LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِOctober
09/2010
Bible Of The
Day
The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25/13-30)/13 “Therefore
stay alert, because you do not know the day or the hour. 14 For it is like a man
going on a journey, who summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them.
15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, each
according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The one who had
received five talents went off right away and put his money to work270 and
gained five more. 17 In the same way, the one who had two gained two more. 18
But the one who had received one talent went out and dug a hole in the ground
and hid his master’s money in it. 19 After a long time, the master of those
slaves came and settled his accounts with them. 20 The one who had received the
five talents came and brought five more, saying, ‘Sir, you entrusted me with
five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ 21 His master answered, ‘Well done,
good and faithful slave! You have been faithful in a few things. I will put you
in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 The one with
the two talents also came and said, ‘Sir, you entrusted two talents to me. See,
I have gained two more.’ 23 His master answered, ‘Well done, good and faithful
slave! You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of
many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 Then the one who had
received the one talent came and said, ‘Sir, I knew that you were a hard man,
harvesting where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed,
25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have
what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered, ‘Evil and lazy slave! So you knew
that I harvest where I didn’t sow and gather where I didn’t scatter? 27 Then you
should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have
received my money back with interest! 28 Therefore take the talent from him and
give it to the one who has ten. 29 For the one who has will be given more, and
he will have more than enough. But the one who does not have, even what he has
will be taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless slave into the outer
darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’”
Free
Opinions, Releases, letters, Interviews & Special Reports
Where is the logic?/Now Lebanon/October 08/10
Ahmadinejad looks to Lebanon to
escape home truths/By: Meir Javedanfar/October 08/10
Hariri pushed into corner over
Syrian demands/By Michael Bluhm/October 08/10
Lebanon's bloggers are
pioneers in the Arab world/By Tony Saghbini/October 08/10
Blame the politicians,
not Lebanon's army/By Nadim Hasbani/October 08/10
Up in arms,Talking to weapons
dealer Wael/By: Mona Alami/October 08/10
Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for
October 08/10
US cautions Egypt against doing
business with Iran/Y.Netnews
Arab League poised to back Abbas
decision to leave talks/J.Post
Revolutionary Guards, Iranian flags
capture S. Lebanon for Ahmadinejad visit/DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
Israeli troops kill Hamas' West
Bank commanders, hunt "Syrian" cell leader/DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
Sfeir: False Witnesses Must be Held
Accountable/Naharnet
MP, Moukheiber: Issue of Syria’s
arrest warrants to ‘reach dead end/Now Lebanon
MP, Zahra says Aoun is pushing
Hezbollah to attack Christian areas/Now Lebanon
Images Showing Suspected Hizbullah
Fighters Training in Syria Missile Base/Naharnet
Salafist Leader Warns: We Won't
Remain Idle if Sunnis, Tripoli Attacked/Naharnet
UN again urges Israel to
stop overflights, mock air raids/Daily Star
Ahmadinejad looks to Lebanon to
escape home truths/The Guardian
Kahwaji vows army will combat
attempts to instigate civil strife/Daily Star
Assad voices concern over Lebanon's
security situation/Daily Star
Lebanon signs media cooperation
agreement with Syria/Daily Star
Jumblatt: I will defend Hamadeh
against arrest/Daily Star
Suleiman Formed 'Crisis Cell' to
Seek Exits to Current Crisis/Naharnet
Sayyed: Three-Way Solution to False
Witnesses/Naharnet
US cautions Egypt against doing business with Iran
State Department regrets Cairo's renewed flight agreement with Tehran; urges all
nations not to pursue financial ties with Islamic Republic until it meets
international obligations
News Agencies Published: 10.08.10, 07:15 / Israel News
Washington has expressed its regret over Egypt's recent decision to renew direct
flights between Cairo and Tehran, after more than 30 years.
The two nations have reportedly agreed to see 28 weekly flights between them –
14 in each direction.
Obama signs toughest-ever US sanctions on Iran / AFP
The State Department spokesman Mark Toner called on all nations not to pursue
financial dealings with Iran, as long as it falters on its international
obligations. "We continue to urge all countries – including Egypt – not to
pursue any new business deals until Iran complies with its international
obligations," Toner said. "Given the current atmosphere... we're trying to
discourage this kind of engagement with Iran, until it owns up to its
international obligations," he stressed.
Egypt is one of the United States' most important allies in the Middle East.
Hamid Baghaei, an Iranian vice president and the head of culture and tourism,
told Tehran State Television that the agreement was "one of the most valuable
economic agreements that have been signed between Iran and Egypt over the past
30 years," adding that it could be a first step toward issuing visas to Egyptian
and Iranian citizens and otherwise furthering ties between the two usually
states.
Still, Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossam Zaki stressed that business
ties aside, political ties were a different matter. Egypt originally cut ties
with Iran shortly after the Iranian Revolution of 1978.
Revolutionary Guards, Iranian flags capture S. Lebanon for Ahmadinejad visit
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report October 7, 2010, (GMT+02:00) Tags: Ahmadinejad
Lebanon US Spanish UN peacekeeper stands guard in front of... an Iranian
flagFred Hof, the US diplomat said to have excellent connections in Damascus, is
due in Beirut Thursday, Oct. 7, secretly assigned by the White House to try and
get Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Lebanon cancelled.
debkafile's Middle East sources say he comes too late. Already, hectic
preparations for the Oct.13-14 visit have advanced to the point that Beirut and
South Lebanon up to the Israeli border have been taken over. It is now a virtual
Ahmadinejad-land controlled by an estimated 2,500 members of the Revolutionary
Guards special security unit who were imported for the occasion. They were
carried from Tehran by special airlift to Damascus whence a convoy of buses
drove them to Beirut and then dispersed them across the Lebanese capital and the
South. debkafile's military sources say that it is the largest contingent of
IRGC special forces ever deployed outside Iran. Gen. Qasim Sulaimani, commander
of the Al Qods Brigades (which is responsible for the IRGC's external terrorist
operations) arrived in Lebanon secretly to take charge of the security
preparations for the visit. Wafiq Safa, head of Hizballah' Special Security unit
is acting as his deputy with 5,000 Hizballah commando fighters under his
command.
Wednesday, Oct. 6, the entire Hizballah militia and its intelligence and
security arms were on the highest level of the preparedness as the last
arrangements for the Iranian president's visit were put in place. The event's
high point, our sources report, will be the joint appearance of Ahmadinejad and
Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in his first public appearance in the flesh
in the four years since he fled to a Beirut bunker after the 2006 war with
Israel. It will also be his first visit to South Lebanon, where he will see
every village, public building, road junction, highway and even one of the UN
peacekeepers' posts already plastered with Iranian flags.
At Maron al-Ras, the scene of one of the bloodiest battles of the 2006 war, a
gigantic replica of the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem has been erected to
symbolically mark Ahmadinejad's visit to Lebanon as a step closer toward the
"liberation" of Temple Mount from Israel.
And at Fatma Gate facing Israel's northernmost town of Metulla, a platform has
been placed in position for the Iranian president and Hizballah leader to throw
rocks across the border at the Israeli population and the IDF units guarding it.
They plan to enlist thousands of Lebanese villagers to stand at the border fence
and join in the stone-throwing spectacle
Israeli troops kill Hamas' West Bank commanders, hunt "Syrian" cell leader
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report October 8, 2010, 12:52 PM (GMT+02:00) Tags: Hamas
terror Hebron IDF Israeli forces wipe out Hamas West Bank terror chiefs in
HebronIsrael's manhunt for the Hamas terrorists responsible for the latest
string of West Bank attacks ended Friday, Oct. 8 in a gun battle in Hebron and
the deaths of Hamas' West Bank commander Nashat Al-Karmi and his lieutenant
Mamoun Al-Natshe, thereby snapping Hamas' militant backbone in the territory and
cutting short its drive to sabotage Israel-Palestinian talks with violence.
debkafile's counter-terror sources report that the Hamas cell leader smuggled in
from Syria for the drive-by attacks which killed four Israelis and injured two
others, managed to escape. The pursuit for him continues.
The two were killed when Israeli troops backed by Shin Bet operatives, air cover
and the police anti-terror squad closed in on three Hebron houses in which the
wanted Hamas terrorists were holed up and refused to surrender. One of the
houses was bulldozed and several occupants detained.
debkafile's counter-terror sources reveal: Nashat Al-Karmi, aged 34, was born in
Hebron and lived there with his wife. He graduated from the local college with a
degree in technological engineering. His first brush with Israeli troops
occurred in 1999 when he was picked up in a counter-terror swoop and spent three
years in jail. In 2004 he suffered a serious gunshot wound to the stomach and
was confined to a wheelchair.
Exceptionally secretive, Al-Karmi escaped having his photo taken, never used a
telephone or even a cell and preferred to go into terrorist action solo.
On Sept. 17, an Israeli unit raid on the Nur al-Shams refugee camp near Tulkarm,
failed to discover Al-Karmi but killed another Hamas operative.
