LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِJanuary 31/2010

Bible Of The Day
Mark 11/15-17: "They came to Jerusalem, and Jesus entered into the temple, and began to throw out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of those who sold the doves. 11:16 He would not allow anyone to carry a container through the temple. 11:17 He taught, saying to them, “Isn’t it written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all the nations?’* But you have made it a den of robbers!”

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Could Syria be the next domino to fall?/GlobalPost/January 30/11
Obama will go down in history as the president who lost Egypt/By Aluf Benn/January 30/11
The Egyptian Lesson…The state is prestigious/By Tariq Alhomayed/January 30/11
The Shia elite/Talking to Ziad Majed/Now Lebanon/January 30/11

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for January 30/11
Muslim Brotherhood moves to form Egypt unity gov't without Mubarak/News Agencies
Egyptian fighter jets buzz protesters. Clinton calls for orderly transition/DEBKAfile
Omar Suleiman “the fixer in the shadows”/Asharq Al-Awsat
Aided by families, 34 members of Muslim Brotherhood flee Egypt jails/News Agencies
LEBANON: Protesters denounce government for economic failures/Los Angeles Times
Lebanon plans evacuation of its citizens stranded in Egypt/Monsters and Critics.com
Arab-Israeli gets 9 years in prison for spying/Washington Post
MP Hout: If Hezbollah is innocent, it should accept STL indictments/Ya Libnan
Protesters at Egypt Embassy in Beirut Demand Mubarak Resign /Naharnet
Sayegh: Christians’ degradation will destroy Lebanon/Now Lebanon
Jumblat's subservient party, the PSP: STL is antithesis of stability/Now Lebanon
Miqati Says No Cabinet Before Exerting All Efforts to Include March 14 in it/Naharnet
Lebanon Ambassador in Egypt Says Lebanese Unhurt, Additional MEA Flights to Evacuate Citizens /Naharnet
March 8 Reportedly Agreeing on Cabinet Shares Excluding March 14 /Naharnet
Report: Miqati Informed Ambassadors his Rejection to Compromise on Any Political Issue /Naharnet
Hariri Says Ousted by 'Foreign Orders', Not Parliamentary Consultations /Naharnet
UK Ambassador Hopes Miqati's Govt Will Abide by U.N. Resolutions /Naharnet
Britain Refuses to Label Miqati's Government as Hizbullah's: We are Not Striking Deals to Halt Justice /Naharnet
UNIFIL: Latest Developments Don't Threaten Lebanon's Future /Naharnet


