but instead got many civilian casualties.” The war killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mainly military. Israel provoked international outrage after a series of attacks on Lebanese civilian infrastructure during the fighting and its government came under fire in a report on the conflict in 2007 by the Winograd Commission. Netanyahu is alleged to have boasted that Israel could have struck a decisive blow to Hizbullah if it had conducted a wider-scale ground invasion of south Lebanon. “If [then Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert had mobilized [Israeli Army] reserves in ten days, seized ground, destroyed Hizbullah in southern Lebanon, and then withdrawn, he would be a hero today,” the document said.

UN envoys discuss Ghajar pullout with Israeli officials
UNIFIL spokesperson says task force yet to get date for proposed withdrawal from village’s north
By Patrick Galey /Daily Star staff
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
BEIRUT: Israel’s planned withdrawal from northern Ghajar gathered diplomatic pace Tuesday, with United Nations representatives holding talks with Israeli officials in occupied Jerusalem, even as Lebanese military sources insisted they were being kept in the dark over the divided village’s fate. United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) commander Major General Alberto Asarta Cuevas and UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams discussed Ghajar with Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Rafi Barak, UNIFIL spokesperson Neeraj Singh confirmed. “Williams and Asarta met today with Barak in Jerusalem and Mr. Barak informed them about the decision by the Israeli Security Cabinet to accept in principle UNIFIL’s proposal to facilitate the withdrawal from northern Ghajar,” Singh told The Daily Star. “UNIFIL’s focus is on ensuring the withdrawal from northern Ghajar happens in accordance with [UN Security Council Resolution 1701]. This is our first imperative.” Singh added that while Ghajar was discussed during Monday’s tripartite meeting between Lebanese, Israel and UNIFIL representatives, the peacekeeping force was yet to be given a date for Israel’s proposed withdrawal.
A military source told The Daily Star that talks concerning Ghajar had failed to bear fruit during Monday’s gathering. “The Lebanese party asked about Israel’s intention to withdraw but it received no answer about the date of the withdrawal, or schedule, or even a method of withdrawing,” the source said. “There was no talk of security measures [following withdrawal] because there was no methodology. [Both parties] discussed routine issues such as demarcating the Blue Line and Israeli violations of Resolution 1701.” Under UNIFIL’s plan, Israeli troops would pull back from Ghajar’s northern sector and be replaced by UNIFIL soldiers, who would be tasked with maintaining security among the 1,500 civilians who currently reside north of the Blue Line which splits the village. “Israel has not yet set a date for the withdrawal but it intends to reach an agreement with all concerned parties within 30 days,” the Central News Agency (CNA) quoted Barak as telling Israeli media outlets. “Israeli officials are directly contacting village residents to prepare for the withdrawal.” He added that Israel would consider Resolution 1701 complete following a pull back, given that “Israel has withdrawn from all Lebanese lands.”
Ghajar, which straddles the border between Lebanon and Israeli-occupied Syrian territories, was first occupied by the Jewish state in 1967, before it annexed the area in 1981 in a move not recognized by the international community. Following Israel’s withdrawal from south Lebanon in 2000, UN surveyors demarcating the border cut the village in half and allotted its northern sector to Lebanon. But Israel retook the sector following a ground assault during the 2006 summer war with Hizbullah. Many of the village’s 2,200 residents possess Israeli identification cards and protests have voiced villagers’ fears of Berlin-wall style segregation should Israel’s military pull back south of the Blue Line. The military source expressed doubt that Israel genuinely planned to remove its troops from northern Ghajar.
“Israel’s withdrawal is simply a media affair,” the source said. “The Lebanese Army doesn’t know anything about Ghajar because it has received no answer. It only knows what the media is reporting.” The CNA reported that Israeli soldiers had erected poles close to the Blue Line near Adaysseh village, the scene of fighting between Israeli and Lebanese Armies in August, which killed two Lebanese soldiers and a journalist as a well as a senior Israeli officer. The violence prompted UN chief Ban Ki-moon to urge both governments to speed up Blue Line demarcation in order to avoid a repeat incident. Israel maintains a technical fence slightly to the south of the Blue Line which is often mistaken by locals as the boundary of Israeli military withdrawal from Lebanon. – With additional reporting by Carol Rizk

