LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِSeptember 22/2010

Bible Of The Day
Paul's Second Letter to Timothy 03/1-17/Last Days
1 But know this, that in the last days, grievous times will come. 3:2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3:3 without natural affection, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, no lovers of good, 3:4 traitors, headstrong, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; 3:5 holding a form of godliness, but having denied its power. Turn away from these, also. 3:6 For some of these are people who creep into houses, and take captive gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 3:7 always learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 3:8 Even as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so do these also oppose the truth; men corrupted in mind, who concerning the faith, are rejected. 3:9 But they will proceed no further. For their folly will be evident to all men, as theirs also came to be. 3:10 But you did follow my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, steadfastness, 3:11 persecutions, and sufferings: those things that happened to me at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. I endured those persecutions. Out of them all the Lord delivered me. 3:12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 3:13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. 3:14 But you remain in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them. 3:15 From infancy, you have known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. 3:16 Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, 3:17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Free Opinions, Releases, letters, Interviews & Special Reports
Next Israel-Hezbollah war will be worse, says U.S. analyst/By Amir Oren /Haaretz/September 21/10
Lebanon: A Personal Crisis/By Hussein Shobokshi//Asharq Alawsat/September 21/10
From One Sayyid to Worse/By Tariq Alhomayed/September 21/10
The tragic irony of Hariri's legacy/By Jamil K. Mroue/September 21/10
Cairo shocked by Israel's inaction on terror, leaks Hamas hostage plot/DEBKAfile/September 21/10
The whiff of desperation/Now Lebanon/September 21/10

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for September 21/10
Nine NATO troops killed in Afghanistan helicopter crash day after British quit Sangin/DEBKAfile
Iran's paramilitary gets new surface-to-surface missile/AP. J.Post
Hariri vows no turning back on support for Tribunal/September 21/10
Sit-in calls for distancing judiciary from tensions, rows/Daily Star
'Obama still looking for diplomatic solution on Iran/J.Post/September 21/10
Peres denounces Ahmadinejad at UN General Assembly/J.Post
Lebanon's return to tyranny/CBC
Egypt raises concerns over Lebanon developments and tacitly accuses Hezbollah/iloubnan.info
Franjieh predicts compromises despite prevailing tensions/Daily Star
Lebanese tension due to targeting of Resistance, Moussawi says/Now Lebanon
As-Safir: Jumblatt upbeat about Nasrallah-Hariri meeting/Now Lebanon
Hariri in Message to Sfeir Stresses Keenness on International Tribunal/Naharnet
Asarta Reaffirm UNIFIL's Commitment to Supporting Lebanese Government, Villagers/Naharnet
Syria Arrests Foreigners Trying to Infiltrate into Lebanon/Naharnet
Lebanese Arrested in Chicago in Foiled Bomb Plot/Naharnet
Sayyed: Fabrications against Me Came Directly from Hariri
Houri: Hariri Will Not Back Down from Supporting STL, Will Address Lebanese in a Day or Two
Jumblat Warns of 'Hell' over STL, Says Nasrallah Convyed 'Positive Message' to Hariri
Hariri Confirms Sayyed's Blackmail, Oqab Saqr's Statements

Iran's paramilitary gets new surface-to-surface missile
By ASSOCIATED PRESS /09/21/2010 11:15
Iranian defense minister says Revolutionary Guard has received first batch of missiles with enhanced guidance systems to hit ground targets. TEHERAN, Iran — Iranian Defense Minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi said Tuesday that the country's powerful Revolutionary Guard had received its first batch of new missiles with enhanced guidance systems to hit ground targets. Vahidi said the Defense Ministry supplied the Guard with the upgraded surface-to-surface Fateh-110 missile, which was successfully test-fired last month. Iran has been pushing to upgrade its missile arsenal, which already can target Israel and other parts of the region. Vahidi said Iran will further develop the Fateh-110, however he gave no details of the missile's capabilities but noted that earlier versions could strike targets up to 120 miles (193 kilometers) away. Vahidi's remarks were published Tuesday on the state TV's website.

Hariri Back in Beirut, Vows Not to Back Down on Tribunal
Naharnet/Prime Minister Saad Hariri vowed not to back down on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. His comments came after his return to Beirut on Monday. Hizbullah and its allies have been calling for the abolition of the STL. Hizbullah also demands adoption of an official Lebanese stance accusing Israel of the Hariri murder. Upon arrival from a long holiday, Hariri presided over his Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc at his residence in downtown Beirut. An-Nahar newspaper on Tuesday quoted Mustaqbal ministerial sources as saying that Hariri stressed during the meeting on a number of fundamental principles that would shape the next phase. MP Ammar Houri said among these principles was "no going back on the International Tribunal or on the openness in the relationship with Syria." He said Hariri underlined his openness toward Damascus as well as his commitment to remarks he made earlier to pan-Arab daily Ash-Sharq al-Awsat in which he said he made a mistake when he accused Syria of involvement in his father's assassination. Hariri, according to Houri, also highlighted the significance of the Syrian-Saudi rapprochement and its positive repercussions on Lebanon's stability. While stressing on the need to maintain calm, Hariri condemned the "logic of an unsuccessful State," in an indirect reference to Hizbullah's support to former head of the General Security Department Brig. Gen. Jamil Sayyed's position. Following the Mustaqbal meeting, Hariri headed to Baabda Palace for talks with President Michel Suleiman.From there, he drove down to Ain al-Tineh for discussions with Speaker Nabih Berri, who highlighted the need for "pacification."
Beirut, 21 Sep 10,

Hariri Confirms Sayyed's Blackmail, Oqab Saqr's Statements
Naharnet/Prime Minister Saad Hariri's political advisor Mustafa Nasser confirmed that he had conveyed an offer from Brig. Gen. Jamil Sayyed that stipulated Hariri pays $7.5 million in return for Sayyed to give up the lawsuits he had filed, al-Liwaa newspaper reported Tuesday. Al-Liwaa, citing political sources, quoted Nasser as saying: "This is a fact and it took place in the presence of a Hizbullah official." MP Oqab Saqr had accused Sayyed, former head of Lebanon's General Security Department, of trying to blackmail Hariri over cash-for dropping case.
He said Sayyed dispatched a "mediator" to Hariri asking for $15 million in return for giving up the lawsuits. But Saqr said that when Hariri rejected Sayyed's offer, the envoy returned to reduce the blackmail by half. "That person came back asking for $7.5 million. But Hariri, again, told him "I reject this kind of cheap settlement,'" Saqr said. Meanwhile, Mustaqbal MPs told pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat that Hariri confirmed during Monday's meeting with his Future parliamentary bloc that remarks made by MP Oqab Saqr on Monday were "true."
Beirut, 21 Sep 10,

Asarta Reaffirm UNIFIL's Commitment to Supporting Lebanese Government, Villagers
Naharnet/UNIFIL Force Commander Maj. Gen. Alberto Asarta Cuevas on Tuesday reaffirmed UNIFIL's commitment to supporting the Lebanese government and residents of south Lebanon. During a ceremony to mark International Peace Day, Asarta noted "the tremendous support, cooperation and good-will" which the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) has extended to UNIFIL. UNIFIL, he said, is committed to its mission, "working shoulder-to-shoulder with the Lebanese Armed Forces and extending all the necessary support to the Lebanese Government and the people of southern Lebanon." Present at the ceremony which took place at UNIFIL headquarters in the border town of Naqoura were local authorities, religious leaders, representatives of the Lebanese army and the international community. This year, Asarta said, Peace Day is dedicated to young people around the world under the theme "youth for peace and development." Asarta emphasized the message of the U.N. Secretary-General: "Peace and development are closely interlinked. Peace enables development, which is critical in providing opportunities for young people." Asarta and LAF Maj. Gen. Abdel Rahman Shehaitli, representing the LAF Commander, laid wreaths at the UNIFIL cenotaph.
He paid tribute to UNIFIL peacekeepers who have given their lives while serving the cause of peace since 1978. The International Day of Peace was established by the U.N. General Assembly in 1981 as a day dedicated to ceasefire and non-violence; a day where tolerance, justice and human rights are promoted. There are currently nearly 124,000 peacekeepers from over 160 countries serving around the world. Of these, 12,500 are serving with UNIFIL. Beirut, 21 Sep 10,

