LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِSeptember
04/2010
Bible Of the Day
Paul's First Letter
to the Corinthians 10/13-18
10:13 No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful,
who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the
temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 10:14
Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. 10:15 I speak as to wise men. Judge
what I say. 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, isn’t it a sharing of the
blood of Christ? The bread which we break, isn’t it a sharing of the body of
Christ? 10:17 Because there is one loaf of bread, we, who are many, are one
body; for we all partake of the one loaf of bread. 10:18 Consider Israel
according to the flesh. Don’t those who eat the sacrifices participate in the
altar?
Free
Opinions, Releases, letters, Interviews & Special Reports
Rare Bellemare, an
assessment/Michael Young/September 03/10
Transparent, credible and solid/Now
Lebanon/September 2/10
The latest joke in Beirut/By:Hazem
al-Amin/September 03/10
Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for
September 03/10
Explosions Shake Suspected
Hizbullah Arms Cache in Shehabiyeh/Naharnet
Hezbollah cordoned off Chehabiyya
explosion site/Now Lebanon
Israeli official: LAF, Hezbollah
hiding truth about Chehabiyya explosion/Now Lebanon
Five injured in Chehabiyya
explosion/Now Lebanon
Feltman: The U.S. Wants Peace that
Would Include Lebanon and Syria/Naharnet
Abbas, Netanyahu Agree to Resume
talks September 14-15/Naharnet
Nasrallah: Direct peace talks 'born
dead'/Israeli News
Egypt protests Iran peace talks
comments/Ynewsnet
Arab League chief wants to give
peace talks a chance/Ynetnews
Ahmadinejad: Israel-Palestinian
Peace Talks Stillborn, Doomed/Naharnet
Geagea: Hizbullah's Arms No Longer
Serve Lebanon's Interest/Naharnet
Tribunal Defense: Indictment is
Just the Beginning, Not Final Verdict/Naharnet
Soaid: Syria is Heading towards
Launching Direct Negotiations with Israel over the Golan Heights/Naharnet
Security 'not behind' delay of
Sfeir's Jbeil visit/Daily Star
Explosions hit south Lebanon
village, cause fire/AP
South Lebanon village rocked by
explosion near Hezbollah arms depot (AP)/Haaretz
'3000 Hezbollah sleepers in region/Buenos Aires Herald
Iran's revenge: Syria and
Hizballah join to sink Israeli warships/DEBKA file
Blair reveals Syria's fears
were well-founded/National
Lebanese Army Increases Presence in Beirut After Hezbollah, Sunni Clashes/Bloomberg
Suspected Hezbollah spy Makhoul
allowed to meet lawyer in private/Ynetnews
The World's Most Dangerous Crisis/Current Intelligence (blog)
Syria arrests Shiite cleric on
suspicion of spying for Israel/Al-Bawaba
Lebanon files complaint to UN
over alleged Israeli spy network/The
Canadian Press
Lebanon complains to UN about
Israel spy ring/AFP
A discouraging picture/Haaretz
Lebanese Shiite cleric arrested in
Syria over spying for Israel/Daily Star
Debate continues over ridding
Beirut of all weapons/Daily Star
Lebanon Gives UN List of 141
Suspected Israeli Spies/Naharnet
Qassem Vows to Confront Strife,
Says No Government Change/Naharnet
Syrian Ambassador: Damascus Backs
Itself When it Supports Hizbullah/Naharnet
Fatah al-Islam Accuses Lino of
Collaborating with Lebanese Intelligence, Threatens to Kill him/Naharnet
Sayyed
Nasrallah: Mideast Peace Talks Are "Born-Dead"
Hussein Assi/Al Mannar Hezbollah Site
03/09/2010 Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah said on Friday
that the so-called Middle East peace talks were stillborn and doomed, stressing
that Jerusalem cannot be the eternal capital of the illegal State of Israel.
His eminence said that the Israeli enemy is facing a lot of challenges,
emphasizing that the American-Israeli scheme has failed and that the one
representing the Resistance has won although the conflict didn’t reach its end
yet.
While renewing commitment to the equation of “army, nation and resistance,”
Sayyed Nasrallah said that Burj Abi Haidar incident was tragic and individual,
condemning the reactions of some Lebanese politicians who chose to exploit it
for political purposes. His eminence also reiterated that Hezbollah is not
concerned with the international tribunal or with the UN probe.
Sayyed Nasrallah was speaking through a large TV screen while commemorating Al-Quds
Day in Sayyed As-Shouhadaa’s complex in Beirut’s southern suburb.
JERUSALEM CANNOT BE CAPITAL OF SO-CALLED ISRAEL
Hezbollah Secretary General began his speech in “the best day of the best month”
by paying tribute to the Palestinian cause as a noble cause that needs to be
always remembered. “We fear that some causes would go away with time,” Sayyed
Nasrallah said, while stressing that the nation could not ignore or forget the
Palestinian cause “as it is a part of our religion, culture, civilization,
ethics, values, history, present and future.”
According to his eminence, Al-Quds Day is the day of confirming the values and
principles, not the day of declaring them. “Our principles are already declared
and known. Therefore, Al-Quds Day is the day in which we renew our belief, we
confirm them and announce commitment to our goals.”
“Today we say to the whole world that the challenges have not changed a single
letter in our fundamental principles, although some fell in the middle of the
road,” his eminence said, recalling the principles which say that the whole
Palestine is the right of the Palestinian people and that nobody has the right
to abandon any part of it.
“We tell the whole world again and again that Jerusalem cannot be the eternal
capital of the so-called State of Israel, but is the capital of Palestine, the
capital of heaven and earth,” Sayyed Nasrallah stressed. “Not even one street of
Jerusalem can be the capital of the so-called Israel,” his eminence said,
reiterating that Israel is an illegitimate state, inhumane which was built on
the logic of massacres and killings. “Israel can’t get legitimacy no matter who
acknowledges it. This is the logic of Al-Quds Day, the logic of saying the right
things without surrender.”
PEACE TALKS ARE BORN DEAD
Sayyed Nasrallah said that the so-called peace negotiations launched in
Washington between the Israeli enemy and the Palestinians were “born dead.”
While rejecting the negotiations as “silly,” Sayyed Nasrallah highlighted the
facts that the talks’ use was clear. “The American need for the talks is clear.
So is the Israeli one. Unfortunately, the need of some Arab regimes for such
talks is also clear.”
However, Sayyed Nasrallah noted that the majority of the Palestinian factions
have rejected the talks. “Some factions reject the simple principle of talking
with the enemy. However, even the factions which do not discuss the principle,
announced its rejection of the talks. All polls also showed that the majority of
the Palestinian nation rejected the talks. Therefore, the talks are useless. The
experience has proved that the only fruit of the negotiations is giving more
life and so-called legitimacy for this illegal entity and occupation.”
AMERICAN WITHDRAWAL FROM IRAQ SIGN OF FAILURE
Turning to the American withdrawal from Iraq, Sayyed Nasrallah read in it
another proof of failure and defeat. “Not even one official in the US
administration could speak about a victory. All their speeches were closer to
defeat speeches. Even those who spoke about accomplishments did with modesty.
They were seeking to justify their withdrawal.”
While distinguishing between the Iraqi Resistance which used to target the US
occupation forces in the country and other terrorist factions which sought to
promote conflict among Iraqis, Sayyed Nasrallah noted that the Iraqi resistance
was the main factor that contributed to accelerating the American humiliating
withdrawal.
“Yet, there’s another very important factor that made the withdrawal the only
possible option for the Americans. It’s the Iraqi nation’s steadfastness. Since
many years, there was a serious plot to push the Iraqi nation into civil war and
sectarian strife. That’s why we should salute the Iraqi nation after defeating
all suspicious schemes. Who could bear such level of scaring daily explosions
without being pushed into civil strife? Yet, the oppressed Iraqi nation was
stronger than the plot.”
Sayyed Nasrallah pointed to the Israeli potential role in Iraq. “If the level of
the Israeli spying activities in Lebanon is so high, what can we say about the
Israeli espionage in Iraq, amid an American occupation?” his eminence wondered.
