LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِJuly 11/2011

Bible Quotation for today
Isaiah Chapter 55/1-13: " “Come, everyone who thirsts, to the waters! Come, he who has no money, buy, and eat! Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.  Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy? listen diligently to me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.  Turn your ear, and come to me; hear, and your soul shall live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.  Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples.  Behold, you shall call a nation that you don’t know; and a nation that didn’t know you shall run to you, because of Yahweh your God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he has glorified you.” Seek Yahweh while he may be found; call you on him while he is near:  let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to Yahweh, and he will have mercy on him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” says Yahweh.  “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain comes down and the snow from the sky, and doesn’t return there, but waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater;  so shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing I sent it to do.  For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing; and all the trees of the fields shall clap their hands.  Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree; and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to Yahweh for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

Latest analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases from miscellaneous sources
Learning Lebanon II’s lessons/By: Liat Collins/July 10/11

Full text of Human Rights Watch report on Syria/Ahram10 July/11
Missing but hopeful/By: Amtissal Aboulissan/July 10/11

Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for July 10/11
Nations welcome world's newest state South Sudan/The Daily Star
Netanyahu: Israel recognizes South Sudan as independent state/Haaretz
Hizbullah Refused to Meet Head of STL Defense Office/Naharnet
STL Confirms Interpol Arrest Warrants/Naharnet

Interpol issues Lebanon notice to carry out STL arrest warrants/The Daily Star
Syria Calls in French, U.S. Envoys over Hama Visit/Naharnet

U.S. rejects Syrian charge that envoy incited protests/The Daily Star
100 Iranian experts with dogs in Lebanon to protect Hezbollah, report/Ya Libnan
Lebanese man among DR Congo plane crash victims/The Daily Star
Israel to set maritime border with Lebanon as tensions rise over gas reserves/Haaretz
Israel to seek U.N. opinion on Lebanon maritime border spat/Daily Star
Lebanon: Interpol issues alerts in Hariri case/AP
Hariri to make TV appearance Tuesday: report/The Daily Star
Russian envoy: STL results need to be non-politicized/The Daily Star
U.K. urges Lebanon to adhere to STL/The Daily Star
Lebanon's Arabic press digest - July 10, 2011/The Daily Star
President Amin Gemayel: Given the Division, I Don’t See Any Point in Holding National Dialogue/Naharnet


Interpol issues Lebanon notice to carry out STL arrest warrants
July 09, 2011 /The Daily Star
Hariri was assassinated on Feb. 14, 2005, when a massive car bomb detonated his motorcade as he drove past the St. George Hotel, near Downtown Beirut.
BEIRUT: Interpol has issued Lebanon a notice to carry out arrest warrants against the four members of Hezbollah indicted by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, security sources told The Daily Star Saturday. The detailed notice by the international crime-fighting agency, the sources said, contain the full names and aliases of the four Lebanese suspects in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. The letter also contains criminal background information such as other arrest warrants and detailed descriptions of the suspects and material that will aid in their arrest. Hariri was assassinated on Feb. 14, 2005, when a massive car bomb detonated his motorcade as he drove past the St. George Hotel, near Downtown Beirut.
On June 30, a delegation from the STL handed Lebanon’s state prosecutor, Saed Mirza, indictments and arrest warrants against four Hezbollah suspects. The four, whose names were not released by the STL but leaked by media and confirmed by Lebanon’s interior minister are: Mustafa Badreddine, Salim Ayyash, Asad Sabra and Hasan Ainessi.
Lebanon has 30 days to carry the arrest warrants. Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, the secretary general of Hezbollah, confirmed that the four were members of his organization on July 2 but said the four would not be arrested but would be tried in absentia. Hezbollah accuses the STL of being an “American-Israeli project” aimed at targeting the resistance and has vowed not to cooperate it. The Lebanese group denies involvement in the assassination of Hariri. The sources said the information contained in the notice would help security agencies in all member states to carry out the arrest warrants issued by the international court. Security agencies are obliged to carry out the arrest warrants and notify the The Hague based court once suspects have been apprehended, they added.

Netanyahu: Israel recognizes South Sudan as independent state
By Barak Ravid/Haaretz /Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday Israel's official recognition of South Sudan as an independent state.
"I announce here that Israel recognizes South Sudan," Netanyahu told his cabinet in broadcast remarks. "We wish it success. It is a peace-seeking country and we would be happy to cooperate with it in order to ensure its development and prosperity." Interior Minister Eli Yishai called on Israel to immediately begin negotiations with South Sudan in order to return the thousands Sudanese refugees and migrant workers who had crossed into Israel illegally in the past several years.
The readiness to recognize South Sudan comes at the same time that Israel is conducting an international campaign to block the recognition of a Palestinian state by the United Nations General Assembly in September. Israel has argued that a Palestinian state must be established only as a result of negotiations and not by unilateral measures.
Sources at the Foreign Ministry said that contrary to a Palestinian state, South Sudan has declared its independence following negotiations and agreement, and thus Israel views positively the recognition of the new state. In 2005 a peace agreement was signed between the government of Sudan and the interim government of South Sudan concluding a bloody civil war between Christians and Muslims. The decision to declare independence followed a plebiscite held in South Sudan in January.
On Saturday, South Sudanese celebrated the birth of their nation after voting for independence in a referendum under the terms of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of war.
The new state has its capital in Juba and was officially recognized on Friday by the government of Sudan, based in Khartoum, hours before the formal split took place.