Arab allies urged US to ignore human rights - memo
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Wednesday, December 01, 2010 /Dave Clark
Agence France Presse
PARIS: authoritarian allies of the US in the Arab world have urged Washington to ignore human rights and take a more starkly aggressive stand against Islamist militants and Iran, leaked cables show. According to stolen US State Department cables published by the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, Egypt advised the United States to forget about democracy in Iraq and instead to install a new dictator there, and stand up to Iran. Meanwhile, Kuwait’s interior minister told a US envoy his country did not want to see the return of Kuwaiti terror suspects held in Guantanamo Bay and suggested “the best thing to do is get rid of them.” And Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah proposed implanting Guantanamo detainees with electronic chips to monitor their movements after their release. In 2008, Mubarak reminded visiting US congressmen he had advised Washington against the 2003 invasion of Iraq to depose dictator Saddam Hussein, according to one of the leaked cables. But now that they had troops in mainly Shiite Iraq, American troops should not withdraw because that would only serve to strengthen Shiite Iran next door. Instead, he said, they should build an Iraqi national security state. “Strengthen the armed forces, relax your hold, and then you will have a coup. Then we will have a dictator, but a fair one. Forget democracy, the Iraqis by their nature are too tough,” said Mubarak, according to the cable.
The exchange between Kuwaiti Interior Minister Sheikh Jaber Khaled al-Sabah and the US envoy to Kuwait took place in February last year. Washington was urging Kuwait to accept the return of Kuwaiti nationals who had been detained at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on suspicion of belonging to Jihadist militant groups fighting in Afghanistan. “You know better than I we cannot deal with these people,” the minister protested, arguing that Kuwait is a small and tight-knit society where family ties hold more sway than any legal measure.
“I can’t detain them. If I take their passports, they will sue to get them back. I can talk to you into next week about building a rehabilitation center, but it won’t happen,” the sheikh said, according to the leaked cable. “We are not Saudi Arabia. We cannot isolate these people in desert camps or somewhere on an island. We cannot compel them to stay. If they are rotten, they are rotten and the best thing to do is get rid of them,” he said. “You picked them up in Afghanistan: You should drop them off in Afghanistan, in the middle of the war zone.”
The ambassador also asked the Kuwaiti minister’s advice as to what should have been done with seven Iranian hashish smugglers that were rescued by the US Navy when their boat was found sinking in the waters of the Gulf.
In that case, US forces returned the seven to Iran via authorities in Oman, but the minister suggested they might not have been so lucky had they been picked up by the Kuwaiti Coast Guard. “God wished to punish them for smuggling drugs by drowning them, and then you saved them. So they’re your problem! You should have let them drown,” the minister suggested, “smiling broadly,” according to the cable. In March 2009, Saudi King Abdullah came up with a less callous and more innovative way of dealing with released Guantanamo detainees by implanting electronic chips to monitor their movements, according to a leaked memo. The king proposed the prisoners be implanted with electronic microchips so that after their release they can be tracked, the leaked US Embassy report on the meeting said. Abdullah explained that “this was done with horses and falcons,” according to the memo. But “horses don’t have good lawyers,” replied White House counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan.

Hariri, Sarkozy Meeting - A Call for Lebanon Unity
- Ayman Khalil/Global Arab Network
Tuesday, 30 November 2010 21:24
France (PARIS) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy met with Lebanese Premier Saad Hariri to discuss the situation in Lebanon and bilateral and regional relations.
French diplomats noted after the talks that the meeting was part of a series of discussions Sarkozy has held with leading Lebanese figures in the past months.
"The President met with President (Michel) Suleiman, House Speaker Nabih Berri and with General (Michel) Aoun, among others, and he already met last summer with Hariri," a diplomat from Sarkozys office noted. The talks with the Lebanese Premier were an opportunity to reiterate Frances position on the country, "a position that has not changed," an official at the Elysee Palace said. France supports "the unity of all the Lebanese behind the country’s institution," he pointed out, adding that France  also "supports the Lebanese authorities, in this case in the person of (Prime Minister) Hariri." "France is also ready to contribute to prosperity and stability in Lebanon" and will also continue to deploy forces with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which is located in the south of the country.
Leaving the talks at the Elysee Palace, Hariri told journalists that he wanted to thank Sarkozy for his support for Lebanon in several areas. "France is always at the side of Lebanon," he declared, remarking that he had discussed the stability of his country with the French leader.He said that he believed France would help guarantee Lebanese security and was participating in UN efforts to stabilize the south of the country. He also said he hoped that maybe France could encourage Israel to halt incursions and air space violations in the south.
Concerning the Special Tribunal set up with strong French support to investigate the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, the visiting Lebanese leader said that "France has always supported the Special Tribunal" investigating the murder of his father. The UN investigative body is soon due to publish its findings and even issue indictments of suspects alleged to have been involved the bomb attack that killed the former Prime Minister and 20 other people in central Beirut. Asked about a crisis in Lebanon if certain Lebanese parties, like Hezbollah, are named by the Tribunal, Hariri said that "dialogue must take place in Lebanon and we will take that path." Hezbollah, which is a member of the coalition government, has threatened to call for widespread demonstrations and protests if any of its members are indicted by the Tribunal. The Lebanese Premier expressed satisfaction with his working relationship with Hezbollah, which he called "an important party in Lebanon." Hariri, who flew to Paris after a visit to Tehran, said that Lebanon had "friendly relations with Iran" and he denied reports quoting him as speaking against the Iranian regime. The quotes were leaked by the now renowned Wikileak site but the Lebanese leader categorically denied having made any critical remarks about Iran. Hariri is also meeting later this week with French Prime Minister Francois Fillon and Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie.
*Global Arab Network