Could Syria be the next domino to fall?
Global Post/http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/egypt/110130/syria-egypt-protests-next-domino
January 30, 2011 09:15 ET in Middle East
DAMASCUS, Syria -- In one of Old Damascus’ new cafes the text messages buzzed between mobile phones in quick succession, drawing woops of joy and thumbs up from the astonished Syrians. Suzan Mubarak, wife of the reviled Egyptian president, had flown into exile with her son, so the rumours went, driven out of the country by days of unprecedented protest against the 30-year rule of her husband, President Hosni Mubarak. The news from Cairo has brought with it a flutter of excitement to this country, founded on principles so similar to Egypt that the two nations were once joined as one. Like Egypt, Syria has been ruled for decades by a single party, with a security service that maintains an iron grip on its citizens. Both countries have been struggling to reform economies, stifled for generations by central control, in an effort to curb unemployment among a ballooning youth demographic. Could the domino effect that spread from the streets of Tunis to Cairo soon hit Damascus?
“Perhaps the Saudis will have to build a whole village for Arab presidents once they run out of villas," joked a taxi driver, wondering if Mubarak would go the same way as Tunisia’s President Zene el Abadeen Ben Ali, who flew into exile in Saudi Arabia after street protests brought down his regime earlier this month. In a smoky tea shop in central Damascus the usual babble of conversation was subdued as customers sat quietly but intently watching the TV broadcasting images of flames pouring from Egypt’s ruling party’s head office, a Soviet-era building much like many of those that house the state institutions in their own capital.
The young waiter, though, was skeptical that real change would come to Egypt. “Mubarak won't go. Why did the Egyptian people wait until now? It's only because of Tunisia. I'd like him to go, but he won't.” Others, though, said the genie was already out of the bottle. “The most important message is that people can make the change. Before it was always army officers that lead a coup," said Mazen Darwich, director of the Syrian Centre for Media, which campaigns for press freedoms in Syria, but was shuttered by authorities soon after opening.
“It may not be tomorrow or a few months but I'm sure it is like dominoes. Before there was always an ideology -- pan Arabism, or being an enemy of Israel. But now people are simply looking for their personal freedom, for food, education, a good life. The days of ideology are over.”
Internet users reported a significant slowdown in the web, with searches for news on Egypt often crashing browsers. Heavy user traffic could be an explanation but in Syria, where thousands of websites deemed opposed to state interests are blocked and where Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media are banned, authorities denied accusations they had restricted the service to prevent citizens hearing about events in Cairo. Earlier this week, though, authorities banned programs that allow access to Facebook Chat from mobile phones, a cheap and easy means of staying in touch that has exploded in popularity among young Syrians.
Despite the restrictions, few in Syria saw events in Cairo as posing an immediate or serious challenge to the authority of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, who has weathered five years of intense U.S.-led pressure against his regime only to emerge strengthened by the collapse of the Western-backed government in Lebanon earlier this month. “What happened in Tunisia and Egypt was not just about hunger, it was about national pride,” said Mazen Bilal, editor of Suria al-Ghad, a political news website. “Syria is another story. Through all the problems it maintained its national stances and its sovereignty and so people are proud of their nation.” Crucially, as well, the government’s reform of the economy is maintaining a system of support to alleviate the worst effects of poverty. “Egypt and Tunisia applied the free market principles, but Syria has not. The government still controls the strategic keys to the economy,” Bilal said.
Abdullah Dardari, deputy prime minister for economic affairs, said five years of reforms had increased incomes above the increase in inflation, with the relative spending power of the poor growing faster than the rich.

Egyptian fighter jets buzz protesters. Clinton calls for orderly transition
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report January 30, 2011,The Mubarak regime sent two F-16 fighter jets and helicopters in repeated low-flying passes over the tens of thousands of protesters massed in Cairo's Tahrir Square Sunday, Jan. 30, the sixth day of the anti-government protest. This latest, most dramatic attempt to break up the anti-government protest only added to the rage of the crowd who refused to disperse and called for Mubarak and his new Vice President, Gen. Omar Suleiman to go right now.