Lebanese Arrested in Chicago in Foiled Bomb Plot
Naharnet/A Lebanese immigrant was arrested after placing what he believed to be a bomb in a trash bin outside a Chicago nightclub in an alleged plot to overthrow the mayor, officials said Monday. Sami Samir Hassoun, 22, was under regular surveillance and attempted to carry out the plot with the help of an FBI informant who introduced him to undercover FBI agents, the FBI said in a press release. Officials emphasized that "at no time was the public in danger" and that there was "no indication that any foreign or domestic terror groups were in any way connected to this plot or inspired Hassoun." The FBI directed their informant to befriend Hassoun in the spring of 2009 based on information that was not contained in the criminal complaint. He told the informant in June 2010 that he wanted to "commit acts of violence in Chicago for monetary gain and to cause political transformation," the 26-page complaint said.
"In particular, according to the (informant), Hassoun had expressed a desire to perpetrate a terrorist act or acts that would reflect poorly on Chicago and would embarrass the city's mayor."
The informant told Hassoun that he had friends in California who would be willing to pay them to carry out terrorist attacks and they spent several months plotting what to do.
Hassoun allegedly said in recorded conversations that he wanted to foster a "revolution" in Chicago by destabilizing its economy, undermining Mayor Richard Daley and then somehow manipulate things in order to gain control of city politics. He also allegedly said civilian casualties would be "acceptable, especially in light of the 'good' that could be done if they were successful in the end," the complaint alleges. Hassoun was arrested after placing a backpack which he thought contained a bomb into a curbside trash bin Saturday night in the busy nightclub district surrounding the Chicago Cubs baseball stadium Wrigley Field. "Although the explosive device was designed to look real, it in fact was constructed by the FBI of inert materials and was incapable of detonating," the FBI said in the press release. Mayor Daley announced plans to retire from politics on September 7. Hassoun faces up to life in prison if convicted of two terror charges.(AFP) Beirut, 21 Sep 10,

Lebanese tension due to targeting of Resistance, Moussawi says
September 21, 2010 /In an interview with LBCI television on Tuesday, Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Nawwaf al-Moussawi said that “the current tension in Lebanon is due to the targeting of the Resistance via the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).” In July, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah called the STL an Israeli project, saying the tribunal will indict some of his party’s members for the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Moussawi touched on the issue of the STL’s false witnesses, saying that after “Hariri’s confession [in his September 6 interview with As-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper] that there are false witnesses, it is now necessary to investigate the issue and know who funded and still sponsors them.” He also said that Hezbollah’s reception of former General Security chief Jamil as-Sayyed at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport on Saturday “was not illegal, and others have done it before. The VIP lounge is opened for princes and those who accompany them.” Tension between the Future Movement and Hezbollah ran high after armed Hezbollah bodyguards received Sayyed in the VIP lounge at Beirut’s airport without the needed permission from any of the relevant bodies. Sayyed, who had returned from France, was summoned by Attorney General Judge Said Mirza for questioning following the former’s September 12 statement, in which he attacked Prime Minister Saad Hariri. The MP added that the current cabinet is a government for all, saying that there will not be a new version of the 2008 May Events.
-NOW Lebanon

Hariri vows no turning back on support for Tribunal
Hizbullah urges trial of false witnesses, official accusation of Israel
By Elias Sakr /Daily Star staff
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Saad Hariri stressed Monday that he would not withdraw support for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) amid demands by Hizbullah for the adoption an official Lebanese position accusing Israel of the murder. Hariri made his remarks while addressing Future Movement MPs during a meeting of his bloc at his residence in downtown Beirut, according to MP Ammar Houri. With parties trading accusations over the tribunal, March 14 lawmakers on Monday slammed Hizbullah’s recent display of force at the Rafik Hariri International airport, while Hizbullah MPs reiterated their condemnation of the STL as an Israeli project aimed against the resistance. According to Houri, Hariri underscored during his bloc’s meeting his openness toward Damascus as well as his commitment to the remarks he made earlier this month to pan-Arab daily Ash-Sharq al-Awsat. Hariri told the Saudi newspaper that he had made a mistake when he accused Syria of involvement in his father’s murder and slammed false witnesses who “misled investigations and did harm to Syrian-Lebanese ties by politicizing the murder.” Hariri also stressed the importance of the Syrian-Saudi rapprochement and its positive repercussions on Lebanon’s stability, while condemning the “logic of a failed state” in an indirect reference to Hizbullah’s support to former General Jamil al-Sayyed’s position.
But Hariri underlined his movement’s commitment to civil peace and stability while highlighting “the presence of safety valves” to safeguard Lebanon against strife.
Commenting on Hariri’s commitment to remarks published by Asharq al-Awsat with regard to investigating false witnesses, MP Ammar Houri told The Daily Star that “we are calling for such an investigation,” but added that “it is part of the judiciary’s prerogatives.”
Hariri, who held talks with President Michel Sleiman and Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday ahead of a Cabinet session scheduled for Tuesday, is expected to publicly address the latest developments “in the upcoming two days,” Houri said. According to well-informed sources, Hariri stressed during talks with Sleiman that he sought a calm government meeting on Tuesday.
On Monday, Sleiman, Berri and Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt avoided taking sides with any of the rival political sides while media reports said the president would urge all parties to assume their responsibilities during Tuesday’s Cabinet session.
For their part, Berri’s Amal Movement MPs urged parties to restrict dialogue to the state institutions and refrain from discourse that could threaten civil peace.
Visitors of Sleiman quoted the president as saying that during the Cabinet session, which precedes his departure to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly meeting, “he will remind all parties of their responsibilities.” But well-informed ministerial sources told The Daily Star that the Cabinet session is expected to be a “stormy one” on Tuesday. According to the sources, Hariri would address recent political developments during the Cabinet session. The ministerial source voiced fears that Hariri’s remarks during Tuesday’s session would lead to heated discussions which could push opposition ministers to withdraw from the Cabinet like they did in 2006.
Ministers of Hizbullah and Amal withdrew from the Cabinet in 2006 following debate over the establishment of the UN-backed tribunal into former Premier Rafik Hariri’s murder.
Their withdrawal led to a two-year political stalemate which ended with the formation of a national unity cabinet following the Doha Accord that halted bloody clashes between pro-government and opposition gunmen.
Hizbullah MP Ali Fayyad on Monday tied stability in Lebanon to putting false witnesses on trial, while calling on Lebanon to adopt an official position accusing Israel of the murder.
“Stability in Lebanon and putting things in normal order again requires two small steps which are huge in their repercussions: opening the judicial case of false witnesses and the adoption of an official Lebanese position accusing Israel of the murder,” he said.
“These two steps will move the Lebanese situation to another completely different scenario,” he added.
Separately, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry’s official spokesman expressed his country’s concerns over the latest developments in Lebanon and criticized Hizbullah without identifying the party by name. “The reason for concern is not only restricted to the challenge posed by some Lebanese groups that are backed by weapons [outside the state’s judicial and executive authority] but extends to cover the whole Lebanese situation in light of the recent developments,” the spokesman said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Future Movement MP Oqab Saqr said Monday that March 14 parties also sought to bring false witnesses and those who encouraged them to trial.
“Hussam Hussam is present in Syria, so let them tell us who backed him”?” Saqr asked, while denying that the Internal Security Forces (ISF) were in contact with false witnesses.
Hussam, one of the former witnesses in Hariri’s case who later recanted his testimony, is a Syrian national currently residing in Syria, where he previously held public news conferences.
Sayyed had accused State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza, along with head of ISF Ashraf Rifi and head of the Information Branch of the ISF Wissam Hassan of backing false witnesses whose testimonies led to his arrest in 2005 for suspicion of involvement in Hariri’s murder.
Saqr also lashed out at Hizbullah’s armed presence at Sayyed’s news conference on Saturday at the airport.
“What Hizbullah showed at the airport proves that [military] force governs,” Saqr said in reference to a Hizbullah convoy that escorted Sayyed from the plane and allowed him access to the airport’s guest hall, where the latter held his news conference without previous authorization from the Foreign Ministry.
Saqr also accused Sayyed of leaking a report published by German magazine Deir Speigel that said the impending indictment by the STL would accuse rogue Hizbullah elements of involvement in the murder. In a statement issued by Sayyed’s press office in response to Saqr, the former head of General Security said he refused to make any comments, adding that his “problem is with the leader of the Future Movement Prime Minister Saad Hariri.” Meanwhile, Mustapha Nasser, a journalist who reportedly coordinated previous meetings between Hariri and Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, said Monday in a statement that media reports “concerning a certain mediation that I undertook are inaccurate claims.”
Saqr had accused Sayyed of demanding, during a meeting with Nasser, $15 million from Hariri to drop his accusations against the premier. “This middle man is not a broker but an honest man,” Saqr said earlier Monday, adding that “Nasser informed Hariri that Sayyed asked for $ 15 million before lowering it to $12 million and then $7 million.”

