LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِAugust
05/2011
Bible Quotation for today
Romans 03/09-20: "What then? Are we better
than they? No, in no way. For we previously warned both Jews and Greeks, that
they are all under sin. As it is written, “There is no one righteous; no,
not one. There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks after
God. They have all turned aside. They have together become unprofitable.
There is no one who does good, no, not, so much as one.”(Psalms 14:1-3; 53:1-3;
Ecclesiastes 7:20) Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have
used deceit.”( Psalm 5:9) “The poison of vipers is under their lips”(;§ Psalm
140:3) 14 “whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.( Psalm 10:7 ) Their
feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways.
The way of peace, they haven’t known.”(Isaiah 59:7-8) There is no fear of God
before their eyes.”( Psalm 36:1) Now we know that whatever things the law says,
it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and
all the world may be brought under the judgment of God. Because by the
works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For through the law
comes the knowledge of sin
Latest
analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases
from
miscellaneous
sources
Give Obama an ‘F’ in the Middle
East/By
Michael Young/August
04/11
Surely Micheal
Aoun's time is up/Now
Lebanon/August
4, 2011
Canada Denounces Church Bombing in Iraq/July
04/11
Latest News Reports From
Miscellaneous Sources for August 04/11
STL could link 4 suspects to more
crimes: source/The Daily Star
The Orontes River runs red
as Syrian anti-aircraft guns pound Hama/DEBKAfile
Syria testing international
patience/The Daqily Star
Rights Group: At Least 109
Killed Thursday in and around Hama/Naharnet
Lebanese Officials mixed on Lebanon
stance at U.N. on Syria/The Daily Star
Report: Turkey Seizes Iranian Arms
Smuggled to Syria, Hizbullah/Naharnet
France slams Syria multi-party
proposal as provocation/Now Lebanon
At Least 30 Reportedly Killed in
Syria's Hama/Naharnet
Medvedev Says Assad Risks 'Sad
Fate' if He Fails to Reform/Naharnet
EU Says Assad's Reform Offer
Must be Put into Effect/Naharnet
Molotovs Hurled at Arab League
HQ amid Syrian, Libyan 'Threats'/Naharnet
Geagea: Lebanon’s Position at
U.N. Places it Outside of International Community/Naharnet
March 14: Lebanon’s Disavowal of
U.N. Statement on Syria is ‘Disgraceful’/Naharnet
Lebanon's FM, Mansour Defends
Lebanon’s Stance at Security Council over Syria/Naharnet
Miqati: Lebanese Stand at U.N.
Takes into Account Sensitivities of Situation in Lebanon/Naharnet
SANA: Assad Decrees Multi-party
System/Naharnet
UN Security Council rebuke of Syria
hailed as potential 'turning point'/Christian Science Monitor
U.N. council statement condemns use of force by Syria/Reuters
Arab Spring sees a trial in Egypt, tanks in Syria/Washington
Times
IMF Chief Lagarde Faces France
Finance Crime Probe/Naharnet
Lebanese
Parliament Gives Lebanon Right
to Explore Maritime Resources/Naharnet
Human Rights Groups Slam Lebanon
for Harassing Alkarama Activist/Naharnet
Suleiman Stresses on Dialogue,
Lebanon’s International Commitments/Naharnet
Lebanese intellectuals call for
voicing solidarity with Syrians on Monday/Now Lebanon
Lebanese Parliament approves
cancelling article on honor crimes/Now Lebanon
Kataeb bloc MP Elie Marouni:
Lebanese cabinet behaved like one-sided government/Now Lebanon
Connelly says still early
to judge Mikati's Cabinet/The Daily Star
The
Orontes River runs red as Syrian anti-aircraft guns pound Hama
DEBKAfile Special Report August 4, 2011,
Horrifying images of bodies and limbs floating in the Orontes River in Hama were
aired by Syrian state television early Thursday, Aug. 4. Contrary to official
claims that they belonged to Syrian soldiers torn to pieces by protesters,
debkafile reports they are the victims of Syrian tank fire and ZU-23 automatic
anti-aircraft artillery trained on residential buildings and streets in the last
48 hours as the dead pile up in the streets.