At the entrance to the square, protesters blocked the path of a dozen battle tanks attempting to assert control over central Cairo by sitting and lying down in front of them. The result was a standoff. The army has thrown up barricades around the square and imposed restrictions on movements, but has not used violence against the protesters.
It is not clear if sending the fighter jets to intimidate the protesters was decided with the army generals when Mubarak visited them at army headquarters earlier Sunday or a unilateral decision by the Air Force chiefs, who remain loyal to the president, himself a former air force chief and pilot.
The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a change of tone from her last statement 48 hours ago, called for an "orderly transition to democratic rule in Egypt." She also denied there had been any discussion of the cut-off of aid to the embattled country.
Around the city, neighborhoods have got together to protect their homes and property against looters and criminal gangs roaming the streets. The police have melted away and the vast city is in chaos. Disruptions and protests continue in other Egyptian cities.
debkafile reported earlier Sunday:
Gunmen of Hamas's armed wing, Ezz e-Din al Qassam, crossed from Gaza into northern Sinai Sunday, Jan. 30 to attack Egyptian forces and drive them back. They acted on orders from Hamas' parent organization, the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, confirmed by its bosses in Damascus, to open a second, Palestinian front against the Mubarak regime. The Muslim Brotherhood is therefore more active in the uprising than it would appear.
debkafile's military sources report that Hamas gunmen went straight into battle with Egyptian Interior Ministry special forces (CFF) in the southern Egyptian-controlled section of the border town of Rafah and the Sinai port of El Arish. Saturday, Bedouin tribesmen and local Palestinians used the mayhem in Cairo to clash with Egyptian forces at both northern Sinai key points and ransack their gun stores.
Sunday, Hamas terrorists aim to follow this up by pushing Egyptian forces out of the northern and central regions of the peninsula and so bring Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip under Palestinian control. Hamas would then be able to break out of the Egyptian blockade of the enclave and restore its smuggling routes in full. Officials in Gaza City confirmed Sunday, that Hamas's most notorious smuggling experts, including Muhammad Shaar, had broken out of the El Arish jail and were headed for Gaza City.
Our military sources further report that the Multinational Force & Observers (MFO), most of whose members are Americans and Canadians, are on maximum alert at their northern Sinai base, while they wait for US military transports to evacuate them to US bases in Europe.
This force was deployed in Sinai in 1981 for peacekeeping responsibilities and the supervision of the security provisions of the 1979 Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel under which the peninsula was demilitarized except for Egyptian police. Ending the MFO's mission in Sinai after thirty years knocks down a key pillar propping up the relations of peace between Egypt and Israel.
Early Sunday, the Egyptian army quietly began transferring armored reinforcements including tanks through the tunnels under the Suez from Egypt proper eastward to northern Sinai in effort to drive the Hamas forces back. The Egyptian troop presence in Sinai, which violates the terms of the peace treaty, has not been mentioned by either of the peace partners. Our Jerusalem sources report the Netanyahu government may have tacitly approved it.
Hamas' Gaza leaders do not seem to fear Israeli military action – or even an air attack - to interfere with their incursion of Sinai, although it brings their armed units within easy reach of the long Egyptian border with Israel. In Cairo, thousands of political prisoners, Islamic extremists and criminals are on the loose having reportedly escaped jails in the Cairo area.
Neighborhoods have got together to defend their homes and property against looters and ransackers. The police are nowhere to be seen.The United States is preparing to evacuate citizens. The Embassy in Cairo advised all Americans to consider leaving the country as soon as possible. Ankara is sending planes to carry Turkish citizens out of the country. Saturday, the Israeli airline El Al sent a special flight to Cairo for families of embassy staff, leaving the diplomats in place.In Jerusalem, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu updated the weekly cabinet session in his conversations overnight with President Barak Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the Egyptian crisis.

