LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِDecember 30/2010

Bible Of The Day
Proverbs 20:20: "If one curses his father or his mother, his lamp will be put out in utter darkness".

Free Opinions, Releases, letters, Interviews & Special Reports  
Saudis urge Lebanon PM to accept compromise with Hezbollah/By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff/December 29/10
Accused spy says Israel paid their Syrian agent for nuclear information/Haaretz/December 29/10

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for December 29/10
Wissam Eid’s parents hope for justice/Now Lebanon
Saudi-Syrian bid to solve crisis picks up steam/Daily Star
Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon:: West has three years to stop Iran nuclear program/Haaretz/Reuters
Assad: Israel has extremist gov't not interested in peace/J.Post
Indictment could be blow to Lebanon's Hezbollah/AP
Saudi-Syria Compromise based on Lebanon's Withdrawal from STL before Jan. 15, Report /Naharnet
King Abdullah to Dispatch Son to Beirut, /Naharnet
Berri: Abdullah's Surgery Put Brakes on Solution to Lebanon Crisis /Naharnet
Saniora: Bolton's Statements are Rejected because They are Aimed at Harming Lebanese-Syrian Ties /Naharnet
Hizbullah Says Indictments of No Concern but What do Analysts Say?  /Naharnet
Wissam Hasan Fears Assassination, Report /Naharnet
Rifi: Security Situation Excellent /Naharnet
Qabalan Urges Lebanese to Cooperate to Safeguard Lebanon /Naharnet
Mufti Qabbani Prays to Spare Lebanon Sectarian Strife /Naharnet
Harb: Lebanon will have a say in the Saudi-Syrian agreement/Now Lebanon
Jouzo: Sfeir's place in our hearts remains the same/Daily Star

Wissam Eid’s parents hope for justice
December 29, 2010 /Now Lebanon
As Lebanon braces for a UN court to issue indictments in the Rafik Hariri murder, the parents of the police officer believed to have cracked the case are hoping it will also shed light on who killed their son.
Major Wissam Eid, a top communications analyst with the police intelligence bureau, was assassinated in a January 25, 2008 car bombing outside Beirut.
Three years later, his parents are none the wiser as to who killed him.
They now wait with bated breath news from the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), which is set to issue an accusation in the 2005 Hariri murder, with the hope that Eid's killers too will be brought to justice.
"We knew he was going to be killed. I expected him to be killed on New Year's Eve ... But they let me keep him for 25 days," Wissam's mother, Samira, told AFP at her home in north Lebanon.
"But as soon as I heard news of the bombing that Saturday morning, I knew it was him," she added, wiping back tears. "I just knew."
The troubled STL is purportedly set to indict high-ranking members of Lebanon's powerful Shia party Hezbollah over the bombing that killed the five-time Sunni premier and 22 others in Beirut.
But Hezbollah has warned that any such accusation would have grave repercussions – a warning that hits home hard in a country that has been plagued for decades by paralysis, assassinations and all-out war.
Eid's name emerged as the expert who traced the mobile phone networks that allegedly led to Hezbollah.
He had been liaising with UN investigators looking into the Hariri murder at the time of his own killing.
The 31-year-old, who built the police force's communications analysis unit, had been dispatched for years to the country's toughest crimes.
He headed a team tasked with tracing Al-Qaeda-inspired groups and investigating nine murders of anti-Syrian figures as well as an army general between 2005 and his own death in 2008.
In the northern village of Deir Ammar, the home of Wissam's parents Mahmoud and Samira is a shrine dedicated to their son, whose intense gaze greets visitors from oversized banners hoisted outside the town entrance.
A short walk away, on a hilltop overlooking the Mediterranean, is the young officer's grave. Family still visit regularly to say a prayer and lay flowers there.
In the months before his murder, Wissam's parents had been gripped by a feeling of foreboding. Eid had been receiving threats and his boss, Samir Shehadeh, had survived an attack on his life in which four of his bodyguards were killed.
"We knew, and knew very well, what Wissam was working on although he never talked about it," said Eid's mother. "For about a year before Wissam was murdered, there were always men watching the house."
Wissam himself had twice been the target of bombings. The police force took extra security measures to protect him, keeping his travel to a minimum and setting him up in a high-security flat near his office.
Samira, who fondly describes her son as "full of life and a moralist through and through," concedes that his one flaw was his secretiveness.
"We knew he was threatened. We knew what he was doing was dangerous. We knew he wouldn't be with us for long," said the elegant, veiled mother of five. "But he never told us who was after him, although I'm sure he knew who it was.
"And even if he wanted to pull out, it was too late. When you're in over your head, it's hard to withdraw. They would have killed him anyway. He had the information."
The STL has been at the center of an escalating deadlock between Hariri's son and political heir, Saudi-backed Prime Minister Saad Hariri, and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah.
As the indictment nears, fears that the probe will send the country sliding back into chaos are spiraling.
But Eid's father, himself a detective with the Internal Security Forces, maintains the unwavering belief that international justice will take its course.
"We can no longer bury the truth. This is a case in the hands of the international community, and the lead has been made public," said Mahmoud Eid.
"We must see this through. If forced to choose between peace and justice, we choose the truth."
General Ashraf Rifi, who commands the police force, first tapped Wissam Eid to join police intelligence in 2001. Today, he is adamant that the major's death will not join the list of Lebanon's unsolved murders.
"At the end of the day, I am responsible for my officers," Rifi told AFP at his office in Beirut. "Wissam Eid was a brilliant, outstanding officer. We lost a great man.”
"But as I said at the site of the bombing to those who are sending us this message, that we should cease working, we will not stop. This only increases our will to continue, to see this through, no matter the costs."
For Major Eid's grieving mother, however, hope for justice is fast fading as the years go by.
"I know my husband has another opinion, but I don't believe justice will prevail," she said. "As long as these divisions in the country remain ... I don't think the truth will ever see the light.
"In all honesty, the only thing that really gives me hope is that God will let me see him when it is my time to go."
-AFP/NOW Lebanon