Missing but hopeful

Amtissal Aboulissan, July 10, 2011
Now Lebanon
“It hurts. The burning feeling a mother gets when she loses her son. I would do anything to see his face again.”
But Maggie, a 67-year-old Lebanese mother of three, is not sure whether her son is dead or alive. That’s because she hasn’t heard from him or of his whereabouts in 33 years. She sobbed as she explained what led to the disappearance of her then-16-year-old son, Stavro Andriotti.
It was July 7, 1978, and Stavro was studying for final exams for his high school diploma. Maggie says he decided to take a break and hang out with three of his friends in the fields in Fanar. That’s when two men from the Syrian military came and dragged them into a van and drove off. Maggie hasn’t seen him since.
During its nearly 30-year presence in Lebanon, Syria captured and imprisoned thousands of Lebanese. Syria has long denied holding Lebanese prisoners, and although the exact number of detainees is unknown, the most accurate list is perhaps the one compiled by the NGO Support of Lebanese in Detention and Exile (SOLIDE). Since 1990, Ghazi Aad, SOLIDE’s director and co-founder, has worked with families of the missing to compile a list of 545 people known to be detained in Syria or to have died while in custody.
Aad says that the exact number may never be known because some families are afraid to come forward and declare their loved ones missing because they are worried about the possible repercussions. Another reason, he says, is the lack of trust in the Lebanese government.
“We are demanding the government address this issue. We need to know the fate of the detainees in Syria. And it starts with Lebanon. We need a Lebanese national mechanism that would deal with the issue in a serious manner. It’s a matter of national pride. The issue exists, but the Lebanese are not pushing hard enough.”
Aad also said the wording of articles 6 and 8 of the recently released Ministerial Statement wasn’t specific enough. In particular, he said, is Article 8, which states that “the Government will establish a national body concerned with the issue of victims of enforced disappearance in all its aspects.”
“The national body should have already been established,” Aad told NOW Lebanon. “They are playing with words so they don’t deal with the issue directly. This needs to change.”
Ali Abou Dehn is a former detainee and president of Lebanese Political Detainees in Syria (LPDS). He agrees, saying that more progress is needed within the Lebanese government in order to address the issue more seriously. He was, however, pleased that the government is at least making an effort in the right direction.
Meanwhile, in Syria, in response to the uprising against his regime, President Bashar al-Assad issued a decree granting a general amnesty for crimes committed before June 20. Assad had already ordered a general amnesty on May 31 for political prisoners, including members of the Muslim Brotherhood, and hundreds of detainees were released.
Aad, however, is skeptical that the amnesty will be thoroughly carried out or that it will apply to Lebanese prisoners in particular.
But for mothers like Marie Mansourotti, news of the amnesty and the clauses in the Ministerial Statement inspire hope that perhaps one day her son will be freed. Marie hasn’t seen her son since he was kidnapped by the Syrian military 20 years ago, and only gets updates on his condition through former inmates who knew him before they were released.
Marie has made countless efforts to release her son, but all have been unsuccessful. She says that the Syrian authorities even asked for money to release him. Marie wouldn’t disclose the amount she paid them, but said they never went through with their promise. Maggie and Marie are two of the mothers of missing Lebanese who gather at a shrine in Martyrs Square twice a week and attend the protests sometimes held there.  “My only wish is to see my son before I die,” said Marie. “If I had the chance to speak to him I would say, ‘Be patient, we are waiting for you.’”

Hizbullah Refused to Meet Head of STL Defense Office
Naharnet /Hizbullah rejected a suggestion to hold a meeting with the head of the Defense Office of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Francois Roux aimed at studying the possibility of the confronting the indictment, revealed widely informed sources to the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Sunday. They explained that the meeting would have explained to the party leadership the seriousness of the Defense’s work, as well as the possibility of overturning the accusations against Hizbullah members indicted in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The party leadership however stressed that it will not back down from its decision to not cooperate with the international tribunal after labeling it as politicized and an American-Israeli tool aimed at destroying the party. The sources added that the meeting would have demonstrated to Hizbullah that Roux is serious in his mission in defending the accused, pointing out that he had also enlisted the help of prominent lawyers to assist him in his mission. Furthermore, they revealed that the suggestion was made a while before the indictment in the STL was issued and after Hizbullah escalated its campaign against the court. The STL issued arrest warrants against four Hizbullah members suspected of being involved in Hariri’s 2005 assassination.
Interpol sent alerts to Lebanon and 186 countries on Saturday ordering the apprehension of the suspects. If they are not arrested in 30 days after the release of the warrants, then the suspects will be tried in absentia.

STL Confirms Interpol Arrest Warrants

Naharnet /The Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which is investigating the 2005 murder of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, said on Sunday that Interpol had circulated arrest warrants for the four suspects in the bombing. "I can confirm that the tribunal has requested Interpol to notify all states of the arrest warrants against the accused in the 14th February 2005 attack," the court's Beirut spokesman, Martin Youssef, told AFP. He said that the international police organization had issued a so-called "red notice" to member states late on Friday but gave no information on the presumed whereabouts or the identity of the four suspects. "The international arrest warrants will not be published and will not be available to the public because they are still confidential," he added. A senior officer in Lebanon's security services told AFP that Lebanon and the other 187 Interpol member states had received the "red notice" on Saturday asking them to arrest the suspects and hand them over to the U.N.-backed court for trial. The official said the warrants were for four senior Hizbullah officers who are accused of carrying out a "terrorist act" and of "killing Rafik Hariri and 21 others using explosives." The Special Tribunal submitted a confidential indictment and arrest warrants for the four accused on June 30.
The names of the four were not released, but were leaked to the Beirut media and later confirmed by the Lebanese government. Mustafa Badreddine, Salim Ayyash, Assad Sabra, and Hussein Anaissy are all members of Hizbullah. In a July 2 speech, Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah ruled out the arrest of four.
"No Lebanese government will be able to carry out any arrests whether in 30 days... 30 years or even 300 years," he said.

Britain Demands Cabinet Commitment to STL
Naharnet /British Ambassador to Lebanon Frances Mary Guy stressed on Saturday that her government will cooperate with its Lebanese counterpart because it received the vote of confidence from parliament. She also advocated the removal of all arms from Lebanese citizens. Moreover, she demanded that the new cabinet commit fully to all international agreements, including the decisions of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Guy made her statements while visiting the archeological site at Sidon in the South.

President Amin Gemayel: Given the Division, I Don’t See Any Point in Holding National Dialogue

Naharnet /Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel stated that on the official scene, Lebanon will ignore the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and its indictment, while its people will hang on to it “seeing as it is the only way to uncover the killers of our martyrs.”He told the Saudi Okaz newspaper in remarks published on Sunday: “The Lebanese government should take an honest position on the tribunal and openly commit to it.”“Such a matter does not require any talks and consultations,” he stressed. “We will not remain silent over the government’s failure to cooperate with the tribunal as justice is our right,” the former president declared. On the new government, Gemayel labeled it as one-sided, saying that the recent positions of some of its members revealed its spiteful goals. “It is aimed at thwarting the STL through Hizbullah’s leadership,” he added. “Spite contradicts Lebanon’s national interests, which call for respecting international decisions among other matters,” he stressed. “Prime Minister Najib Miqati is a friend, but the government’s mission is clear in toppling the tribunal,” Gemayel stated.
“In light of this division and seeing as the government is one-sided, I don’t see any point in resuming the national dialogue,” he said.