Arab-Israeli gets 9 years in prison for spying
The Associated Press /Sunday, January 30, /JERUSALEM -- An Israeli court has sentenced an Arab-Israeli activist who confessed to spying for Lebanon's militant Hezbollah to nine years in prison. Amir Makhoul pleaded guilty to contacting a foreign agent, conspiring to aid an enemy in time of war and espionage. Court documents show Makhoul used encryption software to send Hezbollah information about Israeli military facilities. Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah are bitter enemies, and fought a monthlong war in 2006. Makhoul's case has strained relations between Israel and its Arab minority. Makhoul claimed he fell into a "trap" during a moment of weakness, and that he was prosecuted for political reasons.
His lawyer, Hussein Abu Hussein, says he agreed to a plea bargain because chances for a fair trial were "nonexistent."

Obama will go down in history as the president who lost Egypt
By Aluf Benn /Haaretz/Jimmy Carter will go down in American history as "the president who lost Iran," which during his term went from being a major strategic ally of the United States to being the revolutionary Islamic Republic. Barack Obama will be remembered as the president who "lost" Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt, and during whose tenure America's alliances in the Middle East crumbled. The superficial circumstances are similar. In both cases, a United States in financial crisis and after failed wars loses global influence under a leftist president whose good intentions are interpreted abroad as expressions of weakness. The results are reflected in the fall of regimes that were dependent on their relationship with Washington for survival, or in a change in their orientation, as with Ankara.
America's general weakness clearly affects its friends. But unlike Carter, who preached human rights even when it hurt allies, Obama sat on the fence and exercised caution. He neither embraced despised leaders nor evangelized for political freedom, for fear of undermining stability.
Obama began his presidency with trips to Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and in speeches in Ankara and Cairo tried to forge new ties between the United States and the Muslim world. His message to Muslims was "I am one of you," and he backed it by quoting from the Koran. President Hosni Mubarak did not join him on the stage at Cairo University, and Obama did not mention his host. But he did not imitate his hated predecessor, President George W. Bush, with blunt calls for democracy and freedom.
Obama apparently believed the main problem of the Middle East was the Israeli occupation, and focused his policy on demanding the suspension of construction in the settlements and on the abortive attempt to renew the peace talks. That failure led him to back off from the peace process in favor of concentrating on heading off an Israeli-Iranian war.
Americans debated constantly the question of whether Obama cut his policy to fit the circumstances or aimed at the wrong targets. The absence of human rights issues from U.S. policy vis-a-vis Arab states drew harsh criticism; he was accused of ignoring the zeitgeist and clinging to old, rotten leaders. In the past few months many opinion pieces have appeared in the Western press asserting that the days of Mubarak's regime are numbered and calling on Obama to reach out to the opposition in Egypt. There was a sense that the U.S. foreign policy establishment was shaking off its long-term protege in Cairo, while the administration lagged behind the columnists and commentators.
The administration faced a dilemma. One can guess that Obama himself identified with the demonstrators, not the aging dictator. But a superpower isn't the civil rights movement. If it abandons its allies the moment they flounder, who would trust it tomorrow? That's why Obama rallied to Mubarak's side until Friday, when the force of the protests bested his regime.
The street revolts in Tunisia and Egypt showed that the United States can do very little to save its friends from the wrath of their citizens. Now Obama will come under fire for not getting close to the Egyptian opposition leaders soon enough and not demanding that Mubarak release his opponents from jail. He will be accused of not pushing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hard enough to stop the settlements and thus indirectly quell the rising tides of anger in the Muslim world. But that's a case of 20:20 hindsight. There's no guarantee that the Egyptian or Tunisian masses would have been willing to live in a repressive regime even if construction in Ariel was halted or a few opposition figures were released from jail.
Now Obama will try to hunker down until the winds of revolt die out, and then forge ties with the new leaders in the region. It cannot be assumed that Mubarak's successors will be clones of Iran's leaders, bent on pursuing a radical anti-American policy. Perhaps they will emulate Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who navigates among the blocs and superpowers without giving up his country's membership in NATO and its defense ties with the United States. Erdogan obtained a good deal for Turkey, which benefits from political stability and economic growth without being in anyone's pocket. It could work for Egypt, too.

Muslim Brotherhood moves to form Egypt unity gov't without Mubarak
By News Agencies /Haaretz/The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest opposition group,is in talks with other anti-government figures to form a national unity government without President Hosni Mubarak, a group official told DPA on Sunday. Although the Muslim Brotherhood is officially banned from running for elections for parliament, some movement members have presented candidacy for parliament as independents. Gamal Nasser, a spokesman for the Brotherhood, told DPA that his group was in talks with Mohammed ElBaradei - the former UN nuclear watchdog chief - to form a national unity government without the National Democratic Party of Mubarak. The group is also demanding an end to the draconian Emergency Laws, which grant police wide-ranging powers The laws have been used often to arrest and harass the Islamist group. Nasser said his group would not accept any new government with Mubarak. On Saturday the Brotherhood called on President Mubarak to relinquish power in a peaceful manner following the resignation of the Egyptian cabinet.
Speaking to CNN later Sunday, ElBaradei said he had a popular and political mandate to negotiate the creation of a national unity government.
"I have been authorized -- mandated -- by the people who organized these demonstrations and many other parties to agree on a national unity government," he told CNN.
"I hope that I should be in touch soon with the army and we need to work together. The army is part of Egypt," the opposition leader added.
Opposition figure Mustafa el-Naggar stated that ElBaradei "will be joining protesters in Tahrir," adding he would come to the square later on Sunday, his first visit to the hub of the protest since returning to Egypt on Thursday. The Egyptian cabinet formally resigned Saturday at the command of Mubarak, following violent anti-government protests that have now reached their sixth day unabated. Mubarak has yet to comment on the cabinet's resignation. The embattled president addressed the country on Saturday for the fist time since the riots began, saying that he had no intention to resign. The protests are the most serious challenge to Mubarak's 30-year authoritarian rule. The embattled president defended the security forces' crackdown on protesters, but said that he will press ahead with social, economic and political reforms in the country. Mubarak has not said yet whether he will stand for another six-year term as president in elections this year. He has never appointed a deputy and is thought to be grooming his son Gamal to succeed him despite popular opposition.