“All of us know that having a strong and unified Iraq is a red line for Israel.
That’s why Israel believes it should word day and night to promote conflicts
among Iraqis. Thanks God, and despite all massacres, Israel failed and Iraqis
exceeded this stage. When the sedition choice falls, there’s no choice other
than withdrawal.”
RESISTANCE AXIS HEADING TOWARDS VICTORY
Hezbollah Secretary General then said that the Resistance axis was able during
the last decade to achieve an exceptional and historical accomplishment at the
level of the region, an accomplishment which would have repercussions worldwide.
His eminence recalled of the “New Mideast” theory raised by the Americans who
came to the region with the aim to impose a humiliating compromise on Arabs.
“They wanted to delete the Resistance from Palestine to Lebanon and Iraq, not
only the armed Resistance but even the political and popular one. They wanted to
impose a humiliating compromise and were not ready to face any Resistance. They
also wanted to topple the resistance regime in Syria, absolutely dominate Iraq.
They wanted to isolate Iran and end its Islamic regime.”
“I can say that this scheme was strong. Yet, the Resistance axis could achieve
victory, despite the difference in competences and capabilities. The other
scheme was defeated. But this doesn’t mean that the conflict has ended. We
turned to another form of the conflict. The United Nations is not launching wars
in the region not because it has modified its norms and ethics, but simply
because it’s unable of launching new wars following its defeat.”
“Why did we succeed? It’s mainly thanks to the steadfastness of the Resistance
in Palestine and Lebanon, the steadfastness of the political will in Lebanon,
the steadfastness of people in Syria and Iraq. Today, we’re invited to continue
the path. We feel that we’re closer than ever to the victory. Mighty Israel is
gone. Israel today is facing a lot of challenges. We need to strengthen our
unity and coherence. We are concerned more than ever to provide support for the
Palestinian resistance. It’s the only way to liberate Al-Quds and Palestine.”
Nasrallah:
Direct peace talks 'born dead'
In televised speech in honor of 'Jerusalem Day,' Hezbollah secretary-general
slams Palestinian Authority for launching negotiations with Israel, says 'no one
has the right to cede a grain of Palestine.' He fails to comment on blast in his
organization's arms depot in southern Lebanon
Roee Nahmias Published: 09.03.10, 17:54 / Israel News
Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on Friday slammed the Palestinian
Authority's decision to launch direct peace talks with Israel, saying that
"these negotiations were born dead."
Speaking in a televised speech in honor of "Jerusalem Day," which is being
marked by Shiites across the Muslim world, Nasrallah said that "Palestinian from
the sea to the river is the property of the Palestinian, Arab and Muslim people,
and no one has the right to cede it, nor a grain or drop of water of it."
Secretary-General Amr Moussa wonders whether Israel ready for 'real peace,'
accepting 'a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital'
The Hezbollah leader failed to comment on earlier blasts in his organization's
arms depot in southern Lebanon.
In his speech, Nasrallah addressed one of the issues the talks were expected to
focus on, stressing that "Jerusalem – or a single street in it – can never be
the capital of the state called 'Israel.' Jerusalem is the capital of the earth
and sky. Excluding the fact that the existence of the State of Israel is both
immoral and illegal, and that it is based on murder, it cannot be legitimized."
According to the Hezbollah leader, the circumstances of the negotiations are
clear.
"The political need ahead of the (Congress) elections in the United States is
clear, the Israeli need is clear, and the need of some of the Arabs is also
clear. These negotiations were born dead. The vast majority of the Palestinian
people object to them. There are people who even object to the principle of
negotiations with Israel – and so do we."
Nasrallah noted that surveys held among the Palestinians prove that the majority
of the Palestinian people oppose the move, "and therefore it is useless." He
added that the attempts of those who participated in negotiations in the past
point to great frustration. "Unfortunately, the negotiations with this Israeli
enemy in particular, this arrogant and patronizing enemy which is supported by
the US and the West, have no results apart from legitimizing this illegitimate
entity."
'Resistance won thanks to Palestinians'
Nasrallah mentioned the political climate on the background of the talks, saying
that the American withdrawal form Iraq was an admission of defeat. "No one in
the US has delivered a victory speech or provided justifications for the
pullout," he boasted, noting that Washington was surprised by the local
"resistance."
He added that "after the September 11 attacks, the neo-conservatives came to the
White House with a plan for the entire regime called 'the great Middle East.'
The essence of the plan, he said, was stabilizing Israel's status and
strengthening it though a "shameful agreement" which would be imposed on the
Palestinians with a comprehensive Arab agreement. "They came with the goal to
destroy the entire resistance – military, political and cultural," he said.
The Hezbollah leader went on to boast the "victory" of the axis of resistance.
"American today cannot start new wars… Why did we win and they failed? Because
of the standing of the Palestinian people, especially in Gaza, and because of
the standing of the Lebanese, Syrian, Iranian and Iraqi people…"Today we call
for the continuation of this strong standing and the resistance. Today, despite
the difficulties, we feel we are closer to victory than ever before." According
to Nasrallah, Israel of 2010 is different than Israel on the eve of the 2006 and
1982 wars and is "facing great crises."
5 hurt in blasts at Hezbollah arms cache
Nasrallah spoke several hours after a number of explosions caused a large fire
in a southern village. Five people were injured in the incident, Lebanese
security officials said.
An army source said the blasts might have been triggered by an explosion at a
weapons depot belonging to the Hezbollah terror group in the village of
Shehabiyeh.
There was more than one explosion at a house on the outskirts of Shehabiyeh," he
said. "Usually (multiple explosions) mean it is ammunition (detonating)," he
said.
The al-Jazeera news channel reported that the explosions occurred at a weapons
depot located in the three-storey home of a Hezbollah operative.
Israeli security sources noted that the incident proves once again that
Hezbollah holds weapons in the heart of a civilian population and endangers
southern Lebanon's residents.
IDF officials stressed that the Lebanese army prevented UNIFIL troops from
examining the area, pointing to suspicions that the Lebanese army was
cooperating with Hezbollah.
Egypt protests Iran peace talks comments
Cairo cancels a visit by Islamic Republic's foreign minister after he accuses
Arab leaders who attended new round of Mideast peace talks of 'betraying their
nations' by 'following America's orders' Associated Press Published: 09.03.10,
16:15 / Israel News
Egypt has canceled a visit by Iran's foreign minister to protest comments in
which he accused Arab leaders of betrayal for attending the new round of Mideast
peace talks in Washington.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki had been scheduled to visit Cairo on
Monday for a meeting of Nonaligned Movement members.
Islamic Republic
Ahmadinejad says Abbas 'has no right to cede parts of Palestine' / Dudi Cohen
During Al-Quds Day speech, Iranian leader says, 'Destiny of Palestine will be
determined in Palestine, not in Washington.' Military official: We'll strike
Israeli reactor if attacked
Iran has an uneasy relationship with US-allied Arab nations, which have watched
Tehran's growing influence in the Middle East with concern because of suspicions
over its nuclear program and its support for radical Islamic groups like Hamas
and Hezbollah. Mottaki said Arab leaders who attended the relaunch of
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in Washington this week were "betraying their
nations." "Some leaders ... who follow America's orders must understand that
they are betraying their nations," Iran's Fars news agency quoted him as saying
on Tuesday.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordanian King Abdullah II attended the
talks. Egypt's Foreign Ministry said it summoned Iran's charge d'affaires in
Cairo to notify him it was canceling Monday's visit and postponing the
Nonaligned meeting. Iran severed ties with Egypt after it signed a peace deal
with Israel in 1979 and provided asylum to Iran's deposed Shah Mohammad Reza
Pahlavi.
