LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِJanuary 09/2010

Bible Of The Day
The Good News According to Matthew 04/01-11: ’4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 4:2 When he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry afterward. 4:3 The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
4:4 But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’” 4:5 Then the devil took him into the holy city. He set him on the pinnacle of the temple, 4:6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will put his angels in charge of you.’ and, ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you don’t dash your foot against a stone.’” 4:7 Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord, your God.’” 4:8 Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory. 4:9 He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.” 4:10 Then Jesus said to him, “Get behind me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and you shall serve him only.’” 4:11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and served him.

Free Opinions, Releases, letters, Interviews & Special Reports
Arab World: Rewarding bad behavior/By: Jonathan Spyer/January 08/11
The elusive Syria track/By: Tony Badran/January 08/11

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for January 08/11
5 Egyptians Kidnapped, Ransom Paid but the Men are Out of Sight/Naharnet
U.S.: When Would the Lebanese Say that Hizbullah is Pointing a Gun at their Heads?/Naharnet
Harb proposal receives mixed reception/Daily Star
Hariri in New York for talks with Saudi king/Daily Star
Clinton backs Lebanon tribunal in Hariri meeting/Reuters
Paris: Lebanon in Tense Period, Tribunal Should Continue to Operate /Naharnet
Qassem Throws Ball Back in Hariri Court: He Knows What to Do/Naharnet
U.N.: Any Ban-Bellemare Meeting Would be on Administrative Issues, Not Hariri Murder Probe/Naharnet
Qaouq: Arab Endeavor Not Substitute for Inter-Lebanese Agreement/Naharnet
Qobeissi: Opposition Aware of Arab Initiative's Content since Baabda Tripartite Summit/Naharnet
Army Arrests 26 Sudanese who Have Infiltrated Lebanon/Naharnet
March 8 and 14 at Loggerheads Over Which Side is Hindering Saudi-Syrian Initiative/Naharnet
Judicial Source Says Jan. 14 Hearing Proof that Tribunal is Transparent/Naharnet
Paris: Lebanon in Tense Period, Tribunal Should Continue to Operate/Naharnet
U.N.: Any Ban-Bellemare Meeting Would be on Administrative Issues, Not Hariri Murder Probe/Naharnet
Berri Hits Back at Hariri: Throwing Responsibility on Others Does Not Reflect Truth/Naharnet
Hizbullah Attacks Hariri: His Statement is an Accusation and Do Not Help/Naharnet
WikiLeaks: Idea to Appoint German FM as Annan's Envoy for Lebanon Sounded 'Terrible' for Pedersen/Naharnet
Bassil Announces Support for Street Action against High Fuel Prices after Strike Date Set/Naharnet
Rahhal: Hariri is at the Core of Contacts, What he Said is Right/Naharnet
Lebanese Army, UNIFIL Conduct Live-Fire Exercise/Naharnet
FPM Replies to Egyptian Foreign Ministry: Whether it Likes it or Not, Egypt Cannot Escape its Constitution/Naharnet
Official: Syrian-Saudi Initiative's Single Objective is Domestic Stability/Naharnet
Christians Mull Uncertain Future, Geagea Says it is More Difficult to Target them in Lebanon/Naharnet
Wahhab: Hariri was not honest during Al-Hayat interview/Now Lebanon
Sayegh: Hezbollah is adopting a win-lose strategy/Now Lebanon
Kanaan: Christians preserve their role through contribution/Now Lebanon
Marouni: We will not surrender/Now Lebanon
Qassem: Hariri knows what’s to be done/Now Lebanon
Palestinian violence surges on W. Bank, Gaza. Israeli soldier killed/DEBKAfile