Sit-in calls for distancing judiciary from tensions, rows
By The Daily Star /Tuesday, September 21, 2010
BEIRUT: Judicial and administrative staff at the Justice Palace in Beirut held a sit-in Monday morning at the Palace to urge political and religious officials to distance the judiciary from political tensions and personal disputes. “Because the judiciary is the only guarantee to the parliamentary democratic system governing Lebanon,” the participants said in a memo filed to the Higher Judicial Council. The sit-in followed former head of the General Security Jamil al-Sayyed’s accusations that State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza and Deputy President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Lebanese Judge Ralph Riachi were behind false witnesses in former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s murder. Mirza has summoned Sayyed for questioning over threatening state security and Premier Saad Hariri, but the former major general has refused to comply with the summons, saying the judge was not eligible to handle the case because of “a personal dispute” with him. Participants on Monday protested against campaigns that “harmed the reputation of the judicial authorities” and demanded that the “judiciary be non-politicized and unaffiliated to any party.” “The judiciary does not move randomly nor under any political or moral pressure but in accordance with applicable laws that necessitate that the judiciary takes the required measures in case of a violation of public order that puts the society in danger,” the statement added. The participants stressed that the Lebanese democratic state cannot be reformed if the judiciary remains under constant attack, which should be stopped to “avoid the harmful repercussions on the judiciary.” – The Daily Star

Franjieh predicts compromises despite prevailing tensions
By Antoine Amrieh /Daily Star correspondent
Monday, September 20, 2010
BNASHI: Marada Movement leader Sleiman Franjieh said Saturday despite the delicate situation in Lebanon and the region, a compromise would be reached “because the region was that of compromises.” “The situation is delicate, and we will see a critical period during which new stakes, demonstrations and pressures will be made,” said the Zghorta MP in the northern town of Bnashi on Saturday as part of the graduation ceremony of the first class of the Marada Academy for Leadership skills.
“But in the end compromises will take place because the region is one of compromises, and what we are doing is to change toward the better,” Franjieh said. “But others who are talking about change should either be here or remain where they are … Pleasing [political foes] in a place and telling supporters in another to do whatever they want is a policy that leads nowhere,” he said. Contrary to previous positions, Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced earlier in September that he committed a mistake when he accused Syria of killing his father former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Hariri also said false witnesses that misled the investigations into the murder have badly affected Lebanese-Syrian ties.
However, opposition groups – that embrace the Marada Movement – said the move was not enough, as they called for probing false witnesses and their sponsors.
“The academy has taught you how to deal, understand and get closer to people, along with conveying our beliefs, especially that we intend to open [offices] and expand in all areas,” he said, addressing the graduates.
“The academy was founded to allow you to freely express your views and ideas, and what is good about this academy is that it enabled you to discover yourselves so that you would be able to shoulder responsibilities,” added Franjieh. The Marada leader said that the state in Lebanon could become be the sole possessor of arms only when the Middle East conflict was solved based on a just and comprehensive peace. “It is just and comprehensive peace that leads to the prevention of the naturalizing Palestinian refugees [in Lebanon], preserves civil peace, and preserves the state and its formula [of coexistence],” he said.
He said that Lebanon should not engage in peace talks with Israel apart from Syria.
“Do we get relieved if we achieved peace without Syria?” the Marada leader asked, adding that Lebanon was part of the Middle East which was “suffering from its conflicts and adhering to its compromises.”
Also, Franjieh stressed that the Marada Movement was part of the Lebanese opposition, emphasizing his solidarity with former head of General Security Major General Jamil al-Sayyed.
“I am with and part of the opposition. We heard the recent remarks of Major General Jamil al-Sayyed. They [state prosecutor] issued an arrest warrant against him, exposing the whole opposition. We are one body in the opposition,” said Franjieh.
State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza has summoned Sayyed for questioning over the former major general’s threats against state security and Hariri, violations of the Constitution and attacks on the judiciary.
The summons followed a news conference by Sayyed in which he accused Hariri of backing false witnesses in the UN probe into his father’s murder.
At the end of the ceremony, certificates were distributed to the graduates.

The tragic irony of Hariri's legacy
By Jamil K. Mroue
Publisher and editor in chief
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Daily Star/The sound and fury rippling out from Jamil Sayyed’s accusations has morphed the Lebanese political stage into a theater of the absurd.
So many of the actors in the political arena have cloaked themselves in something less than glory with their competing claims of conspiracies, outlandish extortion and malfeasance in the high offices of the state. One finds it hard to decide whether it would be more absurd if these allegations turned out to be true or if public figures had actually been capable of inventing such twisted fictions and then flogging them before the eyes of the world as the unvarnished truth.
The cognitive dissonance stems from the fact that all these very real, fevered emotions and dark threats are set in a foundation of utter conjecture. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon has not yet even indicted anyone in the killing of Rafik Hariri, much less convicted anyone in a credible trial.
Lebanon’s politicians, meanwhile, are building a monument of insinuation. Would it be too impolite of us to ask for some evidence for some – indeed, for any – of the allegations going back and forth between the players?
Perhaps even worse then fighting over mere conjecture, the country’s politicians are creating the consequences of the indictment before the court takes any action. Broad swathes of the public space are deteriorating over pure hearsay.
As usual, it is not the politicians who are suffering the fallout from their absurd act, but rather the people – those who see any attempt at enterprise here thwarted by constant and groundless uncertainty; the tide of emigration has not yet begun to ebb, as the Lebanese continue to scatter around the globe to toil away from their homeland.
The state, too, is suffering from this latest saga – if we can even grant that there is a state to speak of. Alas, the state today is in worse shape than Downtown Beirut after the Civil War.
Beyond the current – and fleeting, we hope – display of absurdity, Lebanon is enduring a tragedy of irony. While Rafik Hariri was not a flawless man, he was striving to create the institutions of a functioning state; his clear message to all was to rebuild the country. The tragic irony is that the legacy of Rafik Hariri – in the form of the investigation of his assassination – might well be disfigured into the destruction of the state that he worked hard to reconstruct.
Every actor on this stage declares his innocence in Hariri’s killing; if none of them is the culprit, then they all – and his son, as well – would best honor his memory by dedicating themselves to help build a Lebanese state.
**Jamil K. Mroue, Editor-in-Chief of THE DAILY STAR, can be reached at jamil.mroue@dailystar.com.lb