Aided by families, 34 members of Muslim Brotherhood flee Egypt jails
By News Agencies /Haaretz/Thirty-four members of Egypt's opposition Muslim Brotherhood, including seven members of the leadership, walked out of prison Sunday after relatives of prisoners overcame the guards, a Brotherhood official said. The relatives stormed the prison in Wadi el-Natroun, 120 km northwest of Cairo, and set free several thousand of the inmates, Brotherhood office manager Mohamed Osama said. No one was hurt, he added. "They are on their way to Cairo," he said. The seven leaders are from the Brotherhood's Guidance Council and they were arrested on Thursday night and Friday morning during preparations for the massive protests on Friday against Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Osama named them as Mohamed Mursi, Essam el-Erian, Mohamed el-Katatni, Saad el-Husseini, Mustafa el-Ghoneimi, Muhyi Hamed and Mahmoud Abu Zeid.
Prisoners have escaped from several major prisons across Egypt since the protests on Friday, when police morale and discipline started to break down. In many parts of Egypt police have abandoned their stations. Earlier Sunday, three Palestinian security prisoners reportedly escaped back to the Gaza Strip via a smuggling tunnel.
Officials in Gaza said the three, including at least one Hamas member, had fled during the upheaval and returned to the coastal territory.
Egypt meanwhile kept its border with the Hamas-ruled territory closed on Sunday amid the raging turmoil. Palestinian border official Ghazi Hamad said that the closure was expected to last several days. Thousands of inmates escaped prisons across Egypt on Sunday, including at least one jail that housed Muslim militants northwest of Cairo, security officials said.
The breakouts added to the chaos engulfing the country as anti-government protests continue to demand the ouster of longtime authoritarian President Hosni Mubarak.
The security officials said the prisoners escaped overnight from four jails after starting fires and clashing with guards. The inmates were helped by gangs of armed men who attacked the prisons, firing at guards in gun battles that lasted hours. The officials said several inmates were killed and wounded during the escapes, but gave no specific figures. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share the information with the media.

The Egyptian Lesson…The state is prestigious
30/01/2011/By Tariq Alhomayed
We see what is happening in Egypt, and all we can do is pray to God, to clear this gloom from the country. However, as I said yesterday, now is the time to learn our lessons, and try to evaluate rationally, because chaos and a lack of foresight are the hot issues in Egypt, and in our Arab media.
The harsh lesson to draw from Egypt, both for the Egyptians and the Arabs, is that the state is an institution based on prestige. If the state loses its prestige, then the outcome is what we see currently, regarding the looting and chaos across Egypt. The prestige of the state is not synonymous with repression or a sense of superiority over the people, but rather, it is based on a principle as highlighted by Muawiya Ibn Sufyan: “Even if there be one hair binding me to my fellow men, I do not let it break. When they pull, I loosen, and if they loosen, I pull”. Prestige does not mean fictional promises, or an iron-fist rule, but instead it is achieved by building lasting state institutions that are based on efficiency. The state governs, rather than the party.
Whoever observes what is happening in Egypt, with its chaos and horror, only has to ponder a few simple questions: Is it conceivable that all Egyptian institutions lack the means to measure public opinion, to gauge the mood on the street, and the outcomes of all possible scenarios? Is it conceivable that security is fading in such a rapid and amazing fashion? Is it conceivable that in Egypt, groups are now capable of burning police riot vans by throwing a single explosive charge, smaller than the palm of a hand, in a [state of protest] that the security forces have never witnessed before?
The day before yesterday, President Mubarak said that the economy was too serious to be left to economists alone, and this is true. However, even the most serious political matters are left to the politicians, and the most serious wars are left to the military. The issue here is that there must be a comprehensive social contract, based on institutions, and competence. It must be motivated by taking the interests of the state into account, rather than those of the party, or individuals. This also applies across the entire Arab world, which must realize certain points – and this is the best time to tell the truth. The Arab world has a young population, economies which are among the least developed, low levels of transparency, a despairing education system, and a multitude of false promises. This is a perfect recipe for any uprising.
Therefore, the state does not achieve prestige by avoiding this social stagnation, for this deadlock can be lethal. The state must fight against corruption, and recognize the importance of the media, especially new media, and how to deal with it, rather than suppress it. The state must create job opportunities, and broaden the national outlook to prevent social and political suffocation. It must provide the means and channels for dialogue and ideas, so that the country is not an arena of polarization and exclusion. We should not be provoked or attracted by extremist ideas, and external forces should not be allowed to come and go as they please in our homelands. Here I am talking specifically about the evil Iranian influence that penetrates our countries, and allies with our forces.
The Egyptian crisis is a dangerous one, but it is also full of lessons, the most important of which is to maintain the prestige of the state. If the state loses its prestige, then the nation and the citizen are also lost. The Egyptian protestors’ demands were legitimate at the start, but matters turned to chaos, and now pose a threat to all that has been achieved in Egypt. Unfortunately, the potential losses would exceed all the gains that the protesters were hoping for. The jolt of terror that resounded in the hearts of Egyptians is the most powerful outcome [of the protests] that can not be measure today. Thus, the most important lesson is to maintain the prestige of the state, rather than mere slogans.