Clinton backs Lebanon tribunal in Hariri meeting
By Lois Charbonneau
NEW YORK | Fri Jan 7, 2011
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Secretary of State Hillary Clinton voiced support for a U.N.-backed tribunal probing the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri when she met his son, who is Lebanon's current premier, on Friday. The government of Saad al-Hariri has been paralyzed for months by political tension over the investigation into the 2005 bombing that killed his father, a powerful Sunni Muslim politician. Diplomats expect members of the Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah, which has ministers in Hariri's Cabinet, to be named in draft indictments that are likely to be sent to the pretrial judge at the Hague-based tribunal this month. Hezbollah has denied any involvement in Rafik al-Hariri's killing. It has dismissed the five-year investigation into the bombing as politicized and urged Saad al-Hariri to denounce the tribunal -- a demand he has so far resisted. A source present at the half-hour meeting between Hariri and Clinton at a New York hotel said that "Secretary Clinton very clearly expressed her support for the Hariri tribunal." Asked if the Lebanese premier also supported it, the source said, "That goes without saying." The source said Clinton also expressed strong support for the independence and sovereignty of Lebanon, a phrase often used to imply criticism of attempts by neighboring Syria to exert control over Lebanese affairs.Clinton herself made no comment to reporters other than to praise her meeting with Hariri as "excellent." Immediately before meeting the Lebanese leader, Clinton held a 45-minute meeting in an adjacent hotel with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who had back surgery in New York last month. No details of their talks were available, but Saudi Arabia and Syria, which have traditionally backed rival camps in Lebanon, have worked since July on proposals to try to ease tension over the tribunal.Hariri was quoted on Friday as saying the joint Saudi and Syrian proposals do not include changes to his fragile unity government.
"Anyone who thinks that a government other than a national unity government can revive this country needs to think again," he told the pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat.
(Writing by Patrick Worsnip; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Hariri in New York for talks with Saudi king
Rival Lebanese camps accuse one another of stalling implementation of solution to crisis
By Hussein Dakroub
Daily Star staff
Saturday, January 08, 2011
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Saad Hariri arrived in New York Friday for further talks with Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel-Aziz on the Saudi-Syrian initiative to break Lebanon’s months-long political stalemate.
Hariri was also to meet early Saturday (Beirut time) with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was scheduled to meet with the Saudi king following his recovery from back surgeries.
Hariri’s U.S. trip came a day after he said in a newspaper interview that Saudi Arabia and Syria had reached an agreement to resolve the Lebanese crisis several months ago, but its implementation has been held up by Hizbullah and its March 8 allies, which have failed to carry out their share of the deal.
Hariri’s remarks drew a quick response from the March 8 camp. Speaker Nabih Berri rejected Hariri’s accusation, saying “this did not reflect the truth.”
“Everyone knows the current crisis is a result of a politicized investigation. The party that is required to take a stance in this regard is well-known. Definitely, it is not the opposition [March 8 alliance],” Berri said in a statement released by his office. He also praised Hariri’s acknowledgement of the outcome of the Saudi-Syrian initiative.
Hizbullah official Mohammad Fneish, the minister of state for administrative reform, also rejected Hariri’s accusation, saying it did not help the Saudi-Syrian efforts.
“When Hariri refuses to address the details and does not clarify his statements to the people, no one can judge whether he is right or not,” Fneish told French media. “Exchanging accusations does not [show] concern about Syrian-Saudi efforts, unless someone is looking for excuses to not do what they are required to do,” he said.
Environment Minister Mohammad Rahhal, a member of Hariri’s Future Movement, defended the prime minister’s remarks and took a swipe at Berri.
“What Prime Minister Hariri said is the right thing to say. But we do not know whether Speaker Nabih Berri knows details of this settlement until now.”
In an interview published Friday with the Saudi-owned newspaper Al Hayat, Hariri said he was traveling to New York to meet the Saudi king for the second time in 10 days in an attempt to enhance Saudi-Syrian efforts to resolve the Lebanese crisis. “I will visit New York again to meet the Saudi king to discuss [ways of] pushing the [Saudi-Syrian] efforts forward and protecting this process which constitutes a guarantee for Lebanon’s stability,” Hariri was quoted as saying.
He accused Hizbullah and its March 8 allies of obstructing a Saudi-Syrian agreement reached several months ago by failing to deliver on their commitments.
The accord is designed to protect Lebanon against the repercussions of a UN-backed court’s impending indictment into the 2005 assassination of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Hariri, who returned to Beirut at dawn Thursday from a private visit to Riyadh, warned in the interview that he would not honor his commitments under the Saudi-Syrian-brokered accord unless Hizbullah and its allies did so first.
“The Saudi-Syrian process requires several positive steps of which the other side has taken none so far. No one should use the presence of the Saudi king in New York as an excuse [not to act] because what has been agreed upon happened a month before the king’s illness,” Hariri said. “Let it be understood frankly, any commitment on my part will not be carried out before the other side implements what it has committed to. This is the main base of the Saudi-Syrian efforts,” he added.
Asked about the steps that the March 8 factions need to take, Hariri said: “It is enough that they are known to the other side … Specific steps are required from the other side … Had they implemented what they have committed themselves to, we would not have been talking about a race against time.”
Hariri gave no details of the Saudi-Syrian settlement, but his political adviser, Mohammad Shatah, shed some light on the deal, saying in a radio interview Friday that the Saudi-Syrian bid sought to achieve stability in Lebanon; take steps to ensure reducing political tension; restore contacts between Lebanese parties; see state institutions return to serving the public; and follow up the issue of Lebanese-Syrian ties.
It was Hariri’s first public and comprehensive statement on the Saudi-Syrian initiative launched in July to defuse political and sectarian tensions between the March 8 and March 14 factions over the indictment, which is threatening to destabilize the country. The indictment, expected to be issued soon by the UN-appointed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (S.T.L.), is widely expected to implicate some Hizbullah members in Rafik Hariri’s assassination, raising fears of sectarian strife.
Hariri said he decided to break his months-long silence to defend the Saudi-Syrian process against a campaign aimed at distorting it. “The Saudi-Syrian process will not back down. I am saying these words to protect it because it is being subjected to a big campaign of distortion,” he said, adding, “I have kept silent for months. Now, I have broken silence just because I am responsible and concerned with protecting this process in the interest of the country and its stability.”
Saudi Arabia and Syria, main powerbrokers in Lebanon backing rival factions, have been coordinating their efforts to promote a solution for the Lebanese crisis over the indictment acceptable to the rival factions. The bid was briefly stalled in November after the Saudi king traveled to the United States for back surgeries. The bid has now gained momentum following Abdullah’s recovery. Hariri also dispelled fears that the Saudi-Syrian accord would be deadlocked. “This is not true. The Saudi-Syrian understanding has been accomplished and is waiting to be implemented … The one who suggests that the prime minister must do what he needs to do, he, in fact, must do what he has committed to. Anything else is an attempt to foil the Saudi-Syrian efforts,” he said. Hariri said the Saudi-Syrian efforts were dealing with “a number of points to consolidate stability in Lebanon” in the post-indictment stage. He added that the Saudi-Syrian initiative was the outcome of the summit meeting held at the Presidential Palace in Beirut on July 30 that gathered Lebanese President Michel Sleiman, Abdullah and Syrian President Bashar Assad. Hariri dismissed fears of sectarian strife as a result of the S.T.L.’s indictment. He said there was a chance for “a big strife” shortly after the assassination of his father, but it did not happen. “Every time an assassination targeted a senior March 14 alliance official, strife could also have broken out in the country, had the decision of these [March 14] leaders not been that we will not allow strife to return to Lebanon and we will confront it,” Hariri said. “I believe that our national unity is the only way to protect and fortify Lebanon in the face of dangers.” Hariri ruled out a Cabinet change, saying the Saudi-Syrian efforts were not discussing this issue. He stressed that only a national unity Cabinet can save Lebanon, and vowed he would not abandon any of his allies in the March 14 coalition. Hariri’s national unity Cabinet has been crippled for months by political tension and the rival factions’ dispute over the controversial issue of “false witnesses” linked to the UN probe into Hariri’s assassination. It has met only once since November 10 and it failed at its last meeting on December 15 to settle this issue when the March 8 ministers demanded a vote for referring it to the Judicial Council, the country’s highest court, prompting Sleiman to adjourn the session. Before leaving for New York, Hariri met with Sleiman to discuss ongoing contacts between rival political parties to break the current deadlock, the state-run National News Agency reported. Hariri spoke by telephone Thursday with Suleiman and Berri to discuss the political crisis.