Full text of Human Rights Watch report on Syria
Ahram Online, Saturday 9 Jul 2011
Defectors from Syria’s security forces described receiving, and following, orders to shoot on protesters to disperse them, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch interviewed eight soldiers and four members of the security agencies who had defected since anti-governement protest erupted in March 2011. Those interviewed participated in the government crackdown in Daraa, Izraa, Banyas, Homs, Jisr al-Shughur, Aleppo, and Damascus. The soldiers also reported participating in and witnessing the shooting and injury of dozens of protesters, and the arbitrary arrest and detention of hundreds.
All of the interviewed defectors told Human Rights Watch that their superiors had told them that they were fighting infiltrators (mundaseen), salafists, and terrorists. The defectors said they were surprised to encounter unarmed protesters instead, but still were ordered to fire on them in a number of instances. The defectors also reported that those who refused orders to shoot on protesters ran the risk of being shot themselves. One of the defectors reported seeing a military officer shoot and kill two soldiers in Daraa for refusing orders. Human Rights Watch interviewed the defectors in person in Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan.
“The testimony of these defectors provides further evidence that the killing of protesters was no accident but a result of a deliberate policy by senior figures in Syria to use deadly force to disperse protesters,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. “Syrian soldiers and officials should know that they too have not just a right but a duty to refuse such unlawful orders, and that those who deliberately kill or injure peaceful protesters will be subject to prosecution.”
Under international standards such as the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials, intentional lethal use of firearms may only be made when strictly unavoidable to protect life. The UN Code of Conduct for law enforcement officials says that they shall to the best of their capability prevent and rigorously oppose any violations of the law or Code of Conduct.
Human Rights Watch called on the UN security council to condemn the Syrian authorities’ systematic violations of human rights, adopt targeted sanctions against officials responsible for the killing and torture of protesters, and impose an embargo on all arms and security equipment to Syria. Russia has opposed a European-led UN Security Council draft resolution, which condemns Syria’s government but stops short of imposing sanctions. South Africa, India, and Brazil have refused so far to support the resolution.
“Four months into the crackdown, the Security Council should be pressing the Syrian leadership to end the bloodshed, yet some members refuse even to consider a resolution, hiding behind their frustration with the situation in Libya,” Whitson said. “Syria’s civilians deserve far more support from emerging powers like South Africa, India, and Brazil.”
Human Rights Watch called on the Syrian government to grant access to Syria to independent observers and allow them to monitor and report on developments in the country freely, and to provide full cooperation and access to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights team tasked to investigate the alleged violations.
Orders to Shoot Protesters
Five of the defectors told Human Rights Watch that they received explicit orders to shoot at protesters. One member of Syria’s security agencies, referred to locally as mukhabarat, was deployed in Homs, Syria’s third largest city, on April 19, when Syria’s security forces violently dispersed one of the biggest gatherings of protesters attempting to stage a sit-in in the central Clock Tower Square. He told Human Rights Watch that Colonel Abdel Hameed Ibrahim ordered the soldiers to fire on unarmed protesters and that the soldiers complied, killing dozens of people:
The protesters had sat down in the square. We were told to disperse them with violence if needed. We were there with air force security, army, and shabbiha [armed supporters of the government who do not belong to security forces]. At around 3:30 a.m., we got an order from Colonel Abdel Hameed Ibrahim from air force security to shoot at the protesters. We were shooting for more than half an hour. There were dozens and dozens of people killed and wounded. Thirty minutes later, earth diggers and fire trucks arrived. The diggers lifted the bodies and put them in a truck. I don’t know where they took them. The wounded ended up at the military hospital in Homs. And then the fire trucks started cleaning the square.
A conscript who was a member of the Presidential Guard recounted how he was deployed on April 18 to Harasta, a suburb of Damascus, to quell a protest:
They gave each one of us a Kalashnikov [rifle] with two magazines, and there was more ammunition in the vehicles. They also gave us electric tasers. They told us we were being sent to fight the gangs because security services needed reinforcement. We were surprised [when we got to Harasta] because we couldn’t see any gangs, just civilians, including some women and children, in the street, and members of the mukhabarat firing at them. I was in a group with five other soldiers from my unit. We received clear orders to shoot at civilians from the Presidential Guard officers and from the 4th military battalion, although normally we don’t get orders from other units. One of the officers who gave orders was Major Mujahed Ali Hassan from 4th battalion; his military vehicle license plate is 410. The exact orders were “load and shoot.” There were no conditions, no prerequisites. We got closer to the demonstrators, and when we were some five meters away, the officers shouted “fire!” At that moment, the five of us defected and ran over to the demonstrators’ side throwing our weapons to them while running away.
The interviewed defectors reported that they were generally deployed in mixed teams of army personnel and often plainclothes mukhabarat and shabeeha. Two soldiers reported incidents where their units had opened fire on armed mukhabarat and shabeeha wearing civilian clothes after mistaking them for anti-government gangs. A first sergeant (Raqeeb Awwal) said the army opened fire in the coastal town of Bayda on members of security services wearing civilian clothes because they mistook their identity. Other defectors reported that security services later dressed in army clothes to avoid such shootings.
A conscript trained as a sniper was deployed in Izraa, a town of 40,000 near Daraa, on April 25, three days after security forces had shot 28 protesters over a 48-hour period; he told Human Rights Watch:
I was in Squad 14 (Firqa 14) of the 4th Regiment. We were around 300 soldiers deployed to Izraa. I had heard so much about foreign armed groups that I was eager to fight them. But then General Nasr Tawfiq gave us the following orders: “Don’t shoot at the armed civilians. They are with us. Shoot at the people whom they shoot at.” We were all shocked after hearing his words, as we had imagined that the people were killed by foreign armed groups, not by the security forces. We realized that our orders were to shoot at our own people.
A soldier who was deployed for a month in Daraa before defecting on June 1 said: “We received orders to kill protesters. Some military refused the orders and were shot with a handgun. Two were killed in front of me, by someone in the rank of lieutenant (muqaddam). I don’t know his name. He said they were traitors.”
A sergeant (raqeeb) in Squad 7 of Brigade 88 (liwa’), who was posted in the southern town of al-Hara, near Daraa, described the orders his squad received when the army circled the town: “Snipers were on rooftops. Their orders were, ‘If anyone goes out on the street, detain or shoot.’ I recall watching a guy go out to smoke outside and then being shot and killed by a sniper.”
Mobilized to Fight Infiltrators and Terrorists
All of the interviewed defectors told Human Rights Watch that their superiors had led them to believe that they were fighting armed gangs paid by outside actors. A member of Regiment 45 in the Special Forces (al-Kuwwat al-Khassat - Fawj 45), deployed in the coastal areas of Banyas and Markeb, told Human Rights Watch: “We were told that there are terrorist groups coming into the country with funding from Bandar Bin Sultan [a prominent Saudi prince who served until 2009 as Saudi’s national security chief], Saad al-Hariri [a former Lebanese prime minister], and Jeffrey Feltman [US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern affairs].”
Military commanders often communicated this information during daily briefings to soldiers, referred to as “nasharat tawjeeh.” A lieutenant in Squad 14 (Firka 14), posted in Damascus, described the briefing: “Each morning we had guidance briefings. They would tell us there are gangs and infiltrators. They would show us pictures of dead soldiers and security forces.”
A member of the mukhabarat posted in Homs reported that he and his colleagues “received leaflets that there are infiltrators and salafists in the country and that they needed to stop them. In the flyers, they said Bandar Bin Sultan and Saad Hariri had paid those infiltrators.”
According to the defectors, regular soldiers were not allowed to watch television in private to avoid any of them watching TV channels that aired anti-government information. Officers could watch television but only Syrian state television and Dunya TV, a pro-government channel owned by Rami Makhlouf, a cousin and close ally of President Bashar al-Asad. A conscript doing his military service in Damascus told Human Rights Watch:
Every night they used to summon us in a stadium-like place in the military barrack and make us watch Dunya TV from a big TV screen. It was all scenes from Daraa showing people killed by what they reported as foreign armed groups. Officers would repeatedly tell us that there is a “foreign plot” going on in Daraa. Watching Dunya TV every night between 20:00 and 22:00, we had the firm belief that there is a foreign conspiracy against which we need to fight and protect our people.
Detentions and Theft During Break-ins
Some of the defectors said that security forces detained large numbers of people and routinely beat the detainees. A member of Regiment 45 in the Special Forces (al-Kuwwat al-Khassat - Fawj 45), who was deployed in the coastal area around Banyas, told Human Rights Watch about the arrest campaign he witnessed in the village of Markeb:
We had around 400 names of people whom we wanted to detain. We went to the village. Then a woman’s protest came out refusing the entry of the army (we had not yet detained anyone) inside the village, almost in the center. We started going into homes. We would break into closed houses. We detained so many people. Some men tried to escape through a side road in a valley. But the army opened fire on those trying to escape. We brought those detained to the center of the village, stepping on them and insulting them. A security officer stood on a man, yelling “Who is your god? [Say] Bashar al-Asad.” We had so many detainees in the area that we used the Banyas stadium as a detention facility.
The soldier reported that the security forces also detained children. “I saw the list of wanted individuals. So many were born in 1993, 1994, 1995. Mere teenagers,” he said. “We later entered Banyas and also detained men and children. By the end of our first day in Banyas, I asked an officer how many detainees we had taken that day; he said around 2,500 in Banyas alone, all taken to the Banyas stadium. People would get beaten in the bus on the way there and in the stadium as well.”
A sergeant (raqeeb) in Squad 7 of Brigade 88 (Liwa’) who was posted in the southern town of al-Hara, near Daraa, described the arrest campaign following the security forces’ entry into the town on May 10:
We surrounded the town for days. I saw how the snipers would shoot on anyone who went out of his house. Then we moved in. The mukhabarat who were with us had lists of people to arrest. They had details: this person tore a poster of the president or this person shouted “with excitement” at an anti-government protest. I saw many of those detained and some looked as young as 12. Six buses came and took the detained. We then gathered all the motorbikes in the town’s center, and a tank crushed them. We talked among ourselves about how some soldiers stole gold and money from houses. In one house, a colleague told me that they found one million Syrian pounds [around $20,000] and his commanding officer decided to confiscate the money saying it was being used to purchase weapons even though my colleague told me there was no such evidence.
Other defectors also reported theft incidents in the towns of Daraa and Homs.
A member of the Special Missions Unit (Wihdat al-Maham al-Khassat), an elite unit under the jurisdiction of the Interior Ministry, described his unit’s role in cracking down on university students in Aleppo:
We were sent to the university dorms to arrest people, with a simple order: “Go in and detain.” We must have detained more than 200 people in one day around late April/early May. We wanted to scare them and other students to prevent them from protesting again. Our job was to detain the students and take them to the branches of the mukhabarat, mostly Military Intelligence. We would beat people all the way to the bus. We didn’t know what would happen to the detainees after we dropped them off with the mukhabarat.
“The accounts of soldiers who were horrified enough at their commanders’ orders and deceit to flee should send a message to the UN and other countries that they need to do more to put a stop to these brutal attacks on civilians,” Whitson said.