Our intelligence sources disclose that the Hamas terrorist showed his hand once
too often this year in a shooting attack on two Israeli vehicles at the Omarim
junction south of Hebron on Sept. 26, in which two Israelis were injured. The
attack took place on the day Israel's settlement construction freeze expired. It
was clearly the work of a lone shooter, Al-Karmi's most distinctive hallmark,
and gave his Israeli pursuers a solid lead to the hand behind the latest
outbreak of terrorist activity on the West Bank.
debkafile's sources stress that by wiping out Hamas' top West Bank command,
Israel has also shown up as spurious Hamas' latest propaganda effort to
demonstrate its superiority to Israel's Shin Bet and claim to have smashed
Israel's covert networks in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas leaders were about to hold a news conference and lay out an array of
covert gadgets, specially-rigged walkie-talkies and telephones, electronic bugs
and surveillance gear, claiming they had been found in the possession of Shin
Bet undercover agents. This campaign took several months to set up. It hit a
high point Thursday, the day before Israel's Hebron operation, when the Egyptian
Al Ahram ran a story describing how Hamas unmasked an Israeli agent who had
penetrated top Hamas ranks and hoped to find the secret prison where Gilead
Shalit, the Israeli soldier Hamas kidnapped in 2006 is held.
Al Ahram appended its own epilogue to the Hamas tale. The Shin Bet pulled its
agent out of the Gaza Strip before Hamas security officials could lay hands on
him, said the Cairo paper. Clearly, Egypt is not inclined to let Hamas get away
with posing as masters of intelligence. While Hamas has vowed revenge for the
Israeli operation in Hebron, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak congratulated
the army and Shin Bet unit for their success in hunting down the terrorists who
murdered Yitzhak and Talia Imus, Cochava Even-Haim and Avishi Schindler of Beit
Haggai on the road near the Ben-Naim junction near Hebron on Aug. 31. A second
attack left a couple seriously injured.
Arab League poised to back Abbas decision to leave talks
By HERB KEINON AND KHALED ABU TOAMEH
10/08/2010 02:25
Meetings may go on several days; PM begins shifting blame for looming collapse;
Oren confirms US giving ‘incentives’ for extended freeze.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Libya on Thursday to
seek Arab League backing for his decision to quit direct talks with Israel until
the settlement construction moratorium is renewed, amid no signs that the US and
Israel have a formula in hand to break the impasse.
Although Ambassador to the US Michael Oren on Thursday was the first Israeli or
American official to acknowledge that Washington had offered Jerusalem
inducements to extend the freeze, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu – in public
statements he made later in the day – sounded more like someone trying to shift
the blame for failure onto the other side, rather than someone on the verge of
announcing a breakthrough.
“We honored the government decision and took upon ourselves a commitment to the
international community and the US to start the peace talks,” Netanyahu said of
the 10- month moratorium that ended nearly two weeks ago.
“The Palestinians waited over nine months and, immediately at the onset of the
talks, set a precondition even though they had promised that there would be no
preconditions.”
The prime minister said that just as his government honored its commitment
regarding the settlement moratorium, “we very much hope that the Palestinians
will stay in the peace talks.”
But, said Netanyahu during a visit to Lod, “Today, the questions need to be
directed to the Palestinians: Why are you abandoning the talks? Don’t turn your
backs on peace; stay in the talks. This is what needs to be asked today, and not
of the Israeli government.”
Oren, in a video interview on The Washington Post’s website, said Netanyahu
feared that since he said the moratorium would only last for 10 months, if it
was extended his credibility would be “grievously damaged.”
If at the beginning of the negotiating process Netanyahu’s credibility was
dented, then no one would believe him at the end of the process when he would
have to give his word to the country that “the two-state solution would be to
their benefit,” Oren said. The US administration, Oren acknowledged, “came to
Israel with a number of suggestions, incentives if you would, that would enable
the government to maybe pass a limited extension of two or three months.”Oren
said the Obama administration was also continuing to talk with the Palestinians
and the Arab League. In Jerusalem, meanwhile, the widespread assessment was that
the Arab League would back Abbas’s decision to leave the talks if Israel did not
declare another settlement freeze, or did not declare that it would accept the
principle of a Palestinian state based on the June 4, 1967, borders.
The Prime Minister’s Office, meanwhile, continued to stay completely mum about
the content of the negotiations, or whether it thought the ongoing contacts with
the Americans would bear fruit.However, in what was perhaps a sign of low
expectations in Jerusalem of any dramatic breakthrough, no meeting of the
security cabinet or Netanyahu’s senior decision-making forum, the septet, had
been scheduled for Friday. The Prime Minister’s Office refused to relate to
media reports that as a condition for extending the moratorium by two or three
months, Netanyahu was asking US President Barack Obama to sign off on a letter
president George W. Bush gave prime minister Ariel Sharon in 2004, a year before
the withdrawal from Gaza.
In that letter, seen as instrumental in enabling Sharon to get his disengagement
plan through the cabinet, Bush indicated that the US would not back the
Palestinian claim for a right of refugee return to within the pre-1967 borders;
would not call for a full return to those 1967 borders, something Israel took to
mean that Washington would accept Israel’s holding on to the major settlement
blocs; and that the US would back Jerusalem when international pressure came to
bear on Israel regarding its nuclear program.
The Obama administration has never reaffirmed that letter, a sore point to some
inside the government who feel Sharon withdrew from Gaza on the basis of that
document.
The Arab foreign ministers will be meeting in the Libyan city of Serte on
Friday.
The Jerusalem Post revealed this week that the Palestinians were considering a
US proposal to remain in the talks if Israel extended the freeze by two or three
months, while waiting to see if Israel would accept the offer.
A senior PA official said the proposal was not a bad idea.
The official said that the PA leadership would accept the American offer only if
the US administration gave the Palestinians assurances that an agreement on the
borders of a future Palestinian state would be reached within the two- or
three-month time period of the new moratorium.
Another top PA official told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that he expected
“some kind of a compromise” that would allow the Palestinians to continue with
the talks.
“We believe that in the end the Americans will put heavy pressure on the Israeli
government to extend the freeze,” the official said, adding that the PA and the
Arab League were not seeking to destroy the peace process.
The official said that Abbas did not want to bear sole responsibility for
whatever happens with the peace talks. “We want an Arab decision,” he added. “We
don’t want the decision to be taken only by the Palestinian leadership.” Despite
the tone of optimism voiced by the official, Yasser Abed Rabbo, a PLO leader and
close adviser to Abbas, was quoted by Agence France-Press as saying that there
can be no peace as long as Netanyahu is in power. Abed Rabbo also denied that
Abbas and Netanyahu were planning to meet in Paris at the end of the month.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced last month that he had invited both
men, and Netanyahu has publicly said he would accept the invitation.
Abbas, meanwhile, has returned to his old habit of threatening to resign if
Israel does not comply with his demands, making his latest threat during a
meeting in Jordan on Wednesday night with members of the Palestine National
Council, the PLO’s parliament- in-exile. Khaled Musmar, a PLO official, said
that Abbas hinted during the meeting that he would resign from his post if the
peace talks with Israel failed. Abbas described the talks with Israel as “hard
and complicated because of Israeli intransigence and refusal to freeze
settlement construction.”
Abbas told the delegates that he would soon take “important decisions” but did
not elaborate, sparking renewed speculation that he might step down or dissolve
the PA.
Lebanon Transformed: A Hizbullah Nation, Iranian Proxy
by Chana Ya'ar /Arutz Sheva
A new Hizbullah country seems to be developing in place of the sovereign nation
of Lebanon, and its population is preparing for another war with Israel.
Hizbullah may be feeling particularly bold due to the impending arrival of its
prime patron, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is set to arrive
October 13 on his first state visit to the country since entering office in
2005.
A significant faction of Hizbullah-linked legislators plays a major role in the
country’s parliament, with several ministers included in the cabinet as well.
More to the point, Iran’s role in the Beirut government and the country’s
infrastructure, through its links with Hizbullah, should not be underestimated.
Iranian money has financed reconstruction projects in Lebanon, including a set
of multi-million dollar apartment complexes in a Beirut Hizbullah stronghold
that was reduced to rubble during the 2006 Second Lebanon War. A network of new
roads honeycombing southern Lebanon and connecting Hizbullah-linked border
villages with interior communities was also designed and paid for by Iran.
And although the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the
Lebanese Army were intended to enforce a demilitarized zone between Israel’s
northern border and the Litani River, ensuring Hizbullah disarmed, they did not.
In fact, Hizbullah and the Lebanese Army have essentially merged into one
seamless unit, with the Lebanese government asserting its support for
Hizbullah’s right to bear arms, and the terrorist group asserting its right to
“defend” Lebanon. Together the two combined intelligence efforts, leading to the
arrest by Lebanese officials of more than 100 Lebanese citizens over the past
two years accused of spying for Israel.
Now the Iranian president is coming to see the results of his investment – and
his protégés are eager to please him.
Ahmadinejad will tour several major Hizbullah installations, and will meet with
the terrorist group’s chief, Hassan Nasrallah, as well as with all of Lebanon’s
top officials, including the president, prime minister and parliamentary
speaker.
The Iranian leader has also vowed to visit Lebanon’s border with Israel and hurl
rocks at IDF soldiers from across the security fence, as a gesture of defiance
towards the Jewish State.
