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.