Israel to seek U.N. opinion on Lebanon maritime border spat

July 10, 2011 /Daily Star
JERUSALEM: Israel is to seek a U.N. opinion on its maritime borders with Lebanon in the Mediterranean, where lucrative offshore gas fields have been found, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday. "We will soon be presenting the United Nations headquarters in New York with our position on our maritime borders," Lieberman told Israeli public radio.
"We have already concluded an agreement on this issue with Cyprus... Lebanon, under pressure from Hezbollah, is looking for friction, but we will not give up any part of what is rightfully ours," he added. Israel has been moving to develop several large offshore natural gas fields in the Mediterranean that it hopes could help it to become an energy exporter. However, Israel does not have officially demarcated maritime borders with Lebanon, which argues that gas fields lie inside its territorial waters.
But Lieberman said the Jewish state had "very strong arguments under international law" for its position, adding that the foreign and justice ministries had been working together to set them out. Lebanon has repeatedly voiced its fears that Israel could extract gas and oil reserves that it says are located within its own territorial waters. In its policy statement, Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s Cabinet also expressed commitment to securing maritime resources.
“The government is committed ... to defend[ing] Lebanon in confronting any aggression through all legitimate and accessible means and to retain its right to use its water and oil resources and to consolidate its maritime borders," the Cabinet's policy statement said.
Lebanon has also asked the U.N. to help demarcate Lebanon's maritime borders in line with Security Council Resolutions 1701, 425, 426.
A senior Israeli official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said that at their regular Cabinet meeting Sunday ministers would endorse a map of Israel's maritime borders in the Mediterranean to be presented to the U.N.
According to the Haaretz newspaper, the Israeli claim would include some areas that Lebanon claimed in its submission to the U.N. in August.
In August 2010, Lebanese MPs passed a law authorizing exploration and drilling of offshore oil and gas fields. Five months later, Cyprus signed a memorandum of cooperation with Israel for surveying and mapping in joint research energy projects.
Lebanon has criticized the Cyprus-Israel agreement, describing it as a violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and economic rights.
The two biggest known offshore fields, Tamar and Leviathan, lie off Israel's northern city of Haifa.
Tamar is believed to hold at least 8.4 trillion cubic feet of gas (238 billion cubic meters), while Leviathan is believed to have reserves of 16 trillion cubic feet (450 billion cubic meters).
In recent weeks, an Israeli company has also announced the discovery of two new natural gas fields, Sarah and Mira, around 70 kilometers (45 miles) off the city of Hadera further south. – With The Daily Star

