LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِMarch 03/2011

Bible Of The Day
The Good News According to Matthew 5/13-16: "You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted? It is then good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men. 5:14 You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill can’t be hidden. 5:15 Neither do you light a lamp, and put it under a measuring basket, but on a stand; and it shines to all who are in the house. 5:16 Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven".

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Treasury’s war on Hezbollah/By: Matt Nash/March 02/11
Is There an Arab George Washington?/Wall Street Journal/March 02/11
So Who Exactly Thought Syria Engagement Would Work?/Commentary/March 02/11
Madness of MP. Micheal Aoun/Agencies/March 02/11

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for March 02/11
U.S. ships arrive in Mediterranean in move to be closer to Libya/Reuters, Haaretz
Syria agrees to allow UN nuclear inspectors into acid plan/Reuters, Haaretz
Netanyahu: World pressure on Libya must also be directed at Iran/AP, Haaretz
Iran to build permanent naval base in Syria/DEBKAfile
Council of Maronite Bishops: Synod to Elect New Patriarch on March 9/Naharnet
Clinton: Syria's Ties with Hizbullah Not in Damascus' Interest in Long-run/Naharnet
Mustaqbal: Only STL Can Fulfill Justice, Hizbullah Arms Have Proved to be Illegitimate/Naharnet
Campaign against Hezbollah's weapons stepped up/Daily Star
Four Lebanese ministers snub STL/Daily Star
March 14 Condemns 4 Ministers, Says Rally Should be a Referendum on Rejection of Arms/Naharnet
Man on trial for spying says he is a member of Hezbollah/Daily Star
Hezbollah sources reject Hariri's statement on non-state weapons/iloubnan.info
Deputy FM warns Islamist regimes could take over Arab world/Haaretz
Peace now, with Syria/Ynetnews
FM: Israel won't cede Golan Heights/UPI
MP. Maalouf: Hezbollah’s arms are not those of a Resistance/Now Lebanon
Karami calls Hariri’s speech a “declaration of war on Hezbollah’s arms/Now Lebanon
3 Reasons for Optimism After Middle East Unrest/Fox News
Lebanese Maronite bishops to elect new patriarch this month/The Canadian Press
Miqati Proposes New Cabinet Formula Amid Continued Bickering Over Interior Portfolio/Naharnet
Conflicting Reports on Fate of Moussa al-Sadr as Lebanese Hope Mystery would be Revealed/Naharnet
Report: Lebanese-Canadian Bank to be Sold for $500-600 Million/Naharnet
Aoun: Corruptors Won't Return to Power, Government to Be Formed Based on New Majority's Policies/Naharnet
Hizbullah Facilitating Formation of Cabinet: Hariri's Statements are Rejected/Naharnet
Berri from Baabda: Government Formation Process Entered New Phase, Obstacles Can Be Overcome/Naharnet
Conflicting Reports on Fate of Moussa al-Sadr as Lebanese Hope Mystery would be Revealed/Naharnet

Clinton: Syria's Ties with Hizbullah Not in Damascus' Interest in Long-run
Naharnet/U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday that Syria's relations with Iran and Hizbullah are not in the interest of Damascus in the long-run. That's why Washington sent a new ambassador to Damascus, Clinton said during a testimony before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. She stressed that such relations are neither in Israel's interest nor serve the U.S. She reiterated that relations between Syria, Iran and Hizbullah cause a "major concern" for the U.S. In the same hearing, Clinton warned that Washington will take action if Venezuela violates international sanctions against Iran. Beirut, 02 Mar 11, 09:35

Council of Maronite Bishops: Synod to Elect New Patriarch on March 9
Naharnet/The Council of Maronite Bishops announced on Wednesday that the Synod of Maronite bishops will meet starting March 9 at 6:00 pm to elect a new patriarch.
Last week, Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir who is holding the post since 1986. The 90-year-old cardinal cited his old age in comments to the Lebanese media when he handed in his resignation. The pontiff said in a message to Sfeir that the cardinal's decision was an "expression of great humility." The council statement read by Monsignor Youssef Toq lauded Sfeir's sacrifices for the church and his role in defending Lebanon and its unity. The bishops thanked the pope and all the delegations that participated in the ceremony of unveiling the St. Maroun statue at the Vatican last week.They also thanked President Michel Suleiman for his attendance. Beirut, 02 Mar 11, 12:07

Report: 4 Ministers Turn Down Requests from Bellemare who is Mulling Measures Against them
Naharnet/Four caretaker ministers have turned down requests from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon prosecutor to provide information and documents, in breach of the cooperation protocol signed with the U.N., sources close to the STL told the English-language The Daily Star. The requests made by Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare were sent last month from his office in Beirut to caretaker Premier Saad Hariri, who passed them on to Ministers Ghazi Aridi, Jebran Bassil, Ziad Baroud and Charbel Nahhas on February 24, the newspaper said Tuesday.
But the four ministers have not yet complied with the requests, the sources told The Daily Star. The STL has requested a meeting with Lebanon's ambassador to The Hague, Zeidan Saghir, on March 7 to discuss the issue, they said. According to the daily, Bellemare is mulling to take measures against the ministers who declined to cooperate with him, such as listing them by name as uncooperative. "In his letter to Aridi, Hariri urged the caretaker minister to permit U.N. investigators to question some ministry employees as witnesses and provide the requested documents as soon as possible in accordance with the Lebanese government's commitment to cooperate with the STL," The Daily Star said.
"In his letter to Bassil, Hariri reminded the caretaker energy minister in his capacity as former telecommunications minister that the Lebanese government and relevant authorities must facilitate the tribunal's work and prevent the obstruction of the course of justice," it added. Hariri urged Baroud to help Bellemare's Beirut office obtain some information and documents at the departments of the interior ministry and told Nahhas to act immediately to provide the requested telecommunications data to the STL.
The daily quoted parliamentary sources as saying that Nahhas had told Speaker Nabih Berri that he had stopped meeting the demands of the U.N. commission investigating ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination since last year's speech by Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in which he called on the Lebanese government and officials to boycott the STL and not cooperate with the commission.Nahhas explained to Berri that Bellemare had requested comprehensive information about telephone conversations among the Lebanese, including ministers and MPs, and that this violated the public freedom and eavesdropping law, the sources said. He confirmed to AFP on Wednesday that he did not comply with Bellemare's request for information "until the legal debate over the STL is settled at Cabinet."He revealed that he had been receiving requests by the tribunal over telephone calls between Lebanese citizens conducted seven years ago.
He explained that such requests contradict "Lebanese laws on the privacy of phone calls, as well as the immunity of MPs, presidents, and other individuals" which drove him to relay the demand to the Cabinet for it to take a decision over the issue.
The government however is incapable of tackling the matter as because it is still a caretaker cabinet. The minister continued by saying that he had received a request by Hariri to comply with the STL's demands, adding that had also relayed these requests to Cabinet. Asked whether the cooperation protocol between the STL and Lebanon does not include him, Nahhas replied: "There is a protocol, as well as laws and the constitution and we are responsible for applying the laws.""The cooperation protocol does not eliminate everything, and when affairs require clarifications, they should be sent to Cabinet," he added.(naharnet-AFP) Beirut, 02 Mar 11, 11:42