Nine NATO troops killed in Afghanistan helicopter crash day after British quit Sangin
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis September 21, 2010, 11:26 AM (GMT+02:00) Tags: Afghanistan UK pullout Helicopter crash British soldiers in AfghanistanThe helicopter crashed early Tuesday, Sept. 21 in the sparsely populated Zabol Province of southern Afghanistan, east of Kandahar on the border with Pakistan. Neither the cause of the crash nor the nationalities of the fatalities were initially given out. But the troops fighting there are mostly American and British. An Afghan soldier and US civilian also injured.
This has been the deadliest year for NATO in the nine-year war. With Tuesday's crash, the alliance lost 529 troops, compared with 521 in 2009. The south is the most active battle front of the Afghan War and Sangin in the Helmand Province, which US Royal Marines handed over to US commandos Monday, Sept. 20, the most dangerous. They lost 107 men there in four years - the last on Saturday - almost one third of total British losses in Afghanistan.
For this contingent, reassigned now to central Helmand, it was the third withdrawal from combat duties on the Afghan front lines in four years - first from Musa Qala, then Kajaki and now Sangin.
UKdefense secretary Liam Fox said the British units who served in Sangin "should be very proud of the achievements they have made in one of the most challenging areas of Afghanistan." But some military observers found the withdrawal reminiscent of the British pull-out from the Southern Iraqi province of Basra at the end of 2008 after a quiet deal with the radical al-Mahdi militia to refrain from attacking UK troops if they withdrew from active combat.
debkafile's military sources report no sign of any such deal with the Taliban for Sangin, although the British handover to US marines may be taken to imply this understanding.
It would appear, in fact, that the entire 10,000-strong British contingent in Afghanistan is pulling in its horns and withdrawing to bases in central Helmand with no word about their new combat duties anywhere else. Our sources understand that London is only waiting for political and logistical conditions to be right for the final drawdown of the entire force.
What this means for US Gen. David Petraeus, overall NATO commander in Afghanistan is the phased disappearance of the largest contingent after the Americans in Afghanistan While some US defense officials and commanders have said that the 18,000 "surge" troops reaching the country since August will have no difficulty in filling the gap, debkafile's military sources say they are over-simplifying the reality in the field.
The roughly 100,000 Americans deployed in Afghanistan, about two-thirds of the Western force, will be stretched even thinner to cover the new battlefronts Taliban has opened in recent weeks in the West, North and East. Seeing the Americans piling on strength in the explosive South, the Taliban have refocused their efforts in new , faraway sectors.
Our sources add that the Cameron government is not only phasing out its war effort in Afghanistan, it is in the throes of drastic defense spending cuts at large. Britain's days as a world military power are over. The coalition government headed by the Conservative David Cameron and Lib-Dem Nicolas Clegg appears to have lost the will, and not just the wherewithal, for maintaining a large, modern and effective military.
Experts warn that the Britain is forfeiting its ability to secure national interests abroad, or even defend the British Isles against nuclear attack or a large-scale terrorist strike.
On the chopping board at present are the scale of the Trident submarine fleet, the scope of British armored and tank forces and the future of such ambitious naval vessels as aircraft carriers - along with their hi-tech armaments and equipment. Therefore, the British parting with Sangin goes beyond a tactical setback for the US-led war in Afghanistan; it marks the beginning of the end of Britain's military cooperation with the United States.

Cairo shocked by Israel's inaction on terror, leaks Hamas hostage plot
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report September 20, 2010, 4:40 PM (GMT+02:00) Tags: Egypt Hamas terror Israeli security failure Four Israelis shot dead on Aug. 30After murdering four Israelis outside Hebron on Aug. 30, the Hamas gunmen planned to bury their bodies and use them as live hostages to extort the release of fellow-terrorists from Israeli jails. This was divulged by the Egyptian semi-official Al Ahram Monday, Sept. 20. Cairo was so astonished by Israel's failure fight the new wave of Hamas terror that it leaked this information, gained from grilling Hamas General Security chief Muhamad Hamis Dababash, to the Egyptian newspaper.
debkafile broke the story of the arrest of the head of Hamas executive at Cairo Airport on Sept. 17, after which it was picked up by the Arab media.
According to our military sources, Egypt referred the findings of the first round of his interrogation to Israel the next day. Thee Egyptian authorities figured the plot they uncovered was brutal enough to warrant a strong Israel reprisal. When this did not happen, Cairo leaked it to Al Ahram.
Dababash, it turned out, was personally complicit in planning the attack at the Bani Naim road junction outside Hebron. The Hamas gunmen who murdered Yizhak and Tali Emus, the parents of six children, and their two passengers, Cochava Even Haim and Avishai Schindler, were instructed to videotape the attack, including
the second round of shooting at point-blank range. They were to carry the bodies to a secret place and bury them. Hamas would then claim the four victims were being held hostage for trading with jailed Palestinian terrorists.
Al Ahram went on to report that Hamas headquarters and Damascus and the Gaza Strip banked on a strong Israeli response to the fake "abductions." The IDF would ruthlessly hunt down the "kidnappers," the while breaking off the direct talks just begun with the Palestinians under US auspices, and reoccupy the West Bank cities and villages handed over to the Palestinians. The Palestinian Authority would be swept away in the mayhem forcing Mahmoud Abbas to quit as chairman.
The only possible source of this information, according to our sources, must have been a high-profile Hamas executive with a personal hand in the plot, namely Dababash.
The Egyptians were totally nonplussed when 48 hours after this intelligence was put in Israel's hands, Israel was idle. Even more puzzling was the Netanyahu government's passivity in the face of another connected security threat: Hamas cells had infiltrated the Sinai Peninsula from Gaza bent on a dual mission: to abduct Israeli holidaymakers and repeat their mortar-missile attack on Eilat and possibly Jordanian Aqaba too during the weeklong Succoth festival beginning Wednesday, Sept. 22.
Hamas's plans placed Egyptian security forces on a high state of preparedness.
A senior intelligence source in Cairo said that, even if Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak calculated that a counter-terror operation would write finis on the new diplomatic track with the Palestinians, it is nonetheless unthinkable to give Hamas free rein to strike Israelis at will on the West Bank and from Sinai.
It is also counter-productive, said the source; the Palestinian terrorist group will only take advantage of the free license granted by Israel and carry out increasingly grievous attacks until the talks crash anyway.
Our sources stress that Egyptian intelligence agencies have never before released findings from interrogations of terrorist suspects, especially Palestinians, just three days after an arrest. It shows how furious Cairo is over Israel's inaction and how desperate to goad its government into pursuing and fighting the Hamas terrorists.
While the material leaked to Al Ahram was attributed to several Palestinians in Egyptian custody, debkafile has concluded that this is merely an effort to disguise the fact that Dababash, the Hamas General Security chief, is the source.

The whiff of desperation
September 20, 2010
Now Lebanon/Former head of the General Security Jamil as-Sayyed speaks at the airport upon his return from Paris on Saturday. (AFP photo/Anwar Amro)
The return of the disgraced former head of General Security Jamil as-Sayyed from Paris not only summed up the mafia tactics his backers in Hezbollah feel they can employ with impunity to kill off the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, it also reeked of desperation.
Short of breaking out the weapons, it appears that the best Hezbollah can do to the court created to bring to justice the killers of Rafik Hariri and other subsequent victims of political terror, is use a man whom the party would not back as a parliamentary candidate in 2009, and the increasingly eccentric, not to mention erratic, Michel Aoun.
If we are to believe the media accounts of what happened, Sayyed, who was detained for four years on suspicion of being an accomplice to the Hariri murder, was met at the steps of the aircraft by Hezbollah security men, who let him give an unofficial press conference at the VIP lounge during which he attacked Prime Minister Saad Hariri, State Prosecutor Said Mirza, security chief Major General Ashraf Rifi and Detlev Mehlis, former head of the UN investigation into the Hariri assassination, before whisking him off to his home in Jnah.
We do not know if Sayyed was processed by immigration, but this detail pales into insignificance when compared to the breathtaking arrogance of a party that feels it can bypass airport security to pick up its latest poster boy. Surely someone should lose his job for such a stunt.
Perhaps General Rifi’s subsequent impassioned response to Sayyed lent too much dignity to the latter’s spleen venting, but the sentiment will have been felt by all Lebanese who fear that the gains of 2005 are slipping away. Rifi, a public official, defended the offices of the state and dozens who have died at the hands of those who would undermine them. More importantly, his comments defined the other side of the increasingly public, not to mention squalid, tribunal debate, by reminding the Lebanese that this is both a sovereign and legal issue, one that cannot be automatically snuffed out by the bully boy elements of Lebanese politics.
Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement was also press ganged into airport duty. Aoun defended his party’s presence by saying it was there to stand by the judiciary to liberate it from “the political pressure that is preventing Sayyed from achieving justice.”
Can there ever have been a more pathetic excuse from a man who, on the one hand, claims to be leading what he is calling an “intellectual revolution against corruption,” while on the other knows he has put all his political eggs in a basket shot through with corruption? Surely Aoun must see that his so-called MOU with Hezbollah back in February 2006 – a vainglorious gamble that defined his personal political aspirations, but which hinged on Hezbollah being everything it claimed it was and not what the rest of us could see it was – is now coming back to haunt him.
For today, the once presidential hopeful who rode back into town on a horse of transparency and the promise of a new political dawn is forced to publically defend the actions of a former Syrian lackey and murder suspect, while being allied to a party that clearly eschews state institutions, the defense of which his party’s ideology is predicated on. Some dawn.
Meanwhile, it is becoming increasingly clear that Hezbollah is fundamentally incapable, as Kataeb leader and former President Amin Gemayel said in Zahle on Sunday, “[of dealing] with the Lebanese state, people, army and institutions as a party that is under the law, not as a party that is above all authorities and laws.”
The war against the tribunal may be warming up, but Hezbollah is running out of options. As March 14’s Mohammad Chatah asked over the weekend, what is the point of preserving the Resistance if there is no state to protect? The party knows this, despite its veiled threats and scaremongering tactics that the tribunal will ignite unprecedented sectarian strife. It has little room to maneuver. It is a situation best highlighted by the fact that it co-opted a man whose name is a stain on the history of modern Lebanon.