King Abdullah to Dispatch Son to Beirut,
Naharnet/Damascus to Finalize Deal on STL, Report/Saudi King Abdullah will reportedly soon dispatch his son, Prince Abdul Aziz, to Beirut and Damascus to "finalize the compromise" on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.Al-Akhbar newspaper on Wednesday said Abdul Aziz is to hold a series of talks with high-ranking officials in Beirut before moving to Damascus to put the final touches on the Saudi-Syria agreement. Beirut, 29 Dec 10, 12:01

Saudi-Syria Compromise based on Lebanon's Withdrawal from STL before Jan. 15, Report
A Saudi-Syria compromise based on Lebanon's withdrawal from the international tribunal is likely to be announced by January 15, the daily Al-Akhbar newspaper said Wednesday.
It said Syrian President Bashar Assad updated President Michel Suleiman during a Dec. 26 phone call on the content of his conversation with Saudi King Abdullah and his son Prince Abdul Aziz regarding the Syrian-Saudi compromise "which is near-completion." Damascus, according to what Assad informed Suleiman, is waiting for Prince Abdul Aziz's visit to put the final touches on that settlement, in light of the answers Assad is expecting to hear from King Abdullah who is recuperating in New York from back surgery.
Damascus reflected the positive impression of visitors to senior Syrian officials, who said the compromise is likely to be announced "anytime from now till Jan. 15."
Al-Akhbar said that despite Damascus' insistence that no one could disclose content of the Saudi-Syria settlement, only three insiders were really up-to-date with the deal --King Abdullah, Assad and Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. It said the very little known about the deal – which ought to be announced before the indictments are issued – maintains that Lebanon reconsider its position on the STL and take the necessary action to pull out of the U.N.-backed tribunal in line with legal, security, judicial and financial obligations stated in the agreement with the United Nations to establish the STL. The key issue, according to Al-Akhbar, is for Lebanon to "withdraw" from the tribunal and not call for its annulment.

Berri: Abdullah's Surgery Put Brakes on Solution to Lebanon Crisis
Naharnet/Speaker Nabih Berri said Saudi King Abdullah's back surgery in New York delayed a solution to the Lebanese crisis but did not obstruct the formulation of a settlement.
Berri made his remark to Ad-Diyar newspaper in remarks published Wednesday.
He also warned that some people are obstructing the solution.
Meanwhile, sources close to Berri said the calm political atmosphere indicates that the Lebanese crisis could be solved despite obstruction pressure.
After the resumption of normal political life and Abdullah's recovery "we could make progress and things could be solved," the sources told al-Liwaa daily.
They advised caution, however, because of what they said "pressure to obstruct a solution" to the deadlock. The sources told the newspaper that Prime Minister Saad Hariri's trip to New York to visit Abdullah contributes to the Saudi-Syrian initiative aimed at ending the crisis.Abdullah's illness "put the brakes on all issues," they said, adding that former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton's comments on the international tribunal's indictments delayed a solution. "It is known by now that the U.S. administration favors a settlement after the release of the indictment and not before it," the sources added. Beirut, 29 Dec 10, 08:08

Saniora: Bolton's Statements are Rejected because They are Aimed at Harming Lebanese-Syrian Ties
Naharnet/The head of the Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc MP Fouad Saniora condemned on Wednesday former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton's recent statements to al-Hayat daily, saying that they are aimed at creating division among the Lebanese. He also said that the statements also serve to harm Lebanese-Syrian ties "that we only wish to see improve.""The remarks only serve Israel's interest and are an expression of hostility towards Lebanon and Arab interests," he concluded. Beirut, 29 Dec 10, 15:54

Moussawi: Our Position from STL is Firm, Desire to Issue Indictment is an Israeli Aim to Corner Hizbullah
Naharnet/Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Nawwaf al-Moussawi stressed on Wednesday that the Resistance's position towards the Special Tribunal for Lebanon "is firm as we believe it to be an American tool based on Israeli-fabricated evidence aimed at targeting Hizbullah."He told NBN: "The desire to issue the indictment is an Israeli one aimed at cornering the Resistance."He questioned the "eagerness" to disregard the possibility of Israel possibly being behind the assassinations that have plagued Lebanon and the readiness to accept the "idea of fabricated evidence aimed at accusing a Lebanese group."The MP repeated the opposition's demand that the false witnesses file be transferred to the justice council.
Beirut, 29 Dec 10, 16:05