Israel has asked Britain, France and the United Nations to intervene and prevent
the provocation; in fact, it has requested that Lebanon cancel the visit
altogether in order to prevent any possible outbreak of hostilities.
Hizbullah Honeycombs the SouthThe terrorist organization has infiltrated most, if not all, of the towns and
villages in the southern region of the country, building a comprehensive,
integrated network of weapons facilities and other military infrastructure.
Hizbullah has been digging tunnels, preparing communications infrastructure and
making other preparations for war since the end of the previous conflict,
according to an officer in the IDF Northern Command.
The group is placing its military positions, weapons and explosive charges next
to schools and hospitals in order to maximize civilian casualties in any future
conflict with Israel, thus creating a public relations nightmare for the Jewish
State.
For years, Hizbullah has stockpiled mortars, missiles and other arms in the
buildings of quiet villages nestled in the hills of southern Lebanon. The IDF is
aware of the strategy and has marked the targets in anticipation of any future
conflict.
NATO submarines spent months watching the Syrian coastline as ships smuggled
weapons to the terrorist entity, including dozens of military vehicles and the
high-powered Scud missiles, which can easily strike Tel Aviv from Beirut.
Satellite images of one Hizbullah complex, located near the Syrian town of Adra,
northwest of Damascus, allegedly revealed shelters, weapons and a fleet of
trucks presumably ready to be used to transfer the ordnance.
Although Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah claims his missile arsenal numbers at
40,000 – a figure Israel does not dispute – other intelligence officials
estimate there may be more, possibly between three or four times the 20,000
missiles the group possessed prior to the start of the 2006 Second Lebanon War.
At least one Hizbullah supporter in the town of Aita al Sha’ab – from which the
Second Lebanon War was launched – told a reporter from The New York Times this
week that he was “expecting the war this summer. It’s late.”
Sfeir: False Witnesses Must be Held Accountable
Naharnet/Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir on Friday said false witnesses in
the assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri must be held accountable. "I know
nothing about false witnesses, but any false witness should be held
accountable," Sfeir told reporters at Beirut Airport before heading for Rome
where he will take part in the Middle East Synod. He welcomed a visit by Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Lebanon, planned for mid-October. On plans to
visit Damascus, however, Sfeir said "the relationship with Damascus is still as
it is. There isn't anything new." Sfeir, however, said he has to mull Tehran
visit after Iran's Ambassador extended an invitation to the Patriarch to visit
Iran. Beirut, 08 Oct 10, 08:33
Up in
arms
Talking to weapons dealer Wael
Mona Alami, October 8, 2010
Gun ownership is popular in Lebanon, and sales are up during the current period
of tension, weapons dealer Wael told NOW Lebanon. (AFP photo/Hassan Ammar)
He’s a slender but muscular young man, sitting in an argileh café in the
Hezbollah-controlled Beirut suburbs of Dahyieh, smoking a cigarette nervously. A
baseball cap hides his light-colored eyes, and he scans the area every few
moments. While his looks may be ordinary, his profession certainly is not. Wael
– whose name has been changed to protect his anonymity – is in an unusual type
of trade: he is an arms dealer. NOW Lebanon spoke to Wael about his business.
How did you get involved in the business of arms dealing?
Wael: I was imprisoned for a few years on drug charges, a crime that I was not
guilty of. Here in Dahyieh, if you rub people the wrong way, and they happen to
be members of a powerful political faction, evidence can be easily fabricated
against you. I admit that at the time I might have acted foolishly and strutted
around with a weapon, but I was only a teenager, and that is what teenagers
usually do around here. Both my parents were dead, and I was not affiliated with
any particular party, which made me an easy target. One can’t freelance in this
neck of the woods. I did, and I ended up in jail after a brawl for carrying a
gun.
I was accused at a later stage of drug trafficking, and I spent two years in
prison before my hearing came up, but I was finally cleared of the charges. When
I came back home, I found myself with the sole responsibility of providing for
my younger sisters. I had two choices: either trade in drugs or in weapons. I
chose the more noble trade. In this area of town, drug and arms dealing are part
of our culture. People consider such a line of work as more honorable than
robbing or begging. One does not really have a choice when his priority is to
survive. The fact that the Lebanese law is pretty lax when it comes to weapons
sales certainly constitutes another incentive. I know that if I end up again in
front of a judge for weapons dealing, I could still walk away with my head high.
What type of weapons do you sell mostly?
Wael: Light weapons such as Kalashnikovs, M15s and M16s. Other medium-weight
weapons include B7s, also known as RPGs, as well as PKCs, Mags and Daktarovs,
which are also known as Energas.
How profitable is the business of arms dealing in Lebanon?
Wael: It depends on the importance of the trader. For us small timers, profit
margins vary from 10 to 20 percent. As an example, my cut is between $200 to
$300 on a Glock gun, which is priced at about $2,000. The weapons market is tied
to the overall situation of the country. Instability is synonymous with wealth
for arms dealers. The best period for us from a turnover standpoint was during
the May 7 events in 2008, when our sales nearly tripled. Since the Bourj Abi
Haidar events, arms sales have grown by about 60 percent from yearly averages.
How different is the current period from the May 7 events in terms of arms
sales?
Wael: People are inquiring more about light- and medium-weight weapons.
Political parties, which are the main arms suppliers, are not putting sniper
weapons and hard-core accessories on the market. In addition, contrary to the
May 7 period, weapons prices have not really increased, due to the large supply
available on the local market. The price of ammunition has nonetheless grown by
50 percent.
How is the weapons market structured in Lebanon?
Wael: The weapons market is controlled by prominent politicians, people who have
clout over the various state institutions, something that allows them to bring
in large arms shipments through the borders, no questions asked. Other weapons
are smuggled in from Syria, generally with the knowledge of the local
authorities. Each political party relies generally on one main buyer, someone
who has all the necessary contacts abroad and knows the ins and outs of the
weapons black market. On the other hand, one handler inside each party sells the
extra weapons supply to other members, who in turn sell their stock to people on
the outside. The big dealers are the ones who make the big bucks, while small
timers work on a commission basis and run the risk of being caught.
Are there any rules one has to abide by in the business?
Wael: Definitely! Large weapons stocks cannot be traded without the approval of
the top man in the party supplying each dealer. If a client is in the market for
a large shipment, let’s say 30 Kalashnikovs, the supplying party will inquire
about the buyer’s identity, who he’s allied with and what is the purpose of the
deal… If a supplier hides an unusually large weapons deal, he can get killed if
the truth is discovered. Parties generally only supply their allies. As an
example, the situation of the Progressive Socialist Party is now tricky. The
faction, which seems to be in the buyer’s market today, can hope to access the
weapons stocks of March 8, given they’re able to rebuild trust with that
coalition.
What type of dangers are you exposed to as an arms dealer?
Wael: Death, bodily injury and violence are part of the trade. My family is also
at risk; people might try to put pressure on me by threatening my siblings.
Dealing with weapons is dangerous on many levels. First, one can be injured
while controlling the quality of a weapon. One can be shot either by his
competitors or an unsatisfied client. One can get in big trouble if a weapons
stock that is sold ends up being faulty – let’s say that people dealing with
arms are not the understanding kind. A few months ago, a friend of mine was shot
a few hundred meters away from here. He bled to death; no one was willing to
come to his aid because he had been involved in a weapons deal that went wrong.
MP, Zahra says Aoun is pushing Hezbollah to attack
Christian areas
October 8, 2010 /Lebanese Forces bloc MP Antoine Zahra told Future News on
Thursday that Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun is pushing Hezbollah
to attack Christian areas in Lebanon. “The only armed militia in Lebanon is
Hezbollah,” Zahra said, adding that “it was unfortunate that Aoun said the LF
was acquiring arms to reach Israel’s [goals] in Lebanon.” “Aoun knows very well
that his popularity is in a constant decline,” Zahra said. The LF MP also said
that his party is committed to the Taif Accord and to the project of state
building. The LF and the FPM engaged in a battle or words after Aoun said on
Tuesday that LF leader Samir Geagea should not take to the streets and use arms.
Geagea responded to Aoun on Wednesday, saying that he never expected the latter
“to hit rock bottom.” -NOW Lebanon
MP, Moukheiber: Issue of Syria’s arrest warrants to ‘reach dead end’
October 8, 2010 /Change and Reform bloc MP Ghassan Moukheiber told the Voice of
Lebanon (VOL) radio station on Thursday that the issue of arrest warrants issued
by Syria against Lebanese figures “will reach a dead end.”“There is no way that
Lebanese authorities would hand over anyone to Damascus,” he said. Syria issued
on Sunday arrest warrants against the 33 people named in former General Security
chief Jamil as-Sayyed’s 2009 lawsuit alleging that he was the victim of a
conspiracy of false testimonies. Sayyed was arrested in 2005 on suspicion of
involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and was
released in 2009 due to lack of evidence.-NOW Lebanon
Man kills brother over parking space
October 8, 2010 /The National News Agency (NNA) reported Friday that a Lebanese
man, identified as Nafez Tarabay, killed his brother, Kanaan, in the Jbeil town
of Blat after the two men quarreled over a parking space. Nafez Tarabay fled the
scene, said the NNA, adding that an investigation is underway.Lebanese
authorities cordoned off the area.