5 Egyptians Kidnapped, Ransom Paid but the Men are Out of Sight
Naharnet/Five Egyptian workers were kidnapped in the area of Blat in Jbeil and the kidnappers asked for a ransom of 4,000 dollars on each man, the National News Agency reported Saturday. NNA identified four of the kidnapped men as Ali Tawkal Ali Ragheb, Hisham Mabrouk, Hamdi Hassan al-Satfi and Ali Toufiq. The agency said the kidnappers asked the five workers' friends to pay $4,000 on each man. The $20,000 ransom was paid to Syrian Amer Ali Rida through a Western Union transfer to Syria, it added. Security agencies have launched an investigation to find the kidnappers and return the five men. Beirut, 08 Jan 11, 13:28

U.S.: When Would the Lebanese Say that Hizbullah is Pointing a Gun at their Heads?
Naharnet/The U.S. administration warned Lebanon's March 14 camp against being blackmailed by Hizbullah to thwart the functioning of the international tribunal."We hear statements from some Lebanese officials from a certain political background that sound like blackmail," a high-ranking U.S. official told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat in remarks published Saturday. "When would the Lebanese say that Hizbullah is pointing a gun at their heads?" he asked. The official stressed that a plot against justice in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination case is rejected by the Lebanese and their friends. "All those monitoring the situation in Lebanon for years know that tension in Lebanon could soon turn to violence and people are worried," he said. "At the same time I don't want to exaggerate these fears." About relations with Saudi Arabia, the official said Washington has common objectives over the situation in Lebanon. He stressed that ties between the two countries "were strong to the extent that" the U.S. would know about any possible deal between Riyadh and Damascus over Lebanon. When asked about U.S. contacts with Syria over the tribunal, the official told Asharq al-Awsat: "We hear from the Syrians directly that their interest lies in a stable Lebanon and that Syria would be the first affected from instability in Lebanon." However, the official expressed concern over the Syrian judiciary's accusation of 33 Lebanese and foreign personalities of obstructing the probe into Hariri's Feb. 2005 murder. The accusations that have targeted several of Hariri's allies "are unreasonable," and contribute to tension in Lebanon, he said. Beirut, 08 Jan 11, 08:30