U.K. urges Lebanon to adhere to STL
July 09, 2011
By Mohammed Zaatari The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The British ambassador to Lebanon said Saturday the U.K. has called on the newly formed government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati to adhere to international resolutions, including the one that established the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.
“We urge the government to adhere to all international resolutions, including resolutions dealing with the Special Tribunal [for Lebanon],” Guy said during a visit to the southern coastal city of Sidon, where she was visiting 5000-year-old Roman ruins discovered recently on an excavation by the British Museum.
The British envoy said London would work with the new government but said that Western allies had concerns about the article in the ministerial statement dealing with The Hague court.
“We will certainly cooperate with the government because it is present and gained a vote of confidence in Parliament, and we welcome [the Cabinet’s] commitment to work on the necessary reforms … but the Europeans are concerned about the article [in the ministerial statement] dealing with the Special Tribunal [for Lebanon],” Guy said.
Officials from France and the EU expressed Friday concern that Mikati’s Cabinet policy statement had stopped short of guaranteeing Lebanon’s continued cooperation with the STL, the U.N.-backed court probing the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
In related news, Russia’s ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Zasypkin, said Friday that the probe into the assassination of Hariri needed to be honest and non-politicized, reiterating his country’s firm backing for the STL, reported the National News Agency.
Mikati’s Cabinet won a vote of confidence in Parliament Thursday after a walk-out by members of the March 14 coalition, who accuse the new government of having reneged on Lebanon’s commitment to the U.N.-backed court, which recently issued its indictment and arrest warrants against four members of Hezbollah.
Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, the secretary general of Hezbollah, has said that the four had been wrongfully accused and would never be apprehended but tried in absentia. Hezbollah denies involvement in the assassination of Hariri and accuses the international court of being part of an “American-Israeli project” aimed at targeting the resistance and sowing strife in the country.
In related news, Russia’s ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Zasypkin, said Friday that the probe into the assassination of Hariri needed to be honest and non-politicized, reiterating his country’s firm backing for the STL, reported the National News Agency.

Lebanon's Arabic press digest - July 10, 2011

The Daily Star
Following are summaries of some of the main stories in a selection of Lebanese newspapers Sunday. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports.
Al-Mustaqbal: Mirza will deliver indictment upon arrest
Interpol interfered in the process of searching for the accused in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hrairi, as it released notices to 188 countries within the organization including Syria and Iran.
Lebanon had been officially notified of the names of the accused under the "Red Notice" which obligates the country to spread relevant information to its maritime, land and air border security and all of its military and security centers to arrest the accused if found in a bid to transfer them to The Hague.
State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza told the newspaper that the indictment will be delivered to the accused upon arrest.
Aside from the tribunal, the political scene remained as it was, with the March 14 coalition continuing its attack on Prime Minister Najib Mikati's Cabinet.
The most anticipated event this week will be former Prime Minister Saad Hariri's television appearance on MTV. Meanwhile, the Cabinet will convene next Thursday to reappoint Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh amid speculation that the difference within the Cabinet will surface to reveal intra-contradictions.
An-Nahar: Britain demands commitment to tribunal
The Associated Press reported that the Interpol's red notice represents the highest level of warning and it was issued upon the tribunal's request.
Interpol sources told An-Nahar that all the countries are concerned with the arrest warrant and should carry it out based on the agreement between the organization and the countries including Syria and Iran.
The notice says:
•First: conspiring with the goal of carrying out a terrorist act
•Second: executing a terrorist act through detonating a bomb
•Third: Premeditated murder of Rafik Hariri, and the use of large amounts of explosives
•Fourth: Premeditated murder of 21 others
•Five: Attempted murder of 231 people
British Ambassador Francis Guy said that Lebanon should commit to all international resolutions especially the one related to the international tribunal.
Ad-Diyar: Why haven’t Aoun and Geagea respected the Bkirki reconciliation gathering?
The Maronite gathering held by Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai emphasized the need to unite the Christian front, despite political differences that should remain political without any escalations.
At the meeting, Rai described the danger posed to Christians in the Middle East. The leaders Amine Gemayel, Michel Aoun, Sleiman Franjieh and Samir Geagea attended the meeting.
At the time Aoun said that he committed to Rai's request not to attack any other Maronite leader. And so did everyone else.
What is happening today?
Both Geagea and Aoun are attacking each other, provoking supporters of the Free Patriotic Movement against those of the Lebanese Forces.
Following the tensions, the Vatican Ambassador wrote to the Vatican regarding the events and expressed his concern over the situation. Rai decided to send delegates, however, the severe tensions between the two parties made Rai retract the decision knowing that it wouldn't have any tangible results.
Therefore, Rai decided to sever ties with Aoun and Geagea until they resolve their differences.
Al-Hayat: Interpol releases notice against the four suspects
The Hezbollah leadership rejected a request by the international tribunal's defense office to look into ways to confront the indictment in the assassination of Hariri.
Sources said that the office also suggested Hezbollah meet with the head of the office to discuss ways to refute the allegations. But Hezbollah maintained their position toward the tribunal.
The goal of the meeting was to affirm that the office of defense has prepared the tools to defend the accused in a serious and professional manner.
The office of defense will receive the indictment along with the evidence after 30 days of the delivery of the tribunal’s arrest warrants to Lebanon.