Omar Suleiman “the fixer in the shadows”
30/01/2011/Asharq Al-Awsat
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat- General Omar Suleiman, Egypt’s Intelligence Chief for nearly two decades, is one of the most powerful intelligence directors in the world, according to Western reports, and has also been described as “the fixer in the shadows” [Daily Telegraph, 2009]. Since 2009, there has been speculation in Western circles that he may succeed Hosni Mubarak as Egyptian President. Suleiman has a calm nature, and is considered among the most important figures in the Middle East. He is closely involved in the regions most controversial issues, because of his expertise in solving difficult problems, especially the Palestinian situation.
General Suleiman is 73 years old, born in Qena Governorate, Upper Egypt. He joined the army in 1954, and was then sent to obtain a military sciences degree from Moscow’s Frunze Military Academy, located in the former Soviet Union. His friends describe him as modest, quiet, and devout.
General Suleiman has both academic and military qualifications; he holds a Masters degree in military science [from Frunze Academy], and a Masters in political science from the University of Cairo. He has held the position of Head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate from the 1990s onwards, and in the past he has served several other important positions, including head of the General Planning Department, within the framework of armed forces operations, and Director of Military Intelligence.
General Suleiman has a military track record, having participated in the Yemen War, and the 1967 and 1973 wars against Israel. General Suleiman’s affiliation with intelligence services began in the mid-1980s, when he was appointed Commander of Military Intelligence, going on to become the Head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate in 1993. Suleiman is believed to have thwarted an assassination attempt on the Egyptian President which took place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia [in 1995]. Hosni Mubarak survived, thanks to the advice given to him earlier by Suleiman, telling him not to travel in a normal car on the way from Addis Ababa airport, to the location of his meeting.
General Suleiman’s public appearances as Egypt’s Intelligence Chief began in 2000, when he was deployed on a series of foreign tours between Gaza, Ramallah, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, as the Egyptian mediator for the Palestinian issue. He has also led several other mediation attempts between Hamas and Fatah, and is considered responsible for administering Egypt’s efforts regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. An article published in the British newspaper ‘The Daily Telegraph’, in 2009, describes Suleiman: “The tall, slightly stooping man, who favors navy blue suits and has an iron grey moustache in the style of a 1940s British colonel, is an expert on defeating violent Islamist extremism; he is probably the only serving intelligence chief who can claim to have come close to achieving this in his own country”.

 Miqati Says No Cabinet Before Exerting All Efforts to Include March 14 in it
Naharnet/Prime Minister designate Najib Miqati has stressed he won't form a cabinet before exerting all efforts to include March 14 members in the new government.
In remarks to An Nahar daily published Sunday, Miqati said he would form a technocrat government that would include independent political figures with good ties with all sides if al-Mustaqbal bloc and the rest of the March 14 forces refuse to participate in the cabinet. "What brings the Lebanese closer is much more than what draws them apart," the billionaire businessman said. In other remarks to pan-Arab daily Asharq al-Awsat, Miqati said he informed President Michel Suleiman on Saturday about his keenness to form a government that includes all political forces "to salvage the country and confront the challenges that it is facing with the maximum level possible of internal unity." Miqati on Saturday briefed the president on his consultations with parliamentary blocs on forming a new government. He reiterated to Asharq al-Awsat that he hasn't made any commitments on the international tribunal. Miqati said that the key to the "controversial issue" is not only with him but with all political parties. The problem should be solved through dialogue among Lebanese parties and with Arab help, he stressed. Beirut, 30 Jan 11, 07:59