Arab League chief wants to give peace talks a chance
Secretary-General Amr Moussa wonders whether Israel ready for 'real peace,'
accepting 'a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital'
AFP Published: 09.03.10, 15:54 / Israel News
The Arab League's Secretary-General Amr Moussa said on Friday negotiations
between Israelis and Palestinians should be given a chance, but wondered whether
Israel was ready for "real peace." "We see the negotiations start, let us give
them a chance," Moussa told AFP at the Forum Ambrosetti, an annual political and
economic summit in Cernobbio, on the Lake of Como in northern Italy.
Arab papers warn against talks: Abbas is weak / Roee Nahmias
Arab world covers summit in Washington in pessimistic tone. 'They're not talking
about Jerusalem. And what is Abbas cooking up? He doesn't have mandate'
"I don't want to be pessimistic on the first day of negotiations," he added.
"Let us see what kind of compromise (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu
is offering, we have never heard from the Israeli side any initiative or any
concrete position," Moussa said.
Moussa wondered whether Israel was ready to accept "a Palestinian state with
east Jerusalem as its capital."
Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have vowed to meet twice a
month in a bid to hammer out an accord, after on Thursday launching the first
direct negotiations in 20 months a meeting in Washington. US President Barack
"Obama can, he said it, this is his motto, 'yes we can' and this has to cover
the Arab-Israeli conflict too," Moussa said.
Ahead of Thursday's Washington meeting, Moussa said there was widespread
pessimism in the region about new peace talks between Israel and the
Palestinians.
Simon Wiesenthal Centre asks Argentina to outlaw ‘terrorists’
‘3,000 Hezbollah sleepers in region’
By Peter Johnson/Herald staff
http://www.buenosairesherald.com/BreakingNews/View/43972
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre is to formally request the Argentine government to
outlaw the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terrorist organization in Argentina, the
Centre’s Director for International Liaison, Shimon Samuels, told the Herald
this week.
“Argentina has shown a brave stance in the way that it has stood up at United
Nations meetings,” he said, “demanding that the alleged Iranian masterminds of
the bombings of the AMIA Jewish relief organization be brought to justice.”
Samuels (who said he had visited Héctor Timerman’s father, Jacobo, while he was
in jail during the military dictatorship of the 1970s) was hopeful that this
stance would prevail after he had made the request.
“I will be forwarding a letter to Héctor Timerman in the name of the Simon
Wiesenthal Centre requesting that the Argentine government outlaw the Hezbollah
terrorist organization, as has already occurred in Europe and the United
States,” Samuels said.
The Centre, which has earned worldwide recognition for tracking down Nazi war
criminals and bringing them to justice, “has accurate reports that there are
more than 3,000 Hezbollah ‘sleepers’ in the region, with most of those in
Argentina, waiting to be activated when needed,” Samuels stated.
Explosions Shake Suspected Hizbullah Arms Cache in Shehabiyeh
Naharnet/Several explosions caused a large fire at a building in the southern
town of Shehabiyeh on Friday amid reports that the blasts went off at a
Hizbullah weapons depot.
"Three explosions went off in a house in Shehabiyeh" near the southern coastal
city of Tyre, an army spokesman told Agence France Presse. "The nature and cause
of the explosions are not yet clear," he added. The army cordoned off the area
and was awaiting bomb disposal experts, he said. Beirut media said, however,
that the blasts went off at a weapons cache belonging to Hizbullah. The media
reports also said that firefighters and ambulances rushed to the scene of the
explosions which continued to be heard well after the first sounds reverberated
across the area around 1:00 pm. Al-Arabiya satellite TV network said one person
was injured in the explosions, adding that Hizbullah threw a security dragnet
around the three-storey building.
According to Voice of Lebanon radio, the building is owned by a man from the
Salloum family. A man living near the building told AFP that it had been rented
out by Hizbullah.
UNIFIL spokesman Neeraj Singh said U.N. peacekeepers were coordinating with the
Lebanese army, adding that they have sent patrols to the location of the
explosion in Shehabiyeh.
Shehabiyeh is south of the Litani River, an area patrolled by U.N. peacekeepers
and Lebanese soldiers that is supposed to be free of weapons. An arms cache
belonging to Hizbullah exploded last summer in an abandoned house in the
southern village of Khirbet Selm, 20 kilometers from the Israeli
border.(Naharnet-AFP-AP) Beirut, 03 Sep 10, 14:17
Israeli official: LAF, Hezbollah hiding truth about Chehabiyya explosion
September 3, 2010 /The Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) coordinated with Hezbollah to
“cover up the truth” about the contents of a building that exploded in the town
of Chehabiyya near Tyre on Friday, an Israeli security official told Israeli
radio according to NOW Lebanon’s correspondent. Earlier on Friday, an anonymous
source told NOW Lebanon that the explosion was at a Hezbollah arms cache. The
incident confirms Israeli intelligence reports about Hezbollah’s “continuing
reinforcement of military capabilities among civilian residents in southern
villages,” the Israeli official added. He also said that Hezbollah had worked to
prevent UNIFIL units from approaching the site of the explosion. -NOW Lebanon
Hezbollah cordoned off Chehabiyya explosion site
September 3, 2010 /Following an explosion in the town of Chehabiyya near Tyre on
Friday, Hezbollah members surrounded the site and prevented anyone from
approaching the area, NOW Lebanon’s correspondent reported. The explosion
occurred in a three-storey building that reportedly contained a weapons cache,
according to the National News Agency (NNA). Earlier on Friday, an anonymous
source told NOW Lebanon that the explosion was at a Hezbollah arms cache. The
building belongs to Chehabiyya local Ahmed S., NOW’s correspondent said. He
added that the explosion led to a fire and subsequent explosions, but its cause
is still unclear. Some stories blame a gas can or a diesel tank, he said.
Lebanese army units arrived to reinforce the security perimeter and prevent
journalists from approaching, while UNIFIL soldiers observed from a nearby hill
and took pictures, the correspondent also said.
UNIFIL spokesperson Neeraj Singh confirmed that peacekeepers had been dispatched
to the scene in coordination with the Lebanese army, AFP reported.
-NOW Lebanon
Five injured in Chehabiyya explosion
September 3, 2010 /An explosion on Friday in the town of Chehabiyya near Tyre
injured five people, an anonymous source told NOW Lebanon. The explosion
occurred in a three-storey building that reportedly contained a weapons cache,
according to the National News Agency (NNA). The NNA added that the building is
owned by a citizen identified only as “W.S.” Earlier on Friday, an anonymous
source told NOW Lebanon that there was an explosion at a Hezbollah arms cache in
Chehabiyya, resulting in a huge fire.-NOW Lebanon
Rare Bellemare, an assessment
Michael Young,
September 3, 2010
Special Tribunal Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, seen here as the court kicked off
in March 2009. (AFP photo)
The interview conducted this week by NOW Lebanon with the prosecutor of the
Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Daniel Bellemare, offered up interesting tidbits.
Nothing in it was groundbreaking, but the give and take did help clarify
Bellemare’s mindset, at a time when the prosecutor has generally been silent
about his investigation.
Much attention was focused on two things Bellemare said. He observed that an
indictment had yet to be drafted, but also that his team had made “huge
progress.” The prosecutor said he was working on “the evidentiary process” to
ensure his evidence was admissible in court. “If I file an indictment and there
is no evidence, the whole structure collapses, and we will [find] ourselves in
trouble,” he added.
Bellemare’s remarks suggested that he is concentrating specifically on the
indictment, rather than on intermediate measures, for example a request that
certain suspects be arrested in preparation for an indictment. It is quite
possible that the prosecutor will yet engage in such a step, but, if so, nothing
in the interview indicated this.
More interesting were Bellemare’s views of the nature of the evidence. To a
question as to whether telephone data might represent circumstantial evidence,
he replied: “Well, I would call circumstantial evidence conclusive. I think
there has been some confusion on what circumstantial evidence means. I have read
in a Lebanese newspaper that circumstantial evidence was no good. In the system
I come from, circumstantial evidence is a number of little facts that, when you
look at them on their own, they might mean nothing. But when you put them
together, then the whole picture becomes irrefutable.”
Reading between the lines, Bellemare’s comments seemed to lend credence to those
who believe that he will base his case substantially on circumstantial evidence.