Lebanese man among DR Congo plane crash victims
July 09, 2011/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: A plane crash in the Democratic Republic of Congo that killed more than 70 has also claimed the life of a Lebanese man, Hussein Ali Khazal, who hailed from Ainata, south Lebanon. The Boeing 727 airplane, carrying 118 passengers and crew, crashed at Kisangani airport as it attempted to land in a heavy thunderstorm Friday.
Khazal, in his mid-20s, was a resident of DR Congo, where he lived with his parents, Haitham Joumaa, the director general of the Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Ministry told The Daily Star. He added that preparations were under way to return the body of Khazaal to Lebanon, but that it might take some time due to the remote location of the crash.
The Hewa Bora airliner was on its regular route from Kinshasa to Kisangani when it hit the storm as it approached the airport.
The Associated Press reported that government spokesman Lambert Mende said the plane went down in bad weather a few meters from Kisangani airport. “It was due to the thunder,” he said. “There are around 50 dead and 53 survivors, as well as a dozen people still unaccounted for.” Hewa Bora, which means “Fresh Air” in Swahili, has a history of crashes. In April 2008, one of their DC-9s rammed into a bustling market after failing to lift off from Goma’s airport, killing at least 40 people – most of them on the ground. A few months later in September, a Hewa Bora plane carrying 17 people went down in inclement weather killing all on board. Congo has one of the worst air safety records in the world. Few passable roads traverse the country after decades of war and corrupt rule, forcing the country’s deeply impoverished people to rely on ill-maintained planes and boats to move around. - With agencies

Hariri to make TV appearance Tuesday: report
July 09, 2011 11/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Former prime minister and opposition leader Saad Hariri will make an appearance Tuesday evening on MTV to discuss the latest developments in Lebanon, reported Mustaqbal newspaper Saturday. Hariri, whose Cabinet collapsed in January following a dispute with the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, has been abroad for at least the past month because of fears of an assassination attempt, Future Movement MP Jamal Jarrah told the media last month. The STL was established in 2007 to try those involved in the assassination of Hariri’s father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed on Feb. 14, 2005, when a massive car bomb detonated his motorcade as he drove past the Saint George hotel in Ain el-Mreisseh, near Downtown Beirut. Members of Hezbollah have been indicted by the U.N. court. On June 30, a delegation from the STL handed Lebanon’s state prosecutor indictments and arrest warrants against four members of the Lebanese group. Lebanon has 30 days to carry out the arrest warrants. Hezbollah has denied involvement in the assassination of statesman Rafik Hariri and has accused the STL of being a “American-Israeli project” aimed at targeting the resistance group and sowing civil strife in Lebanon. Sayyed Hasan Nassrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, described the indictments by the as unjust and said the four members would not be apprehended, but tried in absentia instead.
The Cabinet of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, who was nominated by the March 8 coalition to succeed Saad Hariri, won a parliamentary vote of confidence Thursday following three days of heated debates of its policy statement during which March 14 lawmakers lambasted the prime minister, accusing him of renouncing the STL and putting the country on a collision course with the international community. Hariri did not attend the parliamentary sessions.

Russian envoy: STL results need to be non-politicized

July 09, 2011 /The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The results of the probe into the assassination of statesman Rafik Hariri need to be honest and non-politicized, Russia’s ambassador to Lebanon said Saturday, reiterating his country’s firm backing of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, reported the National News Agency.
“Concerning the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Russia has had a firm stance from the time we decided to back the court and we seek to know the truth in the assassination of [former] Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and his companions. The results of the investigation need to be honest, non-politicized, reasonable and based on evidence,” Alexander Zasypkin said after talks with Lebanon’s foreign minister, Adnan Mansour, the NNA reported. The Russian envoy said he had congratulated Mansour on behalf of his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, adding that “we also wished the success of the new government.” The STL, established in 2007 to try those involved in the assassination of Hariri, issued indictments against four members of Hezbollah on June 30. Hezbollah has denied involvement in the assassination of Hariri and has accused the STL of being an “American-Israeli project.”
“I think the ministerial statement [of the Lebanese Cabinet] does refer to the [U.N.-backed] court,” Zasypkin said when asked about European Union concerns about the new Cabinet’s intentions concerning the STL. Officials from France and the EU expressed Friday concern that Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s Cabinet policy statement, which received Parliament’s vote of confidence Thursday, had stopped short of guaranteeing Lebanon’s continued cooperation with the court.
During his meeting with Mansour Zasypkin said he had also expressed Moscow’s “continued support for stability, security and civil peace in Lebanon.”

U.S. rejects Syrian charge that envoy incited protests

July 09, 2011 /By Andrew Quinn
The Daily Star
WASHINGTON: The United States on Friday rejected a charge by Syria that the U.S. ambassador to Damascus had sought to incite protests in the tense city of Hama, saying the American envoy was welcomed with flowers and olive branches by peaceful civilians seeking political change.
U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford arrived in Hama on Thursday and drove back the next day to the city center before tens of thousands of people staged new demonstrations demanding the downfall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
"When he got into the city the car was immediately surrounded by friendly protesters who were putting flowers on the windshields, they were putting olive branches on the car, they were chanting 'down with the regime,'" said State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland.
Ford decided not to stay so as "not to become the story himself" and left before the protests got under way, she said.
Still, Ford's visit was unusual, as foreign ambassadors normally avoid even the perception they are interfering in a host country's internal affairs.
Separately, the State Department said it had called in the Syrian ambassador to Washington after receiving reports that Syrian diplomats had conducted surveillance of people protesting in the United States.
Assistant Secretary of State Eric Boswell summoned Ambassador Imad Mustapha on Wednesday after reports of the alleged surveillance, the State Department said on Friday.
It said it is also investigating reports that the Syrian government has sought retribution against Syrian family members for the actions of their relatives protesting in the United States.
"The United States Government takes very seriously reports of any foreign government actions attempting to intimidate individuals in the United States," the State Department said in a statement.
Syria had accused the U.S. ambassador of seeking to fan the protests, saying he did not have clearance for the trip, which it called "clear evidence of the United States' involvement in current events in Syria and its attempt to incite an escalation in the situation."
"Absolute rubbish," said Nuland. "The reason for his visit was to stand in solidarity with the right of the Syrian people to demonstrate peacefully."
She said the U.S. embassy had informed Syria's Defense Ministry before Ford's trip and he had passed through Syrian checkpoints along the way.
Ford's trip coincided with a visit to Hama by the French ambassador and Nuland said these had not been coordinated.
Ford spoke with more than a dozen Hama residents and visited a hospital treating people injured in earlier confrontations between protesters and Syrian security forces.
Hama has seen some of the biggest demonstrations against Assad, who sent security forces back into the city and ringed it with tanks this week. Hama was the site of a brutal 1982 crackdown by Assad's father on an Islamic-inspired uprising.
U.S. President Barack Obama has reacted warily to the protests in Syria, part of a wave of pro-democracy unrest across the Arab world that toppled rulers in Egypt and Tunisia and led to NATO involvement in a civil war in Libya.
Obama has said Assad must either lead reforms in Syria or get out of the way and Ford's visit to Hama marked a symbolic strengthening of U.S. support for the goals and methods of the peaceful demonstrators.
"The Syrian government has claimed many things. It has claimed there are foreign instigators behind what is going on in their country ... that is not what he (Ford) witnessed. He witnessed average Syrians asking for change," said Nuland.
Ford's trip may also send a message to U.S. critics of Obama's policy on Syria, who have questioned the value of maintaining an ambassador in Damascus as Assad's government pushes forward with its crackdown.
The State Department has argued that Ford, who took up his post in Damascus in January after a more than five year break in full U.S. diplomatic representation there, can convey U.S. concerns directly to Syria's top leadership although he has not met Assad since the protests began.