Paris: Lebanon in Tense Period, Tribunal Should Continue to Operate
Naharnet/Lebanon is living a stage of internal tension and its allies have expressed concern over the situation, an official at the French presidency told An Nahar and al-Hayat newspapers in remarks published Saturday. When asked how the Lebanese would find a way to limit tension, the official said: "This is up to the Lebanese and we have seen that the cabinet has met even if the agenda was short." Asked about the international tribunal, the source told the dailies: "The court should continue its work and the indictment should be issued."
The official confirmed that U.S. President Barak Obama and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy would discuss the situation in Lebanon during talks in Washington on Monday.
National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer confirmed to As Safir daily in remarks published Saturday that both leaders will discuss in addition to Lebanon, the situation in Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan and Ivory Coast.An Nahar said that Sarkozy will also meet with Saudi King Abdullah in New York during his visit to the U.S. Beirut, 08 Jan 11, 09:31

March 8 and 14 at Loggerheads Over Which Side is Hindering Saudi-Syrian Initiative
Naharnet/AMAL MP Ali Hassan Khalil accused Premier Saad Hariri's political supporters of attacking the March 8 forces for reportedly not cooperating with the Syrian and Saudi demands to achieve a settlement in Lebanon despite the alliance's readiness to make positive steps forward. Khalil told An Nahar newspaper that Speaker Nabih Berri delegated him to ask Hariri about the steps that the March 8 alliance should take to help the success of the Arab initiative. The prime minister's response was: "Each side knows what it should do." The daily said the lawmaker informed the premier that Berri was ready to remove all obstacles to the Saudi-Syrian initiative. The speaker later contacted all opposition forces and received encouraging replies, An Nahar added. But Khalil said that the March 8 forces were "surprised to hear some officials close to the prime minister taking negative stances" and criticizing the opposition for hindering the settlement. The biggest surprise came when Hariri's advisor Mohammed Shatah announced that the premier would inform Saudis about the opposition's rejection to cooperate on the initiative, Khalil added. Beirut, 08 Jan 11, 10:40

Judicial Source Says Jan. 14 Hearing Proof that Tribunal is Transparent
Naharnet/A Lebanese judicial source said Pre-trial judge Daniel Fransen's order to schedule a hearing at the courtroom of the international tribunal on January 14 to hear ex-general Jamil Sayyed 's bid for access to his docket is a sign that the court "adopts the highest standards of justice.""This move is a clear sign of the transparency in the tribunal's work," the source told pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat in remarks published Saturday. The applicant and the prosecution will have 20 minutes each to present their arguments, said a ruling dated Friday.
"Any response from the court on Maj. Gen. Sayyed's request should end differences in Lebanon over what is called false witnesses," the source said. Sayyed's son and lawyer, Malek, also told Asharq al-Awsat that "the session is very important because it would be the last and will be followed by a ruling that would resolve the issue.""The documents that we are asking for do not at all jeopardize the confidentiality of the investigation," he said. Sayyed, the former director of the general security department, is one of four generals who claim they were arbitrarily detained between August 2005 and April 2009 after they made strongly worded accusations about ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's case. Sayyed, together with Hizbullah and its allies, have accused security officials, politicians and judges close to the former premier's son, Prime Minister Saad Hariri, of having "manufactured" evidence to implicate them in the assassination. A Lebanese judge ordered the general placed in temporary detention in August 2005 on an arrest warrant issued at the request of an international, U.N.-created commission of inquiry into the deaths of Hariri and 22 others in a car bomb blast in Beirut on February 14, 2005. But in April 2009, the U.N. tribunal ordered the release of Sayyed and three other generals, all considered pro-Syrian, saying there was not sufficient evidence to keep them. The general, who claims to have been the victim of a "grand conspiracy" involving false testimony, seeks access to his criminal file for use in legal proceedings in Lebanon.(Naharnet-AFP) Beirut, 08 Jan 11, 10:18