March 14 Condemns 4 Ministers, Says Rally Should be a Referendum on Rejection of Arms
Naharnet/The March 14 general-secretariat on Wednesday "strongly condemned" four caretaker ministers for turning down requests from the Special Tribunal for Lebanon prosecutor to provide information and documents, saying this was tantamount to non-cooperation with the STL. If Ministers Ghazi Aridi, Jebran Bassil, Ziad Baroud and Charbel Nahhas remain adamant in not cooperating with Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, they and their party backers would have to confront the Lebanese public which is calling for holding accountable ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassins, said the general-secretariat following its weekly meeting. Their "behavior" would also "put Lebanon in a dangerous confrontation with the international community," the statement said. Turning to Hizbullah's arms, the conferees vowed to continue their struggle against the "hegemony" imposed by the Shiite party's weapons which they said are "terrorizing the people to change the status quo."The March 14 general-secretariat also urged the alliance's supporters to participate en masse in the sixth anniversary of the Cedar Revolution.The rally should "transform the occasion into a new referendum on the peaceful choices of the Lebanese to confront the arms with stances and freedom of opinion," the statement said.
Beirut, 02 Mar 11, 14:47

Netanyahu: World pressure on Libya must also be directed at Iran
By Eli Ashkenazi and The Associated Press
PM calls for strong international action against Libya and Iran regimes, says world must send message to Libyan people that would be heard in Iran. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed Tuesday for strong international action against the regimes of Libya and Iran. Netanyahu stressed that the world must act against Iran as it is currently acting against Libya. He said the world needs to send a message to the people of Libya that they have support in their struggle against ruler Muammar Gadhafi - a message that would be heard in Iran. Netanyahu said an aggressive response against Gadhafi will send a clear message of encouragement and hope to the Iranian people that nobody has forgotten them, adding that those same steps must be directed at Iran. Netanyahu was speaking Tuesday during a trip to Israel's north. Last week, Netanyahu warned that the Middle East instability may last for years, and while expressing hope that the Arab world and Iran will undergo true democratization, he said Israel must be prepared for every outcome.

Maalouf: Hezbollah’s arms are not those of a Resistance
March 2, 2011/Lebanese Forces bloc MP Joseph Maalouf said on Wednesday that Hezbollah’s arms are not “the weapons of a Resistance.”“The weapons that we are confronting today are not weapons for resistance, because weapons for a resistance are not pointed at [other Lebanese parties],” Maalouf told MTV. He also said that Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati should have vowed to put an end to the use of non-state weapons on Lebanese territory. Outgoing PM Saad Hariri vowed on Monday to fight the use of non-state weapons in Lebanon in a “peaceful and democratic way.”-NOW Lebanon

Karami calls Hariri’s speech a “declaration of war on Hezbollah’s arms”
March 2, 2011 /Former Prime Minister Omar Karami said on Wednesday that outgoing PM Saad Hariri’s Monday speech is tantamount to a “declaration of war on the Resistance’s arms.”
Following his meeting with former PM Salim Hoss, Karami was quoted by the National News Agency (NNA) as saying that “everything we see in Lebanon and the region targets the [sacred] arms of the Resistance that protect Lebanon and prevent Israeli aggressions.”Karami voiced his disappointment that the March 14 alliance adopted “the US and Israeli stances” concerning Hezbollah’s arms.Now that March 14 announced it will not participate in the next cabinet, it is unacceptable for the cabinet formation process to be at a standstill, Karami also said. He added that the cabinet must be formed to face threats confronting the country. Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati was appointed on January 25 with the March 8 coalition’s backing, following the collapse of Hariri’s unity government due to a long-running dispute over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. He has currently holding talks to form his cabinet.
On Sunday evening, March 14 parties met at the Bristol Hotel in Beirut and issued a statement afterward announcing that they reject participation in his government.
Hariri vowed on Monday to fight the use of non-state weapons in Lebanon in a “peaceful and democratic way.”-NOW Lebanon