Hizbullah Says Indictments of No Concern but What do Analysts Say?
Naharnet/Hizbullah says looming indictments by a U.N. court for the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri are of no concern to the group. Hizbullah's leader, in fact, says he is so relaxed he sleeps an extra hour every night. Behind the veneer of confidence, however, analysts say the Shiite Lebanese group is deeply worried at the impact of what will likely be charges against some of its members. At the least, it could be a blow to one of the movement's most important foundations — its reputation.
For decades, Hizbullah has gained support by depicting itself as a pure resistance movement, clean of corruption, aimed only at defending Lebanese against Israel. Instead, indictments would plant a new image in the mind of some Lebanese: a movement willing to turn its weapons against fellow Lebanese to carry out a political assassination.
That could weaken Hizbullah's position in sharply divided Lebanon, undermining one of its main justifications for maintaining its large arsenal, which make it the most powerful military force in the country. "One of Hizbullah's main strengths is its reputation in the Arab and Islamic world as a resistance movement fighting Israeli occupation," said Ibrahim Bayram, an analyst with An-Nahar newspaper who closely follows Hizbullah affairs. "This will definitely tarnish its image in the Arab world."
That could turn into more than just an image problem. Hizbullah's enemies may see the group as weakened and vulnerable. "In the eyes of Israel, America and the West, Hizbullah will be accused. It will become a rogue entity that is more easily targeted. This may provide a pretext for others to pounce on it," Bayram said.
In the worst case scenario, the indictments could cause the collapse of Lebanon's fragile unity government and spark new fighting between Shiite Hizbullah and Sunnis.
The Netherlands-based tribunal has not said who it will indict, but Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has said he has information it will be members of his group.
Hizbullah has responded by staunchly denying any role in the assassination, denouncing the court as a conspiracy against it and demanding that its fellow Lebanese publicly stand by it — something its rivals have so far resisted doing.
Already the impending indictments have paralyzed Lebanon's government, an uneasy partnership between Hizbullah and factions led by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the slain leader's son.
Nasrallah demands the government publicly discredit any findings by the tribunal, but Hariri has refused to break cooperation with the court. Hizbullah officials have reportedly said they will not sit on the same table with a prime minister who accepts an accusation that they were behind the death of his father.
Hizbullah has also pressed on the case of the "false witnesses" — witnesses who reportedly gave false information to U.N. investigators to implicate Syria in the Hariri killing. The case is sensitive because close associates of Saad Hariri are alleged to have bribed the witnesses to do so.
Hizbullah demands that the Cabinet vote to send the case to the Higher Judicial Council, which handles political and state security crimes. The lower courts where Hariri and his supporters want it handled are seen as more under Hariri's control.
Hizbullah and its allies refuse to attend any Cabinet meeting that does not vote on the issue, while Hariri has reportedly vowed to walk out of any meeting that decides to hold a vote. As a result, the Cabinet has met only once since Nov. 10, and that single meeting lasted only a few minutes. State institutions have been deadlocked.
In a recent speech, Nasrallah denied he was worried, saying, "I have been sleeping an extra hour each day for the past few months." Talking tough, Hizbullah has threatened to "cut off the arm" of anyone who tries to arrest any of its members.
But Bilal Saab, a Middle East expert at the University of Maryland who advises the U.S. government on Lebanon, said Hizbullah faces hard choices, none of which are good.
"Right now, Hizbullah is thinking of ways to weather the storm," he said.
He said a violent reaction by the group can throw the country into turmoil and reawaken the various armed Sunni jihadi groups that are present in Lebanon. A political reaction that seeks to overthrow the government may buy Hizbullah some time but is not sustainable in the long term, he said.
Hizbullah and its rivals are now relying on mediation by Syria and Saudi Arabia, their respective international patrons, to try and reach a settlement that would allow both camps to step back. "The problem (in Lebanon) is in its total dependence on the outside and internal inability to carry out any national role," wrote columnist Rafik Khoury in the daily Al-Anwar.(AP) Beirut, 29 Dec 10, 14:35

Harb: Lebanon will have a say in the Saudi-Syrian agreement
December 29, 2010
“Even if Lebanon does not participate in the Saudi-Syrian talks, it will be involved when an agreement is reached,” said Minister of Labor Boutros Harb in an interview on Wednesday.
He also said that certain parties defend the president’s powers but still attack President Michel Sleiman when he exercises them. “[Sleiman] has the right not to call for a vote [in the cabinet on the issue of false witnesses],” Harb told the Voice of Lebanon (100.5) radio. The labor minister commented on Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s visit to New York, saying the PM went to check on the health of Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz. Sleiman said in an interview with As-Safir on Wednesday that he rejected being instructed by anyone regarding whether the issue of “false witnesses” should be put to a vote in the cabinet.Saudi and Syrian officials have reportedly been communicating in efforts to reach a compromise that would resolve tensions.
King Abdullah, who is 86 years old, flew to New York on November 22 and was operated on two days later for a debilitating herniated disc complicated by a hematoma that put pressure on his spine.-NOW Lebanon