Rahhal: Hariri is at the Core of Contacts, What he Said is Right
Naharnet/Environment Minister Mohammad Rahhal stated Friday that Prime Minister Saad Hariri's recent statements to the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat are appropriate given Lebanon's current circumstances. He said that they protect the settlement aimed at ending the country's political crisis. "All political campaigns that have been launched target this settlement and the Saudi-Syrian initiative," he noted. "The statements issued by Hariri, who is at the core of ongoing contacts, are the correct ones but we don't know if House Speaker Nabih Berri has so far been informed of the details of the settlement," Rahhal stressed. Beirut, 07 Jan 11, 18:46

Harb proposal receives mixed reception
By The Daily Star /Saturday, January 08, 2011
BEIRUT: Labor Minister Butros Harb’s controversial proposal to ban property sales between members of different religious communities got support Friday from locals in the Bekaa and a thumbs-down from a former justice minister. Harb received a delegation from the Baalbek village of Al-Qaa, who said their village was suffering from a “fierce, organized campaign of land purchases and violations of our property.” Compounding the problem, according to municipal council member Bashir Matar, was the state’s failure to properly zone the land, amid “stalling and indifference by judicial and security authorities.” Harb last week authored a draft law that would ban sales of property between different religious communities for a period of 15 years, to fight back against demographic change. Christian politicians have complained in recent years that Muslims have been purchasing large amounts of land in traditionally Christian-majority areas. Matar said: “If these violations continue we will all find ourselves outside Al-Qaa … the village land covers an extensive area, bordering Syria. We are trying to remain neighbors with the Syrians and the brethren and family of our Sunni and Shiite partners in the region. We want to preserve our land so we don’t wake up and find ourselves without land, without an identity or without a country.” But former Justice Minister Samir Jisr said Friday Harb’s proposed legislation was “unconstitutional,” although he understood the fears underlying the proposal. Speaking to a local television station, Jisr advised against “treating a mistake with a mistake,” and called for finding another solution. – The Daily Star

Wahhab: Hariri was not honest during Al-Hayat interview
January 8, 2011 /Tawhid Movement leader Wiam Wahhab told NBN television on Saturday that Speaker Nabih Berri knows the content of the Syrian-Saudi settlement regarding the Lebanese situation, and added that Prime Minister Saad Hariri was not honest during his interview with Al-Hayat newspaper. “Hariri claims he knows the details of the settlement, but he may not be telling his [entourage] because [they might reveal what it is],” Wahhab added. In an interview published Friday with Al-Hayat newspaper, the PM said “[I] will not implement any commitment I made before the other party implements what it [said] it would commit to. This is the major base of the Syrian-Saudi efforts.”The PM also said that the Syrian-Saudi agreement pertaining to Lebanon’s stability was finalized months ago.Syrian and Saudi officials have reportedly been communicating in efforts to reach a compromise that would resolve tensions in Lebanon stemming from reports that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon may indict Hezbollah members in its investigation of the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.-NOW Lebanon

Sayegh: Hezbollah is adopting a win-lose strategy
January 8, 2011 /“Hezbollah is adopting a win-lose strategy toward the other side,” said Minister of Social Affairs Selim Sayegh in an interview on Saturday. “The Kataeb party has no information about the [Saudi-Syrian] compromise, however the party supports Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s efforts,” Sayegh told MTV. “Minister of Labor Boutros Harb’s real estate bill is being studied by the Kataeb party in order to take the right position about it.” The cabinet has met once since its November 10 session and has not tackled institutional work in depth as March 8 and March 14 ministers have been deadlocked over how to resolve the issue of the witnesses who gave unreliable testimonies to the international probe into the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Last week, Harb submitted a draft bill to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers forbidding the sale of land between Lebanese Christians and Lebanese Muslims for a period of 15 years. Syrian and Saudi officials have reportedly been communicating in efforts to reach a compromise that would resolve tensions in Lebanon due to the pending Special Tribunal for Lebanon indictment. -NOW Lebanon

Kanaan: Christians preserve their role through contribution
January 8, 2011 /“Christians’ role is preserved through continued contribution in governmental institutions,” said Change and Reform bloc secretary MP Ibrahim Kanaan in an interview on Saturday. “Initiatives are welcome if they carry positive intentions towards the Lebanese people,” Kanaan told OTV. “Any swap between Special Tribunal for Lebanon files and Financial files is totally denied.”Hezbollah International Relations Officer Ammar Moussawi reportedly said last week that the March 14 alliance proposed to transfer the “false witnesses” file to the Justice Council in return for the balance sheets of past government expenditure to be overlooked. However, Moussawi later issued a statement denying such reports.
On October 19, Change and Reform bloc leader MP Michel Aoun said the Parliamentary Budget and Finance Commission should summon all finance ministers serving since 1993 to question them as to “why there are no accounts in the country since then.”The cabinet has met once since its November 10 session and has not tackled institutional work in depth as March 8 and March 14 ministers have been deadlocked over how to resolve the issue of the witnesses who gave unreliable testimonies to the international probe into the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.-NOW Lebanon