Iran to build permanent naval base in Syria
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report /March 1, 2011,
Just two days after two Iranian warships reached the Syrian port of Latakia via the Suez Canal, Friday, Feb. 25, an Iranian-Syrian naval cooperation accord was signed providing for Iran to build its first Mediterranean naval base at the Syrian port, debkafile's military and Iranian sources reveal.The base will include a large Iranian Revolutionary Guards weapons depot stocked with hardware chosen by the IRGC subject to prior notification to Damascus. Latakia harbor will be deepened, widened and provided with new "coastal installations" to accommodate the large warships and submarines destined to use these facilities. Iran has much to celebrate, debkafile's military sources report. It has acquired its first military foothold on a Mediterranean shore and its first permanent military presence on Syrian soil. Tehran will be setting in place the logistical infrastructure for accommodating incoming Iranian troops to fight in a potential Middle East war. According to our sources, the "cadets" the Kharg cruiser, one of the two Iranian warships allowed to transit the Suez Canal, was said to be carrying were in fact the first construction crews for building the new port facilities.
Two more events were carefully synchronized to take place in the same week. On Feb. 24, as the Iranian warships headed from the Suez Canal to Syria, Hamas fired long-range made-in-Iran Grade missiles from the Gaza Strip into Israel, one hitting the main Negev city of Beersheba for the first time since Israel's Gaza campaign two years ago - as debkafile reported on that day. Tehran was using its Palestinian surrogate to flaunt its success in getting its first warships through the Suez Canal in the face of Israeli protests. The Iranians were also parading their offensive agenda in deploying warships on the Mediterranean just 287 kilometers north of Israel's northernmost coastal town of Nahariya.
The second occurrence was a contract announced by Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov for the sale of advanced Russian shore-to-sea cruise missiles to Syria. The Yakhont missile system has a range of 300 kilometers and skims the waves low enough to be undetected by radar. debkafile's military sources take this sale as representing Moscow's nod in favor of the new Iranian base at Latakia, 72 kilometers from the permanent naval base Russia is building at the Syrian port of Tartous.
The Russians are willing to contribute towards the Iranian port's defenses and looking forward to cooperation between the Russian, Iranian and Syrian fleets in the eastern Mediterranean opposite the US Sixth Fleet's regular beat. This unfolding proximity presents the United States with a serious strategic challenge and Israel with a new peril, which was nonetheless dismissed out of hand by Israel's defense minister Ehud Barak. In a radio interview Monday, Feb. 28, he brushed aside the Iranian warships' passage through the Suez as "an outing for cadets" which did not require an Israeli response. He added, "For now, there is no operational threat to Israel."
According to Barak, the Suez Canal is open to all of the world's warships and the two Iranian vessels' transit could not have been prevented. He omitted to explain how Egypt did prevent it for 30 years and why it was permitted now. The defense minister went on to speak of "fresh signs that President Bashar Assad is willing to resume peace talks with Israel."
Both Barak's assessments were knocked down by Damascus on the same day. Syrian Defense Minister Lt. Gen. Ali Mohammad Habib soon put him right on the "cadets' outing." At a ceremony in honor of the Iranian Navy Commander Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, Habib said: "Iranian warships' presence in the Mediterranean Sea for the first time after 32 years is a great move that is going to cripple Israel."

Conflicting Reports on Fate of Moussa al-Sadr as Lebanese Hope Mystery would be Revealed
Naharnet/The crumbling of Moammar Gadhafi's regime could shed light on one of the most enduring mysteries in Lebanon: the fate of Moussa al-Sadr, a popular Shiite cleric who vanished 33 years ago during a trip to Libya. Since the uprising began, members of Libya's opposition have broken a three-decade silence on the issue, with some saying the 82-year-old cleric is languishing in a Libyan prison. But another account came from a regime insider, Maj. Abdel-Moneim al-Houni, after he turned against the regime last week. He says he believes al-Sadr was killed on Gadhafi's orders and buried in the remote town of Sabha, in southern Libya. Al-Sadr's wide Shiite following in Lebanon is hoping the truth will finally emerge as Gadhafi's grip on power weakens. "After Gadhafi's stonewalling and lying for 33 years, there is at last a hope that the imam and his companions are freed, and that the truth emerges," Chibli Mallat, the al-Sadr family lawyer, told The Associated Press. The charismatic al-Sadr was one of the pioneers of Shiite empowerment. In 1975, he founded Amal, the first major militia and political force for Lebanon's Shiites, who historically were under the thumb of Christians and Sunnis. His disappearance had fueled a deep animosity between Libya and the Lebanese government and has been a burning issue for Lebanon's 1.5 million strong Shiite community.
An impressive figure — well over 1.8 meters tall — the Iranian-born cleric wore the black turban of a descendant of the Prophet Mohammad and was a skilled orator, with an accent reflecting his Iranian past. Regarded as a moderate, he urged cooperation with other faiths. In 1978, al-Sadr and two companions — Sheikh Mohammed Yacoub and journalist Abbas Badreddine — flew to Tripoli for a week of talks with Libyan officials. They were never seen or heard from again. The day he was last seen, on Aug. 31, 1978, is still marked annually in Lebanon. Libya insists al-Sadr and his aides left on a flight to Rome at the end of their visit and suggests the imam fell victim to an inter-Shiite power struggle.
Many Lebanese believe Gadhafi ordered the three Shiites killed after a feud over money stemming from the Libyan leader's funding of militias during Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war. Some — including in his family — cling to hope that he remains alive, in prison. Al-Sadr would be 82 years old now.
In August 2008, a Lebanese prosecutor indicted Gadhafi in absentia with "incitement to kidnap and withhold the freedom" of the imam. The trial has yet to begin. Since the start of the Libyan uprising two weeks ago, fresh posters of al-Sadr have popped up across Shiite Muslim dominated areas of the country.
Al-Houni, a former member of the top leadership and Libya's ambassador to the Arab League until he broke with Gadhafi, gave his account in an interview he gave last week with the Arab daily Al-Hayat. He told the paper that his own brother-in-law, Nijmeddin al-Yazji, was the pilot of Gadhafi's private jet and that al-Yazji was killed soon after al-Sadr's disappearance.
"Family members say his assassination was related to al-Sadr, that he was the one tasked with transporting al-Sadr's body to be buried in Sabha ... and that's what pushed Libyan agencies to kill (al-Yazji) to hide the crime," al-Houni said. He could not be reached to elaborate.
But Hassan Yacoub, a Lebanese politician and son of Sheikh Mohammed Yacoub who went missing with the cleric, said all the information he has received in the past 33 years indicate the three are still alive. "We are very, very close to the end of the ordeal," he said.
Others members of the Libyan opposition, including Libyan officers, have been reported in Arab media in recent days saying the cleric was seen alive in a Libyan jail. One Libyan dissident in exile told The Associated Press he has gotten conflicting information from Libyan prisoners freed in past years — some report seeing the cleric, others say he was killed along with his colleagues. The al-Sadr family strongly believes the imam is alive. "We have believed for years that Imam Moussa Sadr has been alive and we hope that the new situation in Libya will result in his freedom," said Houra al-Sadr, al-Sadr's daughter from Tehran where she lives. Her comments were carried by Iran's ISNA news agency last week.
His son, Sadreddine al-Sadr, and sister, Rabab, declined to comment when contacted by AP. Sources close to the family said they did not wish to inflame the situation in case the imam was still alive. Mallat, the family lawyer and a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, said only a proper investigation with Gadhafi and his aides will allow the families to know what really happened. Despite the years, al-Sadr is still seen here as a symbol for a Shiite community that in 40 years has gone from a downtrodden, impoverished sect to a major political player. Shiite empowerment is a force across the Middle East, spurred by the 1979 Islamic revolution in Shiite Iran and more recently by the rise to leadership of Iraq's majority Shiites after U.S. forces ousted Saddam Hussein and his Sunni Muslim-dominated regime.
Born in the Iranian holy city of Qom, al-Sadr came to Lebanon in 1959 to work for the rights of Shiites in the southern city of Tyre. In 1974, a year before Lebanon's 15-year civil war broke out, he founded the Movement of the Deprived, attracting thousands of followers. In 1975, he founded Amal. It was the first popular movement for Shiites, who at the time were represented politically by feudal Shiite landowners who cared little for their peasant underlings. Today, the Shiites are Lebanon's largest sect, with an estimated 1.2 million of the 4 million population, led by the Hizbullah, allied to Amal. On Monday and Tuesday, a few hundred protesters waving al-Sadr's pictures staged a protest in downtown Beirut, convinced he is alive and demanding his release. "The people want to free the imam!" they shouted.(AP) Beirut, 02 Mar 11, 12:39