As-Safir: Jumblatt upbeat about Nasrallah-Hariri meeting
September 21, 2010 /As-Safir newspaper quoted on Tuesday Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt as saying that his attempts to bring Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Premier Saad Hariri together were fruitful. Jumblatt said the he sent Public Works and Transportation Minister Ghazi Aridi to meet with the Hezbollah chief, after which Nasrallah sent a positive message to Hariri. However, Jumblatt did not reveal the content of the message, the daily added. Tensions between the Future Movement and Hezbollah ran high after armed Hezbollah bodyguards received former General Security chief Jamil as-Sayyed at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport without the needed permission from any of the relevant bodies. Sayyed, who had just returned from France, was summoned by Attorney General Judge Said Mirza for questioning following the former’s September 12 statement, in which he attacked Hariri. Hezbollah on Friday called for the judiciary to revoke the summons. Jumblatt also told the daily that Hariri’s September 6 interview with As-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper—in which the PM said some people misled the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) and ruined Lebanese-Syrian relations—was a huge step toward safekeeping peace. “However, [Sayyed’s] attacks are unjustified,” the PSP leader added. -NOW Lebanon

Jumblat Warns of 'Hell' over STL, Says Nasrallah Convyed 'Positive Message' to Hariri
Naharnet/Druze leader Walid Jumblat said he had dispatched Cabinet Minister Ghazi Aridi to meet with Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
He said Aridi conveyed a "positive message" from Nasrallah to Prime Minister Saad Hariri, but he wouldn't disclose its contents. In remarks published Tuesday by As-Safir newspaper, Jumblat warned that Lebanon is witnessing "systematic deterioration.""We have reached a regrettable situation. Truly it is a strange situation; and the country is witnessing systematic deterioration with the political rhetoric that will have an impact on security, politics and lives of the people and their morale," Jumblat said.
"Many (people) are asking whether they should stay or leave" the country, Jumblat said. "We – Lebanese people and leaders -- must come out with a unified position to face the indictment and prevent its destructive impact," Jumblat cautioned. "Enough arrogance," he urged. "We now need more than ever to confront fanaticism before it hits everyone and before it is too late."
"We are all responsible for the country," Jumblat believed, hailing Hariri for remarks in which he admitted he made a mistake in accusing Syria of involvement in his father's assassination.
But Jumblat said the counter-attack was "not justified at all." "Clearly, they have been caught in the trap, and we have already warned of being dragged into discord," he added. Jumblat reiterated his call for an end to the political rhetoric which led to May 7. He said there are certain parties within the majority March 14 alliance that "do not want ties with Syria or reach joint agreements." "And without a multiparty agreement on the Tribunal or the indictment, we're going to hell," Jumblat concluded. Beirut, 21 Sep 10, 08:17

Sayyed: Fabrications against Me Came Directly from Hariri
Naharnet/Maj. Gen. Jamil Sayyed on Friday accused Prime Minister Saad Hariri of fabricating claims against him. "Fabrications against me came directly from Prime Minister Saad Hariri," a statement from Sayyed's office said. "If you do not stop the campaign, I will regretfully be forced to direct my responses toward you and your family," Sayyed warned.
Beirut, 21 Sep 10, 14:17

Houri: Hariri Will Not Back Down from Supporting STL, Will Address Lebanese in a Day or Two
Naharnet/Mustaqbal Movement parliamentary bloc MP Ammar Houri revealed on Monday that Prime Minister Saad Hariri had informed the bloc that he will not back down from supporting the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Houri told Voice of Lebanon radio after a meeting for the Mustaqbal movement that Hariri also stressed maintaining openness in relations with Syria and standing by all he stated in his Asharq al-Awsat interview, continued the MP. Houri quoted the premier as saying: "I, as prime minister, am committed to this strategic relationship with Syria that is built on ties between a state and another." The MP revealed that Hariri intends on holding talks with President Michel Suleiman, House Speaker Nabih Berri, and a number of political figures, starting with the March 14 forces leadership. The prime minister is also expected to address the Lebanese in a day or two, added Houri. Beirut, 20 Sep 10, 18:33

German Foreign Minister Marries Gay Partner
Naharnet/Germany's foreign minister Guido Westerwelle has "married" his long-term partner and businessman Michael Mronz in Bonn, the daily newspaper Bild said. "The marriage was pronounced by the mayor of Bonn, Jurgen Nimptsch... Only close family were present, some 20 people," the newspaper said. In Germany, gay marriage is not recognized by the state, but since 2001 "registered partnerships" for same-sex couples are allowed, which provide some but not all the rights of marriage. Westerwelle, 48, and his 43-year old partner Mronz, who organizes sports events, met in 2003 and have been a couple ever since. The foreign minister "came out" in 2004, during a dinner to celebrate German Chancellor Angela Merkel's 50th birthday. After the legislative elections in September 2009, Westerwelle became vice chancellor and then Germany's first openly gay foreign minister. Since then, Mronz has accompanied him on a number of official trips, namely in Asia and Latin America, provoking a flurry of media debates over a possible conflict of interests between Westerwelle's private and professional life.(AFP) Beirut, 20 Sep 10,
 

From One Sayyid to Worse!
20/09/2010
By Tariq Alhomayed/Asharq Alawsat
A witness to the political thuggery in Beirut today, led by former Major General Jamil Al-Sayyed and Hezbollah, would truly realize the level to which Lebanon has now sunk. We now see a former security man making physical threats, and we also see Hezbollah, believed by some to have seized the moment of confusion amongst the ranks of the March 14th Alliance- after Saad Hariri’s created a media storm via our paper, when he spoke with apologetic language towards Syria- to revel that its position is much more dangerous then previously thought.
Hezbollah did not take Hariri’s statements in a positive manner, regardless of its position towards Syria. It is clear that the party lost its mind, after Hariri’s interview. Here, the question is: Does Hezbollah think that Hariri was in a moment of weakness, or do they feel that rapprochement between ‘March 14th’ and Damascus would be a potential danger for them?
The course of events, until now, suggest that Hezbollah is targeting Lebanese Sunnis overall, by targeting their leader. They also seek to dishonor the memory of Hariri’s father by demanding the abolition of the International Tribunal. According to some information, Hezbollah is preparing for this through the recruitment of Sunni mercenaries, just as Iran has done with Al-Qaeda in many situations. They will take up arms on behalf of the party at the crucial moment, although not in a repeat of the May 7th coup. Today, Hezbollah threatens to take the whole of Lebanon as its hostage, unless they respond to its demands, and the relatives of Rafik Hariri drop the International Tribunal. Hezbollah MP Hassan Fadlallah has threatened “civil strife on a level perhaps not witnessed in Lebanon before”.
All this helps us understand why Hezbollah publicly provided protection for Major General Jamil Al-Sayyed upon arrival at Beirut Airport, where Al-Sayyed made a statement to the world and in particular the ‘Sunni Community', threatening to take to the streets. We do not know what street Al-Sayyed threatens to descend upon, more than the regression displayed in his statement. For if these remarks which displayed his ethics weren't from the street then I don't know what is.
Interestingly, at the time when Director General of the Lebanese Security Forces, Major General Ashraf Rifi said to Jamil Al-Sayyed: “prison for you and those like who, and the murderers who are protected”, we find that Hezbollah is welcoming Al-Sayyed in the airport VIP lounge, which is intended for international leaders and delegations. Hezbollah even threatened that “any unjust hands which attack Major General Al-Sayyed will be cut off!”
Another point of interest is that Major General Jamil Al-Sayyed was considered to succeed Nabih Berri as Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament. If this had happened, the Lebanese would have erected a gold statue of Berri, under the logic of "my merits won't be appreciated until you asses my successor", but thank God this did not happen.
So we can say, like the saying ‘from bad to worse’, Lebanon has today gone from one Sayyid [Nasrallah], to another [Jamil Al-Sayyed], and the political consequences are no better!