Marouni: We will not surrender
January 8, 2011 /“They want us to surrender and to accept their conditions,” said Kataeb bloc MP Elie Marouni in an interview on Saturday. “[Prime Minister Saad] Hariri’s initiatives are passively responded to,” Marouni told LBCI. “[Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Naim] Qassem should tell us, what did Hezbollah do in favor of the Lebanese State development?”
In an interview published on Saturday, Qassem told As-Safir newspaper that Hezbollah has fulfilled its commitments concerning the Saudi-Syrian compromise. In an interview with Hariri published Friday in the daily Al-Hayat, the PM said that Saudi-Syrian mediation efforts had led to an agreement months ago but accused Hezbollah of not living up to their end of the deal. "Any commitment on my part will not be carried out until the other party [Hezbollah] implements what they agreed to," the premier told Al-Hayat. Lebanon for months has suffered from political paralysis over reports indicating the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) is set to indict members of Hezbollah in its investigation of the 2005 murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Hezbollah has warned it would not accept such an outcome and has accused the STL of being part of a US-Israeli plot. Syrian and Saudi officials have reportedly been communicating in efforts to reach a compromise that would resolve tensions in Lebanon due to the pending STL indictment.
-NOW Lebanon

Qassem: Hariri knows what’s to be done
January 8, 2011 /“[Prime Minister Saad] Hariri knows what’s to be done by his side to succeed the Saudi-Syrian initiative especially that Hezbollah did his part,” said Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Naim Qassem in an interview published on Saturday. “The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) was proved to be biased and politicized,” Qassem told As-Safir newspaper. “The US is concerned about the STL’s indictment and more about its ally, March 14.” In an interview published Friday in the daily Al-Hayat, Hariri said that Saudi-Syrian mediation efforts had led to an agreement months ago but accused Hezbollah of not living up to their end of the deal. "Any commitment on my part will not be carried out until the other party [Hezbollah] implements what they agreed to," the premier told Al-Hayat. Lebanon for months has suffered from political paralysis over reports indicating the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) is set to indict members of Hezbollah in connection with the 2005 murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Hezbollah has warned it would not accept such an outcome and has accused the STL of being part of a US-Israeli plot. Syrian and Saudi officials have reportedly been communicating in efforts to reach a compromise that would resolve tensions in Lebanon due to the pending STL indictment.-NOW Lebanon