In fact, the first United Nations commissioner, Detlev Mehlis, and before him
the Irish deputy police chief, Peter Fitzgerald, did much the same thing in
their reports. Bellemare is right: Circumstantial evidence can sometimes point
irrefutably in one direction, particularly in a case like the killing of Rafik
Hariri, where there was one actor controlling the political and security
environment in the run-up to the assassination.
But what Bellemare didn’t say is that circumstantial evidence is more difficult
to uphold in court. The prosecutor may well have forensic evidence, telephone
analyses and other examples of “solid” proof; but what he appears to have much
less of is witness testimony from those involved in the crime from the angle
Bellemare is evidently pursuing today, namely participation by Hezbollah. And
without testimony, a good defense lawyer can open up breaches in an indictment,
which is why Bellemare is taking so much time to make his case airtight.
Bellemare admitted to following how his investigation was playing out in the
Lebanese media. However, he observed, “I am not influenced by what is said on
TV. If I was to gauge my investigation along this, then I would be politicized.
I have to go through the steps to make sure the result is a credible [step]. And
that the people – the victims and their relatives – will have an outcome they
are able to believe.”
That’s sensible, but as Bellemare knows, the Special Tribunal is a mixed
Lebanese-international body, with the Lebanese providing the institution’s
implementation arm. Even if the prosecutor pursues his investigation away from
politics, as is his duty, he must also calculate how his every move affects, or
is affected by, developments inside Lebanon. Lebanese politics may easily
overcome Bellemare’s work, so that it becomes inevitable for the prosecutor to
play some version of politics, principally through an effective communications
strategy, even as he avoids getting entangled in side disputes with his
detractors.
In other words, Bellemare is not functioning in a vacuum. It is part of any
prosecutor’s role in a high-profile political case to be able to shape
perceptions, to work the terrain in favor of his or her case, to defend his or
her integrity and that of the investigating team, and to keep the guilty off
balance. Bellemare has done poorly in virtually all of these categories, and he
still does not have an official spokesperson more than three months after Radhia
Achouri left her position. It speaks volumes that the NOW Lebanon interview was
such a rarity.
The topic of funding did not come up, nor did Bellemare volunteer any
information on it. That’s a pity, since it has become quite apparent lately that
money may emerge as a chief concern if the prosecutor does not come up with an
indictment this year. Nor did we discover what Bellemare hopes to learn from the
controlled explosion that will be conducted this fall near the French city of
Bordeaux, though it must have to do with bolstering his circumstantial evidence.
The prosecutor also did not explain why Muhammad Zuheir al-Siddiq was no longer
a suspect in the Hariri assassination. No one doubts Siddiq’s unreliability, but
it appears that he provided, or was fed, information that he could not have made
up.
If provided the opportunity, Bellemare might want to take back his unhappy
comparison of the Hariri investigation with that of the Lockerbie bombing, which
also “took years before the whole process was finished.” In light of the fiasco
of the Lockerbie inquiry, the ongoing row in the United Kingdom over the release
last year from prison of a Libyan intelligence agent accused of committing the
crime, and a growing belief that the agent may have been made a scapegoat,
Bellemare could have provided a more reassuring illustration.
**Michael Young is opinion editor of the Daily Star newspaper in Beirut. His
book, The Ghosts of Martyrs Square: An Eyewitness Account of Lebanon’s Life
Struggle (Simon & Schuster), was recently published.
Transparent, credible and solid
September 2, 2010 /Now Lebanon/Transparent, credible and solid: these were the
three words used again and again by Daniel Bellemare—the Canadian chief
prosecutor for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), the court created to
bring justice in the case of the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister
Rafik Hariri—in his interview with NOW Lebanon published on Tuesday. The three
words represented the true nature of a process, the essence and objective of
which have been bent, stretched and twisted by those threatened by it or
suspicious of it, but which for Lebanon represents a watershed in legal
accountability. In fact, these three words that Bellemare used to argue that he
was not a political puppet are precisely the qualities that are lacking in
modern Lebanese society. No wonder then that a court that has been assembled at
considerable cost and with the backing of the international community finds
itself at odds with many of the people it genuinely seeks to represent. In this
situation, Bellemare must be credited with setting the record straight, while
maintaining the judicial and investigative integrity of his mission.
The prospect of indictments being handed down to members of Hezbollah for any
role they may have had in the February 14, 2005 explosion that claimed the lives
of 22 innocent victims has threatened to destabilize Lebanon’s fragile sectarian
relations. Such have been the rumors of civil instability should the warrants be
issued that many Lebanese have already decided that such a move would be more
than the country can cope with and, as such, be too high a price to pay.
But those who claim the court has been politicized need only listen to Bellemare,
who simply insists that the indictments will only be handed down when there is
sufficient and solid evidence. He has wisely ignored the rumors, the rabble
rousing and the fear mongering. In short he has held his nerve when many were
losing theirs.
For Bellemare, quite rightly, makes the distinction between being in a political
environment and allowing his decisions to be influenced by politics. He has said
that no one will tell him what to do. If we are to believe him, we must shed the
notion that in the Arab world anyone can be got to. We forget that we live an
opaque and sluggish world, while Bellemare and his team are part of a more
transparent and dynamic society.
Similarly he has not allowed the issue of the so-called false witnesses be
weighed down by political intrigue. They will simply not be called upon to
testify. That they have perjured themselves is presumably a matter for the
Lebanese authorities and should not in any way derail the legal process.
We must listen when he talks of his team, many of whom joined out of a sense of
professional pride and the fact that they wanted to be part of his thoughtfully
assembled group of experts – talent, as they say, attracts talent. We must
assume they are all keen to see a transparent judicial process lead to the
prevailing of justice, and they will not be satisfied with compromising or even
surrendering their principles.
He was also quick to point out that it is essential that his team get it right
the first time. Thus, delays do not mean his investigation has hit a wall; that
he and his team have run out of leads. Citing the Khobar, Oklahoma, and
Lockerbie bombings, he reminded us that investigations can take years,
especially ones, like the Hariri investigation, in which the crime scene was so
heavily compromised.
Bellemare is right when he says that the STL is for all Lebanese and not, as
many people think, the private crusade of March 14. Its creation was a landmark
ruling designed to show that justice can prevail in a society where political
murder has become part of the landscape, and it set a precedent to discourage
the region’s rulers from settling scores with the bomb and the bullet. If we are
to believe in the sincerity, skill and professionalism of the STL then, for the
sake of Lebanon, we should support it to the hilt.
Fadlallah's Office: Eid el-Fitr Starts Sept. 9
Naharnet/Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah's office said Eid el-Fitr starts next
Thursday. Eid el-Fitr marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan with
three days of feasts and family celebrations. Eid el-Fitr is one of the two
biggest Muslim holidays of the year. The other major holiday is Eid al-Adha, at
the end of the hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
Beirut, 03 Sep 10, 12:46
Geagea: Qassem should be ashamed of himself
September 3, 2010 /Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said on Friday that “it
is the end of the world” if Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim
Qassem is not ashamed of himself over the Beirut clashes on August 24, according
to a statement issued by Geagea’s office. A street battle shook the Bourj Abi
Haidar district in the Lebanese capital on August 24, pitting supporters of
Hezbollah against those of Sunni outfit Al-Ahbash—also known as Association of
Islamic Charitable Projects—two parties with warm ties to Damascus. Geagea said
“how could Qassem overlook the presence of armed groups in the capital and say
the fighting was normal.” “The Lebanese state should be even more ashamed than
Qassem, because there are armed militias on the streets of Beirut… [But] no
decision to disarm them,” Geagea said. “Resisting Israel is one thing, but the
presence of armed militias in Beirut is a totally different issue,” he added.