Citizens cowering in their homes are throwing the dead out of windows and off
roofs into the river.
They are reliving the terrors of the massacre President Bashar Assad's father
inflicted on this city of half-a-million in 1982 which left 30,000 dead.
Our sources report that the Syrian ruler decided to take advantage of three
events for unleashing an all-out assault against rebellious Hama:
1. World attention was riveted on the deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's
trial which opened in Cairo Wednesday. As Mubarak was stunningly wheeled into
the courtroom on a stretcher and deposited in an iron cage, Syrian tanks
thundered into central Hama, indiscriminately shelling buildings and torching
them. Their anti-aircraft guns mowed down the rebels who were firing anti-tank
weapons from roadblocks.
Buildings suspected of housing snipers at windows or on rooftops were flattened.
Casualty figures cannot be confirmed because the Syrian authorities have cut off
all the city's ground and cell telephone and Internet links. Electrical current
and water are also switched off. The dead are believed to be in the hundreds and
rising all the time because the thousands of injured cannot be reached for
medical care.
The satellite phones in the hands of some of the dissident leaders provide the
only source of information on the situation in the embattled city.
2. The crisis between the Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and the army after the
entire top command resigned in a body, which Assad expected would preoccupy all
the decision-making levels in Ankara to the exclusion of Syria. He counted on no
one in authority venturing to order the Turkish units poised on the Syrian
border for weeks to cross into northern Syria and establish a buffer zone there
to ease the siege on Hama and other towns.
3. The UN Security Council convening Wednesday night routinely condemned the
killing of civilians in Syria and human rights abuses but stopped at approving
sanctions or any concrete penalties for the delinquent Assad regime.
Although US UN representative Susan Rice called the statement "an important and
strong step," Bashar Assad was not impressed and the Syrian army's onslaught on
Hama kept going through the night.
Assad was further encouraged by an event in the US Congress. After the Senate
Tuesday, Aug. 3 approved the bill raising the national debt ceiling, the
lawmakers were scheduled to turn to the crisis in Syria. However, US Ambassador
Robert Ford, on hand to brief the senators, saw them hurrying to leave Capitol
Hill. Only one senator remained for the briefing.
The Syrian ruler has therefore concluded he can safely ignore international
opinion. In the face of US and Western indifference, he can continue to
mercilessly slaughter his people without fear of the sort of intervention they
undertook in Libya or UN sanctions.
Lebanese Officials mixed on Lebanon stance at U.N. on Syria
August 04, 2011 01/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Lebanese lawmakers and public figures voiced mixed reactions Thursday to
their country’s disassociation with the U.N. Security Council statement
condemning the violence in Syria.
Whereas members of the country’s opposition said Lebanon had failed to reflect
the country’s anger at Damascus and its sympathies with Syrian protesters, March
8 coalition members said Beirut had taken the right decision of not interfering
with its Arab neighbor.
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea criticized Lebanon's decision at the U.N,
saying: "We as Lebanese are not proud of Lebanon's decision at the Security
Council."
"How is it in Lebanon's interest when it dissociates itself from voting?" the LF
leader asked.
Speaking to a local radio station, Geagea said that he did not believe a vote at
the U.N. would have fallen "within the framework of interfering in Syria's
affairs."
Lebanon disassociated itself Wednesday from a Security Council statement which
condemned the crackdown on Syrian protesters.
MP Mohammad Hajjar, a member of the Future Movement, said: “the opposition had
hoped that Lebanon would come out with a position that expresses the desires and
aspirations of the majority of both the Lebanese and Syrian peoples as well as
Syrian people’s right to reject violence, oppression and injustice in order to
live in dignity, freedom and democracy,” Future Movement
“The March 14 alliance will issue an official stance on the Lebanese
government’s position toward Syria’s bloody tyranny,” Hajjar told a local radio
station.
Hajjar said the March 14 coalition, led by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri,
would issue a response to the stance by Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s Cabinet on
the events in Syria.