WikiLeaks: Israeli Troops would Face Leb. Army in Any Conflict with Hizbullah
Naharnet/A document spill by WikiLeaks showed that Israel agreed that moderates and the Lebanese army must be strengthened, but expressed deep concerns about ongoing cooperation between Hizbullah and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF).
The document sent in July 2009 to Washington from the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv said that during a roundtable discussion of Israel's ministry of defense (MOD), Strategic Division Chief Brigadier General Yossi Heymann acknowledged the positive results of the Lebanese elections.
However, Heymann feared the outcome did not represent the real power of the Shiites in Lebanon.
According to the leaked document, Heymann agreed that "moderates and the LAF must be strengthened, but expressed deep concerns about
ongoing cooperation between Hizbullah and the LAF."
He also said that such aid to Lebanon be paired with efforts to halt
smuggling and directly weaken Hizbullah.
Overall, Heymann was skeptical that these systems would benefit the LAF, and said the Israeli Government would appreciate a more in-depth conversation regarding U.S. intentions and overarching strategy with
respect to the LAF.
Heymann suggested further talks to coincide with the August 3rd F-15 technical discussion in Washington. Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs Andrew Shapiro offered to take that back to Washington for review.
If it proved too difficult on short notice to bring together interagency experts to discuss U.S. intentions with the LAF, Shapiro suggested it be included in the Joint Political Military Group talks later in the fall, according to the document.
It said the Israeli Government remains concerned about U.S. arms transfers to the LAF and has requested the opportunity to discuss further U.S. intentions regarding the LAF.
Shapiro said the results of the Lebanese elections represented a turning point, and rejection of Hizbullah and its Iranian sponsors. The need to build up Lebanese institutions, including the army, was now more important than ever, he argued.
He said the LAF has thus far demonstrated a solid record of accounting for U.S. systems transferred to Lebanon.
Israeli Ministry of Defense director general Pinhas Buchris, according to the U.S. embassy cable, acknowledged that the elections in Lebanon were positive, but countered that Hizbullah's influence remains strong.
He argued that items such as the Cessna Caravan and the Raven unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) lack sufficient mitigation measures, which creates the potential for an incident along the Israel-Lebanese border.
Amos Gilad, an aide to Ehud Barak, said the Israeli Government does not believe the LAF will attack Israel.
However, given the ties between Hizbullah and the LAF, Gilad was
certain Israeli troops would eventually face the LAF in any conflict
with Hizbullah.
Analysts from the MFA's Center for Policy Research argued there has been no dramatic change in the political arena despite the March 14 coalition's significant victory in the elections. They said the fragile political situation in Lebanon is currently stable, but Hizbullah still possesses an unofficial veto over policy.
Long term prospects will be tested by the Hariri Tribunal and Hizbullah's desire for a reprisal to the 2008 Mughniyeh assassination, according to the leaked cable.
MFA Policy Research analysts further argued that the LAF faces tremendous pressure following the recent explosion of a Hizbullah arms cache near the Lebanese-Israeli border.
MFA DG Yossi Gal noted that UNIFIL had been prevented from investigating the explosion, and raised the recent crossing by Lebanese citizens into Israeli territory to plant Lebanese and Hizbullah flags. He said French and Italian delegations had praised the Israeli Government's restraint in these cases.
Shapiro asked if the election results might be the result in part of a backlash in the Christian community against Hizbullah; the Policy Research analysts countered that the results were indicative of several factors, including the influx of Saudi money and an unstable opposition camp.
They agreed that Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah "might be a bit chastened following the elections," as suggested by Shapiro, but that Hizbullah continues to try and undermine the March 14 coalition. Beirut, 27 Dec 10, 15:28

Wissam Hasan Fears Assassination, Report
Naharnet/Police intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Wissam Hasan fears assassination, Al-Akhbar newspaper reported Wednesday. It quoted some visitors as saying Hasan "fears for his personal security and of being assassinated." Hasan spoke at length about his security and that of his family, which forced him to move out to live close to the Directorate General of Internal Security Forces in Ashrafiyeh, Al-Akhbar added. Beirut, 29 Dec 10, 14:08

Rifi: Security Situation Excellent
Naharnet/Police chief Gen. Ashraf Rifi on Wednesday described the security situation in Lebanon as "excellent."His remarks came after meeting with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir in Bkiri. Rifi said his visit was to wish Sfeir happy holidays. Beirut, 29 Dec 10, 13:47

Qabalan Urges Lebanese to Cooperate to Safeguard Lebanon
Naharnet/Vice President of the Higher Islamic Shiite Council Sheikh Abdul Amir Qabalan on Wednesday called on Lebanon to cooperate to safeguard their nation.
"We are with Lebanon -- a country of coexistence and constructive cooperation, and we have to protect Lebanon, but not by force ... particularly since we are living through difficult times which require us to put hand-in-hand to bring peace to the country," he said. "We also have to cooperate to safeguard Lebanon from the pitfalls and to protect its people against conspiracies because the Israeli enemy still lurks out there," Qabalan added. Beirut, 29 Dec 10, 12:51

Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon:: West has three years to stop Iran nuclear program
Moshe Ya'alon says Iran remains the government's biggest worry, hopes for success of U.S.-led actions against Teheran.
By Reuters /The United States and its allies have up to three years to curb Iran's nuclear program, which has been set back by technical difficulties and sanctions, Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon said on Wednesday. Saying Iran remained the government's biggest worry, Yaalon did not mention possible unilateral military strikes by Israel, saying he hoped U.S.-led action against Tehran would be successful. "I believe that this effort will grow, and will include areas beyond sanctions, to convince the Iranian regime that, effectively, it must choose between continuing to seek nuclear capability and surviving," Ya'alon told Israel Radio. "I don't know if it will happen in 2011 or in 2012, but we are talking in terms of the next three years."
Ya'alon, a former armed forces chief, noted Iran's uranium enrichment plan had suffered setbacks. Some analysts have seen signs of foreign sabotage in incidents such as the corruption of Iranian computer networks by a virus. "These difficulties postpone the timeline, of course. Thus we cannot talk about a 'point of no return'. Iran does not currently have the ability to make a nuclear bomb on its own," Ya'alon said. "I hope it won't succeed at all and that the Western world's effort will ultimately deny Iran a nuclear capability."
Ya'alon had previously been hawkish on Iran, saying Israel, believed to have region's only nuclear arsenal, should attack Iran rather than see it get the bomb.
Other officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have been tight-lipped about the military option, which would face big tactical and diplomatic hurdles.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday Iran will retain its right to pursue nuclear technology. Speaking about next month's planned nuclear talks with world powers in Istanbul, Ahmadinejad said "We are willing to cooperate with [them] in Istanbul, but all of them should acknowledge Iran's right to pursue nuclear technology and know that we will not retreat on inch from these rights." The six world powers - Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States - demand that Iran suspend its controversial uranium enrichment, in line with five United Nations Security Council resolutions, four of them with sanctions, designed to make sure the Islamic state is not pursuing a secret military program.
While denying the existence of military nuclear programs, Tehran has referenced its right as a Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty signatory and International Atomic Energy Agency member, saying, like any other country, it has the right to have civil nuclear projects, including uranium enrichment.

Saudis urge Lebanon PM to accept compromise with Hezbollah
.Haaretz/ 29.12.10/By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff
Saudi Arabia is compounding Arab pressure on Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri to reject an international tribunal investigating the February 2005 assassination of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, sources told Haaretz.
The United Nations-backed tribunal is expected to name Hezbollah, the Iranian- and Syrian-backed group with a strong presence in Lebanon's political establishment, as complicit in the Valentine's Day blast which killed Rafik Hariri as his convoy travelled through Beirut.
In return for Saad Hariri's cooperation, Hezbollah would guarantee that it would not harm the prime minister. The radical Shi'ite organization would also avoid any overt military activities and Hariri would be allowed to maintain his own security apparatus.
The Saudis, considered the Hariri family's patrons, have stepped up pressure on Hariri to convince him to accept the "compromise" planned by Saudi Arabia and Syria that aims to defuse Lebanon's political crisis.
The fact that Saudi Arabia has joined Syria in pressuring Hariri suggests that the chances have increased significantly that the prime minister will accept the deal.
For the time being, however, Saad Hariri is refusing to make a decision. Last week, Hariri denied a report in the Lebanese daily Al Diyar that he had agreed to distance himself from the international tribunal's report "for Lebanon's interests."
Hariri traveled to New York on Monday for a meeting with Saudi King Abdullah, after Saudi-Syrian mediation efforts were put on hold because of the king's trip to the United States for emergency surgery. But now that the king is recovering, pressure has resumed on Hariri, who is the head of the March 14 alliance, Hezbollah's rivals in Lebanon, which took power following the assassination.
Haaretz has learned that the proposed compromise involves Hariri relinquishing the demand that the international tribunal investigate his father's assassination. He would have to make a statement in which he expresses his rejection of the tribunal's work.
Hariri would apparently be supported by Hezbollah in efforts to disarm Palestinian groups operating outside the refugee camps in the country, even though their numbers are minor compared to those inside the camps. Such a move would be interpreted as another reassertion of Lebanese sovereignty in line with the Taif Agreement of 1989, which ended the Lebanese Civil War. In that deal, government forces disarmed militias; Hezbollah was the only group that refused to disarm.
On Tuesday, the Al Nahar daily reported that Syrian President Bashar Assad had told the Saudis that if they are interested in a strong Lebanon, the indictments that the international tribunal is expected to issue, should be rejected. The newspaper reported that Assad told the Saudis that "we must act together to stop the indictments."
The Lebanese daily Al Safir reported earlier this week that Assad had spoken by phone with the Saudi king, but avoided discussing the compromise proposal, fearing wiretapping by the Americans. The newspaper said the Syrian leader spoke in code about the situation in Lebanon and conditioned a future visit to Beirut with the Saudi king on Hariri's acceptance of the compromise.
The international tribunal is expected to issue indictments in mid-January against some of the suspects in the assassination, Western sources told Haaretz. But at this stage there are no plans to release the details or the identities of the suspects.
The information will be kept under wraps until the judge investigating the murder completes the evaluation of the information. The details of the indictments are expected to be made public by April.
Despite efforts to keep things under wraps, it is also expected that information will leak and the indictments will say senior Hezbollah members had a role in Rafik Hariri's murder.
Pressure by Hezbollah has included death threats on Saad Hariri, whose security has been stepped up, according to reports in Lebanon.
Tensions have also been on the rise between Hezbollah and March 14 activists in Beirut. The latter stay away from neighborhoods controlled by Hezbollah, and a number of the group's leaders have traveled abroad for "holidays," sources say.
Meanwhile, Lebanese security sources said they had uncovered more equipment, allegedly belonging to Israeli spies, in the Chouf Mountains. The sources said Hezbollah helped locate the equipment, which was allegedly used to spy on the coastal plain and the Bekaa Valley. Ten day ago, the Lebanese Army said it had uncovered "spying equipment."