Lebanon: A Personal Crisis
20/09/2010
By Hussein Shobokshi/Asharq Alawsat
The Lebanese scene is too volatile, tense and changeable to avoid the headlines and front pages. Now, a new chapter of the age-old Lebanese internal struggle has begun (although there is nothing new in this). Secretary General of Hezbollah, Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, has delivered a speech of threat, warning and intimidation against those who had opposed him, and supported the intervention of the International Tribunal. Furthermore, General Michel Aoun has been lashing out at official security bodies in Lebanon's government, for interrogating one of his senior aides, and chief party member, on charges of conspiracy and espionage on behalf of Israel. Note that the accused confessed to the crime immediately after his arrest.
Moreover, former Head of General Security Major General Jamil al-Sayyid has threatened to hold Saad Hariri and his government accountable “with his own hands”, in response to a series of irresponsible statements, speeches and comments, which aimed to ‘stir trouble in the war-torn and sedition-plagued country’.
What really amazed me about the statements of these three men was that they seemingly advocated blocking the International Tribunal and its intervention. However, in reality, these statements were merely designed to ‘bury’ the Future Movement, and paralyze the current government, by denying it the elements, efficiency and instruments of a successful administrative body.
Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah felt that indicators given by the International Tribunal strongly indicated a condemnation of some members of Hezbollah. This is quite apparent from media leakages, and the political statements being made. Nasrallah's sense of embitterment toward the Lebanese government, and its Prime Minister, has increased on the assumption that Saad Hariri is the one responsible for this escalation [of condemnations].
Being the blood guardian of his late father, it is thought that Saad Hariri could waive the right of criminal investigation to save the country from sedition. However, this is a clearly naive understanding of the entire affair because the functioning of the International Tribunal is now in the hands of the Security Council, rather than those personally linked to the case under investigation. Some Lebanese parties have displayed unreasonable obstinacy in conceiving this fundamental point.
As for General Michel Aoun, time is running out, and the dream of becoming President and residing in Baabda Palace now seems distant. This has added agitation and anxiety to his words and decisions. Of course, the implication of one of his key aides in an espionage case, on behalf of Israel, (amidst Aoun's alliance with Lebanon's primary symbol of resistance, in Hezbollah) embarrasses and implicates him politically.
These recent developments come amid increasing popular and international sympathy for the role played by President Michel Suleiman, and a respect for his orientations and rational views.
As for Jamil al-Sayyid, who was quietly preparing himself to succeed Nabih Berri as the next Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon, thus, crowning his long security career and allegiance to a certain political trend with a high-profile office, it appears that his ambitions have been sidetracked amidst the security predicament and the accusations lodged at him over the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. All these incidents confirm that Lebanon's primary issue [to be concerned with] is the erosion of state institutions and the dominance of personal interests over political goals. This distorted concept is the reason for the mixed political priorities in Lebanon's fragile and delicate composition.
Political leaders in Lebanon are ‘overdrawn’ in terms of popularity, and lost much of their status with the public. They have become more like clowns in a political circus, whose movements change according to a specified day of the week.
The volume of investment in Lebanon has gone down whereas the rate of emigration has once again risen. An obvious and dangerous political stalemate has come into existence and the feeling of rancour among fellow rivals has deepened, in a clear fashion. All this means that the intervention of foreign parties into the internal affairs of Lebanon will be a continuous and acceptable practice because the Lebanese people have allowed this, and have become accustomed to it. These interventions have now become part of their political identity and furthermore, a lifeline.
The political agenda of Lebanon's leaders directly contradicts and collides with the national priorities and general interests of the country. This, in itself, is a reason as to why the Lebanese crises will continue. Furthermore, these crises will never be solved by those who created them in the first place.

'Obama still looking for diplomatic solution on Iran'
By JPOST.COM STAFF /09/20/2010 21:08
US president acknowledges in American TV interview that Teheran with nuclear weapons is a "real problem," but says military solution "not ideal."
US President Barack Obama acknowledged that Teheran posessing a nuclear weapon would present a "real problem," in a Monday interview with American news station CNBC cited by Reuters. However, the Amerian president stated that he did not think military action by Israel or the United States was the "ideal way" the threat posed by the Islamic regime's nuclear proliferation effort. "We continue to be open to diplomatic solutions to resolve this," Obama told CNBC. "We don't think that a war between Israel and Iran or military options would be the ideal way to solve this problem. But we are keeping all our options on the table," he said. According to poll results released last Thursday, a majority of Americans would oppose joining Israel in a war should it strike Iran. The Chicago Council on Public Affairs poll reported 56 percent of respondents answering, “No, it shouldn’t” to the statement “If Israel were to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities, Iran were to retaliate against Israel, and the two were to go to war, the United States should or should not bring its military forces into the war on the side of Israel.”
Those responding, “Yes, it should” amounted to 38%.

Peres denounces Ahmadinejad at UN General Assembly
By JORDANA HORN /09/20/2010 20:18
President says Iranian leader is "a living declaration against the charter of the UN"; calls for immediate talks with Syria.
NEW YORK - Addressing the United Nations General Assembly Monday, President Shimon Peres denounced Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, saying that "there is enough room for friendship in the Middle East." "The formal leader of Iran has said that there is no future for Israel in the Middle East," Peres told the General Assembly in his English address. "I believe that the Middle East has room for every person, every nation, every religion. I believe that every person was created in the image of the Lord, and that there is just one Lord, who calls not to hate, not to threaten, not to seek superiority, and not to kill." "Israel will continue to exist, and aspire to peace with its neighbors," Peres said.
Peres told the General Assembly, gathered for its annual meeting, that there are two "burning challenges of our time": "to harness science and technology to increase food production for every child and every family, and to stand together against terror." "A hungry world will never be peaceful," Peres said. "A terrorized world will never be governable."
Despite his belief in friendship, Peres did acknowledge at the very commencement of his short speech that "history was written in blood." Speaking "on behalf of a small people and a tiny land," Peres underscored that Israel exists despite the murder of one third of the world's Jewish population in the Holocaust, and seven attacks on Israel in its 62 year history. Citing current negotiations with the Palestinians, Peres said "there is no other peaceful alternative" to the conflict other than a two-state solution, "and I believe that we shall succeed, in spite of the difficulties." "We are ready to enter into direct negotiations with Syria, right away," Peres added.
"We are committed to the Millenium Development Goals," Peres said. "We share the burden of saving the world from war and hunger. Without peace, poverty will remain. Without food, peace will not prevail." Peres said that science, creativity and knowledge have "replaced land as the most important source of wealth." "The new millenium must liberate the world from bloodshed, from discrimination, from hunger, from ignorance, from maladies," Peres said. Peres referenced Israeli innovations in agriculture based on science, and noted that Israel has "the highest rate of scientists per square mile in the world."
"I am confident that our path is available to everyone," Peres said, referencing Israeli scientific advances. "Our experience is replicable." He added that Israel would be willing to share its experience with many countries, including those with whom Israel does not have diplomatic relations. Speaking to reporters at the United Nations after his speech, Peres called Ahmadinejad "a living declaration against the charter of the UN," referencing the provision of the UN charter which states that one member state cannot threaten another with destruction.
"He calls for our destruction, and also supplies arms to every terrorist organization in the Middle East," Peres told reporters.
When asked about the current state of talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, Peres said there is a "serious problem" with regard to the moratorium on settlements. He noted that Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu had declared the ten month moratorium of his own initiative, and that the time was "not used" by the Palestinians. Characterizing himself as an "old hand" in negotiations, Peres said he was "not surprised." "The United States, as well as Israel, are in a serious search for how to bridge over difficulties," Peres said.
Peres was also asked about Turkish President Abdullah Gul, who told reporters Sunday that he would not meet with Peres while in New York for the 65th UN General Assembly.
Gul, Peres said, had attempted to put preconditions on a meeting with Peres, to which Peres could not agree. Peres stressed that Israel is still "friends" with Turkey.
When speaking at a press conference on Sunday, however, Gul said his busy schedule was to blame for canceling the meeting. Gul went on to say Turkish Foreign Minister Davutoglu will be holding more than 50 bilateral meetings during the summit. During his stay in New York, however, Gul will be meeting with Ahmadinejad.
Peres is scheduled for a bilateral meeting with United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon Monday afternoon, and will speak tomorrow at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York on a panel with Bahrain's Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, President Bill Clinton, and Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority Salam Fayyad