-NOW Lebanon
Suleiman Formed 'Crisis Cell' to Seek Exits to Current Crisis
Naharnet/President Michel Suleiman has formed something like a crisis cell to
seek "necessary legal and political" exits to the current crisis over the
International Tribunal indictment which is set to accuse Hizbullah in the 2005
assassination of former PM-Rafik Hariri. As-Safir newspaper, which carried the
report, said Friday that several proposals were being considered, in addition to
almost daily consultation between Suleiman and Syria. It said the possibility of
holding a summit between Suleiman and Syrian President Bashar Assad was not
excluded if the two sides believed there was a need for such talks prior to
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Beirut mid-October. Beirut, 08
Oct 10, 07:08
Images Showing Suspected Hizbullah Fighters Training in Syria Missile Base
Naharnet/The Syrian army has a Scud missile base near Damascus, according to
recent satellite photos, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported Friday on its
website. It said the photos also suggest that Hizbullah fighters are being
trained in the Scuds' use at the base. The photos, taken on March 22, can be
seen by any web surfer on Google Earth. Haaretz said they show extensive
construction at several military bases throughout Syria, including at one of the
country's three largest missile bases, located 25 kilometers northeast of
Damascus, near the city of Adra. It said the base is in a deep valley surrounded
by 400-meter-high mountains. Concrete tunnels lead from the base into the
mountains, where the Scuds are apparently stored. The photos show five
11-meter-long missiles (the length of both the Scud B and the Scud C ) at the
Adra base. Three are on trucks in a parking lot. Two others are in a training
area where 20 to 25 people can be made out along with about 20 vehicles. One of
the two missiles appears to be mounted on a mobile launcher; another is on the
ground.
In late May, the Sunday Times of London reported that shipments of weapons from
the Adra base were going to Hizbullah, and that according to anonymous security
sources, Iran was sending missiles and other weapons to that base via the nearby
Damascus airport. It also said Hizbullah had been given a section of the base
for barracks, warehouses and a fleet of trucks to transport weapons to the
Lebanese border, 40 kilometers away. Beirut, 08 Oct 10, 11:06
Salafist Leader Warns: We Won't Remain Idle if Sunnis, Tripoli Attacked
Naharnet/Founder of the Salafist Movement in Lebanon sheikh al-Shahal on Friday
warned that his group will not remain idle if Sunnis or the northern city of
Tripoli were attacked. "We are advocates of truce, but we cannot stand there
watching if the country was attacked or if Tripoli, and the Sunnis in
particular, were attacked," Shahal said in an interview with LBC television.
"The Salafist Movement in Tripoli is ready to send out calls for calm," Shahal
stressed, calling on Lebanese security forces to carry out their duty in keeping
peace. "We hope political decision-makers will be able to maintain peace and
stability," he stressed. "Some small people have an interest to stir tension in
order to improve conditions or achieve some significant gains," Shahal believed.
On the upcoming visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Shahal said that
"the visit neither constitutes a source of concern nor a source of
satisfaction." Beirut, 08 Oct 10, 12:32
Qahwaji: Implementation of Security Plan Underway
Naharnet/Implementation of a security plan is underway in Beirut and as well as
in north, east and south Lebanon, Lebanese Army commander Gen. Jean Qahwaji
announced.
He said the "military-security plan" covers, apart from Beirut, sensitive points
in the north, the Bekaa and Sidon as well as the Beirut-Sidon coastline. The
plan, according to Qahwaji, coincides with appeals on religious leaders to take
the initiative to spread calls for the adoption of a "moderate speech."Qahwaji,
in remarks published Friday by As-Safir newspaper, believed the Lebanese people
do not want to "move backwards."Lebanese, he said, "cling on to the State and
the Army. But the problem is with some rhetoric which sometimes is the cause for
tension." Qahwaji warned against any attempt to target the military in an effort
to achieve "political and media objectives and gains.""The army is a red line
and we will not stand handcuffed," he said. Qahwaji assured that the situation
in southern Lebanon is "quiet.""There are not fears of an Israeli offensive. The
military continues to shoulder its responsibilities -- defending the country
against any Israeli threat or aggression," he stressed. Beirut, 08 Oct 10, 07:42
UN again urges Israel to stop overflights, mock air raids
By Patrick Galey /Daily Star staff
Friday, October 08, 2010
BEIRUT: The United Nations has repeated its call for Israel to cease
reconnaissance flights and mock air aids over parts of south Lebanon, as
Secretary General Ban Ki Moon held talks with a former Israeli foreign minister
concerning Security Council resolutions 1559 and 1701.
“Ban reviewed the Middle East negotiations and Lebanon in talks with Israeli
opposition leader and former foreign minister Tzipi Livni,” Ban’s spokesperson
Martin Nesirky told reporters Wednesday night. “While concern was expressed at
reports of the rearmament of Hizbullah, with whom Israel fought a month-long war
in 2006, the secretary general urged respect for the Blue Line separating Israel
and Lebanon.” Livni is currently the leader of Israel’s opposition but, as
foreign minister, oversaw her country’s devastating “Cast Lead” offensive on the
Gaza Strip in December 2009. Israel has long held that Hizbullah is rearming and
storing weapons intended for a new conflagration along the Blue Line. While
several suspicious explosions have raised doubts over the party’s refusal to
comment on its arsenal in recent years, the UN maintains it has no proof of
extensive weapons stockpiling in the mandate operations area of its Interim
Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has been discovered. In August, Lebanese and Israeli
soldiers exchanged fire across the Blue Line at Adaysseh village in the fiercest
fighting between the two forces for several years. Two Lebanese soldiers and a
journalist, as well as a senior Israeli officer, were killed in the fighting.
After the altercation, Ban urged both Lebanese and Israeli governments to
redouble UN-mediated efforts to visibly mark the Blue Line in order to avoid
future outbreaks of violence.
Ban also asked for a cessation of Israeli violations of Lebanese territory. “As
he has in the past, Ban called on Israel to cease its over-flights of Lebanese
territory and expressed the hope that progress could soon be realized on Ghajar,
the northern part of which is still occupied by Israel,” Nesirky said. Israel
persists to violate Lebanese airspace on a near-daily basis, either through
reconnaissance planes and unmanned drones or by staging mock air raids over
southern and central towns and villages. The National News Agency (NNA) reported
Thursday that another Israeli breach of Lebanon’s borders had occurred. “An
Israeli reconnaissance plane violated the Lebanese airspace above Naqoura
village, where it effectuated circular flights in the South and West Bekaa,” the
NNA said. Lebanese and Israeli media have consistently speculated on the date of
a UNIFIL-assisted Israeli withdrawal from the northern section of Ghajar
village, which it reoccupied in contravention of international law during the
2006 July War. The UN has repeatedly stated that Israel is obliged to leave the
part of the village north of the Blue Line. Both Lebanon and Israel regularly
deliver official complaints over the other’s behavior regarding resolutions 1559
and 1701 which, among other directives, stipulate that Lebanon’s sovereign
borders be respected and that no non-state weapons be extant in the country.
Ahmadinejad looks to Lebanon to escape home truths
The Iranian president is visiting Lebanon because he knows he is more popular
there than in his troubled homeland
Meir Javedanfar /guardian.co.uk,
Friday 8 October 2010
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president. Photograph: Morteza Nikoubazl/Reuters
The Iranian government is very enthusiastic about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's coming
visit to southern Lebanon and has been doing much to promote it. The state-owned
PressTV news outlet – which Ahmadinejad was instrumental in setting up – has
been at the forefront of promoting the visit. In one article it hailed the trip
as a "visit for unity". In another, it quoted Hezbollah's Christian ally, Michel
Aoun, as saying the visit will be in line with "strengthening relations between
the two countries".While in Lebanon, Ahmadinejad is expected to tour the
southern border, including the town of Bint Jbeil, which is a Hezbollah
stronghold. Meanwhile, according to the London-based al-Quds al-Arabi,
Ahmadinejad will also throw stones towards Israel from the Fatima border
crossing garden which he will be inaugurating, close to Israel's border. In
Israel and the US, the reaction to the trip has been very negative. The Israeli
government has openly stated that it views the trip as "a provocative measure
that could undermine regional stability and should therefore be cancelled". At
the same time the Obama administration has warned the Lebanese government about
the risks such a visit could pose. Lebanon's largest parliamentary bloc, March
14 Alliance (backed by the US and Saudi Arabia) has also described Ahmadinejad's
visit as "provocative". There are certainly good reasons to view it as
provocative. The atmosphere in Lebanon's domestic arena is very tense, due to
the forthcoming Hariri assassination trial, where it is widely believed that
Hezbollah members will be indicted. The visit could thus be interpreted as a
warning from Iran that it stands firmly behind Hezbollah, and that anyone who is
thinking of taking action against Hezbollah, be it political or military, should
think twice.
The visit also comes at a time when tensions between Iran and Israel are at a
high. Ahmadinejad visiting Lebanon's southern border could confirm the fear of
many Israelis that the Iranian regime has truly arrived on its doorstep. And to
add insult to injury, the man who has denied the Holocaust and has called for
Israel's elimination is now coming to throw stones.