Mustaqbal: Only STL Can Fulfill Justice, Hizbullah Arms Have Proved to be Illegitimate
Naharnet/The Mustaqbal parliamentary bloc on Tuesday stressed that Hizbullah's arsenal of weapons "has proved, on more than one occasion, to be illegitimate and pointed at the chests of the Lebanese."In a statement issued after its weekly meeting in Qureitem under ex-PM Fouad Saniora, the bloc added that the Shiite party's arms have become a means to "influence citizens' political opinions.""They are also being employed in regional conflicts and disputes," Mustaqbal said. The bloc stressed its "constitutional right to opposition and the practice of democracy in the face of attempts aimed at terrorization, intimidation and distortion of facts," reiterating its warning against "resorting to unilateral or vengeful behaviors."Mustaqbal MPs underlined that they "will not be lenient in defending democracy, freedom of opinion and the rights of the Lebanese in the face of any attempt aimed at power monopolization, hegemony or obstruction of justice." The bloc stressed that the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing the 2005 murder of ex-PM Rafik Hariri was "the only relevant side entitled to work on unveiling the truth and fulfilling justice."It reiterated that "the tribunal is not meant for vengeance or reprisal, but rather for achieving justice."On Sunday, the March 14 forces officially announced their refusal to take part in the country's new government. The March 14 forces "reject to legitimize the coup … and reject to turn into observers who cannot prevent violations," the coalition said in a statement recited by Saniora after an extraordinary meeting for its 60 MPs at the Bristol Hotel in Beirut. On January 12, Hizbullah and its allies toppled Saad Hariri's cabinet in a long-running feud over the U.N.-backed STL. Hizbullah-backed Najib Miqati was then appointed to form a new government, which Hariri's alliance has refused to join and has labeled "Hizbullah's government". Hariri has refused to join Miqati's government without guarantees that his cabinet would see the tribunal through. Hizbullah meanwhile is demanding Lebanon end all cooperation with the court, which it says is a U.S.-Israeli conspiracy. While Hariri and his allies won Lebanon's last parliamentary election in 2009, shifting alliances today have positioned the Hizbullah-led camp as the majority after Druze leader Walid Jumblat moved closer to the Shiite party. Beirut, 01 Mar 11, 20:34

Aoun: Corruptors Won't Return to Power, Government to Be Formed Based on New Majority's Policies
Naharnet/Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun stated on Tuesday that the constitution does not grant the president a certain stake in the distribution of government portfolios.
He said after the movement's weekly meeting: "When the president takes sides in a dispute, then he no longer retains the characteristics of the president as stipulated in the constitution."
He added that he is given portfolios as a "consolation prize so that he will not be granted certain privileges." "We are ready to present a draft law to give him privileges that would allow him to monitor the constitutional work of the government and ministers," he said, Addressing the developments that led to Hizbullah's takeover of Beirut on May 7, 2008, the MP said: "On May 7, the government turned against its ministerial statement through uncovering the Resistance's telecommunications network on May 5.""Hizbullah's reaction was a retaliation against an attack on the party's security," Aoun continued. Wikileaks revealed that the government decision on May 5, 2008 to dismantle Hizbullah's network was devised with one of the foreign embassies, he added. Addressing the shift in majority in the March 8 camp's favor, he said that Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat began altering his positions since 2009 and the camp's work has been completely constitutional. Regarding the government formation process, he said that the new Cabinet will be formed based on the new majority's policies and "let no one think that there will be another policy." "They refuse to admit that a new majority has been formed," he stressed. Addressing the West's calls for democracy and freedom, Aoun said: "We were born free and we are still free. All we do is suffer from their freedom because they only support the corrupt people in Lebanon." "Corruptors never return to power. Don't threaten us with street action and it's in the citizens' interest not to take to the street so that they don't defend those who robbed them," he added. The MP also denied reports that he had recently held a meeting with House Speaker Nabih Berri and Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Beirut, 01 Mar 11, 18:41

Hizbullah Facilitating Formation of Cabinet: Hariri's Statements are Rejected
Naharnet/Hizbullah sources refused on Tuesday to comment on Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri's statements on Monday on the party's possession of arms."Hariri's statements are completely rejected because they are based on discrepancies aimed at misleading the public," they told Akhbar al-Yawm news agency. "We have grown accustomed to such statements that are recycled at every major development in the country as they are aimed at garnering support for the March 14 demonstration," they stated. "Everyone knows that if the majority wants to resort to the street, then it would garner more than double what the March 14 camp is capable of," the sources added. Addressing the government formation process, they asked: "Why does Hariri have six months to study the formation of a government, while Prime Minister-designate Najib Miqati is not entitled to a month to address the issue?" They stressed that Hizbullah is facilitating the government formation process away from the media spotlight, denying that a dispute has erupted among the new majority."Everyone has the right to express their opinion over acquiring a Cabinet portfolio as long as he believes himself to be capable of handling it," they noted. "As opposed to the Hariri government, the new majority will form a salvation government," the sources added. Beirut, 01 Mar 11, 17:04