'Protest singer' slain for anti-Assad tune
brahim Kashush becomes new symbol after gruesome photos of body posted on Facebook
Roee Nahmias Published: 07.09.11, 19:08 / Israel News
Ibrahim Kashush became the latest symbol of the ongoing Syrian uprising against President Bashar Assad after a simple act of protest cost him his life.
Kashush's only crime was to excite the crowds protesting on the streets of Hama with his singing, an act that prompted his brutal murder by security forces loyal to the government.
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Equipped with a megaphone, Kashush started singing in front of hundreds of thousands of demonstrators during the mass protest last Friday, titled "be gone," in reference to the beleaguered Syrian president. "Common, get lost, ya Bashar," Kashush chanted, "Take your brother Maher with you and take off!"
"Your legitimacy has vanished, Bashar the liar, you make a speech when liberty is already knocking at the door, yallah! Bashar, be gone," he sang, as the crowds cheered on.
Kashush, whose song became an instant hit and one of the main anthems of the protests, did not get to enjoy his legacy.
His friends reported that last Sunday Kashush disappeared shortly after leaving work. Two days later, his body was discovered with his throat slit. The gruesome images were published on YouTube, instantly turning him into a tragic hero. According to al-Arabiya network, Kashush's friends accuse Syrian security forces of kidnapping and murdering him. The group of friends vowed to continue their slain hero's path and established a Facebook group where they pledged to "sing for freedom in Syria's squares, even if the price is slaughter."

100 Iranian experts with dogs in Lebanon to protect Hezbollah, report
July 10, 2011/
t/Ya Libnan
The French strategic news website TTV reportedly said on Friday that around 100 Iranian explosives experts accompanied by trained dogs are now operating in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the Bekaa and south Lebanon ( all Hezbollah strongholds) , due to concerns that Hezbollah could be targeted by explosions. The concerns were prompted by Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s claim that U.S. and Israeli intelligence agents had penetrated the party’s ranks. In a televised speech on June 24 via video link Nasrallah revealed that three Hezbollah members spied for the CIA.Hezbollah did not deny or confirm the TTV report so far

 