The LF leader also responded to Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine –
General Command (PFLP-GC) chief Ahmad Jibril, who said this week that his group
will not hand over its arms to the Lebanese authorities. Geagea said that “it is
not the first time in which Jibril crosses the limits and acts like there is no
[Lebanese] state.” However, he did not elaborate further. -NOW Lebanon
Feltman: The U.S. Wants Peace that Would Include Lebanon and Syria
Naharnet/U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Jeffery Feltman
stated Friday that the United States wants peace in the region to include
Lebanon and Syria, but added that there are great problems and challenges
thwarting this aim. Addressing the launch of direct Palestinian-Israeli
negotiations, he told Al-Arabiya that the success of the negotiations is not
guaranteed, but the U.S. will try all it can to ensure their success. He
stressed that it is in the U.S.' interest to achieve peace, noting that both the
Palestinians and Israelis agreed to reach a comprehensive peace agreement within
a year. Beirut, 03 Sep 10, 16:14
Geagea: Hizbullah's Arms No Longer Serve Lebanon's Interest
Naharnet/Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea snapped back at Hizbullah Deputy
Chief Sheikh Naim Qassem on Friday saying the party's arms in their current
location and form no longer serve Lebanon's interest. The weapons "serve other
interests," Geagea told a delegation from the Popular University in Jbeil. The
LF leader wondered whether Qassem described the armed groups that appeared in
Borj Abi Haidar and other Beirut streets as the resistance. "As far as we know
the resistance should be in occupied territories. Is Beirut occupied?" Geagea
asked. He said the March 14 forces will not be terrorized by Qassem's statements
which he said lead to more division among the country's people. Beirut, 03 Sep
10, 12:22
Tribunal Defense: Indictment is Just the Beginning, Not Final Verdict
Naharnet/Head of Defense at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Judge Francois Roux
stressed the indictment that will be issued by Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare is
not a final verdict in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination case. "We should
know that the indictment is just the beginning … It is not the final decision or
verdict," Roux told An Nahar and As Safir newspapers in remarks published
Friday. He made his comment after signing a memorandum of understanding with
Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar. The MoU "gives the defense team all the freedom
to carry out all necessary investigations on Lebanese territories," Roux said.
He stressed that in international penal law many people have been declared
innocent after the indictment had accused them. "No one knows when the
indictment will be filed. Even the prosecutor doesn't know," Roux told the
dailies. Asked about false witnesses, the judge told As Safir: "The prosecutor
could decide to summon them … nothing prevents the defense lawyer from summoning
a former false witness." His comment came as Bellemare's office told the
newspaper that the prosecutor had stressed he was no longer concerned about
false witness Mohammed Zuhair Siddiq. Beirut, 03 Sep 10, 08:05
Lebanon Gives UN List of 141 Suspected Israeli Spies
Naharnet/Lebanon has filed a complaint with the United Nations over what it says
is an Israeli spy ring in the country, giving a list of 141 suspected agents, a
diplomat said on Friday.
"Lebanon has complained over Israel having set up an espionage network in
several areas, notably those of national security, military security and the
security of telecommunications, both mobile and fixed," the diplomat said. The
government wants the complaint to be placed on the agenda of the annual meeting
of the U.N. General Assembly to be held in New York later this month. Beirut
"calls on the international organization to take note of the danger represented
by this matter, which could be the prelude to a new aggression against Iran,"
the diplomat said.
More than 100 people have been arrested on suspicion of espionage since April
2009, including telecom employees, members of the security forces and active
duty troops.
Many of the suspects are accused of having helped Israel identify targets during
its devastating 2006 war with Hizbullah. Five of those tried have been sentenced
to death for spying for Israel's Mossad overseas intelligence service. Lebanon
and Israel remain technically in a state of war, and convicted spies face life
in prison with hard labor or the death penalty if found guilty of contributing
to Lebanese loss of life.(AFP-Naharnet) Beirut, 03 Sep 10, 16:10
Debate continues over ridding Beirut of all weapons
By The Daily Star and Agence France Presse (AFP)
Friday, September 03, 2010
BEIRUT: Politicians on Thursday continued to debate whether the capital should
be free of “weapons.”
A chorus of calls for an “arms-free” Beirut triggered by a deadly battle outside
mosque last week is fast fading after Hizbullah warned against any attempt to
disarm it.
After an August 24 gunfight between supporters of Hizbullah and those of the
Association for Islamic Charitable Project, known as Al-Ahbash, Prime Minister
Saad Hariri launched a campaign calling for Beirut to be stripped of its
omnipresent weapons. A number of Civil Society organizations are expected to
hold a news conference on Thursday to launch a project in support of an
arms-free Beirut. Marjayoun MP Ali Fayyad, who is a member of Hizbullah’s
parliamentary bloc, said on Thursday that the politicization of the Burj Abi
Haidar clashes contradicted “the state logic.”
“Hizbullah is now over the Burj Abi Haidar clash,” Fayyad stated, and called on
all parties to return to a calm atmosphere. Progressive Socialist Party leader
MP Walid Jumblatt said the slogan of an arms-free Beirut was meaningless and
warned that the Burj Abi Haidar clashes were more dangerous than an external war
on the country. In remarks to As-Safir newspaper published on Thursday, Jumblatt
said that the deadly street battles between supporters of Hizbullah and Al-Ahbash
last week came in reaction to the tripartite summit held in Baabda among
President Michel Sleiman, Saudi King Abdullah and Syrian leader Bashar Assad.
“As if there is someone who wants to tell the leaders: You are not the ones who
come up with solutions,” the Druze leader said.
Warning that Lebanon was threatened by chaos, Jumblatt said that the United
States wanted to fight Iran on Lebanese territories. “There are other countries
who want to fight Syria in Lebanon.” While admitting that Damascus and Riyadh
could play a positive role in creating stability in Lebanon, Jumblatt said
Hariri, Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Parliament Speaker Nabih
Berri “can do a lot as well.” Meanwhile, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea
said the current political bickering was making politicians overlook the
people’s more pressing needs. Also on Thursday, Beirut MP Ammar Houri accused
Hizbullah’s second in command Sheikh Naim Qassem of insulting Beirut and its
people and asked him to apologize. Qassem said on Wednesday calls for an
arms-free Beirut were Israeli. Houri said Beirutis resisted Israeli occupation
in 1982. He also defended the call to free the capital of weapons. Beirut’s
representatives and people all support this call,” the MP added. Last week’s
four-hour street battle in the west Beirut district of Burj Abi Haidar began as
a row over a parking space but swiftly escalated with the use of machine guns
and rocket-propelled grenades. The violence raised fears of a repeat of May
2008, when gunmen supporting a Hizbullah-led alliance clashed with supporters of
the Sunni then-Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. Close to 100 people died in the
week-long battle which saw the Hizbullah camp seize control of much of mainly
Sunni west Beirut. A slew of ministers and security officials met this week in a
bid to forge an agreement on arms control in the capital, but failed to announce
what measures, if any, the state would take. – The Daily Star, with AFP
Security 'not behind' delay of Sfeir's Jbeil visit
By The Daily Star
Friday, September 03, 2010
BEIRUT: Former Jbeil MP Fares Soueid has denied that security considerations
were behind the Maronite Patriarch’s postponement of his trip to Jibbet al-Mnaitra
in the district of Jbeil, and said that groups who were “annoyed” by the visit
were responsible for the delay. “The visit was postponed but not cancelled …
because there are some people that do not want the area to be put back on the
national map, whether on the moral or Maronite levels,” Soueid told a news
conference at his residence in the northern town of Qartaba. “Those annoyed by
the visit are a minority in the region, [who] claimed security incidents will
occur [if the visit happens], no security incidents will occur,” he said,
stressing that security prevailed in the district.
“The patriarch does not need protection,” added Soueid. Soueid stressed that
besides Christians, Shiites and Sunnis from Jbeil were also ready to welcome
Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, who was scheduled to visit the area
on September 11. “Some say the Patriarch’s acceptance to have lunch at my house
will cause some tensions, but the visit is more important than having lunch at
Fares Soueid’s residence,” he added. Soueid is the coordinator of the March 14
General Secretariat. The Christian parties in the March 14 Coalition constitute
a rival for Kesrouan MP Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement that holds sway in
the district of Jbeil. Soueid thanked the Patriarch for the planned visit, and
again invited him to tour the Jbeil area. – The Daily Star
Lebanese Shiite cleric arrested in Syria over spying for Israel
Msheymish, known critic of Hizbullah, still being interrogated
By The Daily Star and Agence France Presse (AFP)
BEIRUT: A Lebanese Shiite cleric known as a critic of Hizbullah has been
arrested in Syria on suspicion of spying for Israel, a high-ranking Lebanese
security official said on Thursday.