Campaign against Hezbollah's weapons stepped up
By Elias Sakr /Daily Star staff /Wednesday, March 02, 2011
BEIRUT: March 14 parties pressed ahead with a campaign against Hezbollah’s weapons Tuesday as negotiations to eliminate obstacles hindering the Cabinet formation failed to achieve any progress with no indications of a breakthrough this week. Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati is pursuing his negotiations away from the media to reach an agreement over the Cabinet make-up and bridge the gap between President Michel Sleiman and Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, a source close to Mikati said.
The source added that negotiations were held up by Aoun’s demands, particularly after the former Lebanese army commander “stepped up his rhetoric this afternoon,” dismissing the possibility of forming a government before next week.
Aoun’s sharp criticism of Sleiman and the March 14 coalition was met by the Future Movement’s blatant condemnation of Hezbollah’s arsenal.
The movement’s head – caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri – attacked Hezbollah’s arsenal, saying the group’s weapons have become a national problem that were poisoning the political and cultural life in Lebanon and that the issue needed a national solution. Hariri also accused Hezbollah of using its weapons internally in the past three years to influence political disputes in its favor. The Future Movement bloc said Hezbollah’s arsenal lost its legitimacy after arms were aimed against fellow citizens in a bid to serve the party’s political and regional interests.
Hezbollah, which has remained silent since the campaign against its weapons kicked off, refused to comment on the issue when The Daily Star contacted a number of party officials.
However, the Gathering of National Parties, which embraces a representative of Hezbollah, said the Future Movement’s campaign against Hezbollah served Israeli and foreign interests plotting to divide Lebanon and the region.
Ahead of its rally to voice support for the U.N.-backed tribunal – which is investigating the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri – and to demand the restriction of weapons to state institutions, the Future Movement warned the new government against taking unilateral measures, in reference to Lebanon’s ties with the court.
“The Future Movement bloc stressed its constitutional and democratic right to stand in the opposition and to confront attempts to intimidate, threaten and distort facts. The bloc also warns against resorting to unilateral and revengeful measures,” a statement said.
“The bloc will not remain silent and will defend democracy, freedom of speech and safeguard the Lebanese people’s rights against attempts to obstruct justice,” the statement added.
As he urged March 14 supporters to participate in the coalition’s annual rally, caretaker Minister of State Michel Pharaon said the March 14 coalition has yet to decide whether to hold its rally on March 13 or 14.
March 13 falls on a Sunday, which is likely to draw more supporters as most Lebanese normally have to work on Mondays.
Pharaon added that the March 14 alliance was also in the process of re-organizing its ranks to allow the participation of non-partisans in its decision-making process.
Meanwhile, Future Movement MP Ammar Houri said Progressive Socialist Party MP Walid Jumblatt’s supporters would participate in the March 14 rally despite their leader’s realignment alongside Syria and its allies. Jumblatt, who was a staunch supporter of Prime Minister Saad Hariri and a hard-line critic of Hezbollah’s weapons, gradually moved closer to Damascus after his withdrawal from the March 14 alliance following the June 2009 parliamentary elections. The PSP leader dealt the last blow to Hariri when his National Struggle Front parliamentary bloc named Mikati to head the new government after Hariri’s government was brought down in January. The March 14 alliance announced earlier this week its decision to boycott Mikati’s government, saying he had refused to commit to supporting the U.N.-backed tribunal.
Pharaon said the Cabinet formation process should not be looked at separately from the “coup” which preceded it when he said Hezbollah resorted to the threat of force to shift the parliamentary majority and seize power. “The March 8 invitation to take part in the Cabinet is not serious and we have no other alternative but to confront from the ranks of the opposition and in line with constitutional norms,” Pharaon said, who called for early parliamentary elections to be held.

Arab slogan becomes weapon in war of words over arms
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
by Hussein Dakroub/Daily Star
The wave of popular uprisings currently sweeping the Arab world demanding a regime change has hit Lebanon, but in a different way. It’s a slogan war between the two rival factions over the two most divisive and explosive issues: Hezbollah’s weapons and the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), which is probing the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Inspired by the most popular and striking slogan hoisted by young Arab protesters – “The people want to topple the regime” slogan that has so far led to the overthrow of the Egyptian and Tunisian presidents – the March 14 coalition has decided to adopt this slogan with a minor change in its fierce campaign against Hezbollah’s arsenal.
“The people want to topple the [Hezbollah] arms,” is the slogan to be raised by supporters of the March 14 coalition during a mass rally in central Beirut planned for March 14 to commemorate six years since the coalition was founded. However, the date of the rally could be moved to Sunday, March 13, with the aim of attracting a larger crowd.
The coalition, grouping Muslim and Christian parties, was founded on March 14, 2005, a month after Hariri’s assassination, to defend the cause of Lebanon’s freedom, sovereignty and independence and demand a Syrian troop withdrawal.
In addition to these objectives, the March 14 groups have in past years added to its slogans the STL, which has sharply divided the Lebanese into two rival camps. They have now added Hezbollah’s arms to their targets.
Since the collapse of caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Cabinet on Jan. 12, Hariri, his Future bloc MPs and his March 14 allies have launched a concerted campaign against Hezbollah’s weapons, saying the weapons threatened the country’s security and stability. Some have called for these weapons to be placed under state control.
Hariri, who was the leader of the parliament majority, Monday blamed Hezbollah for his government’s collapse, accusing the party of changing the majority “under threat that if some MPs respected the opinion of their voters, then these weapons are ready to be used against your countrymen.”
In a speech a day after the March 14 coalition announced its opposition against the government to be formed by Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati, Hariri launched his most scathing attack yet on Hezbollah, saying the group’s weapons have become a national problem that was poisoning the political and cultural life in Lebanon and needed a national solution.
Referring to the March 14 coalition’s rally, Hariri said the majority of the Lebanese people would take to the streets on March 14 to reject “the tutelage of weapons over the Constitution and national life.”
Hezbollah’s caretaker Minister of State for Administrative Development Mohammad Fneish refused to comment on Hariri’s fiery speech or on the March 14 coalition’s new slogan targeting Hezbollah’s weapons. “I don’t want to comment on the speech. Hezbollah’s position on the issue of arms is well known,” Fneish told The Daily Star Tuesday.
But Fneish slammed in an earlier statement critics of Hezbollah’s weapons, saying the resistance’s role cannot be terminated under the pretext of the STL.
Taking a direct swipe at Hariri, who accused Hezbollah of using its weapons to influence internal political disputes, Fneish said, “What has changed for some to reject the people, army and resistance equation on which they have previously agreed in the [Hariri’s Cabinet’s] policy statement.”
Another Hezbollah official refused to comment on the March 14 coalition’s new slogan.
Apparently, Hariri’s pitch against Hezbollah’s weapons came in response to his ouster from the government. As-Safir newspaper, which is close to Hezbollah, said Hariri has declared a war on the group’s arms.
“The Future Movement leader Saad Hariri yesterday sent a very clear message that his exit from power will be more costly for the country than his stay in the government and those responsible [for his ouster] must bear the responsibility, even if this led to the country’s destruction,” the paper said. It quoted sources close to Mikati as saying that the way Hariri brought up the issue of Hezbollah’s weapons threatened to plunge the country into renewed sectarian street violence.
In addition to Hariri’s ouster, the March 14 coalition’s slogan against Hezbollah’s arms also came in response to the party’s campaign last year to vilify and abolish the STL which, in the eyes of Hezbollah and its March 8 allies, was established to serve American and Israeli interests rather than revealing the truth in Hariri’s assassination.
But Hariri rejected Hezbollah’s accusation, saying, “This tribunal represents, in our point of view, the highest degree of human justice.”
Responding to Hariri, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech last month that the March 14 coalition’s insistence on launching a battle against his group’s weapons will be “a losing battle that will lead to nowhere.”
Ahmad Hariri, secretary general of the Future Movement, took a tough stance on Hezbollah’s arms. “We will take to the streets on March 14 to say No to the illegitimate arms directed at us. Any arms to confront the Israeli enemy should be placed under the Lebanese army command and in coordination with it,” he said.
“Our battle is with Hezbollah’s arms … March 14 will be a day for a sit-in and strike against these arms.”
The war of slogans between the two sides comes amid media reports that the STL is expected to issue its indictment into Hariri’s assassination this month, further heightening tension and raising fears of sectarian violence, especially if the indictment implicates some Hezbollah members as it is widely assumed.