Hariri, who has made only a few public appearances since his government
collapsed in January, condemned last week what he described as a “massacre” in
the Syrian city of Hama and urged Arabs to break their silence on events in
Syria.
Opposition and human rights groups say over 1,600 civilians have been killed in
a deadly crackdown launched by President Bashar Assad in March when protests
began. Damascus blames “terrorist gangs” for the civilian deaths and says the
unrest in his country is part of a conspiracy.
MP Nabil de Freij, also a member in Hariri’s Future parliamentary bloc, said
Lebanon’s position was not unexpected.
“Lebanon’s stance was expected since the Lebanese government is one-sided and
close to Syria,” de Freij said.
However, de Freij expressed his belief that the Cabinet’s stance “will not
ignite problems with the opposition [March 14]” and ruled out it would have any
negative impact on Lebanon’s relations with the international community.
Rival lawmakers in the Hezbollah-led March 8 camp expressed different views,
stressing the need not to interfere in the affairs of Lebanon's neighbor Syria.
MP Michel Musa, a member in Speaker Nabih Berri’s parliamentary bloc, said:
“Lebanon has no interest in antagonizing Syria and, therefore, there is no
interest in taking a position in the Security Council to condemn Syria given the
brotherly ties as well as political, security and economic agreements.”
Musa stressed “the need for Lebanon to distance itself from any internal
conflict in Syria.”
For his part, Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi, a member of MP Gen Michel Aoun’s
Free Patriotic Movement, said that world countries acted in terms of their
interests and that disputes between Damascus and Beirut would not serve the
interests of Lebanon.
“Our interest is in having best ties with Syria and we must not interfere in its
[internal] affairs,” Qortbawi added.
Lebanese representative Caroline Ziade told the Security Council the
presidential council statement “does not help in addressing the current
situation in Syria.”
Statements are meant to be unanimous, meaning Lebanon could have blocked it, but
by simply disassociating itself, Lebanon allowed the statement to pass.
Mount Lebanon Mufti Mohammad Jouzou also slammed Cabinet’s “negative position by
not voting against the repression in Syria” in the Security Council.
“Lebanon does not dare vote because Lebanon itself has been a victim of this
repression for 36 years –since the era of Syrian tutelage,” Jouzou said in a
statement published Thursday.
Canada Denounces Church Bombing in Iraq
(No. 219 - August 3, 2011 - 10 p.m. ET) John Baird, Canada’s Foreign Affairs
Minister, today issued the following statement condemning yesterday’s bombing
outside a Syrian Catholic church in Kirkuk, Iraq:
“Attacks aimed at intimidating specific religious groups are utterly
unacceptable. We denounce this attempt to suppress basic human rights and
religious freedom.
“Today, I met with Suzan Johnson Cook, the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for
International Religious Freedom, and we discussed issues related to religious
freedom and tolerance.
“Canada remains deeply concerned about the plight of the Iraqi minorities,
including the Christian community, who are especially vulnerable to violence.
Bringing the perpetrators to justice would be an important step.
“In the recent Speech from the Throne, our government renewed its pledge to
create an office of religious freedom to monitor and combat precisely this type
of religious hatred and promote freedom of religion worldwide.
“The issue of international freedom of religion is a matter that we take very
seriously. While the office of religious freedom is still in the planning
stages, we envision it as part of our efforts to promote human rights, encourage
the protection of religious minorities around the world and promote Canadian
values.”
France slams Syria multi-party proposal as “provocation”
August 4, 2011 /France on Thursday slammed as "provocation" a decree by Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad allowing opposition parties, and said instead he
should stop his deadly crackdown on democracy protests. "In a manner that lacks
credibility... the Syrian regime recently announced the authorization of
multi-party politics. This is almost a provocation," Foreign Minister Alain
Juppe told French radio. He said that "what we want is an end to the violence
against the civilian population which is only defending its rights."