Next Israel-Hezbollah war will be worse, says U.S. analyst
21.09.10
Research published by Washington Institute for Near East Policy says future Israel-Hezbollah war would likely draw in Iran and cover much of Lebanon, Israel and probably Syria.
By Amir Oren /Haaretz
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/next-israel-hezbollah-war-will-be-worse-says-u-s-analyst-1.314880
In its next war against Hezbollah, the IDF's Northern Command would use the "Lebanon Corps" and five divisions - the 162nd, 36th, 98th, 366th and 319th, according to U.S. intelligence veteran Jeffrey White in research published last week by the pro-Israel Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
According to White, if another Israel-Hezbollah war breaks out it will not resemble the war of the summer of 2006, but will cover much of Lebanon and Israel, and probably also Syria, and is likely to also draw in Iran, involve major military operations, cause significant casualties among combatants and civilians, and destroy infrastructure.
A policeman at the site of a Hezbollah rocket strike Nahariya during the Second Lebanon War in 2006
Notwithstanding diplomatic efforts, success in the war will be decided on the battlefield, and White believes Israel is much better prepared for the next round than it was in 2006.
White says that the main aim of Israel in a war would be to impose a fundamental change in the military equilibrium and defeat Hezbollah, although not a "final victory." At the center of the Israeli military strategy will be combined arms operations, land-air-sea, with the aim of quickly destroying Hezbollah's rocket and missile arsenals and the group's land forces in southern Lebanon, and seriously disrupting its command and control centers by hitting its infrastructure throughout Lebanon.
Israel will seek to prevent the war from expanding to involve Syria, with threats, mobilizing reserves, moving forces and "flexing muscles," but will not hesitate to attack Syrian forces, infrastructure and Iranian elements that will come to Hezbollah's assistance.
White says that Israel will seek to deter Iran from directly attacking its territory through warnings and preparing strategic attack elements - airborne, missiles and naval units.
Hezbollah's plan will be to fire volleys of missiles and rockets against Israel's homefront in an effort to strike at the IDF forces moving toward Lebanon, in the hope of causing massive casualties. The Syrian air force will try to prevent Israeli fighters and reconnaissance aircraft from crossing through Syrian airspace, and possibly try to intercept them over Lebanon, in view of the proximity of the Syrian capital to the area of the fighting.
If Syria finds itself involved directly in the fighting, its main efforts will be to preserve the Assad regime in Damascus, with less emphasis on helping Hezbollah in Lebanon and its ability to strike at Israel, or restoring Syria's military presence in Lebanon and defeating Israel in order to restore the Golan Heights to its control.
Iran's reaction will begin with the flow of arms to Hezbollah and Syria, and Iran will step up the presence of advisers, technicians and light combat forces, aimed at carrying out attacks against Israeli targets, increasing tension in the region (with hostile actions in the Strait of Hormuz ), and possibly launching missiles against Israel.
There is no certainty that Hamas will join the fighting, especially because Israel may use the opportunity to bring about the collapse of its hold in the Gaza Strip, he added.
White says that in his assessment, the IDF will occupy parts - possibly significant portions - of Lebanon within weeks, and possibly all the Gaza Strip. He says that it will be the most serious war Israel has been involved in since 1973, and Israel must emerge victorious.
If Israel is determined in its actions, and willing to pay the price in casualties and damage incurred, it will succeed militarily, break the military power of Hezbollah and weaken it politically, White says. The Syrian regime will be weakened, and Iran's activity in the region will be contained because of the downfall of its allies. If Iran does not assist its allies, it will also lose much of its influence.
Hamas, if it becomes involved directly in the war, will lose its military power in the Gaza strip and at least some of its political power.
The former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst says the U.S. should not rush to contain Israel, but give the IDF the time and space necessary to complete its operations against Hezbollah and Syria.
White says that the U.S. role will be to deter Iran from becoming involved in support of Lebanon-Syria or in the Persian Gulf.