“Sheikh Hassan Msheymish was arrested in July in Syria based on data Lebanese
police intelligence had sent to Syrian authorities indicating that he was
implicated in collaborating with Israel,” the official told AFP. Msheymish was
still being interrogated by Syrian authorities as preliminary information
gathered by Lebanese intelligence indicated he may have been spying on targets
in Syria, the official said. One of the sheikh’s sons told AFP in July that
Msheymish, a vocal critic Hizbullah, had been detained while on his way to the
Saudi city of Mecca on a religious pilgrimage. On Wednesday, the Lebanese
Foreign Affairs Ministry dispatched a letter of complaint against Israel
recruitment of collaborators in Lebanon to the Lebanese permanent mission at the
UN Security Council. The seven-page letter to the UN comprises a briefing of
information provided by the Foreign Affairs, Defense, Justice, and
Telecommunications ministries regarding the issue of Israeli spies. The letter
mentioned that the number of Lebanese collaborators with Israel reached 150.
Also on Wednesday, state prosecutor Saeed Mirza issued an arrest warrant against
a suspected spy for Israel – Ghassan al-Jidd – to international police agency
Interpol, after reports the suspect, who fled the country last year, may be in
France. Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah first spoke of Jidd during a
news conference last month in which he was presenting testimony that he said
linked Israel to the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
More than 100 people have been arrested on suspicion of espionage since April
2009, including telecom employees, members of the security forces and active
duty troops.
Many of the suspects are accused of having helped Israel identify targets during
its devastating 2006 war against Lebanon. About 50 people have been charged with
spying for Israel. Five of those tried have been sentenced to death for spying
for Mossad. President Michel Sleiman had voiced his readiness to sign on death
sentences if issued against suspected Israeli agents.
On Thursday, two MPs from the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc called for
referring a senior official in the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) arrested on
suspicions of collaborating with Israel to concerned judiciary, saying his
continued detention by the Internal Security Forces (ISF) Information Branch was
illegal. Kesrouan MP Michel Aoun heads the FPM along with the Change and Reform
parliamentary bloc. Pan Arab-newspaper Ash-Sharq al-Awsat reported Thursday that
Metn MP Nabil Nicolas and Jezzine MP Ziad Aswad have labeled the detention of
retired General Fayez Karam by the ISF for more than one month as “illegal.”
Karam, 62 is the FPM official responsible for north Lebanon. Karam was arrested
in early August by units of the ISF of on suspicion of collaboration. A few days
later, military prosecutor Saqr Saqr charged Karam with spying for Israel.
In a telephone conversation with the newspaper, Karam’s defense attorneys Rashad
Salameh and Cinderella Merhej said the lawmakers’ demands were legal.
“[Karam] is not being interrogated by the Information Branch anymore because
investigations are now in the hands of the first investigative military
magistrate,” they said.
“This means that the [Information] branch no longer has the right to conduct
investigations, because he has no more the authority … and prerogatives to carry
on the investigations,” they added. They stressed that Karam should be withheld
in a “legal” prison rather than being arrested by the Information branch. In
other news, Saqr charged detained Palestinian Wael Abdallah along with Hassan
Nawfal, another Palestinian who is outside the country with collaborating with
Israel. Saqr made similar charges against detainee Toni Butros, who is Lebanese,
along with Joseph Qassis, another Lebanese but living outside Lebanon. He
referred the detainees to the first investigative military prosecutor. – The
Daily Star, with AFP
Iran's revenge: Syria and Hizballah join to sink Israeli warships
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report September 3, 2010, 8:40 AM (GMT+02:00) Tags: Israel
Palestinian terror Syrian-Hizballah pact Israeli warships targetedTehranand its
extremist and terrorist allies, having failed to abort Barack Obama's initiative
for direct Israel-Palestinian diplomacy, have hit back with two belligerent
steps. debkafile's military sources disclose that Syria and the Lebanese
Hizballah have set up a joint military command for sinking Israeli warships, and
Hamas has brought all 13 Palestinian rejectionist organizations under one roof
for a sustained bid to intensify terror operations against Israel.
At a news conference in Gaza early Friday, Sept. 3 - shortly after the
Washington talks were rated positive - a Hamas military arm spokesman announced
the creation of a single command encompassing all 13 Palestinian rejectionist
groups operating out of the Gaza Strip and Damascus for a concerted campaign of
terror against Israel.
In answer to a question, Abu Obeida said the new policy of expanded attacks may
well rain missiles on Tel Aviv. "From now on, everything is open," the Hamas
spokesman said.
At that moment, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was on a flight home
from Washington, surrounded by an intense PR effort to present him as emerging
from his first conversation with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas as
a super-peacemaker. The Americans, the Palestinians and his own aides were well
aware that the ceremonial inauguration of the talks had yielded very little
after their goals were sharply pared down. No accord but only a document of
general principles is now expected to come out of the continuation of the
dialogue - once every two weeks in the coming year. This, too, would oblige
Israel to withdraw from large sections of the West Bank. Further steps were
relegated to the distant future.
In the meantime, Syria, Hizballah and the Palestinian terrorist community are
using the very act of diplomacy as the impetus for a violent response.
Whereas the prime minister's rhetoric in Washington laid heavy emphasis on the
negotiations measuring up to Israel's security needs, in practice, he refrained
from ordering an Israeli reprisal against the Hamas command centers which
ordered two attacks on West Bank roads, although four Israeli civilians paid
with their lives and two more were injured.
Syria, Hizballah and the Palestinian terrorist commands operating out of
Damascus, Gaza, Beirut and Sidon to took this restraint as a starting signal for
reviving concerted attacks on Israel.
Syrian President Bashar Assad and Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah decided to
expand the secret military cooperation pact they recently concluded - to which
no Israeli political or military leader has so far responded - to the
Mediterranean Sea, where their operational and intelligence assets will together
seek out and try and sink Israeli missile ships and submarines.
To this end, they have earmarked marine units and their Iranian- and
Russian-made shore-to-ship missile force - the largest of its kind in the world
- as well as Syrian assault helicopters flown by crews trained to strike
seaborne targets. The Hizballah marine unit was trained and equipped by Iranian
Revolutionary Guards marine instructors.
The Mediterranean coastal strip from Syrian Latakia in the north, running
through the Lebanese ports of Tripoli, Sidon and Tyre and down south to the Gaza
Strip, have been declared a joint sea front dedicated to attacking Israeli
targets.
High-ranking Israeli military sources told DEBKA file Thursday night that while
it was hard to imagine Syrian or Hizballah managing to hit Israeli submarines,
they are quite capable of fomenting violence on the sea and attacking Israeli
naval craft and bases. Their joint command means they are sharing intelligence
on Israeli naval activity and monitoring the movements of vessels while still in
Israeli territorial waters and before they take up stations opposite the
Lebanese or Syrian coasts. Our military sources add that, from the strategic
viewpoint, the Washington dialogue and the disproportionate hype surrounding it
were counter-productive in that it led to the resumption of Hamas terrorist
activities on the West Bank and strengthened the military partnership between
Syria and Hizballah for aggression against Israel. Netanyahu's single-minded
focus on diplomacy at the expense of neglecting rising threats and blocking
military activity allowed these perils to develop and abound. His restraint did
not help Mahmoud Abbas' failing fortunes at home. His standing took a bad knock
from the way Hamas managed to pull off two terrorist operations on the West
Bank. In a desperate bid to show they were in control, Palestinian security
sources reported Thursday night that two suspects were in custody for Monday's
drive-by shooting near Hebron and they had leads to the perpetrators.
debkafile's counter-terror sources disclose that the two "suspects" are the used
car salesmen who sold the vehicle the Hamas gunmen used in their attack. They
had no clues to offer about the identities or whereabouts of the purchasers who
have disappeared without a trace. Netanyahu is scheduled to continue his talks
with Abbas in Sharm el-Sheikh on Sept. 14-15 - and again at fortnightly
intervals during the coming year under Washington's watchful eye. It is hard to
see how they can keep going in a climate of rising military tensions and
expanding terrorist outbreaks.