Juppe warned that "if nothing changes in Syria," France may seek further action
from the UN Security Council, which on Wednesday condemned the deadly crackdown
and said those responsible should be held accountable. Assad on Thursday issued
a decree authorizing political parties to be established and to function
alongside the Baath party, in power since 1963 with the constitutional status of
"the leader of state and society.” Political pluralism has been at the forefront
of demands by pro-reform dissidents who since March 15 have been taking to the
streets across Syria almost daily to call for greater freedoms.-AFP/NOW Lebanon
Kataeb bloc MP Elie Marouni: Lebanese cabinet behaved like one-sided government
August 4, 2011 /Kataeb bloc MP Elie Marouni expressed on Thursday surprise over
Lebanon’s decision to abstain from voting on a UN Security Council presidential
statement pertaining to the Syrian crisis, saying that “the Lebanese government
behaved like a one-sided government without taking into consideration the
opinion of other Lebanese.”
“Are the Syrian people any different from the Egyptian, Libyan or Tunisian
people?” he asked, adding: “Lebanon must stand by all the Arab people.”The UN
Security Council on Wednesday condemned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's
deadly crackdown on protests and called for those responsible for violence to be
held "accountable."Lebanon did not block the adoption, but disavowed the
document. "Whatever affects Lebanon, affects Syria, whatever affects Syria will
also affect Lebanon," Lebanon's deputy ambassador Caroline Ziade told the
meeting. "Since Lebanon considers that the statement being discussed today does
not help address the current situation in Syria, Lebanon therefore disassociates
itself from this presidential statement," she added. Diplomats said Lebanon was
a special case because of its sensitive ties to Syria. Lebanon's political
scene is split between supporters of the Assad regime, led by Shia group
Hezbollah, and a pro-Western camp headed by ex-Premier Saad Hariri. -NOW Lebanon
Lebanese intellectuals call for voicing solidarity with Syrians on Monday
August 4, 2011 /Lebanese intellectuals, artists and media figures called on
Thursday, through the social network Facebook, for a gathering of solidarity in
support of the Syrian people. They are to meet on Monday, August 8, at Martyrs
Square in downtown Beirut at 9 p.m. and light candles in a display of
solidarity. The invitation posted on Facebook said “the oppressive Syrian
regime [is not responding] to its people’s [call for] legitimate rights.” “We
announce our condemnation of the violence committed against the Syrian people
[whose] revolution is democratic and peaceful, and call on the Lebanese people
to [voice] solidarity [with the Syrian people] on Monday in front of the statue
of martyrs,” it added. At least 1,583 civilians and 369 members of the army and
security forces have been killed since mid-March in Syria, according to a Syrian
Observatory toll.-NOW Lebanon
Lebanese Parliament approves cancelling article on honor
crimes
August 4, 2011 /The parliament on Thursday approved cancelling Penal Code
Article 562, which pertains to honor crimes, the National News Agency reported.
The report added that the parliament will convene on Wednesday to resume
reviewing the remaining draft laws.-NOW Lebanon
Surely Micheal Aoun's time is up
August 4, 2011
Michel Aoun has done it again. The Free Patriotic Movement leader and MP has
blown away the boundaries of decency by condoning the brutal crackdown in the
Syrian city of Hama. This is what he said: “It is clear that the intentions of
the [Syrian] opposition are not good.” Moments earlier, he said that the regime
had the right to crack down on “chaos on the streets.”
Surely now is the time for all Aounists to abandon their leader. Not only
because of his warped and hypocritical principals, but also for the cynical way
he has manipulated decent people who had initially seen him as a clean and
progressive alternative to what they perceived as the hidebound ideologies of
the Lebanese Forces and the Kataeb.
Aoun’s talent has been to mesmerize middle classes to sell them an illusion of a
movement that was free of corruption, filled with new blood and dedicated to the
resuscitation of a nation that for decades they believed had been gripped by
waste and mismanagement at all levels.