Man on trial for spying says he is a member of Hezbollah
By Youssef Diab /Daily Star staff
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
BEIRUT: A man arrested on suspicion of spying for Israel has rejected accusations of espionage and asked to confront officials in the resistance. Jaafar Halawi insisted before the Military Tribunal Monday night that he works with a Hezbollah security apparatus and executes operations for them.
Upon appearing before the military court, Halawi expressed anger at being tried for spying for Israel, when, according to him, he was actually employed by Hezbollah to lure and capture Israeli agents. The suspect asked to be allowed to confront six Hezbollah officials, whose orders he said he was acting on.
Halawi appeared before the military court headed by Colonel Nizar Khalil alongside fellow defendant Hussein Musa. Both men are accused of spying for the Israeli enemy, providing it with information on civilian and military sites as well as on party personnel, and engaging in illegal drug trade across Israel. Fugitive Ahmad Hassan Abdullah, known as Ahmad Tanous, was also tried in absentia on the same charges.
Halawi reiterated what he had said in his initial testimony, telling the court: “I am from the town of Kfar Kila, and I work with the resistance. If we were in a secret session, I would mention the operations that I’ve carried out for Hezbollah, and that several officials in the resistance’s security apparatus gave me a cell phone and ordered me to monitor Ahmad Abdullah, the fugitive agent.”
“I am lost. How can I be tried for spying for Israel when I am working for the resistance?” Halawi asked.
When questioned about his claims in light of denials by Hezbollah security, Halawi answered: “I have the names of the officials who employed me and I plead with you to let me confront them. “I don’t know why the resistance has abandoned me, even though I have named those officials whom I worked for,” he added.
Musa withdrew his initial testimony, the content of which remains unknown, saying that he had been subject to torture while in detention. The suspect said he had been arrested in his home in Kfar Kila by two Hezbollah members, who handed him to General Security.
When asked about his relation with Abdullah, Musa said the fugitive had contacted him after the 2006 summer war asking whether he could help provide information on Hezbollah and their sites. “But I refused and he stopped calling me,” he told the court.
At the end of the interrogations, the court decided to send a request to the Telecommunications Ministry, asking for a list of calls made by two cell phone numbers belonging to Musa from the year 2005 until the date of his arrest. The court adjourned the session until May 13.