Soaid: Syria is Heading towards Launching Direct Negotiations with Israel over
the Golan Heights
Naharnet/The March 14 forces General-Secretariat coordinator Fares Soaid
highlighted on Friday Syria's recent shift in relations, pointing out that "it
says one thing and then does the opposite." He said: "It gave us the image of
Assad-Ahmadinejad-Nasrallah in the past and now it presented the image of
Assad-Qatari Emir-Hariri, and the next step would indicate that Syria is heading
to direct negotiations with Israel over the Golan Heights." He told Future News
that U.N. resolution 1701 designates the relationship between Lebanon and
Israel.
Addressing Hizbullah's statements that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon is an
Israeli product and the party's attempts to thwart it, he said: "This is a
pointless project, which is related to Iran's dispute with the international
community." Beirut, 03 Sep 10, 14:54
Ahmadinejad: Israel-Palestinian Peace Talks Stillborn, Doomed
Naharnet/Hardline Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Friday that
revived Middle East peace talks are "doomed" to fail as he told an annual
pro-Palestinian rally that the people of the region can "remove" Israel from the
world scene. Calling Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a
"hostage" of Israel, Ahmadinejad said the new peace talks which he began with
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on Thursday lacked
legitimacy as he had no right to make concessions in the name of the Palestinian
people. "What do they want to negotiate about? Who are they representing? What
are they going to talk about?" the Iranian president said of Abbas' negotiating
team. "Who gave them the right to sell a piece of Palestinian land? The people
of Palestine and the people of the region will not allow them to sell even an
inch of Palestinian soil to the enemy. The negotiations are stillborn and
doomed." Ahmadinejad said the only way to secure the rights of Palestinians was
through "resistance." "The fate of Palestine will be decided in Palestine and by
the resistance of Palestinians and not in Washington, Paris or London," he said.
Ever since the 1979 revolution, Iran has organized annual Palestinian solidarity
marches across the country on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of
Ramadan. But this year's rallies came just a day after Abbas resumed direct
talks with Israel which he broke off in December 2008 when Israel launched a
devastating offensive against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Tens of thousands of
Iranians poured on to city streets around the country, shouting "Death to
America! Death to Israel!", Several demonstrators carried caricatures of US
President Barack Obama, while others hoisted banners saying "Quds (Jerusalem) is
Ours" and urging a boycott of all firms doing business with Israel. "Inshallah.
One day we will pray in Quds," said state television's news anchor as he
introduced coverage of the marches. The Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the city's
annexed Arab eastern sector is Islam's third holiest site. Ahmadinejad told the
Tehran rally that the people of the Middle East were capable of ridding the
region of the state of Israel even if their leaders chose not to, echoing past
predictions he made of the Jewish state's demise that outraged Western
governments. "If the leaders of the region do not have the guts, then the people
of the region are capable of removing the Zionist regime from the world scene,"
he said. Ahmadinejad said Israel posed a persistent danger to the entire Middle
East. "For the past 60 years they have threatened everyone. Nobody is safe from
their threats," he said.(AFP) Beirut, 03 Sep 10, 14:05
Osama Hamdan
September 3, 2010
On September 3, the website of the March 14 forces, 14March.org, carried the
following report by Ghassan Abdul Qader:
The rounds of direct negotiations between the Palestinian and Israeli sides
under American auspices constituted the most important regional event witnessed
this week…In this context, member of the politburo of the
Islamic Resistance
Movement – Hamas –and head of the movement’s international relations branch
Osama Hamdan,said in exclusive
statements to14March.org that these negotiations
were doomed to fail
because they will not give the Palestinians their
rights,whereas the
Israelis and the Americans will be the biggest beneficiaries.
He also
called for Israel’s respect of the international resolutions, namely
the immediate pullout to the 1967 border in case it wanted to prove
its good
intentions in regard to some sort of settlement.
In statements to our website,Hamdan considered that “these
negotiations are
neither serious nor real and will not secure the Palestinian rights. The
Palestinian side engaged in these talks while
not only weak but also defeated,
especially when Abu Mazen said he was
going to negotiate even if he will only
secure one percent of the
Palestinian rights. This means he is willing to
relinquish 99% of the
rights.
“As for the Israeli side, it is holding on to ‘the Jewish character of the
state,’ the Zionist entity and the settlements, and this was announced by
Netanyahu following his meeting
with American Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton.The American side assured for its part that the American administration
will remain
committed to upholding the security of the Zionist entity, to
protecting Israel and securing its superiority. Therefore, we believe
that
these negotiations will not achieve any gains for the Palestinian
people and
will even try to liquidate the Palestinian cause,especially since the Israeli
side will raise major questions related
to Jerusalem, the Palestinian people,
the elimination of the right of
return and the land, knowing that Israel’s
share may reach up to 40%
of the West Bank. Unfortunately, there will be no
gains on the
Palestinian side while the Israeli side will expand the
settlements,
gain time and Judaize Jerusalem even further.
“At the level of the White House, these negotiations may allow it to save face
after a series ofAmerican failures over more than one issue in the region, and
they may cover up another plan
launched new negotiations and plans whenever
they had other actions in
mind. They may be related to the facilitation of the
annexation of
additional Palestinian territories by the Israelis or the
preparation
of something at the level of the region as it happened on the eve
of
the American war on Iraq when the American administration launched its peace
initiative.”
Asked about the conditions which Hamas will put forward to engage in
negotiations with Israel, Hamdan stated: “We can see the scene of the
negotiations from their beginnings in 1992 and their current status in
2010. I
do not think that Hamas will allow itself to get involved in
that same
degrading scene which was caused by all those trying to waste the Palestinian
cause. In case there is some sort of seriousness
to secure a settlement, what
is required is an Israeli withdrawal to
the June 4, 1967 border and the
implementation of the international
resolutions, considering that there
non-implementation means there is
no seriousness while the withdrawal does not
require negotiations and
can be carried out instantly.” On the other hand, the
launching of the
negotiations in Washington coincided with the noticeable
escalation of
Hamas’s operations against the Israelis.
Asked about this intertwinement, Hamdan commented by saying: “This is
not an
escalation in the conspiracy meaning which some have been
trying to promote. I
remember that about a month ago there was an operation in Al-Khalil [Hebron] and
that the side which helped pursue
and arrest those who carried it out was the
Palestinian authority’s
security apparatus. Salam Fayyad himself pledged to
pursue them and
this caused the arrest of 700 Palestinians in the area. Now,
the scene
is being repeated and I would like to say that none of the security
measures can annul the resistance of the Palestinian people as long as
there
is an occupation. Moreover, no sane person can lay down his
weapons and stop
his resistance in the presence of a mediator who is
actually a side
guaranteeing the survival of Israel and working to
serve its interests, i.e.
the American side. The negotiations are doomed to fail, but unfortunately, the
Palestinian negotiator has become accustomed to
receiving slaps in the face.
Now, each will return the way he came and
later on new initiatives will be
presented. At this point, I would
like to indicate that during his celebration
to launch the
negotiations, President Obama pointed to all the makers of peace
in
the region by saying: ‘You are the heirs of those who made peace,’ mentioning
Anwar al-Sadat, King Hussein, Yitzhak Rabin but not Yasser Arafat.This in my
opinion was intentional and aimed at sending a
message to Abu Mazen saying he
should not have stringent positions and should cooperate. It is clearly a
message of pressure by which Obama
is inaugurating the negotiations. So I
wonder: What does Abu Mazen
expect to get from these negotiations?”