Rarity in Region, Lebanese Paper Dares to Provoke
By ROBERT F. WORTH/The New York Times
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Ibrahim al-Amine, the hawk-eyed editorial chairman of Al Akhbar, describes his newspaper’s founding ambitions this way: “We wanted the U.S. ambassador to wake up in the morning, read it and get upset.”
Bryan Denton for The New York Times
Ernest Khoury, an editor of Al Akhbar, working beneath a portrait of Karl Marx. Al Akhbar’s chief owner is an investment banker based in London.
Bryan Denton for The New York Times
A photograph of Joseph Samaha, the founding editor of Al Akhbar who died in 2007, hanging in the newspaper’s offices.
He succeeded. Earlier this month Al Akhbar became the only Arab newspaper to obtain its own substantial batch of WikiLeaks cables and gleefully cataloged various embarrassments to the region’s kings, princes and politicians. Soon afterward, the paper’s popular Web site came under a cyberattack that became a story in its own right, and provided more free publicity.
It was the latest coup for a five-year-old paper that has become the most dynamic and daring in Lebanon, and perhaps anywhere in the Arab world. In a region where the news media are still full of obsequious propaganda, Al Akhbar is now required reading, even for those who abhor its politics.
They are a remarkable blend: the paper champions gay rights, feminism and other leftist causes, even as it wholeheartedly supports Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite movement. Al Akhbar’s access to Hezbollah allows it to scoop other papers on Lebanon’s biggest continuing story, but it also publishes muckraking exposés on the abuse of domestic workers, prison overcrowding and other delicate subjects. Add splashy full-page color photos and witty tabloid-style headlines, and you have an alluring product.
“Our project is basically anti-imperialism,” said Khaled Saghieh, Al Akhbar’s mild and cerebral managing editor, who abandoned a Ph.D. in political science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, to help start the paper. That insurrectionary theme, he said, links the paper’s resistance to neoliberal economic policies and its support for Hezbollah’s fight against Israel. There are plenty of disagreements with Hezbollah, whose members regularly call to complain about articles — though not in any official capacity. But the Shiite group’s leaders appear to recognize the importance of maintaining alliances across Lebanon’s complex sectarian and political landscape.
Al Akhbar has sometimes criticized Hezbollah in print (though mildly), and Mr. Saghieh himself — who writes a regular column — has written excoriating critiques of Hezbollah’s chief Christian ally, the party of Michel Aoun, a former general.
The paper suffers from many of the same flaws as the mainstream Arab press: too much reliance on single sources, and news pages that often show a loose mingling of fact, rumor and opinion.
Still, it is refreshingly free of the slavish headlines that are so common across the Middle East: the king’s visit to the airport, the president’s trip to the mosque. Even the pan-Arab press, largely owned by Saudi Arabia, is seriously constrained in what it can say. Lebanon has long had the most freewheeling news media in the region, but its outlets are often vehicles for their owners, usually political bosses or businessmen with a sectarian ax to grind. Reporters are often pawns in this game: Rafik Hariri, the billionaire former prime minister who was assassinated in 2005, used to send around envelopes of cash to his favorites.
Al Akhbar wanted to break free of that formula. Its founding editor, a revered left-wing journalist named Joseph Samaha, found a London-based investment banker to underwrite the venture in 2006 while promising not to interfere with editorial content. Mr. Samaha envisioned a paper with a strong political commitment but no attachments to any particular party, and a refusal to be constrained by anyone.
“We are going to show that you can make a profitable paper without bowing to any government,” said Hassan Khalil, the banker, who is the paper’s chief owner, in a telephone call from London. “We wanted to make something new: a truly independent newspaper.” The paper broke even last year, Mr. Khalil said.
The handful of other owners include members of the staff. The paper receives no support from Iran, Syria or Hezbollah, Mr. Khalil said, despite accusations from its ideological foes that began even before the paper started printing.
Al Akhbar’s print circulation is dismally low, 10,000 to 15,000, though comparable to circulations at Lebanon’s other leading papers. The industry is fading here, as everywhere. But Al Akhbar’s Web site is by far the most popular of any Lebanese newspaper’s, and its editors see a broader audience for their product. They are starting an English-language version, set for introduction early next year.
Critics say the paper’s protestations of editorial freedom ring a little hollow, given that it operates under the tacit protection of Hezbollah, Lebanon’s most potent military force. It was reporters on the other side of the political fence, many Lebanese say, who took the greatest risks for their views in recent years, and paid the price. Samir Kassir and Gebran Tueni, critics of Syria and Hezbollah who worked for the older and more pro-American newspaper An Nahar, were both killed by car bombs in 2005.
But there is a youthful energy and conviction at Al Akhbar that is lacking at many other papers. The offices, on the sixth floor of a West Beirut office building, above a supermarket, have more of the feel of a college newspaper than a major daily. The staff members are mostly in their 20s and 30s, and seem to see the place as a kind of alternative family. There are pictures everywhere of Mr. Samaha, whose death from a heart attack in 2007 — less than six months after the paper’s founding — was a serious blow.
“Joseph was our father, our friend, our drinking partner,” said Omar Nashabe, editor of Al Akhbar’s crusading Justice page.
Like several of the editors, Mr. Nashabe is fully conversant with American culture; he earned a Ph.D. in criminal justice from the State University of New York, Albany, before joining the paper. He is responsible for some of the paper’s most socially liberal columns, and talks excitedly about the need for new laws to defend foreign laborers and women’s sexual rights. He brushes off the angry letters and phone calls he gets from social conservatives, including some in Hezbollah.
But no one apologizes for Al Akhbar’s vehement support for “the resistance,” as Hezbollah’s armed forces are known here. A portrait of Imad Mughniyeh, the legendary Hezbollah commando who was assassinated in 2008, hangs in the office of Mr. Amine, the chairman of the board.
“Our Che,” Mr. Amine says, as he leads a visitor into his office and proudly displays the portrait. After Mr. Mughniyeh was killed in Damascus, Syria, Al Akhbar published an amazing scoop: a personal interview with Mr. Mughniyeh, done months earlier and written by Mr. Amine, who was a personal friend.
If Mr. Saghieh and Mr. Nashabe are the paper’s Western-friendly faces, Mr. Amine is its hard-line bulldog, a grizzled Marxist whose columns are widely viewed as telegraphs from the Hezbollah leadership (or parts of it). He offers his visitors tea, then reels off some of his own fondest hopes: to replace the oppressive governments of the Arab world, redraw the colonial-era borders, remove Israel from the map and send the Jews back to Europe — they would be more comfortable, after all, in a capitalist environment.
“I hope I haven’t provoked you,” he says at last, somehow managing to avoid a smirk.