However, what both the US and Israel should note is that the biggest reason why
Ahmadinejad has decided to go to Lebanon is domestic. Israel and the US are
further down his list of priorities. The Iranian president is visiting Lebanon
mainly because of his growing unpopularity at home. In fact, Ahmadinejad has
never been more unpopular in Iran, not only with the public but also his
conservative allies and the clergy. By going to Lebanon, he is going to one of
the last places where the Islamic Republic still has genuine support. When he
speaks in Bint Jbeil, unlike in Iran, schools won't be closed and civil servants
won't be threatened with dismissal unless they attend the president's speech.
People will voluntarily turn up because they genuinely support the Islamic
republic and will pay respect to almost any senior Iranian politician. By going
to Lebanon, Ahmadinejad will primarily be using the occasion to try to
strengthen his support back home with the public, and with the Revolutionary
Guards, whose support is important to him. He will also be trying to outshine
his rivals such as Ali Larijani and Hashemi Rafsanjani by using the trip to say
that he is the true face of Iran abroad, and not them.
This development will also benefit supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who is most
probably very concerned about Ahmadinejad's flagging popularity.
What is important to note is that such a visit did not take place when Khatami
was president. If anyone deserves to be in southern Lebanon, it is him, and not
Ahmadinejad. Israel evacuated southern Lebanon in May 2000 on Khatami's watch,
not Ahmadinejad's.
However, Khamenei did not send Khatami to southern Lebanon because he was not
worried about his unpopularity. In fact, compared with Ahmadinejad, he was far
more popular. The opposite is true about Ahmadinejad and this is why Khamenei,
for the sake of his regime, is sending him there. Another important goal of the
trip is to solidify the foundations of Iran's anti-Israel policy which has been
weakening recently. The regime is becoming increasingly concerned about
opposition chants such as "No Gaza, no Lebanon, my life for Iran". Prior to the
recent Qods Day, newspapers were full of articles about why this chant
undermines the lessons of Ayatollah Khomeini's teachings. The very fact that so
much attention was paid to it is a clear sign of concern. Such concern reached
new highs after Ali Saeedlou, vice-president and head of Physical Education
Organisation, sent a letter to Khamenei asking him to clarify whether Iranian
sportsmen must boycott Israeli athletes. After 31 years, the very fact that
senior officials are questioning what has been the unquestionable until now is a
sign of cracks appearing in one of the pillars of the regime's anti-Israeli
policies.
We should also not forget Turkey. By going to Lebanon, the Iranian regime will
be hoping to strengthen its position in one of the areas where the Turkish prime
minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan , has not overtaken them in popularity. Five
years of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency have shown that he damages whatever he
touches. By going to Lebanon he could in fact cause more trouble and headache
for Hezbollah, both at home, and in the Arab world. In the long run, Hassan
Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, is likely to have more reasons to worry than
Netanyahu.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/oct/08/ahmandinejad-lebanon-iran
Hariri pushed into corner over Syrian demands
Prime Minister cannot risk his domestic legitimacy by giving Damascus what it
wants
By Michael Bluhm /Daily Star staff
Thursday, October 07, 2010
BEIRUT: The latest unexpected twist in the rollercoaster relationship between
Syria and Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has left the premier in a vise, as
Damascus continues squeezing Hariri for further concessions to neuter the
Special Tribunal for Lebanon and add to Syria’s soaring regional standing, a
number of analysts told The Daily Star on Wednesday.
Five years ago, Hariri had accused Damascus of involvement in the February 2005
assassination of his father, five-time former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri; after
Saad became prime minister following June 2009 general elections, he shocked
many by making peace with Syria, making his first visit to Damascus last
December. Hariri has been to Damascus five times as head of the government, and
last month stunned many observers again by saying he had made a mistake in
blaming Syria for his father’s killing.
Last weekend, however, Syrian arrest warrants came to light for 33 Lebanese
politicians and journalists – many among Hariri’s close allies – in connection
with allegedly false testimony given in the investigation of Rafik Hariri’s
assassination.
Syria has also been pushing its demands on Saad Hariri that he withdraw
Lebanon’s support for the international tribunal and the country’s 49 percent
share of the court’s budget, leaving the prime minister in an unenviable
position, said retired General Elias Hanna, who teaches political science at
various universities. If he chooses to back the tribunal, Hariri will anger the
Syrians and squander the undoubtedly painful concessions he has already given to
Damascus – but if he renounces the tribunal, he will destroy his own legitimacy
as a politician among the Lebanese, Hanna added.
“It’s a lose-lose situation,” Hanna said.
Hariri’s handling of his fraught relationship with Syria has only underlined
that the head of the Cabinet remains a political novice, said Raghid al-Solh,
political analyst and adviser to the Issam Fares Center, a non-partisan think
tank. Hariri did not seek a career in politics, only assuming his father’s
political mantle after his father’s killing. Hariri spent most of his life
outside Lebanon and outside the political sphere, and now he needs to “expedite
the move from an amateur politician to a professional politician,” added Solh.
“He is put in a position where he needs to be a 24-hour politician, like his
father,” said Solh, adding that Hariri’s father well understood Syria’s motives
and interests. “He still has many things to learn in the facts of life of
Lebanese politics.”
Once he became prime minister, though, Hariri was forced by political reality to
build a relationship with Damascus; with Syria’s undeniably sizable influence in
Lebanon, no premier here could hope for a long or successful term in office
without engaging Damascus, Solh said.
In addition, Hariri’s Saudi patrons also strongly encouraged the freshly
ensconced premier to start anew with Syria, Solh said.
The Hariri family made its initial fortune in Saudi Arabia, and Hariri’s father
kept the Saudis closely involved – particularly with their Sunni coreligionists
– in the post-Civil War rebuilding of Lebanon. For their part, the Saudis had
long maintained a close political relationship with Syria, interrupted
temporarily by the assassination of Hariri’s father, when Syria fell into
international isolation and sealed a strategic partnership with Iran, Solh
added. In the past two years, Riyadh has begun to reconstruct its ties with
Damascus.
“You can even talk about a sort of [historic] Saudi-Syrian axis,” Solh said.
“Saudi Arabia played a part in convincing Hariri that it’s important not to
disturb that. I don’t think the Saudis could tolerate [an anti-Syrian] attitude
while they were trying to develop relations with the Syrians.”
In his present predicament, however, Hariri might well be paying the price for
working so closely with Saudi Arabia, said Hilal Khashan, who teaches political
science at the American University of Beirut. Saudi interests in cooperating
with Syria and Hariri’s interests in the tribunal and his own political standing
have left the prime minister with no attractive next move – most likely, Hariri
will simply have to wait out his dilemma until external forces provide him with
an escape, Khashan added.
“The Syrians know that he cannot go any farther; he will never renounce the
tribunal,” Khashan said.
“This is what happens when the prime minister becomes the employee of another
country. He’s not in a position to back off from his new openness toward Syria.
He will have to depend on the good offices of Saudi Arabia. There’s nothing he
can do.”
The Syrians’ perspective on their relationship with Hariri, on the other hand,
is that since they have gained a measure of control over Hariri, they will
relentlessly press the premier for greater and greater demands, Khashan said.
“Once one capitulates, then there is no end to concession,” he said.
At the same time, Syria remains genuinely worried by the international tribunal
and is using all of its levers to defang the court, Khashan added. “The Syrians
want [Hariri] to renounce the tribunal,” Khashan said. “They have intrinsic
anxiety. They see the tribunal as a rope around their necks. They will not feel
at ease until the tribunal disappears.”
Damascus also took the dramatic step of issuing the arrest warrants because it
considers the issue of the false witnesses central to the investigation, Solh
said. Syria wants to know who gave misleading testimony and why – information
which, Damascus believes, could cause the court’s indictment to crumble, he
added. Syrian authorities thought they had agreed with Hariri that he would
pursue the issue, but his failure to take any real steps drove Damascus to prod
Hariri with the arrest warrants, Solh said.
For Syria, “this issue is not a minor issue, a side issue – it is a major
issue,” Solh said. “It’s not something that could be overlooked, at least from
the Syrian side. There is a basic disagreement on that [with Hariri].”
Syria’s ties with Hizbullah are also shaping the Syria-Hariri dynamic, Hanna
said. Hariri cannot forge ties with Syria and simultaneously clash with
Hizbullah, Hanna added. Hizbullah plays a crucial role in helping Syria achieve
its wider regional aims, so Damascus is also leaning on Hariri in order to
protect Hizbullah, which many expect to be a target of the tribunal’s looming
indictment, Hanna said.
“Hizbullah is the linchpin of the Iranian-Syrian strategy in the region,” he
said. “It’s highly important for the Syrians, and they will not allow anyone to
harm the resistance.”
Syria has also gone on the offensive against Hariri out of simple revenge,
Khashan said.
The mass popular demonstrations that forced the exit of Syrian troops in April
2005 were fanned by fiery speeches made by many of Hariri’s cohorts in the March
14 camp who had long had difficult relations with Damascus; now that Syria has
regained much of its sway here, it wants to punish those who embarrassed it
years ago, Khashan added.