Four ministers snub STL
Members of Cabinet urged to comply with U.N. agreements in letters from Hariri
By Hussein Dakroub
Daily Star staff
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
BEIRUT: Four members of Lebanon’s caretaker Cabinet have turned down requests from the prosecutor general of the U.N.-appointed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) to provide information and documents, in breach of the cooperation protocol signed with the United Nations, sources close to the STL told The Daily Star Tuesday.
The requests made by Prosecutor General Daniel Bellemare were sent last month from Bellemare’s office in Beirut to the office of caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who passed them on to caretaker Public Works Minister Ghazi Aridi, caretaker Energy Minister Jibran Bassil, caretaker Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud and caretaker Telecommunications Minister Charbel Nahhas.
But the four ministers have not yet complied with the requests, the sources said.
The STL has requested a meeting with Lebanese ambassador to The Hague Zeidan Saghir on March 7 to discuss the issue.
In the meantime, The Daily Star has learned that Bellemare is contemplating measures against the ministers who declined to cooperate with his requests, such as listing them by name as uncooperative.
Hariri sent letters to the four ministers on Feb. 24 urging them to provide the requested information and documents so that Lebanon would not be accused of not cooperating with the tribunal and not complying with its obligations under relevant U.N. resolutions. Copies of those letters have been obtained by The Daily Star.
The Netherlands-based STL was set up by the U.N. Security Council in 2007 to investigate the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others killed when a bomb exploded in Beirut on Feb. 14, 2005. Under the cooperation agreement signed with the U.N., Lebanon promised to provide any assistance, information, data and documents requested by the tribunal.
In his letter to Aridi, Hariri urged the caretaker minister to permit U.N. investigators to question some ministry employees as witnesses and provide the requested documents as soon as possible in accordance with the Lebanese government’s commitment to cooperate with the STL.
In his letter to Bassil, Hariri reminded the caretaker energy minister in his capacity as former telecommunications minister that the Lebanese government and relevant authorities must facilitate the tribunal’s work and prevent the obstruction of the course of justice.
“In order not to put the Lebanese government and its relevant authorities in the position of refraining from complying with international obligations and U.N. resolutions and their subsequent consequences at various levels, we call on you to act immediately to meet the demands of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon concerning the telecommunications data and inform us of the results,” Hariri said in the letter.
In his letter to Baroud, Hariri urged him to help Bellemare’s Beirut office obtain some information and documents at the departments of the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities.
Hariri called on Baroud to quickly meet the prosecutor’s request in order to avoid giving any signal the Lebanese government and its relevant authorities were not cooperating with the tribunal.
Hariri urged Nahhas to act immediately to provide the requested telecommunications data to the tribunal.
“Any reluctance to fulfill the requests of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon will, intentionally or unintentionally, send a clear signal about the Lebanese government’s rejection or abstention to implement international resolutions issued by the United Nations and the U.N. Security Council,” Hariri said in his letter to Nahhas.
Meanwhile, Parliament sources indicated that Nahhas told Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri Tuesday that he has stopped meeting the demands of the U.N. Investigation Commission since last year’s speech by Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in which he called on the Lebanese government and officials to boycott the STL and not cooperate with the commission.
Nahhas explained to Berri that Bellemare had requested comprehensive information about telephone conversations among the Lebanese, including ministers and lawmakers, and that this violated the public freedom and eavesdropping law, the sources said.
Nahhas told Berri that the data in Bellemare’s possession was unofficial and did not carry the signature of any telecom company. He said that Bellemare, in his new request to the Telecommunications Ministry, wanted this data to be official and signed according to the rules so that it can be adopted as a legal document at the STL and used as evidence in the draft indictment handed over by Bellemare to pretrial judge Daniel Fransen in January, the sources added.
Following Nahhas’ refusal to cooperate with the UN Investigation Commission, Lebanese security and judicial authorities directly approached the telecom companies which supplied Bellemare with unsigned data, telecommunication sources said. Nahhas rejected Bellemare’s request for signed data, the sources said.
Sources close to Nahhas said that the U.N. Investigation Commission’s demands violated the telephone privacy law No. 120 which has not been implemented since it was approved in 2005 because of disagreements over its wording.

Treasury’s war on Hezbollah
Matt Nash, March 2, 2011 /Now Lebanon
The US Treasury Department recently accused a Lebanese bank of laundering money and sending some of the proceeds to Hezbollah. (AFP Photo/Joseph Barrak)
Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh is singing a different tune.
When the US Treasury Department announced in early February that it found the Lebanese Canadian Bank (LCB) to be involved in money laundering tied to drug trafficking that financially benefited Hezbollah, Salameh defended the bank and essentially denied the charge.
“The Lebanese Canadian Bank abides by Lebanese laws and international standards,” he said. But after meeting with US officials on February 25, he backed away from that defense and said the US action “only addressed the activities of the bank and not the entire banking sector in Lebanon.”
The country’s banking industry is the backbone of the economy. There were fears when Treasury first made its announcement that the US might soon levy accusations against other local banks or that action against LCB could tarnish the sector’s reputation.
“It’s something the sector doesn’t need to begin with,” said one banker, who would only speak anonymously because of the sensitivity of the issue. “But other banks are functioning normally.”
Another banker who also spoke anonymously said Treasury’s action could be a black spot on the sector, but he thinks the Central Bank will step in to calm depositors and investors.
“The Central Bank is very strict, so if they suspect anything, they don’t show anybody any mercy because it would tarnish the whole industry. And this is the only industry we have that’s still intact,” he said.
Salameh did not announce if the Central Bank – or law enforcement officials – would be taking any punitive actions against LCB. However, on Wednesday, An-Nahar reported that four banks are negotiating to buy LCB. The report said the bank could be sold for between $500 and $600 million and that the Central Bank is not mediating these discussions.
“This settlement is the most suitable given that the issue is linked to the reputation of the sector and its credibility,” banking expert Ghazi Wazni told the daily.
On February 10, Treasury announced that it had enough information to act against LCB for its alleged role in a money-laundering scheme. The scheme apparently involved drug trafficking and selling used cars in Africa. LCB employees in Lebanon and abroad allegedly knew about the drugs and money laundering and apparently helped move some of the proceeds from this illicit activity along to Hezbollah.
“According to U.S. Government information, Hezbollah derived financial support from the criminal activities of [drug kingpin Ayman] Joumaa’s network,” the department said in a press release. “LCB managers are also linked to Hezbollah officials outside of Lebanon. For example, Hezbollah’s Tehran-based envoy Abdallah Safieddine was involved in Iranian officials’ access to LCB and key LCB managers, who provide them banking services. LCB’s other links to Hezbollah include LCB’s subsidiary, Gambia-based Prime Bank, which is partially owned by a Lebanese individual known to be a supporter of Hezbollah.”
Treasury did not respond to an interview request.
LCB does not have any branches in the US, but does have relationships with several US banks through what are known as payable-through and correspondent accounts. Because branches are expensive to open and operate, in an increasingly globalized world, banks will often establish ties abroad so their customers can do business with their home bank in a foreign country via a payable-through or correspondent account. Treasury ordered US banks to cancel all payable-through and correspondent accounts linked to LCB.
For years now Treasury has been waging a financial war against Hezbollah as part of an effort to disrupt financing for groups the US labels terrorists. Since 2004, when then-President George W. Bush created the department, that war has been led by the Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Stuart Levey.
Levey is the architect of US sanctions against Iran and is expected to end his long tenure at Treasury soon. His replacement will be longtime confident and Treasury colleague David Cohen, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Treasury’s moves against Hezbollah generally target Lebanese living and working abroad – some of the most high-profile actions have been taken against Lebanese in Africa and in the so-called “Triple Frontier” (or tri-border region) of South America, where Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil meet. In 2006, a US counterterrorism official told the Wall Street Journal that Hezbollah “is at a pretty high level now” in terms of Washington’s priorities.
In terms of how important going after Hezbollah is to Treasury and other US officials now, Mara Karlin, a former Pentagon official who worked on the Levant, told NOW Lebanon, “It’s safe to say folks are keeping an eye on what Hezbollah does…We’ve seen that Hezbollah actions don’t stay within Lebanon. We have to be cognizant of what they’re doing.”
Treasury’s finding against LCB does indeed highlight alleged Hezbollah activity abroad, something the US is keen to publicize, an analyst told NOW Lebanon.
“This is a pretty significant action,” said Matthew Levitt, director of the Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who served as deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at Treasury from 2005 to early 2007.
“Hezbollah raises a lot of money independent of the annual funding it gets from Iran, and efforts to deny Hezbollah the ability to do that and finance illicit activities – and highlighting the fact that Hezbollah does engage in explicitly illicit activities like being involved in the narcotics industry – is important to demonstrate what Hezbollah really is and what it isn’t,” he told NOW Lebanon.
Action against LCB, he said, obviously grew out of an earlier Drug Enforcement Administration investigation into Ayman Joumaa, who was mentioned in Treasury’s report on the bank. Levitt and Karlin said Treasury is not the only agency in the US government working against Hezbollah.
“If you’re looking at these issues [like terrorist financing] writ large, there’s a pretty good inter-agency process,” Karlin said. “Lebanon has generally benefited from senior-level interest, so you’d have close coordination at all levels, from action officers to cabinet officials discussing these issues in a robust dialogue.”
The particular timing of Treasury’s recent announcement – on the heels of Hezbollah toppling Lebanon’s government and, with allies, electing Najib Mikati as the next prime minister – raised eyebrows in Lebanon and abroad.
“My general impression is that [Treasury’s action against LCB] fits the pattern that I’ve been observing in the past nine or 10 years, which is that the question of timing is always interesting,” said Ibrahim Warde, author of a book on terrorism financing and a professor at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Warde said he thinks Treasury’s announcement was timed as a political message aimed at Mikati. Levitt cautioned that coincidences happen and have been incorrectly deemed significant in the past, but did not entirely dismiss a potential political message behind the announcement.
“I do think there is a tremendous amount of activity going on in Lebanon today and more coming down the pike. And I do think it would be wholly appropriate if the administration decided that now was an opportune time to reveal this information,” he said.
The investigation and Treasury’s decision to act were “certainly” not driven by current Lebanese politics, he said, but if politics factored into the consideration of when to announce this move, “which is potential, then it would not be inappropriate.”