And yet he threw in his lot with precisely the people he claimed were in his
crosshairs. He talks of one nation, of prosperity of the rule of law, and yet
Hezbollah, his closest political ally, has shown time and time again that it is
a party that cares not one jot for any of those principles or goals. Meanwhile,
his other allies, most notably the SSNP and the Amal Movement, have demonstrated
their willingness to shed blood on the streets of the capital, as they did on
May 7, 2008. The gulf between what Aoun would like to think he stands for and
the reality created by his political bedfellows could not be wider.
On second thought, maybe we should be surprised that now Aoun—who for nearly 15
years railed against the brutality of the regimes of both Hafez and Bashar
al-Assad, and whose supporters were routinely arrested, detained and
tortured—can stand up and tell the world that the intentions of the Syrian
opposition are not good and that murderous internal repression is by implication
acceptable.
If it weren’t so shocking, his hypocrisy would make a fine psychoanalytical case
study. Indeed, finding holes in the Aounist argument requires little debating
skill, but still his supporters seem to be blind to his…we were going to say
“faults,” but his political vanity has surpassed the faults and taken us to the
land of the venal and the naked ambition.
His supporters should stop trying to justify their choice in leaders by picking
holes in his opponents’ policies. Aoun has styled himself as a man who is above
the grubby political fray and yet has consistently failed to live up to any of
his lofty standards. This alone should send alarm bells ringing among those who
gave him a chance but who now must be wondering what came over them.
There is an iconic photograph taken in front of the Lebanese University in Fanar
in 2002 in which anti-Syrian demonstrators, the majority supporters of the
still-exiled Aoun, are being hosed down by a water cannon. The protesters are
defiant and huddled in a group. Amid the scrum of bodies is a lone hand giving
the V for victory sign. They would not be bowed in their determination to see a
free, sovereign and independent Lebanon and in their bid to do so were willing
to face the wrath of the Syrian-backed authorities (no doubt the Syrian security
chief in Lebanon at the time, Brigadier General Rustum Ghazaleh, did not approve
of their “intentions” either).
Thankfully no one died that day, but Syrians with similar demands have been
dying in the hundreds over the past five months. Although Aoun should remember
what he stood for and what his supporters did in his name, he probably won’t. He
won’t even condemn the beating up of Lebanese protestors by pro-Syrian thugs in
Hamra on Tuesday night when the police refused to intervene. Aoun is an asset of
the Syrian regime in Lebanon. He is morally and politically bankrupt, and this
is why his supporters should drop him like a hot coal.
EU Says Assad's Reform Offer Must be Put into Effect
Naharnet /EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Thursday dubbed Syria's
multi-party reform offer "a step in the right direction" but on condition it be
put into effect.
"We are still waiting for previously announced reforms to be implemented,"
Ashton said in a statement issued after President Bashar al-Assad issued a
decree allowing opposition political parties.The latest reforms announced by
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are "in principle a step in the right
direction, but only if they are genuinely put into effect," Ashton said.
The new law would allow parties alongside Assad's Baath party, in power since
1963, meeting demands by pro-reform dissidents who since March 15 have been
demanding pluralism.
Assad's latest concession came hours after the U.N. Security Council condemned
his regime's deadly crackdown on dissent and said those responsible should be
held accountable.
Ashton said the U.N. statement was a clear signal to Assad "to listen to the
international community, to finally stop the violence, to protect the Syrian
people".
**Source Agence France Presse
Medvedev Says Assad Risks 'Sad Fate' if He Fails to Reform
Naharnet /Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday called the situation in
Syria "dramatic" and expressed "enormous concern" over the deadly violence in
the country.
"Unfortunately, people die there in large numbers. This arouses enormous concern
from us," the Russian leader said in an interview given to Russian media in the
southern resort Sochi.Syria's President Bashar al-Assad needs to "carry out
urgent reforms, come to terms with the opposition, restore peace and create a
modern state," Medvedev said as quoted by the Interfax news agency."If he cannot
do this, a sad fate awaits him, and in the end we will have to take some
decision. We are watching the way the situation develops. As it changes, some of
our perspectives also change." Medvedev's remarks follow a foreign ministry
statement Monday strongly criticizing the government's crackdown on
demonstrations in Syria in a sign of a shift in Russia's rigid position on the
conflict in the U.N. Security Council. Russia together with China, both of which
hold veto power in the U.N. Security Council, have persistently blocked a
Western-drafted resolution on Syria to the irritation of other world powers.