“The Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon five years ago was not dignified,” he said.
“They want to avenge. They want to dismantle the Hariri team.”
Of course, Syria also deals with Hariri with a view toward the regional dynamic,
Hanna said. Syria has regained political momentum and is wielding its influence
throughout the Middle East; Damascus sees its play for power in Lebanon as part
of its reward for outlasting the era and policies of former US President George
W. Bush, who led the drive to ostracize Syria, Hanna said. For example, Syria
has backed Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in his bid to retain his post,
so his apparent victory in securing sufficient backing last week to stay in
office would represent another victory for Syria, Hanna added.
“It’s the time for Syria to reap the benefits … of standing up to the Americans
for five, six years,” he said. “The Syrians can sell and buy in every direction.
Everybody needs the Syrians today.”
In that light, the Saudis were essentially ceding control over Lebanon – and
Hariri’s government – to Syria when Saudi King Abdallah and Syrian President
Bashar Assad visited Lebanon together on July 30 to declare their commitment to
maintaining calm here, Hanna said. Riyadh sees itself surrounded by rising
Iranian influence and conflict in Iraq, Yemen and Qatar, and the kingdom was
willing to give in to Damascus on Lebanon in order to get Syrian help in Iraq,
Hanna said.
“It was a formal declaration of Saudi acceptance of the Syrian role over Lebanon
again,” he added. “What is important for the Saudis is Iraq, not Lebanon. The
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is surrounded by hotspots. Maybe making some concessions
on the Lebanese level will help the Saudis to balance the Iranians.”
In the end, regional vicissitudes will probably not determine the evolution of
the Syrian-Hariri dynamic; Syria can likely count on always having a wealth of
partners here to work with it in keeping the upper hand over Hariri, because
Lebanese politicians never cease to run to Damascus for partnership when
political fortunes turn against them at home, Solh said.
“The lack of consensus of Lebanese politicians on basic issues will always help
the Syrians, especially, to have influence in Lebanon,” he said.
Kahwaji vows army will combat attempts to instigate civil strife
Najjar preparing new report on false witnesses upon Hariri’s request
By Elias Sakr /Daily Star staff
Friday, October 08, 2010
BEIRUT: Lebanese Army Commander Jean Kahwaji stressed Thursday that the military
would firmly oppress any attempts to instigate strife or tamper with the
country’s security.
Kahwaji made his remarks amid escalating fears of security instability that
could threaten civil peace if the impending indictment by the Special Tribunal
for Lebanon (STL) accuses members of Hizbullah in former Premier Rafik Hariri’s
murder, an accusation that analysts said could lead to Sunni-Shiite armed
conflict.
Following a meeting with a number of army commanders, Kahwaji said that
differences in opinions among the Lebanese should remain restricted to their
democratic aspects rather than be tied to a “language of divisions and strife
that constitute danger against the country.”
Media reports have recently warned that several political parties of both the
parliamentary opposition and majority camps were arming in anticipation of
future clashes that could break out after the release of the STL’s indictment.
While regional powerbrokers Syria and Saudi Arabia remain divided with regard to
the STL, the Saudi Embassy in Lebanon on Thursday urged rival Lebanese parties
to reconcile whereas the Syrian president on Wednesday voiced concerns over the
situation in Lebanon.
A statement released by the Saudi Embassy in Lebanon stressed Thursday that the
Lebanese were in dire need of comprehensive national reconciliation to enable
them to resolve disputed issues, implement justice, preserve stability and
overcome the past phase.
The statement quoted King Abdullah bin Abdel-Aziz urging the Lebanese to unite
and reconcile to build together a better future.
While Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said Wednesday that the tribunal was
strictly a Lebanese affair after criticizing earlier the court as politicized,
the US and UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon rallied in support of the STL on
Wednesday.
Ban vowed that a UN tribunal would press ahead despite fears of violence and
urged regional players not to interfere.
Similarly, US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice reiterated the US support for the
STL to put an end to assassinations that go unpunished.
“It is very important to remember that the Lebanese government and people were
the ones who requested the International Tribunal, and the United Nations
provided support for their wish,” Rice said. “The court cannot be a bargaining
ship or political football game as well as a door for the intervention of
foreigners.”
On the Lebanese domestic scene, the Cabinet is scheduled to discuss on Tuesday
the issue of false witnesses after Shiite ministers of Speaker Nabih Berri’s
Development and Liberation bloc announced on Wednesday that they would suspend
their participation in future Cabinet sessions if the session scheduled for
Tuesday did not tackle the issue of false witnesses.
Well-informed sources told The Daily Star on Thursday that a new report was
being prepared by the Justice Ministry on the issue of false witnesses given the
emergence of new facts.
The source said Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar was in the process of amending
the old report on the legal framework governing the issue of false witnesses
upon the demand of Premier Saad Hariri and the approval of President Michel
Sleiman.
Parliamentary sources said Najjar’s first report was going to recommend putting
on hold the trial of false witnesses until the release of the STL’s indictment,
a recommendation that opposition forces have rejected. The source added that
Hariri asked Najjar to reconsider his old report after Berri’s step as well as
objections by March 14 parties over the old report’s demands that investigations
be extended to cover false witnesses linked to opposition forces.
Sources of the March 14 coalition indicated that former Lebanese security forces
loyal to Syria tampered with the crime scene in an attempt to hide evidence
while former State Prosecutor Adnan Addoum accused immediately after the murder
an Islamic group that left for Australia of being behind the crime.
The sources added that contrary to media reports, ministers loyal to Berri
raised the issue of false witnesses in Wednesday’s session after coordinating
their step with Hizbullah.
“Because if Hizbullah ministers raised the issue, it would have led to sectarian
tensions in the Cabinet while ministers loyal to the speaker are regarded as
representatives of the nation rather than a party,” the source said. The source
added that the step was taken despite a prior understanding to postpone
deliberations on the issue after indications surfaced that the impending
indictment would be issued earlier than expected. However, other sources told
The Daily Star that Najjar’s report would be briefly presented in Tuesday’s
session but deliberations over it would be postponed till after Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Lebanon, which is expected to take
place from October 13 to 14.
Assad voices concern over Lebanon's security situation
By The Daily Star /Compiled by Daily Star staff
Friday, October 08, 2010
Syrian President Bashar Assad Wednesday expressed concerns over the situation in
Lebanon after weeks of tension over possible indictments by the Special Tribunal
for Lebanon (STL) for the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri. “The
situation in Lebanon is not secure, particularly in light of the recent
escalation and attempts by foreign countries to interfere [in Lebanon],” Assad
said in an interview with Turkey’s TRT television, adding that Syria counted “on
the awareness of the Lebanese.”
Referring to the 33 arrest warrants issued by Syria, among them Lebanese
officials, over allegedly giving false testimony to the STL, Assad said: “This
is an independent, judicial issue that has no political meaning or political
interpretation.” Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem made similar comments
late Wednesday, describing as “purely procedural” the controversial warrants.
Moallem also said his country was working with Saudi Arabia to help ease tension
in Lebanon.
The warrants came with tensions high in Lebanon over unconfirmed reports that
the UN tribunal is set to charge members of Hizbullah in connection with
Hariri’s murder.
On the peace process, Assad said Western efforts to renew talks between Syria
and Israel were focusing on finding common ground, but nothing had crystallized
yet and the chances of success were unknown. In his first public assessment of
US and French moves to re-launch the talks, Assad said that envoys from the two
countries were trying to accommodate Syria’s demands for the return of the Golan
Heights and Israel’s security objectives. An official Syrian transcript of the
interview was published on Wednesday.
“What is happening now is a search for common ground to launch the talks. For us
the primary basis is the return of the whole land. For the Israelis they are
talking about security arrangements,” Assad said. Assad said that if the talks
were to resume they would be initially indirect, similar to the last four rounds
that were mediated by Turkey and broke off in 2008 without a deal. “There is
more than one movement in the region, including France and the US … a movement
between Syria and Israel to search for ideas, but nothing has crystallized yet,
and we cannot know what will happen,” he said. Assad last month separately met
US envoy George Mitchell, who is trying to rescue Israeli-Palestinian talks, and
Jean-Claude Cousseran, who was appointed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to
pursue the so-called Syrian-Israeli track. The two envoys also visited Israel,
which Assad said was scuttling peace efforts by Judaizing Jerusalem and building
settlements on occupied land. “Talking about a mediation [between Syria and
Israel] is premature and what is going on now is a search for common ground,”
Assad said. He said Syria still wanted a role for Turkey despite heightened
contacts with the US, the only power Syria considers capable of delivering a
final peace deal. “The question [now] is about negotiations. Who can succeed in
managing these talks and solving the many knots that will appear and remove the
big obstacles?” Assad asked. – The Daily Star, with agencies
Lebanon signs media cooperation agreement with Syria
Program includes collaboration between national news agencies
By The Daily Star /Friday, October 08, 2010
BEIRUT: Information Minister Tarek Mitri has signed a media cooperation
agreement with his Syrian counterpart Mohsen Bilal and confirmed Lebanon’s will
to foster relations with its neighbor. Mitri headed the Information Ministry
delegation, which participated at the meeting of the joint Lebanese Syrian Media
Committee, and signed agreements concerning audiovisual outlets and national
news agencies on Thursday. The participants agreed on a cooperation accord and a
joint media program for the years 2010 to 2012. The program included
collaboration between the two countries’ state-run television stations, radio
stations and national news agencies. Mitri welcomed the accord and said the
Lebanese delegation’s visit conveyed a message that Lebanon was determined to
move forward in its relations with its neighboring country. He underlined the
importance of implementing the program and said it “opened new cooperation
horizons and created an opportunity to rid bilateral relations of any flaws.” He
then announced his determination to strengthen ties between the two ministries.