Accused spy says Israel paid their Syrian agent for nuclear information
29.12.10/Haaretz
According to Egyptian media, the official's information led to Israel's alleged bombing of a Syrian nuclear reactor in 2007.
An Egyptian charged with spying for Israel told authorities that his Syrian counterpart was paid 1.5 million dollars to provide Israel with information on Syrian nuclear activities, Egyptian media reported Wednesday. The Syrian intelligence official, named as Saleh Al-Nijm, provided Israel with information on the whereabouts of an alleged Syrian nuclear reactor which probably led to the bombing of the facility in 2007, according to Egyptian state media reports.
According to the EgyNews website, Tareq Abdelrazeq told authorities that he met with al-Nijm several times in Damascus and that they collaborated on providing information to the Mossad.For his part, Abdelrazeq allegedly received 37,000 dollars from Israel in payment for his activities, Egyptian officials said.
Syria denies that the bombed structure was a nuclear reactor.
Meanwhile, Israel has not officially said it was behind the 2007 attack, but a U.S. government cable released by WikiLeaks earlier this month named Israel as responsible.
The cable, written in 2008 by then secretary of state Condoleeza Rice, stated that "on September 6, 2007, Israel destroyed the nuclear reactor built by Syria secretly."
Abdelrazeq also allegedly told prosecutors that no other Egyptians had collaborated with him in providing Israel information.
Egyptian authorities announced the arrest of Abdelrazeq earlier this month, accusing him of spying for Israel and attempting to recruit spies in Syria and Lebanon for the Mossad.
Egypt's Emergency State Security court is expected to hear the case on January 15.
The prosecutor's office also accused two Israelis of working alongside Abdelrazeq and forming a spy ring in Egypt. The prosecutor did not name the suspects, only saying they were "fugitives" and had not yet been arrested.