The elusive Syria track
Tony Badran, January 8, 2011
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Olmert are of different minds when it comes to the possibility of peace talks with Syria. (AFP photo/Lior Mizrahi)
There was a minor hoopla in recent days over reports of possible stirrings between Israel and Syria, leading to speculation of a US-sponsored secret back channel to renew peace talks on the Syria track. In all likelihood, however, the leaks and the spin that emerged in the Israeli media reflect more a series of domestic battles, especially within the Israeli Left, than any actual movement on the Syria track.
The whole kerfuffle started with an unconfirmed report in World Net Daily on December 26, which claimed that the White House sent National Security Council official Dennis Ross on a secret visit to Israel and Syria the week before to discuss “specifics of a deal.” The report was followed by a similar story in the Kuwaiti Al-Rai newspaper, which repeated the claim of a secret Ross visit.
Al-Rai’s version was picked up and recycled in the Israeli press. However, days later it emerged on Israel’s Channel 10 that while a secret visit to Syria did indeed take place, it wasn’t Ross who made the trip. Rather, it was Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice president of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which suggested that the initial leak superimposed Ross on the Hoenlein trip, conflating it with the former’s upcoming visit to Israel.
The Hoenlein story was packed with speculation of a “secret mission” on behalf of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – à la Ron Lauder in 1998 – to relay messages to Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad. This was assumed to be proof of a supposed old pattern of floating the Syrian option when talks with the Palestinians become stalled. Implicit in this narrative is the suspicion that Netanyahu’s people were behind the story.
However, another way to look at this mini storm in a teacup is to place it in the context of the Israeli Left.
The news in Israel is that the Labor Party is threatening to leave the coalition government. Moreover, there’s pressure within the party on Defense Minister Ehud Barak, challenging his leadership as well as pushing him to quit the coalition. Barak was also getting heat from leftist media, especially when the Haaretz daily ran a story about the Obama administration’s supposed disappointment with his inability to “deliver” Netanyahu in the talks with the Palestinians.
This allegation likely came from the Labor Party, as soon thereafter a public row erupted between Barak and a fellow Labor Party minister over the issue. Similarly, the excitement over a so-called Syrian back channel also originated with the Left. Indeed, the most enthusiastic speculation and spin about the purpose of Hoenlein’s visit ran especially in Haaretz.
It’s no secret that the main cheerleaders of the Syrian track in Israel are the Left and figures (both former and current) in the defense establishment, who always wildly overstate the benefits of a deal with Damascus, and minimize the difficulties it would create for Israeli security – all while revealing a gross misunderstanding of Assad's calculations and interests.
For this group, the Syrian track has become something of a cause célèbre – a development, incidentally, which grows more shrill as the Israeli Left’s irrelevance increases. Consequently, it is a tool in the domestic maneuvers, with the Left looking for someone to pick up the flag of the Syria option, as the following piece in Haaretz did with Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, urging him to assume the Syrian mantle once he decides to enter politics.
But all this parochial maneuvering aside, are the prospects of a revived Syrian track real? If Labor is serious about quitting the coalition in the coming months, it means that Israel will be looking at new elections in about a year’s time. Given Labor's poor performance in the previous elections, it could well be that Barak and his party won't even be part of a new coalition that would emerge from new elections – making the likelihood of any renewed substantive peace process with Syria close to nil. As analyst Jonathan Spyer reminded me, dying coalitions don’t tend to conclude peace processes.
As for the hype over the recess appointment of Robert Ford as US ambassador to Damascus, by the time elections take place and a new coalition government takes shape in Israel, he’d be on his way back to Washington, his one-year assignment having expired.
But it was none other than one of the biggest enthusiasts of the Syria track in Israel, Maj. Gen. (ret.) Uri Sagui, who explained why all the media commotion was unwarranted: “[The] media spin going on here ... cannot cover up the huge gap between Syria and Israel. You don’t have to ask Hoenlein what Assad thinks.” Indeed, as one Israeli government official put it: “There are various officials visiting Damascus all the time. The problem with the Syrians is their opening position for negotiations, and the fact that they require prior Israeli commitment to full withdrawal.” Netanyahu voiced the same position on Monday.
In other words, there’s no agreement on the basic framework for resuming talks. And it’s not as though US diplomats dealing with Syria haven’t spent the last couple of years trying to get the Syrians to change their maximalist demands. There’s no reason to believe that any of this has changed, regardless of Hoenlein’s visit – whatever its purpose.
Until then, all this remains little more than the panting of those in Israel who see peace with Syria as a panacea of sorts, or a place of diplomatic breakthrough. All of which is quite fitting, since the belief that Syria is “key” is the hallmark of irrelevant actors, the Israeli Left being chief among them.
**Tony Badran is a research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Arab World: Rewarding bad behavior
Jonathan Spyer ,
The Jerusalem Post,
January 8, 2011
US President Barack Obama’s recent decision to appoint a new ambassador to Damascus is further proof positive of the effectiveness of the strategy pursued by Syria over the last half decade. It also showcases the sense that the current US administration appears to be navigating without a compass in its Middle East diplomacy.
The appointment of experienced and highly regarded regional hand Robert Ford to the embassy in Damascus is not quite the final burial of the policy to “isolate” Syria. The 2003 Syria Accountability Act and its sanctions remain in effect. But with Syria now in possession of a newly minted American ambassador, in supposedly pivotal negotiations with Saudi Arabia over the Special Tribunal in Lebanon, with its alliance with Iran intact, having repaired relations with Iraq, and in continued, apparently cost-free defiance of the International Atomic Energy Agency over inspections of its nuclear sites, the office of President Bashar Assad could be forgiven for feeling slightly smug.
Syrian policy appears to have worked. And since there are few more worthy pursuits than learning from success, it is worth observing closely its actions on the way to bringing about its resurgence.
Syria’s regional standing was at its nadir in 2005: Assad was forced to abandon his country’s valued and profitable occupation of Lebanon; the US was in control in Iraq; Israel appeared to have turned back the assault of Damascus-based Islamist terror groups. The future seemed bleak for the Assad family regime.
(…) It has now reached the somewhat surreal stage where Damascus, which was almost certainly involved in the killing of Rafik Hariri, is being treated as a key player in helping to prevent the possibility of violence by Syrian and Iranian sponsored organizations in the event of their members being indicted for the murder.
(…) WHAT LESSONS may be learned from this relatively comprehensive list of interactions? What might an aspiring Middle Eastern regime or movement glean from the Syrian experience of the last half-decade – all the way from the hurried departure from Lebanon to the return of the US ambassador.
There are two obvious lessons.
The first is that if you are in a confrontation with the West, hang tough, because the West and its allies will eventually tire, particularly if you are willing to raise the stakes to a level on which the other side will not be willing to play. The currency Syria has traded in, with subtlety and determination, is political violence.
Terror and the sponsorship of murder – in Iraq, in Lebanon and against Israel – appear to have come at no real cost and eventually to have paid dividends.
The second lesson is to maintain your close alliance with the big regional spoiler, but at the same time express your willingness to dialogue with and maintain relations with everyone else. This, it appears, will have the result that you will come to be seen as an indispensable country. This status, however, will only last for as long as you maintain your alliance with the spoiler – in this case, Iran. So on no circumstances must this firm connection be put in jeopardy.
The writer is a senior research fellow at the Global Research in International Affairs Center, Herzliya.
**The above article was published in jpost.com on January 7th, 2011 (15:45).