Learning Lebanon II’s lessons
By LIAT COLLINS/Haaretz
07/09/2011 22:08
The war was not considered a success by Israel, but the fact that it’s the Hezbollah leader hiding in a shelter this year and not Israeli children, suggests that it was not a total loss either.
Time flies not only when you’re having fun.
Proof: On July 12, it will be five years since the Second Lebanon War broke out, and the intervening years seem to have gone quickly. Perhaps it was because they were so packed with action. Lebanon II has since been overshadowed by Operation Cast Lead, reluctantly launched after missiles rained down on the South at the unignorable rate of 80 a day in the winter of 2008. This means that residents in a huge part of the country have within the last five years known that peculiar shaky feeling you get under missile fire.
The South is still hit periodically and unpredictably by projectiles.
What does this do our collective psyche? Ask the inductees who are now going into the army – those who were roughly bar/bat mitzva age when Lebanon II and the Gaza campaign were taking place. My guess is they take the “defense” part of the term Israel Defense Forces very seriously. Every soldier wants to protect his mother just as every mother is naturally protective of her child. Among the lessons of the Second Lebanon War is that the home front is the front in modern warfare.
This year’s recruits have also grown up aware of the fate of Gilad Schalit, demonstrating particularly poignantly just how long the IDF soldier has been held in captivity. (And in his case I retract my opening statement: For Schalit and his family, these five years – every day of them – have been an eternity.) The conflict produced heroes, as such campaigns do, but they were certainly not found among the political or military leadership. Instead we were impressed by the story of Maj. Ro’i Klein, who died with the traditional Shema Yisrael prayer on his lips as he threw himself onto a grenade to save his men.
Compare this to the action of then-chief-of-staff Dan Halutz, who somehow found time on the first day of the war to sell his stocks.
FIVE YEARS offer a certain perspective. The war took the lives of 119 soldiers and 44 civilians, and the country as a whole underwent a process similar to that in a bereavement including denial, anger, and finally acceptance. The physical evidence of the war is barely perceptible, but the psychological scars are still there, unfelt as long as circumstances don’t jog the unpleasant memories.
For the most part, we have gone on with our lives. The Galilee and Golan are popular destinations for pastoral vacations; Haifa is continuing to transform itself into a major tourism magnet; Karmiel is holding its annual dance festival.
Politically, the country also moved on, although haunted by ghosts. Ehud Olmert was ousted, albeit not officially for his failure in the war (reflected in the findings of the Winograd Committee) but because of the numerous criminal investigations he faced. Kadima as a party failed to return to the Prime Minister’s Office, and while party leader Tzipi Livni considers her role in determining the final outcome of the war via a UN resolution to be invaluable, it is clearly not viewed favorably by all.
Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu is now in the hot seat, but Israeli politics are fluid: Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who took over largely as a result of the perceived failings of Labor’s Amir Peretz, appears to be on his way out, while Peretz is poised (or posturing) for a comeback and even Halutz is hoping to run with Kadima.
Gabi Ashkenazi, who succeeded Halutz as chief of staff, has come and gone, having safely negotiated the Gaza campaign.
Operation Cast Lead was influenced by Lebanon II at several levels. That it took the government so long to act in the South can be ascribed to Olmert’s obvious fear of a having a second war, in which the main diplomatic and military objectives were not achieved, on his watch.
Since Lebanon II, however, Israel has learned not to rely solely on air power as a wartime strategy while also realizing the importance of defense projects, such as the Iron Dome anti-missile missile. Eventually, being prepared might even become a proper part of the defense doctrine.
THE OUTBREAK of the war on July 12, 2006, came as a bolt out of the blue – with the same brutal suddenness of the Katyusha rockets, and the deaths of eight soldiers and abduction of two more. The way Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were snatched from across the border a month after Schalit – or more to the point, the way they were returned in coffins two years later in exchange for the release of Palestinian and Lebanese terrorists – also changed the way the country sees things.
While everybody sympathizes with the Schalits and empathizes with Gilad, the question of “price” – an ugly term for an ugly equation – cannot be ignored.
Israeli citizens, of course, weren’t the only ones to suffer. Both Lebanon II and the Gaza campaign saw a massive, cynical use of “human shields” by Hezbollah and Hamas, with the inevitable cost involved.
Hezbollah, backed by Iran, is believed to have tripled its missile and rocket arsenal since Lebanon II. Meanwhile, the UN forces proved unable or unwilling to stop this rearmament, and also ineffective at preventing the mass infiltration by “refugees” on the northern borders in the highly publicized, recent Nakba and Naksa day events.
War, as noted by Prussian military theorist Carl von Clausewitz, can take many forms. Lately, it has assumed the shape of self-professed peace activists, who demonstrably want to express their solidarity with Palestinians (and to hell with the rest of us).
As the Arab Spring turns into a hot Middle Eastern summer, there is a general feeling of discomfort. Events in one part of the Arab world will always influence the rest of the region.
Last week, when a UN tribunal issued indictments implicating four members of Hezbollah with the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005, the organization’s leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, immediately claimed that Israel was behind the murder.
It is some small comfort that Nasrallah was talking, as usual, from an undisclosed location – apparently fearful that Israel is capable of seeking him out and killing him. Although Nasrallah, of all people, must know that blaming “the Zionist entity” in the Hariri case is disingenuous, Israel is widely considered to be behind the elimination of Hezbollah military commander Imad Mughniyeh and Syrian Gen. Muhammad Suleiman in 2008, Hamas arch-terrorist Ali Mahmoud Mabhouh last year, and various Iranian scientists involved in the race for nuclear weapons.
I like the thought of Nasrallah having to move every few days, as Post defense reporter Yaakov Katz noted in an analysis last week. He should feel like a criminal on the run. I just hope that he is fleeing from bunker to bunker, and not sleeping in pleasant surroundings in an opulent Beirut home.
Five years on, it is appropriate to remember that it is Nasrallah who was to blame for the conflict.
The war was not considered a success by Israel, but the fact that it’s the Hezbollah leader hiding in a shelter this year and not Israeli children, suggests that it was not a total loss either. Force plays a role in the Middle East, but never underestimate the power of deterrence.
The writer is editor of The International Jerusalem Post.
liat@jpost.com

Israel to set maritime border with Lebanon as tensions rise over gas reserves
By Barak Ravid /Haaretz
In the next few days Israel will submit to the United Nations its take on where its maritime economic border with Lebanon should be, as the two countries scramble for gas reserves estimated to be worth billions of dollars.
Israel's position is due to be approved by the cabinet today; Jerusalem argues that Lebanon's proposal includes major areas belonging to Israel.
Last August, Lebanon submitted to the United Nations its version of where the maritime border should be - the exclusive economic zone. In November, it submitted its version of its western border, with Cyprus.
The Lebanese proposal does not include the large Tamar and Leviathan gas prospects, operated by Delek Energy and U.S. company Noble Energy. But the National Infrastructure Ministry found that the proposal contains reserves with a potential value in the billions of dollars.
The Lebanese also sent their version to the United States, which conducted an expert review and endorsed the document. A senior Foreign Ministry official told Haaretz that the American diplomat in charge of the issue was Frederic Hof, who was responsible for Syria and Lebanon under the former U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell. Hof has kept the Israel-Lebanon brief despite Mitchell's resignation two months ago.
In April, Hof began shuttling between Beirut and Jerusalem. A senior administration official told Haaretz that Hof's main goal was to prevent the border from becoming a source of tension between Israel and Lebanon, which could give Hezbollah a pretext for targeting Israeli gas installations.
Beyond the political and diplomatic interest, the United States has an economic interest in keeping the parties calm, not least because American companies are involved in the search for gas an oil in Israel, Lebanon and Cyprus. Hof told his counterparts in Jerusalem that Israel should cooperate with setting the maritime border to prevent the creation of an "underwater Shaba Farms," referring to a contested area on the Israel-Lebanon border.
The Foreign Ministry official said Israel had asked the Americans to relay a warning to Lebanon on the matter. Foreign Ministry officials told Hof that Israel would not allow a provocation on the matter or an attack on Israeli gas installations. They said Israel would consider such an attack an attack on its sovereign territory and would retaliate "strongly" against Lebanon.
Hof responded by suggesting that Israel submit to the United Nations its own outlook on the border and try to launch a dialogue. Hof asked Israel not to turn the issue into a political spat but to see it as an economic and technical matter that could benefit all parties.
Israel rejected indirect talks via the United Nations, calling on Lebanon to begin negotiations on all border issues, not just the maritime border. The foreign and infrastructure ministries believe that Lebanon is claiming vast offshore territories that belong to Israel under international law.
"It's important to provide the UN with the Israeli version of the border as soon as possible, to react to Lebanon's unilateral move," a senior Foreign Ministry official told Haaretz. "Not responding could be interpreted as a tacit agreement. We must act fast to ensure Israel's economic rights in these areas."
Israel has become even more concerned about the positioning of the border after learning recently that a Norwegian company has begun searching for gas in the area. The search is due to be completed within months, and the Lebanese government hopes to use the findings to license international energy companies to probe areas that could be in Israel's exclusive economic zone.