Jouzo: Sfeir's place in our hearts remains the same
By The Daily Star /Wednesday, December 29, 2010
BEIRUT: Mount Lebanon Mufti Mohammad Ali Jouzo said Tuesday he stood by the Maronite patriarch’s side to preserve Lebanon’s best interests. Jouzo added that his recent criticism of Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir aimed at serving the country’s interests rather than raising sectarian tensions. “The patriarch’s place in our hearts remains the same. We regard him as a major national guarantee and our reproaches will not jeopardize our relations,” Jouzo said. Jouzo criticized Sunday “political Maronism” in the wake of Sfeir’s statement that “qualifications were equally important to demographics,” a reference to the decreasing number of Lebanese Christians versus their Muslims compatriots. He said such statements harmed the “feelings of the rest of the Lebanese,” and added that quality no longer exists in Lebanon neither among Christians nor Muslims. – The Daily Star

Saudi-Syrian bid to solve crisis picks up steam
King Abdullah, Assad discuss Lebanese situation in extended phone conversation
By Mirella Hodeib /Daily Star staff
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
BEIRUT: Talks led by Saudi Arabia and Syria to solve Lebanon’s months-long stalemate gained momentum Tuesday, two days after the Syrian president and the Saudi monarch held an extensive telephone conversation on the matter.
Bashar Assad and King Abdullah bin Abdel-Aziz thoroughly discussed the situation in Lebanon during a lengthy telephone conversation Sunday, an Arab diplomatic source told The Daily Star. “The Syrian side is very confident and comfortable with the outcome of recent talks with the Saudis,” said the source.
Lebanon’s two main powerbrokers launched an initiative in July to contain mounting tensions in Lebanon over the indictment to be issued by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), which is probing the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The UN-backed court is widely expected to point the finger at Hizbullah, sparking fears of violence erupting in the volatile country.
Riyadh and Damascus are said to be negotiating a package deal to end the Lebanese crisis acceptable to the country’s rival March 8 and March 14 factions.
After a slowdown due to Abdullah’s hospitalization, the Syrian-Saudi bid has received a boost in the past few days.
The slain statesman’s son, Prime Minister Saad Hariri, is currently on a visit to New York where he paid a visit to the Saudi monarch, who is recovering there after undergoing back surgeries earlier this month. King Abdullah was expected to brief Hariri about the progress of talks with Syria.
Former Prime Minister Omar Karami said Hariri’s visit to New York could indicate that a Syrian-Saudi agreement has been concluded. Karami said Hariri might have left to the US to be informed of the Syrian-Saudi brokered agreement to end Lebanon’s crisis over the disputed issue of the STL.
The Arab diplomatic source explained that Saudi-Syrian efforts aim to address a wide array of issues including the STL and its impending indictment, as well as arrest warrants issued by Syria against Lebanese and Syrians in the lawsuit filed by the former head of Lebanon’s General Security apparatus Jamil al-Sayyed.
The source also spoke about the Saudi-Syrian dialogue addressing a possible government change, with Hariri remaining premier and an overhaul of the country’s security and judicial hierarchies.
Syria and Saudi Arabia are also apparently heavily relying on an expected visit around January 12 to Washington by French President Nicholas Sarkozy. Assad had discussed Lebanon during talks with Sarkozy earlier in December.
The positive impression conveyed by the Arab diplomat echoed remarks made by the Syrian president to his Monday visitors. Assad was quoted as saying the Saudi-Syrian endeavor has reached its final stages, adding that King Abdullah’s illness has delayed its announcement.
Assad was also quoted as saying that succeeding in preventing the drastic repercussions of the STL indictment was similar to the collapse of the May 17, 1983, peace deal between Lebanon and Israel.
Hizbullah has slammed the Netherlands-based court an “Israeli project” aimed at targeting the resistance and blatantly rejected any cooperation with the STL.
The party’s Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said a settlement to the Lebanese crisis ought to be attained before the court issues an indictment.
Hariri’s adviser Mohammad Shatah told MTV that there would be “plenty of time” to contest the indictment after it is released. “The indictment can be challenged if relevant and clear-cut evidence is submitted.”
Shatah said Saudi-Syrian efforts will not compromise justice, adding that talks focused on “finding a unified stance among the Lebanese, guarantying the functioning of the government, and maintaining the level Lebanese-Syrian ties have reached.”
Beirut MP Nuhad al-Mashnouq of Hariri’s Future Movement visited Damascus Monday and held talks with the Syrian president’s top adviser Bouthaina Shaaban. The visit is considered the first known face-to-face meeting between a member of the Future Movement and a Syrian official.
Hizbullah, meanwhile, said the party welcomed all initiatives aimed at solving Lebanon’s political impasse. “[Hizbullah] extends a hand to all initiatives aimed at helping this country whether Saudi-Syrian or Turkish-Iranian to reach a solution before the indictment is issued,” said Hizbullah’s politburo member Mahmoud Qomati.
In an implicit reference to comments made by Hariri to pan-Arab daily Ash-Sharq al-Awsat in September, the Hizbullah official slammed attempts to overlook the issue of the so-called “false witnesses.” “Some have admitted that false witnesses have harmed Lebanese-Syrian ties but they insist on paralyzing the country and the government so the false witnesses are not uncovered,” said Qomati.
The Cabinet has been stalled over the problematic issue of “false witnesses,” which the Hizbullah-led March 8 alliance accuses of misleading the probe into the assassination of Rafik Hariri and calls for their trial by the country’s highest court, the Judicial Council. But the March 14 coalition fears that the investigation of “false witnesses” by the Judicial Council, rather than by the regular judiciary, would eventually block the work of the tribunal.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Forces head Samir Geagea said the Syrian-Saudi bid was “currently on holiday.” “We are currently facing an internal problem and we should solve it on our own through dialogue otherwise it will never be solved,” he added.