The latest joke in Beirut
Hazem al-Amin, September 3, 2010
Over the past couple of days, a joke has been spreading in Beirut, and it goes
as follows: The Higher Defense Council, which convened following the Bourj Abi
Haidar incidents, decided to carry out a security plan in the capital. Lebanese
security forces thus performed a military deployment in Achrafieh.
This joke, or exaggeration, reveals a prevailing feeling among those telling it
regarding the discriminating standards ruling the army’s deployment among them,
whereas the inhabitants of other neighborhoods, including where the latest
clashes occurred, are left without the presence of the army and security forces.
In reality, this holds true if the absence of the state, which the inhabitants
are enjoying, is to be measured by the minutes one spends waiting at one of the
new roadblocks here and there in the capital. If not, then the inhabitants of
those neighborhoods where the state is absent are the effective objects of
discrimination. Indeed, the inhabitants of some neighborhoods in Beirut or
outside the capital are deprived of the presence of state apparatuses, which
brings hell a step closer to their doorsteps. What happened in Bourj Abi Haidar
is merely a sample of the bloody reality these people live in. Yet the most
potent expression of this equation is found elsewhere, in the oral transmission
of Beirut stories.
Following the events of May 7, 2008, many people enjoying a certain level of
income chose to move to another neighborhood based on the equation of
neighborhood instability in Beirut. They thus chose other areas that are not
likely to witness clashes, i.e. the kind where security forces can easily
deploy. The rightfulness of their decision was put to the test with the events
of Bourj Abi Haidar, during which they felt that they had made the right choices
without any bitter feelings similar to the abovementioned joke.
Major discrimination is being committed against the areas from which the state
and its apparatuses are absent. It is of common knowledge in the Lebanese
sectarian conscience that the inhabitants of Dahiyeh live in a semi-autonomous
realm due to the absence of the state and its security apparatuses from their
regions and neighborhoods. In truth, however, they are suffering from this
absence, and this is obvious to anyone who observes their daily lives. Those
living in Achrafieh can, for instance, turn to the nearest police station for
help at the slightest trouble or injustice brought upon them by anyone. The
inhabitants of Dahiyeh, however, cannot necessarily do the same. Those living in
Bourj Abi Haidar between the local headquarters of the Islamic Charitable
Association Projects and Hezbollah, which are allies, will always be gripped by
fear. In contrast, those living in Achrafieh between two local headquarters of
the Kataeb and the Free Patriotic Movement, which are foes, do not feel any fear
or wariness.
Then who are the citizens who suffer from discrimination against them? According
to the abovementioned logic, the answer is simple.
Nevertheless, another harsher paradox emerges as a result of this map, for in
Lebanon, chaos and weapons are linked to a political context that is stronger
and more effective than that of security and order. The forces representing
chaos and weapons seem to enjoy more perks and benefits compared to those
representing security and order. This gives rise to a feeling of injustice,
which was expressed in the joke above. Security and the law are signs of
weakness in our political life, whereas the chaos caused by weapons is a mark of
strength and standing. Its values quickly prevail, and they become apparent as a
sign of superiority. Conviction that the chaos brought on by weapons is right
seeps into the city’s consciousness and is expressed in the shape of a funny
joke.
**This article is a translation of the original, which appeared on the NOW
Arabic site on Friday September 3, 2010
The World’s Most Dangerous Crisis
by Jon Western | September 2, 2010
http://www.currentintelligence.net/columns/2010/9/2/the-worlds-most-dangerous-crisis.htmll
ON AUGUST 30, President Obama announced the end of America’s combat mission in
Iraq and pledged his commitment to begin drawing down American forces in
Afghanistan beginning next summer. A key theme in his address to the nation was
the need for the United States to redirect resources from nearly a decade of two
wars and invest in the economy at home. Yet, although the President is trying to
move away from an era of “perpetual war,” Washington is already abuzz about the
next impending military action the region: an Israeli strike on Iran, which
would likely disrupt US objectives and operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and
create enormous political, strategic, military, and economic costs to the United
States around the globe.
Jeffrey Goldberg triggered the most recent discussion with his article “Israel
is Getting Ready to Bomb Iran: How, Why – and What it Means” in the current
issue of The Atlantic. Based on dozens of interviews over the past few years,
Goldberg’s assessment is that most Israeli leaders (and citizens) now view a
nuclear Iran as an existential threat and, as a result, there is “better than a
50 percent chance Israel will launch a strike on Iran by next July.”
I spent a couple of weeks in Israel in June also talking to senior Israeli
political and military officials and I came away with a similar impression. The
Israelis will not tolerate an Iran with nuclear weapons and they will take
military action to slow it if no one else does.
To be sure, there is a possibility that the Israeli government is sounding
particularly hawkish as a signaling ploy to generate a stronger international
response to Iran’s nuclear weapons program. But I concur with Goldberg’s
assessment that the current Israeli leadership under Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu believes the existence of the state of Israel and the entire Zionist
movement is threatened by a nuclear Iran. They see the threat as both direct – a
nuclear Iran will act more aggressively by unleashing Hezbollah and Hamas to
launch direct attacks on Israeli cities – and indirect – as the next generation
of educated Israelis will leave the country for the relative safety and comfort
of the United States or Europe. As a result, both the security and demography of
Israel will be irreparably changed.
Regardless of whether or not this is the true nature of the threat, and whether
or not a nuclear Iran could be contained, the dominant view in the upper
echelons of the Israeli government is that Iran with a nuclear weapon cannot
(and will not) be tolerated.
I’ve spent the past twenty years studying decision making and war. Decisions for
war are often a confluence of heightened assessments of threat coupled with
various psychological or ideological biases that discount the costs of war. In
this sense, decisions for war are more likely when leaders perceive an enemy as
a paper tiger – ferocious and dangerous if left unchecked, but easily dismantled
by swift and concentrated military action. In these circumstances, war becomes
more likely when it is seen as both a necessary and relatively low cost
instrument.
What is striking about the debate in Israel today is that no one seems to be
discounting the costs to Israel if it does strike Iran. The Israelis that I met
with all agreed that Israel would be isolated in the world if it launched a
preventive attack. It would trigger large-scale retaliations by enraged Iranians
and radicalized Muslim populations against Jews and Jewish interests around the
world. The Israelis also expect that an attack would imperil the Palestinian
Authority’s statebuilding efforts on the West Bank and trigger counter attacks
against Israel from Hezbollah in southern Lebanon and from Hamas in Gaza.
Israeli intelligence officers told my group that it believes Hezbollah and Hamas
have acquired somewhere between 40,000 and 45,000 rockets from Iran in the past
several years. These weapons are more sophisticated and longer range than Qasam
rockets used by Hamas in Gaza and can now strike almost every city and town in
Israel. This would compel a full-scale land campaign by the Israeli Defense
Forces in both Gaza and Lebanon.
And, finally, the Israelis are conscious that a strike would trigger a reaction
against American military personnel and interests throughout the Muslim world.
This would profoundly affect all American efforts in Iraq, Afghanistan, and
Pakistan. More broadly, it could seriously destabilize the entire Persian Gulf
and broader Middle East, and be disastrous to the global economy.
Even with this analysis in hand, many in the Israeli leadership appear to
believe that striking Iran would be the best option if nothing else is done to
prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
The challenge for the Obama administration in the coming months is to
simultaneously deter Iran from moving forward on its nuclear weapons program
while persuading the Israelis not to take matters into their own hands. This
will not be easy. The Iranian regime has shown little sign of altering its
course. Constraining the Israelis – difficult under any circumstances – will be
considerably more difficult after the mid-term elections in November if the
hawkish, pro-Israeli Republicans do as well as expected.
Obama entered office as the most boxed-in President since Harry Truman – facing
two wars and a global financial crisis. But it is this situation that may be the
biggest challenge for his Presidency, and the most dangerous. If Obama fails and
the Israelis strike, the regional and global reaction to both Israel and the
United States will be severe. We almost certainly will be looking at a
fundamentally altered environment, in security and economic terms, for the next
generation.
The Canadian Press