Moscow has repeatedly stressed that it was firmly opposed to foreign
interference in Syria, its ally since Soviet times, and believed its regional
ally could find a political solution to its crisis.**Source Agence France Presse
Report: Turkey Seizes Iranian Arms Smuggled to Syria, Hizbullah
Naharnet /Turkish authorities have seized an Iranian arms shipment heading to
Syria and was meant for Hizbullah, a German newspaper reported Thursday. The
Munich-based Süddeutsche Zeitung quoted diplomatic sources as saying that
Turkish security forces stopped a convoy of trucks carrying a large quantity of
weapons and ammunition in the south-central city of Kilis, which is adjacent to
the Syrian border. Ankara refused to either confirm or deny the report. This was
not the first time Turkey has been able to foil an Iranian arms shipment to
Syria. In March, Ankara informed the U.N. Security Council that it had seized an
Iranian cargo plane headed to Syria and that included a cache of weapons.
Geagea: Lebanon’s Position at U.N. Places it Outside of International Community
Naharnet /Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea criticized on Thursday Lebanon’s
decision to disassociate itself from the United Nations Security Council
statement condemning the violence against protests in Syria.He told Voice of
Lebanon radio: “Something must be wrong in Lebanon when 14 out of 15 countries
voted in favor of the statement, especially when these countries included
Russia, Brazil China, and others of different ideologies.” “How can it be in
Lebanon’s interests to disassociate itself from the statement?” he
asked.“Doesn’t this place Lebanon outside the international fold?” he wondered.
Asked about Lebanon’s ties with Syria, he responded: “The developments at the
Security Council have nothing to do with meddling in Syria’s affairs, but they
are aimed at putting an end to the crimes against humanity.” Furthermore, Geagea
criticized the government’s failure to arrest any suspects in the attacks
against demonstrators that took part in a rally in support of the Syrian people
that was held in the Hamra neighborhood of Beirut on Tuesday. Six people were
wounded in the attack. “We reject the failure to launch an investigation in the
matter,” Geagea said. Despite the attack, he said that he ruled out any
deterioration in the security situation in Lebanon, adding however that he is
now “wary of the security and judicial authorities over their failure to launch
an investigation into the assault.” “These authorities don’t intervene in any
matter that is linked to Syria and Hizbullah,” he noted. On President Michel
Suleiman’s efforts to restart the national dialogue, the LF leader noted: We
support dialogue, but our experience during the past four years is not
encouraging at all.”“The other camp is insistent on not discussing Hizbullah’s
arms at the dialogue table when this is the only issue left to address,” Geagea
stated. “Therefore, we will be prepared to hold talks when the other camp is
ready for it as well. Anything other than that will be a waste of time,” he
stressed. “The President is trying, but I don’t think he will reap any results
any time soon,” he remarked. On Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi’s efforts to
hold a meeting for Maronite leaders, he said: “We support this call, but the
problem is that some sides say one thing and then they do the exact opposite.”
“The minimum amount of seriousness is necessary from all parts in order to take
part in the dialogue … but I haven’t received word that the meeting will be held
soon,” he said.
Miqati: Lebanese Stand at U.N. Takes into Account Sensitivities of Situation in
Lebanon
Naharnet
Prime Minister Najib Miqati stated on Thursday that Lebanon chose to
“disassociate” itself from the United Nations Security Council statement on
Syria out of its “firm position that it will not intervene in the internal
affairs of other countries.”
He said before reporters: “Lebanon does not meddle in the affairs of other
nations, especially Arab ones, and it expects others not to meddle in its
issues.”
“In Lebanon’s view, the Security Council statement does not help in tackling the
situation in Syria,” he added.
“The Lebanese stand took into consideration the sensitivity of the situation in
Lebanon,” he explained. “Some claims that the government’s position is hindering
international legitimacy are untrue,” the premier said.