The Syrian Information Minister welcomed the Lebanese delegation and stressed
the importance of increasing cooperation between Lebanon and Syria in various
media fields, noting that the two countries should abide by the media
cooperation program. A joint committee was also formed during the meeting and
was tasked with following up on the implementation of the cooperation program.
The committee will meet every three months, after coordinating with the General
Secretariat of the Lebanese Syrian Higher Council. Upon his arrival to Syria,
Mitri was greeted by his counterpart. He answered media questions and explained
the aim of his visit by saying, “I am here to elongate old agreements in order
to make them more effective … and in order to reinforce true cooperation
concerning audiovisual outlets and national news agencies.” He also noted that
some existing bilateral agreements were amended and updated, with a focus on
common media grounds with Syria. “Lebanon is determined to build Lebanese-Syrian
relations on solid foundations of trust and a constant need to develop all means
of cooperation,” he added. Mitri announced that a new media law was being
prepared in Lebanon and said Syria could help in this field, given that it
recently passed its own electronic media law. Mitri denied that the visit had
political motives. “The visit is not related to the recent events and it is
being held in the framework of the successive visits made by the prime minister
and several ministers,” he said He reiterated that Lebanon made a choice
to tighten relations with Syria and to solve any problems between the two
countries through the concerned ministries of both parties. Mitri also voiced
his appreciation for Syria’s welcome and invited his counterpart Bilal to visit
Lebanon and to hold the next media cooperation meeting in Beirut. Bilal promised
to accept the invitation. The Lebanese minister and his accompanying delegation
are scheduled to visit Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch Aghnatios 4 before
returning to Lebanon. – The Daily Star
Jumblatt: I will defend Hamadeh against arrest
By The Daily Star /Friday, October 08, 2010
BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt said Thursday he
would defend MP Marwan Hamadeh, a member of his Democratic Gathering bloc, who
was subject to a Syrian arrest warrant allegedly issued last Sunday. “Hamadeh is
a big friend and I will defend him even if such a step necessitated that I
intervene personally with Syrian President Bashar Assad,” Jumblatt said. But as
of Thursday, Lebanese judicial authorities had not been officially informed of
33 arrests warrants allegedly issued by the Syrian judiciary on Sunday.
Former Major General Jamil al-Sayyed’s press office said on Sunday that the
first investigative magistrate in Damascus had issued the warrants based on a
lawsuit he presented against number of Lebanese figures. “But we will have to
see first if he [Hamadeh] is involved in the issue of false witnesses because I
do not think he is,” Jumblatt added.
In his lawsuit, Sayyed accused prominent Lebanese judicial and political
officials as well as a number of journalists of standing behind witnesses who
gave false testimony in the investigations into former Premier Rakif Hariri’s
murder. The testimonies led to Sayyed’s arrest in 2005 by a UN investigation
committee. Jumblatt, who was one of the major leaders of the March 14 coalition
that initially accused Damascus of involvement in Hariri’s murder, made a series
of public apologies to Syria following the June 2009 elections, when he withdrew
from the March 14 alliance. Jumblatt, who has recently criticized March 14
Christian parties for tampering with Lebanese-Syrian ties, called on “parties
reiterating speeches of the 1975-1976 periods to keep quiet and cool down to
preserve the presence of Christians who are left in Lebanon.” Jumblatt was
referring to Phalange Party MPs Nadim Gemayel, son of Bashir Gemayel, and his
cousin MP Sami Gemayel, son of former President and current Phalange Party
leader Amin Gemayel. Nadim Gemayel has recently blamed Syria for a series of
assassinations that kicked off with his father’s murder in 1982 while Sami
Gemayel continues to sharply criticize Damascus for interfering in Lebanese
affairs. – The Daily Star
Lebanon's bloggers are pioneers in the Arab world
By Tony Saghbini /Daily Star
Friday, October 08, 2010
A recent survey of readers of the more than 400 blogs in Lebanon shows that
their numbers are close to the online readership of the most well-known Lebanese
newspapers: both averaging 14,000 visitors daily. This is a clear indication
that blogs have become one of the main media sources for Lebanese youth to
access diverse information and various opinions.
However, does the high readership rates of these blogs mean that they can be a
tool for real social and political change? It is difficult to answer this
question in a country in which the future of blogging is closely connected to
conditions that frequently change, such as internet connectivity, internet
publication laws and censorship.
The blogosphere in Lebanon has recently undergone several changes: the migration
of some bloggers to newspapers, the publication of books containing material
collected from electronic media, the launch of blogs by radio stations, and the
birth of civil movements and new organizations that have shown the impact of
blogs on the ground.
In this way, the Lebanese blogosphere is breaking down the barriers that
separate traditional media from electronic media. Blogs have become an
alternative media source on many issues, particularly on matters related to the
environment, which aren’t routinely covered by traditional media. One example is
the coverage in the blogosphere of a young Lebanese man, Rami Eid, who spent
three days and nights in a glass cube in the Ain al-Mreisseh neighborhood in
Beirut in October 2009. This was his way of representing the last man on earth
in a hopeless future as a result of humankind’s failure to act against climate
change. Eid’s endeavor alerted the public to the need to face these changes.
The media campaign for Eid’s performance, or protest, focused on electronic
media, beginning with Eid’s personal blog which was read by thousands in just
the first few days of the campaign. In addition, Twitter and Facebook sites
reported on developments in real time. The coverage succeeded in galvanizing
public opinion, media and various environmental research centers, which
culminated in the Lebanese government deciding to participate in international
negotiations on combating climate change in Copenhagen in December 2009.
Lebanese blogs have also served as key political mobilization tools, especially
in preparing for the March for Secularism in April of this year. The march
started with a Facebook invitation and a number of blog posts. It developed into
a march in which thousands of people participated, without the need for a
central organizing committee.
And during the last municipal elections in Lebanon, in May 2010, bloggers turned
themselves into a makeshift independent elections monitoring agency. Some of
these bloggers – in partnership with a Beirut-based organization specializing in
new media training called Social Media Exchange – were given a license by the
Interior Ministry to enter election stations, observe voting, and submit their
own reports to media and constitutional bodies about the voting process. This
was the first experience of its kind in the Arab world and was regarded as being
quite successful, with more than 60,000 hits on the site where bloggers
published their live reports: www.lebloggers.org.
One incident in particular perhaps best demonstrated how influential bloggers
could be. After a far-reaching electronic campaign, bloggers were able to stop a
proposed law in the Lebanese Parliament to organize the blogosphere, a law that
they decided would curtail freedom of expression on the Internet. This incident
proved that when organized, weblogs are not only an alternative media source or
a tool to mobilize the public in support of specific causes, but they can also
influence the conduct of the legislative process.
Well on their way to becoming pioneers in the Arab world, bloggers in Lebanon
together comprise a fledgling movement that has just begun to assume its role in
the field of information media, benefitting from relative media freedom and the
achievements realized thus far.
**Tony Saghbini is a Lebanese activist and blogger who helped establish the
Lebanese Society for bloggers. He blogs at www.ninars.com. THE DAILY STAR
publishes this commentary in collaboration with the Common Ground News Service (www.commongroundnews.org).
Blame the politicians, not Lebanon's army
By Nadim Hasbani
Daily Star/Thursday, October 07, 2010
Street battles in Beirut’s Borj Abi Haidar neighborhood during August, as well
as the border skirmish between Lebanese and Israeli forces that left three
Lebanese and one Israeli dead, have highlighted the importance of the Lebanese
Armed Forces in maintaining stability in the country.
However, while Lebanese politicians talk about strengthening the Lebanese Army,
most of them do not really want a strong national army. A strong army would mean
empowered state institutions that, in turn, would weaken feudal political
leaders who have been in power for decades. Lebanon’s current weak state
institutions allow politicians to offer their supporters services such as
medical care, education and welfare support. Should the Lebanese ever decide
that they are serious about strengthening the Lebanese Army, their first steps
should include formulating a real defense strategy and increasing spending on
military procurement.
After the Lebanese Civil War ended in 1991, Syria’s military played a central
security role in the country and kept the Lebanese Army both nationally and
internationally marginalized and away from international attention. Following
the 2005 Syrian withdrawal, the Lebanese Army slowly began to rearm and equip
itself as a fighting force. But with no domestic defense industry or real
procurement budget, the army has had to largely rely on foreign donations.