Michel Aoun
March 2, 2011
On March 1, the Lebanese National News Agency carried the following report:
…Head of the Change and Reform Bloc General Michel Aoun stated (mockingly) after the bloc’s weekly meeting in Rabieh: Aren’t you going to wish me a pleasant recovery? I was in the hospital last week and today they said I had a new strength. In light of these repeated rumors, it seems I have entered the hospital about 52 times. However, I would like to reassure the people that I am in good health thank God. During our weekly meeting we went over some points. First of all, I would like to welcome the youth who demonstrated for secularism, and if they truly wish to do something to prepare for that stage, I call on them to contact us and meet with us in work sessions to define the sensitive points that should be tackled to achieve this major goal that interests many Lebanese. It is not enough to demonstrate, since the demands must turn into actions to prepare our entire community for that stage…
On the other hand, we are always hearing about the prerogatives of the president and that we are undermining these prerogatives. I have previously tackled the president’s share in the government on the constitutional level. There is nothing in the constitution or the laws defining the president’s share… Let them not deal with this issue as being a compensation prize because they wish to limit the prerogatives of the president in other locations, in which he should actually enjoy prerogatives. Should we give him a portfolio or two in exchange for his prerogatives? We will not allow that and are willing to present a law that would truly give powers to the president, allowing him to monitor the constitutionality of the work of the government and the ministers. He swore an oath to protect the constitution and he is its sole guarantor. We do not wish to amend anything and merely want to give him that possibility…
There is talk about a coup. We must mention everything that has happened and say firstly that the coup was carried out by the government, not as they are claiming by saying that the resignation aimed at consecrating the coup. What coup are they talking about? The May coup? Did they forget what happened in May? Did they, i.e. the majority, forget that the government was paralyzed and was against the implementation of the law on the false witnesses? For two months in a row, we were unable to adopt a decision allowing the judiciary to investigate the false witnesses’ issue, in order to clarify what happened during the investigation. Today, we believe that the tribunal is politicized… Therefore, the resignation was due to the paralysis affecting the government’s work and this is only normal. The work of the ministers was paralyzed while the prime minister was flying in his private jet from one country to the other and making contacts as the prime minister of the Lebanese government.
This had to stop so that he would become a former prime minister and speak on his own behalf. Where did they see a coup? There was a majority and it shifted. Walid Jumblatt did not change his mind after the government resigned, since he had previously changed his mind in 2009 as could be seen through his statements and speeches… They were asked to participate in the government and they started making impossible demands. Read the list they presented during the consultations. It featured all the reasons for which the government collapsed and asked that they be included in the new one. It is as though one is saying to the other: “Travel alone but put this dynamite stick in your bag.” They want to place dynamite in the government so that it explodes during the formation. The government collapsed and there is now a new majority. Consequently, this government will be formed based on the political inclination of the new majority and no one can make promises regarding a different policy. They are the ones who should abide by it...
What is happening today is due to their refusal to recognize their defeat in a democratic way. They are refusing to recognize the presence of a new majority and the mayhem and decadence we are currently seeing in the media is a war of intentions… Let us assume that my intentions are always bad, no one can hold me accountable for these intentions. Let them hold me accountable for what I am proposing and doing. What I think is mine solely. Whether I am honest or not is only up to me... On this occasion, I would like to address a message to the West, the entire West, to America and to Europe. The Western states have exhausted us with their promotion of democracy and freedoms. I say to them we were born free and are still free! However, we are suffering from this democracy they are imposing on us and through which and under whose banner and cover they are supporting corruption and the corrupt in Lebanon.
The time has come for them to understand what is happening in the Arab world, from the West to the East due to corruption. Who supported these regimes? Who is helping them? Here in Lebanon, who is supporting the corrupt regime which has afflicted us with the debt?... Let no one defy us at this level. The corrupt will not return to power and let no one threaten us about resorting to the street. It is in the best interest of the citizens not to take to the street, not because someone will attack them, but because they will be defending those who pillaged and destroyed them. They have reached a stage in which they want to convince the people that if so and so leaves power, Lebanon will be devastated. Maybe they are right because this will generate more foreign conspiracies. But we must resist and fix the situation from the inside and the outside…