“Such allegations are part of the political dispute in Lebanon or they are
derived out of ignorance over how Security Council resolutions are made,” Miqati
continued.
On Wednesday, Lebanon “disassociated” itself from a Security Council statement
condemning the use of violence against anti-regime protests in Syria, while the
rest of the countries present at the meeting voiced their support of the
statement
Mansour Defends Lebanon’s Stance at Security Council over Syria
Naharnet /Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour said on Thursday that Lebanon can’t
support any resolution that condemns the Syrian regime at the U.N. Security
Council.
“We will not support any resolution against Syria,” Mansour told al-Liwaa
newspaper. He noted that Lebanon's deputy Ambassador Caroline Ziade was
instructed to take this stance at the Security Council meeting on Wednesday.
Lebanon disavowed itself from a council statement condemning Syria's crackdown
on opposition protests and calling for those responsible to be held
"accountable." Al-Liwaa reported that Ziade initiated the contact with Mansour
informing him that the Security Council is heading towards releasing a strong
statement against Syria.
According to information obtained by the daily, Mansour requested a delay in the
release of the statement, to contact the President, PM and Speaker.
Normally the Security Council document is adopted unanimously. However, Lebanon
did not block the adoption, but disavowed the document after.
Ziade said during the meeting that "whatever affects Lebanon, affects Syria,
whatever affects Syria will also affect Lebanon.”
"Since Lebanon considers that the statement being discussed today does not help
address the current situation in Syria, Lebanon therefore disassociates itself
from this presidential statement," she added.
March 14: Lebanon’s Disavowal of U.N. Statement on Syria is ‘Disgraceful’
Naharnet /Lebanon’s disavowal of a U.N. Security Council statement condemning
Syria's deadly attacks on civilians is “shameful,” high-ranking March 14 sources
said.
The sources told An Nahar daily published Thursday that “despite the unanimity
of the other 14 members of the Security Council on the statement, Lebanon’s
disavowal is a shameful and disgraceful stance.”They warned that Lebanon’s
decision puts the country in a “confrontation with the world … at a time when
the country is in need for the international community in its confrontation with
the Israeli greed and threats.”March 14 leadership sources also told al-Mustaqbal
daily that Premier Najib “Miqati is heading a cabinet allied with the Syrian
regime and backs it media wise and politically by its silence on the massacres
committed against the Syrian people … let alone its decision for Lebanon, which
is a member of the Security Council, to reject any presidential statement that
condemns the massacres.”After months of deadlock, the U.N. Security Council
finally responded to the escalating violence in Syria on Wednesday, condemning
President Bashar Assad's forces for attacking civilians and committing human
rights violations. Lebanon didn't block adoption of the statement. But Lebanon's
deputy U.N. ambassador Caroline Ziade invoked a procedure not used since 1974 by
the Americans and 1976 by China, disassociating the country from the statement
after it was read at a formal council meeting by the current president, India's
U.N. Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri.
SANA: Assad Decrees Multi-party System
Syria's embattled president on Thursday decreed a law allowing opposition
political parties, state media said after the United Nations condemned his
regime's deadly crackdown on democracy protests.
"President Bashar Assad on Thursday issued Legislative Decree No. 100 for 2011
on Parties Law and Legislative Decree No. 101 for 2011 on General Election Law,"
the official SANA news agency said in a brief report.
The law allows political parties to be established and function alongside
Assad's Baath party, in power since 1963 with the constitutional status of "the
leader of state and society."
Political pluralism has been at the forefront of demands by pro-reform
dissidents who since March 15 have been taking to the streets across Syria
almost daily to call for greater freedoms.
Assad's regime has sought to crush the movement with brutal force, killing more
than 1,600 civilians and arresting thousands, according to human rights
activists.
Demonstrators have vowed to protest every night of Ramadan following evening
prayers despite the assault on Hama and the killing of some 120 people across
the country on the eve of the Muslim holy month. Thursday's presidential decree
comes after the Syrian government adopted a draft law on multiple political
organizations last month.