Palestinian violence surges on W. Bank, Gaza. Israeli soldier killed
DEBKAfile Special Report January 8, 2011, 5:26 PM (GMT+02:00) Tags: Gaza IDF Palestinians West Bank Hamas Palestinian would-be suicide killer shot deadSince Friday night, Jan. 7 - when Israeli paratrooper, Sgt. Nadav Rutenberg, 20, from Moshav Ramot Hashavim, died and four others were injured during an ambush from the Gaza Strip - Palestinian terrorists have been on the offensive - both in Gaza and the West Bank, debkafile's military sources report.
Saturday, a would-be suicide bomber from Jenin armed with two pipe bombs shouting Allah is Great! jumped out of a taxi at the Israeli checkpoint at Beqaot in the northern Jordanian Valley and tried to rush the soldiers. They called him to stop and shot him when he kept going. The other passengers fled.
It was the first attack by a Jenin inhabitant in the four years of relative peace prevailing on the West Bank since Israel beat back the Palestinian uprising.
Friday, another Palestinian was shot on the West Bank; he was running at an Israeli roadblock with what looked like a bottle bomb.
Thursday, Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas ordered the release of five Palestinian Hamas terrorists responsible for murdering four Israeli civilians on a road near Bet Haggai on Aug. 31, 2010.
Abbas had pledged to keep captured terrorists behind bars after Israel handed Palestinian Authority responsibility for security in West Bank cities. However, for the sake of a gesture to please the Emir of Qatar, the Palestinian leader reverted to the infamous revolving door policy the PA had exercised in former years.
An Israeli squad was sent out to Hebron forthwith to re-arrest the Hamas killers. A 66-year old man was shot by mistake and the wanted men got away.
Saturday saw a resumption of attacks on the Gaza Strip front: A volley of four mortar shells hit foreign laborers' lodgings at a kibbutz in the Shear Hanegev district. Three of them were hurt, one seriously, and were evacuated to hospital.
debkafile's military sources report that Hamas and Jihad Islami have improved the aim of their mortars with the help of recently-delivered Iranian devices. They are now able to achieve more direct hits instead of their usual hit-or-miss performance.
Saturday, Palestinian organizations in Gaza let loose with mortars apparently signaling that further escalation lay ahead should Israel retaliate for the Gaza ambush of Friday night, in which Sgt. Rutenberg was killed.
Responding to reports that Palestinians were again laying explosive devices on the border fence, they ran into an ambush of heavy automatic, mortar and anti-tank rocket fire from Palestinian positions. Tanks and assault helicopters had to be brought in to douse the attack.
As the firefight raged, a stray Israeli mortar shell hit the paratroops in mid-battle, killing the Israeli sergeant and injuring four members of his unit, one of them an officer who is in serious condition in hospital. Brig. Tal Russo, OC Southern Command has ordered an inquiry into the incident.
In recent weeks, Palestinian terrorist activity from the Gaza Strip has become increasingly bold, ranging from explosive devices planted on the border fence to missile and mortar fire on Israeli towns and military patrols.
debkafile's military sources report that Israel's responses have been too restrained and cautious to stem the escalation. Indeed, Hamas, Jihad Islami and the Islamist groups operating in Gaza under the al Qaeda-linked Jalalat umbrella have taken encouragement from Israel's military restraint and redoubled their assaults.
The Hizballah militiamen and Al Qaeda militants who fought in Iraq who have arrived in Gaza studied IDF responses and its mode of operation and decided to switch tactics. Friday night, instead of another attempt to plant explosive devices on the fence - like the many which ended in the Palestinian assailants' deaths - they set up an ambush.