Sayegh: Christians’ degradation will destroy Lebanon
January 30, 2011 /“If the status of the Christians degrades in Lebanon, it will destroy the country,” Social Affairs Minister Selim Sayegh said on Sunday. “The secret of Christians’ power in Lebanon is their unity toward the Bible,” the National News Agency quoted Sayegh as saying. “We should hold on to our constants, whether in the government or opposition, in order to provide a better future for our children.”Hezbollah brought down Prime Minister Saad Hariri's government on January 12 after a long-running dispute over the STL’s probe of ex-PM Rafik Hariri’s 2005 murder, which the party worries will implicate its members. PM-designate Najib Mikati, backed by March 8, was appointed to the premiership on Tuesday, giving Hezbollah and its allies increased leverage in the country and provoking widespread protests.-NOW Lebanon

The Shia elite
Talking to Ziad Majed
Paige Kollock, January 30, 2011
Ziad Majed is a writer, political researcher and professor of Middle East Studies at the American University of Paris. He is the author of a research paper entitled "Hezbollah & the Shia Community: From Political Confessionalization to Confessional Specialization" in which he explores past and present dynamics within the Shia community, focusing on Hezbollah. It was commissioned under the US-Lebanon Dialogue Program that is jointly run by the Aspen Institute and the Lebanon Renaissance Foundation.
NOW Lebanon spoke to Majed about the evolution of Shia political elites within the Lebanese confessional system and the circumstances that established Hezbollah as the most popular political force in the Shia community.
You write that Shia political elites have experienced the most radical transformation over the past few decades. What were the main characteristics of Lebanon's Shia elites, say, before the rise of Hezbollah?
Ziad Majed: Shia political elites before the civil war were descendants of feudal families of the Bekaa and the South. They were called “traditional zuama,” and were – like most zuamas from other communities – responsible for the political and economic favors for the masses they were supposed to [represent]. They were also consociational in their political behavior and very much concerned with the stability of the system that was allowing their political continuity.
Consociationalism is a model of government, developed as a “prescription” for plural and divided societies, giving primacy in political representation to collectivities rather than individual citizens. It aims at guaranteeing the participation of all groups or communities in state institutions, and it is often referred to as a power-sharing model.
Shia leadership was segmented, since it had territorial boundaries, and it was believed that they were less influential within the political institutions than their Maronite and Sunni counterparts. They were also less influential within the emerging economic and financial circles based mainly in Beirut in the 1960s and 1970s, which reduced their clientelist power. This created frustrations among Shia masses migrating to cities, and added to what was considered a political marginalization an economic one.
How did Moussa Sadr's influence help organize and activate the Shia community?
Majed: When Moussa Sadr appeared on the Shia scene, he was among those called in political sciences “the counter-elites.” He expressed some of the frustrations and desires of the masses, and offered an appealing alternative to the disengaged traditional Shia representatives. He had, however, to compete with another alternative: the Left that was attracting young generations and was on the rise in the South, and in other areas. He was also a sayyed, a religious leader, and by establishing the Shia Higher Council in 1969, he contributed to the institutionalization of the Shia community and to its political consfessionalization.
Later, his foundation of the Amal Movement and his positions in the early years of the civil war paved the way, especially after his “disappearance” in Libya in 1978, to a strong alliance between his successors in the movement and the Syrian regime.
How did Iran's efforts to create an Islamic revolutionary party in Lebanon come to fruition?
Majed: Iran’s efforts to export its Islamic Revolution intensified in 1981, two years after Imam Khomeini seized power in February 1979. Iran was at the time confronting an international embargo and engaged in a ferocious war with Iraq.
In 1982, and following the Israeli invasion of Lebanon, Iranian Revolutionary Guards arrived in the Bekaa Valley to contribute to the creation of an Islamic revolutionary party in Lebanon. The initial membership of this new party was drawn from a split in the Amal Movement, and was consolidated by sheikhs close to the Iraqi Daawa Party who studied in Najaf. The party’s membership numbers were further increased by the inclusion of young men and women on a quest for a new political identity.
Hezbollah was officially born in 1983, and raised in its early years the slogan of the Islamic Revolution in Lebanon.
You write that, through Iran's influence, Hezbollah built networks of institutions and spread new practices in various Lebanese Shia regions. What were some of those new practices?
Majed: Between 1985 and 2005, Hezbollah was not just busy with fighting Israel. It was also building a mini “state” comprised of a network of different institutions that provided a wide range of services to the Shia constituency. The network included schools, hospitals and dispensaries; consumer, housing and construction cooperatives; sports and cultural clubs; and youth, women’s and scouting groups. This network was of course added to the structures of the party itself, including the military, political, security and media branches.
The party also built mosques and Hussayniyyah, which welcomed figures of the sociopolitical or cultural-ideological fields close to the party or associated with it. Through this broad-based network, Hezbollah established itself over the years as the first “services provider” for the Lebanese Shia community, after the Lebanese government. The primary source of funding for these projects was Iran. Other sources of funding include donations, religious “khoms,” and different businesses of party supporters in Lebanon and abroad.
In addition, Hezbollah spread new religious practices in various Lebanese Shia regions. Members of Hezbollah were influenced by concepts and habits of Iranian origin that were not familiar before the 1980s, or were practiced in very restrained circles.
Hezbollah's weapons are a big source of tension. What can be done to soothe these tensions, as it's doubtful Hezbollah will throw down its arms any time soon?
Majed: No one can deny today that large portions of the Lebanese population sees Hezbollah’s weapons as the major source of threat to the country’s stability, because the party has already used them internally (in clashes with its foes), and because the decision to use them against Israel is not made by the Lebanese state, 10 years after the liberation of the South. Those who defend the weapons consider them a dissuasive force against Israel and see them as a strong tool to be used to block any final Middle Eastern settlement threatening Lebanon. Reaching a compromise, or at least common grounds, on the weapons issue has proven impossible after several attempts in the last five years.
Solutions seem to be regional, related to (1) a US-Iranian accord that would deal with Iran’s regional role and nuclear ambitions, in exchange for Iran calling (among other things such as involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine) on Hezbollah to agree with the Lebanese State on delivering weapons to the Lebanese army; and (2) serious progress in the peace process on the Palestinian track, bringing Syria on board at a later stage, and putting an end to the Israeli occupation of the Shebaa Farms.
Knowing that these two scenarios are unlikely to happen (at least in the near future), it is not possible to reach an agreement on the weapons issue. Hezbollah rejects any dialogue leading to its disarmament, and its foes do not have any power capable of forcing it to disarm.
You suggest some reforms that can be made to strengthen the Lebanese state. Can you touch on one or two?
Majed: The “urgent” reforms are motivated by the need to (1) weaken monopolies in the representation of confessions/communities to avoid continuous vertical clashes in the society (2) weaken confessionalism itself (3) calm fears from demographic changes and (4) support local socio-economic development in Lebanese regions to counter the impact of clientelism in the political sphere and to allow local initiatives to develop. Such reforms could be drafting a new nationality law, designing a new electoral system, working on an administrative decentralization law in Lebanon and creating a civil personal status code.