At the time, SANA reported the draft legislation was "aimed at enriching
political life, creating a new dynamic and allowing for a change in political
power."
"The bill stipulates the essential objectives and principles governing the
activities of parties, conditions for their establishment ... and rules relating
to their financing, their rights and their obligations," SANA said. It prohibits
parties founded on the basis "of religion, tribal affiliation, regional
interests; professional organizations as well as parties which discriminate on
the basis of race, sex or color," the report said. The presidential decree,
which means the law can take effect immediately without parliament's approval,
came only hours after the U.N. Security Council stepped up pressure on Syria's
rulers. However, Syria insists it is fighting "armed terrorist gangs".
Western powers had hoped for stronger action at the Security Council but were
rebuffed by veto-wielding members Russia and China, who feared doing so would
pave the way for another military intervention like the one in Libya.*Source
Agence France Presse
IMF Chief Lagarde Faces France Finance Crime Probe
Naharnet /A French court ordered a probe for embezzlement and other
fraud-related charges against IMF head Christine Lagarde dating to her time as
France's finance minister, a prosecutor said Thursday.She has denied any
wrongdoing or illegality in the case which resulted in a big compensation
payment for a private businessman out of public funds in 2008. Her lawyer
branded the case politically motivated. The Court of Justice of the Republic,
which hears charges against ministers arising during their term in office,
approved "a judicial inquiry concerning Mrs Lagarde," presiding judge Gerard
Palisse told reporters. It asked magistrates to investigate Lagarde's role in
settling the financial dispute with a view to possible criminal charges.
State prosecutors in a statement specified the charges to be investigated as
"embezzlement of public funds" and "complicity in fraud" and said prosecutor
Cecile Petit would formally request the probe "in the coming days".Lagarde's
lawyer Yves Repiquet said the inquiry was "in no way incompatible" with her new
role as managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He said he
expected the case to be dismissed.The IMF is the global lender of last resort
with a key role in calming the effects of the financial crisis on public
finances in Europe.
Repiquet complained that the case was driven by "suspicion abusively cast on
Christine Lagarde by a handful of opposition members of parliament for political
ends."
"I have a perfectly clear conscience" about the Tapie affair, Lagarde said in
June. "Whether the investigating magistrates decide to pursue an inquiry or not,
I am just as confident and calm," she added on July 6.Lagarde in June became the
first woman head of the IMF, taking over from fellow French national Dominique
Strauss-Kahn after he resigned following his arrest on attempted rape charges.
Lagarde has been accused of exceeding her authority by cutting short a legal
battle between flamboyant French tycoon Bernard Tapie and the formerly
state-owned bank Credit Lyonnais by sending them to private arbitration. The
arbitration panel awarded Tapie, a supporter of Lagarde's then boss President
Nicolas Sarkozy, 400 million euros ($560 million) in the case, linked to the
bank's alleged mishandling of Tapie's sale of sportswear brand Adidas. Under the
French judicial system, the judges' inquiry ordered on Thursday could lead to
Lagarde being charged with a criminal offence punishable by a jail term. That
process would likely take several years.
*Source Agence France Presse
Parliament Gives Lebanon Right to Explore Maritime Resources
Naharnet /Parliament approved on Thursday a draft law on the delineation of
Lebanon’s maritime border after introducing an amendment to article 6, two days
after the cabinet’s adoption of the decree.The adoption of the law comes amid a
dispute between Lebanon and Israel over their maritime boundary. Both countries
are moving to assert sovereignty over an area potentially rich in gas.Tension
rose last month after Israel's cabinet approved a map of the country's proposed
maritime borders with Lebanon and submitted it to the United Nations, which has
been asked to mediate.The map conflicts with one submitted by Lebanon to the
U.N. last year and that gives Israel less territory. Lebanon says its map is in
line with an armistice accord drawn up in 1949 and not contested by Israel.The
decree sets out the country's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) which is a sea zone
that gives a state the right to explore its maritime resources.The parliamentary
approval came on the second day of a session that also witnessed the adoption of
25 draft laws.