Fear and loathing in the Levant
By ZVI MAZEL /J.Post
09/21/2010 00:32
The war against the international tribunal set up to investigate the assassination of Rafik Hariri is heating up.
Pro-Syrian forces in Lebanon are heating up their fight against the international court set up in May 2007 by the UN Security Council to investigate the assassination of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri. They are threatening violence and even to topple the government of Saad Hariri, son of the victim. The court is due to issue preliminary indictments toward the end of the year. Several Hizbullah militants have been investigated in recent months and the group’s leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, is aware that his organization is the prime suspect.
An article in Der Spiegel predicted as much last year on the basis of information leaked by the court. If it happens, the Hizbullah leader who professes to defend his country against Israel and against “Western interference into Lebanese internal affairs” will find himself accused not only of having committed a crime against his own country but also of being responsible for the assassination of a number of Lebanese political figures and journalists opposed to Syrian influence.
This would be a near fatal blow for the militant leader and would reopen the public debate on the need to disarm his organization. One can reasonably fear that a threatened Hizbullah would try to forcibly take over the country with the help of Syria and Iran, leading to renewed civil war and plunging the Middle East into a new cycle of violence with unpredictable outcome.
Nasrallah had cooperated at first with the court under the mistaken belief that he could either mislead it or bring its inquiry to an end. However the Lebanese government gave its full support to the court, with both its judicial and security apparatus wholeheartedly cooperating. Nasrallah then tried pressure and threats.
After the March 14 alliance, led by Saad Hariri, won the election in June last year, intense pressure was brought to bear by Syria and Hizbullah, and the newly elected leader capitulated and let Hizbullah and its allies – the Shi’ite party Amal and Michel Aoun’s Christian party – join his coalition and his government. This was the first step in “taming” Hariri, who soon proved himself a spineless politician.
Threats and fear of fomenting unrest in Beirut led him to go to Damascus where he publicly embraced Bashar Assad – widely suspected of having ordered his father’s assassination – before declaring that good relations with Syria were essential for Lebanon.
He has since visited Damascus three times and hosted the Syrian president on a state visit to Beirut – Assad’s first since he succeeded his father Hafez in 2000 (excluding his participation in the 2002 Arab summit there). Lebanese delegations were sent to Damascus to renew a number of so-called cooperation agreements, some of which subordinated Lebanese interests to decisions taken by Syria.
Lebanon is expected to host Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad next month, putting the country even more firmly in the “axis of evil.”
Hariri thus betrayed the March 14 coalition which elected him. The coalition rose out of the mass demonstration held on March 14, 2005, a month after his father’s assassination, and which saw Christian, Sunni and Druse parties united in their demand to find the murderers and have them brought to justice as well as having Syrian forces thrown out of Lebanon.
The coalition had suffered a first blow when, a year and a half ago, even before the parliamentary elections, Druse leader Walid Jumblatt announced that he was leaving it since, he said, Syria, having withdrawn its forces from Lebanon following Security Council Resolution 1559 (which had been one of the results of the mass March demonstration), was no longer the enemy of his country. Jumblatt, who had once been Syria’s and Hizbullah’s most vocal opponent, changed his tune after his small militia was defeated by Hizbullah, which took over west Beirut in May 2008.
At the end of July, the Lebanese president was “invited” to participate in a summit meeting held in Damascus with Assad and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia had led a aggressive anti-Syrian policy following the assassination of Rafik Hariri, a close friend of the king, who also held Saudi citizenship.
However the Saudis later changed course in the belief that accommodation with Syria would somehow neutralize that country and facilitate holding elections in Lebanon.
The summit held on July 30 was intended to do the impossible: find a way out for Hizbullah by diverting the impending decision of the court away from it without attacking the court itself. No solution having been found, Nasrallah made the startling announcement that he had “proof” of Israel’s involvement in the assassination. His so-called proof did not convince anyone, but the Lebanese government was made to agree to forward it to the court, which in turn said it would be thoroughly checked. This could perhaps delay the expected indictments by a few weeks, but not change the course of the investigation.
Syria and Hizbullah were left with no choice but to ratchet up their pressure and their threats against Hariri. In an inflammatory speech in August, Nasrallah declared that the court had been deceived by “false witnesses” and demanded that the Lebanese government investigate. He also accused the court of having implemented “an Israeli project intended to provoke civil war in Lebanon.” He added that he had nothing to do with the court and that the Lebanese government had to put an end to the activities of the court because it was going in the wrong direction.
This was adding fuel to the already tense situation in Lebanon. Representatives of the Christian parties and of Hariri’s own party angrily rejected Nasrallah’s affirmations. But Hariri himself, caught between Hizbullah/Syria and his own allies of the March 14 movement as well as a majority of the country’s citizens, first said that Syria was an important ally before adding that he would not renounce his principles and that the court should be given all the time it needed to reach the right conclusions based on the evidence it had. Then he asked the justice minister to investigate Hizbullah’s complaints to see whether false witnesses did appear before the court and subvert the inquiry.
The false witnesses Nasrallah referred to is an episode which took place at the beginning of the investigation. A Syrian military officer, Muhammad Zohair al-Sadik, testified before the international commission of inquiry, which preceded the creation of the international court, that in the course of his duties in the Syrian security services he had taken part in a meeting during which the Hariri assassination was planned, and confirmed that “high-ranking individuals” in Syria and in Lebanon were involved.
Shortly after giving his testimony, he recanted and fled to France, where he was arrested at the request of the Lebanese Justice Ministry. France refused to extradite him since the Lebanese government had failed to give assurances he would not be executed.
He was freed in February 2006, disappeared, was rearrested, this time in the United Arab Emirates, where he was accused of having entered with a fake passport and sentenced to a short period of imprisonment.
He then disappeared again and no one knows where he is. It is highly probable that he changed his testimony because of threats by Syria and/or Hizbullah and subsequently decided to flee.
The international court, not being able to summon him again in 2009, had no choice but to declare that his testimony was unreliable and to release the four Lebanese security officials arrested in 2006 following that testimony. The four were known collaborators of Syria and the assassination could not have been planned and carried out without their help. Highest ranking of the four was Gen.
Jamal al-Sayed, who was head of the General Security Service at the time; he had previously been head of army intelligence. He was generally held to be Syria’s best agent in Lebanon.
MOST, IF not all, Lebanese know that Syria, Hizbullah and the heads of Lebanese intelligence agencies were involved in the Hariri assassination and that false witnesses are a pure invention of Nasrallah.
However, his public threats led to increased tension and the very real fear that the organization might use violent means and even provoke a civil war. At the beginning of September Syria added to the pressure by summoning Hariri to Damascus. In an interview given to the Saudi daily Asharq al-Awsat upon his return, Hariri said that the international court had been deceived, and this had led to a deterioration of relations between Lebanon and Syria. In other words, he was clearing Assad of having contributed to his father’s assassination.
In Lebanon this led to a general outcry. Some of Hariri’s allies did try to explain that it was not what he meant, but others in the Christian parties, such as Sami Gemayel, son of former president Amin Gemayel, vehemently objected. An incensed Nasrallah threatened to “crucify” the Christian leader in the public square. For once he was roundly criticized by representatives of all Lebanese communities.
But this did not deter Hizbullah from increasing the pressure. The organization found fault with Hariri’s declaration. It was not enough to say that the court had been deceived, because it fell short of an apology. Without an apology to Syria accompanied by a thorough change of policy, there would be no way to build a united and functioning country.
Explicit threats followed. Gen. Jamal al-Sayed was sent for by Assad and on his return from Damascus on September 12 violently attacked Hariri. Because of his baseless accusations against Syria, he said, the man responsible for Rafik Hariri’s assassination was not arrested and went on killing people during 2005- 2007. He called on the attorney-general and on the Lebanese judges in charge of the investigation who cooperated with the international court to explain their actions, adding that the prime minister must set up a commission of inquiry to investigate the web of lies; otherwise, he said, “I swear on my honor that I will get it from you by force.”
This was an open threat to the prime minister, and the attorney-general issued a summons calling on Sayed to come and explain himself. Hizbullah immediately demanded that the summons be rescinded. Hizbullah’s opposition to a judicial procedure was considered as an attack on state institutions and a member of parliament from the coalition said it was no less than threatening a coup d’etat.
ADDING TO THIS tense atmosphere, Hizbullah’s ally, Christian leader Michel Aoun, launched another attack: What was happening in Lebanon, he said, was not the result of policy but of mafia-type relations from top to bottom, with the media distorting the facts. He called for civil disobedience toward security services which did not act according to the law. He was referring to the arrest, a few weeks earlier, of his friend and protégé retired general Fayz Karam, who had been accused of collaborating with Israel. The man is innocent, he said. There is absolutely no proof of his guilt, and the media are simply distorting the facts.
At that stage President Michel Suleiman decided to enter the political arena. He issued a statement on September 16 saying that this confrontation had gone too far and called for appeasement; all parties should stop threatening and attacking public institutions and the law for the sake of Lebanon. Otherwise they would all suffer.
Lebanon is today in a state of shock. The fragile equilibrium between all political forces is no more. Jumblatt’s Druse party has aligned itself openly with Hizbullah and its allies; its spokesmen attack the government.
In Hariri’s Sunni party, El Moustakbal (the future), unhappy militants vainly try to explain what their leader is doing, repeating that all he wants is to keep the country united and that he is convinced that Lebanon cannot afford to be at odds with Syria. Christian parties in the coalition went on the offensive against Hizbullah and Sayed. Somehow the office of the March 14 coalition issued a communiqué to the effect it was still supporting the work of the international court and convinced that it would find the way to the truth concerning the assassination of Rafik Hariri, but the coalition is disintegrating.
Hizbullah maintains its pressure. Muhammad Kamati, one of its leaders, declared that the continued stability of Lebanon depended on the resolution of the case of the “false testimonies” on which rested the accusations against Hizbullah. Only when this was done could the country turn a new leaf and a new era begin.
What is happening today is almost impossible to comprehend. Syria and Hizbullah – with the support of Iran – are determined to act openly to destroy the legitimacy of the international court created by the Security Council. They do this through intense pressure and open threats against the head of government. Their goal is to force him to turn to the UN and/or the great powers and declare that the court has been deceived and that after four years of investigation, there is no longer any point in going on.
Another option would be for the court itself to decide that it can’t get to the truth and therefore put an end to its activities.
What is beyond doubt is that both Hizbullah and Syria will do all they can to prevent the court from fulfilling its mandate. If the court does not desist one way or another, fighting will probably erupt in Lebanon.
The UN and the West look on, seemingly powerless as usual. As to Israel, a Syrian/Hizbullah victory over the international court and a greater dominance of Damascus over Beirut would mean that its northern neighbor is now firmly anchored in the axis of evil. It would dangerously increase the risk of another conflagration.
**The writer is a former ambassador to Romania, Egypt and Sweden and a fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.