PSP: STL is antithesis of stability
January 30, 2011 /Following its General Assembly meeting, the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) said on Sunday that the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) has deviated from its course of work, adding that media leaks have proven this to be true.The STL has become the antithesis of stability, the PSP added in a statement.
“The [PSP] discussed Syrian-Saudi efforts on Lebanon… [We] also discussed Turkish-Qatari efforts which did not succeed due to US and international interference…”
“The party is still [committed] to its Arab and national course of work, which is represented by special relations between Lebanon and Syria as well as protecting the Resistance. [The party] is allied with both… and will deal with the next stage accordingly. “The party reaffirms its commitment to civil peace, which [the party] has scarified for its sake several [times]. The [party’s recent] political stance – which will not be the last of its [sacrifices] – has [protected] the country from… domestic strife and [played a big role] in defusing tension…”
Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassem bin Jaber al-Thani and Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmet Davutoglu visited Beirut on January 18 to address the political situation.
Before the January 12 cabinet collapse, Syrian and Saudi officials were reportedly communicating to resolve the Lebanese crisis. Hezbollah brought down outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri's government after a long-running dispute over the STL’s probe of ex-PM Rafik Hariri’s 2005 murder, which the party worries will implicate its members. On Monday, PSP leader MP Walid Jumblatt announced that seven of his bloc’s deputies – including himself – nominated former Prime Minister Najib Mikati as the country’s next premier. Mikati, backed by March 8, was appointed to the premiership on Tuesday, giving Hezbollah and its allies increased leverage in the country and provoking widespread protests.
-NOW Lebanon