The United States and other outsiders became increasingly aware of the Lebanese
Army’s needs after it ousted an Al-Qaeda inspired group entrenched in the
Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared in 2007. An underequipped,
undertrained army was sent into an urban fighting environment. Commanders
managed the battle via regular cell phones, and soldiers had little ammunition,
no real air support, and limited intelligence. The Lebanese Army won the battle
after three months, but it cost the lives of 169 soldiers.
This confrontation showed the international community the potential value of the
Lebanese Army and highlighted the importance of a strong state capable of
curtailing the growth and infiltration of violent extremist groups in Lebanon.
But because of the continued state of war between Lebanon and Israel, most
Western countries donated insufficient, secondhand, or technologically outdated
military equipment. Since 2006, Washington has provided more than $600 million
worth of vehicles, spare parts for aging aircraft, howitzers, ammunition, light
weapons, radios and training.
Substantial aid came also from the United Arab Emirates (Gazelle and Puma
helicopters) and, to a much lesser extent, from Germany (coastal patrol boats),
France (training), the United Kingdom (spare parts) and Belgium (armored
transporters and ambulances). This support was much needed after decades of an
undeclared international embargo on weapons to the Lebanese Army, but it was far
from adequate in strengthening the military.
The army is often seen as a test case for institution building in Lebanon
because it enjoys the support of the vast majority of Lebanese across the
sectarian spectrum. But the lack of real political will is reflected, for
example, in the national dialogue talks, held every few months since 2006 with
the stated aim of formulating a national defense strategy. Participants have
used the talks as a debating club, putting forth superficial proposals chiefly
for public consumption and failing to make any real contributions toward
formulating a defense strategy.
Another sign of the lack of seriousness with which Lebanese leaders approach the
Lebanese Army lies in the absence of a realistic procurement budget. Out of a $1
billion annual defense budget, more than $800 million goes toward salaries
(including hundreds of generals and close to a thousand colonels) and only $30
million per year is allocated to procurement, most of it spent on spare parts
and logistics. In comparison, defense budgets for Jordan and Syria for 2009 were
respectively $2.3 billion and $2 billion. According to a study by the Center for
Strategic International Studies, between 2005 and 2008 Jordan spent $1.6 billion
and Syria $5 billion on equipment orders.
In the latest talks on creating a procurement budget, the Defense Ministry
announced in mid-August the establishment of a Central Bank account to which
private citizens could donate money to support the army’s weapon procurements.
But this idea was again a public relations exercise. Indeed, the account has not
been opened yet because it should, by law, be opened by the Cabinet, which the
ministry did not consult before its announcement. Moreover, even if the
donations account were to open soon, no country can realistically plan its
military procurement budget based on charitable donations.
With no real defense strategy or a serious procurement budget, the army is
pushed into a domestic security mission for which it is not prepared. Should it
play that role effectively, it would clash with the multitude of local
politicians protecting rogue armed supporters. The fact that it cannot ensures a
weak military institution to the advantage of the same old established political
elites, most of whom are former Civil War warlords. This domestic role also
comes at the expense of an external security role, in which the army would take
over Hizbullah’s self-declared mission of protecting Lebanon against Israeli
aggressions.
Real-world empowerment of the army would start by finding the right balance
between foreign assistance and national spending in order to implement a
comprehensive build-up and procurement plan. The army command has such a plan in
hand, which would include infrastructure construction (barracks, airfield
upgrades, and so on), operational main battle tanks, air-to-ground capable
jetfighters (for air support against militias in scenarios similar to the army’s
2007 battle in Nahr al-Bared), short range anti-aircraft missiles, anti-tank
missiles, transport and attack helicopters, naval landing craft, and other basic
military development needs. The plan would cost more than $2 billion.
In the last few years, the Lebanese Army has found itself in a relatively stable
national context for the first time since the 1970s, liberated from dominance by
either Israel or Syria. The military should seize this moment to do what has not
been done in post-independence Lebanon: open dialogue channels with political
leaders in order to persuade them to think and budget for long-term military
development in Lebanon.
**Nadim Hasbani is director of communications at the Carnegie Middle East Center
in Beirut. This commentary is reprinted with permission from the Arab Reform
Bulletin. It can be accessed online at: www.carnegieendowment.org/arb, © 2010,
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Iranian-Lebanese Film Recounts 2006 War with Israel
Naharnet/A Lebanese-Iranian film about two Hizbullah fighters and their women
during the 2006 war with Israel is one of the biggest ever made in the country,
one of its producers said on Thursday. "'South of Heaven' is one of the biggest
movies ever filmed in Lebanon," the executive producer from Lebanon's Rihanna
Group, Ali Abu Zaid, told Agence France Presse.
The story is set in the border village of Aita Shaab, from which Hizbullah
fighters crossed into Israel and captured two soldiers in a deadly raid in 2006.
The attack provoked a devastating month-long Israeli offensive against Hizbullah
strongholds in south Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburb in which 1,200
Lebanese and more than 160 Israelis were killed. "South of Heaven" is a story of
a village whose people are prepared to sacrifice even their families to protect
their land. Youssef and Nisrine were to be married on the day the war breaks
out, and Youssef leaves to fight. Nisrine, a nurse, stays behind to tend the
wounded. She finds Hanan, a woman about to give birth whose husband has also
gone off to war, and she has taken refuge in a cave from the bombing. The film
could not be shot in Aita Shaab because of the instability of the border area.
Instead, a replica of the village was constructed in Ansariye, 30 kilometers
north of the border. "Substantial resources" were invested in the shooting, but
Abu Zaid declined to disclose the cost. "It is not a political film but a human
story that shows the horrors of war," said Syrian actress Kinda Alloush, who
plays Nisrine. But Hanan al-Turk, an Egyptian actress who quit as the character
of the same name, described the work as "a Shiite and Iranian propaganda tool."
Hizbullah is a Shiite Muslim party and is backed by Iran. The film is directed
by Jamal Shorje, an Iranian known for his productions devoted to the Iran-Iraq
war. It is financed by Rihanna and the Iranian institute Fadak, which aims to
spread "Islamic culture," according to its website. It is due to be released
next year.(AFP) Beirut, 07 Oct 10, 18:22
Where is the logic?
Now Lebanon/October
7, 2010
The March 8 coalition wants us to believe that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon
(STL) is politicized while the arrest warrants issued by a Syrian court against
33 individuals to be the result of a pure untarnished legal process.
If we are to believe the March 8, Hezbollah-led opposition’s logic that the
Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) has been tarred by the brush of political
intrigue, then following this premise, the court would have to be abolished to
avoid the sectarian fighting we are assured will happen should the STL hand down
indictments to Hezbollah members for their alleged role in the 2005
assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 21 others.
And yet, when former General Security chief Jamil as-Sayyed filed complaints
through a Syrian court against 33 individuals mainly politicians, judges,
security officials and journalists – all of whom he believes conspired against
him and led him to wrongly serve four years in prison on suspicion of being
involved in the Hariri murder – we have to accept the Syrian court’s arrest
warrants to be the result of a pure untarnished legal process, even after the
former chief investigator in the case, Detlev Mehlis, who is also one of those
on the list, called the warrants “baseless, illegal and politically motivated,
without any practical implications.”
March 8 politicians and Syria’s allies have lost no time in telling us of the
seriousness of the writ. Even Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid
Jumblatt, who testified to investigators and presumably told them of the
well-documented threats made at the time against Hariri and other Lebanese
leaders by the Syrian regime, has since made his peace with Damascus and sees
nothing wrong with the arrest warrants.
Meanwhile, Syrian propagandist and the leader of the so-called Tawhid Movement,
Wiam Wahhab, has also weighed in, declaring that Syria might cancel its 1951
judicial agreement with Lebanon if the latter does not respond to Damascus’
arrest warrants. His comments follow a statement by Syrian newspaper Al-Watan
reminding the Lebanese that they are legally bound to abide by the indictments.
Now, Amal Movement ministers have threatened to walk out of any cabinet session
that does not address the issue of the so-called false witnesses.
So there we have it: March 8 has hit back with its very own judicial process,
one that it would have us believe will expose the work carried out by
UN-mandated investigators as politicized, flawed and Israeli-sponsored.
It is a depressing sign of the times that we are expected to accept as legally
sound the decision of an opaque and state-manipulated Syrian legal system and
reject a UN court with its team of transparent, professional and multi-national
investigators.
By the same token, it is scandalous that we should still be listening to, let
alone taking seriously, the dubious legal darts of a man who, before filing his
writ, allegedly tried to blackmail the very people he is charging with his
unjustified incarceration; a man who, ironically, was instrumental in the
passing of a law allowing the indefinite detention of suspects, and a man whose
very name was a byword for fear, intimidation and the suppression of any
activity that challenged the presence of his Syrian masters when they ruled
Lebanon.
Yet, when the international community – in an unprecedented show of commitment
to once and for all send a message to those who have used political murder as an
instrument of policy – decides to represent the Lebanese people in their quest
for justice in hopes that they can turn a new page in their short but troubled
history, we are scolded by those who are clearly neither interested in
sovereignty nor nation building; we are told that we must deny it and accept the
buffoonery of a man who has no credibility and who is nothing more than a
catalyst for sedition.
Where is the logic?