LCCC
ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
ِJuly
29/2011
Bible Quotation for today
Galatians 3:23-25 /Now before faith came, we were
held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.
So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be
justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a
guardian,
Latest
analysis, editorials, studies, reports, letters & Releases
from
miscellaneous
sources
Pathos in Beirut, and
new directions/Michael
Young/July 28/11
Middle East drama on Capitol
Hill/By Natasha Mozgovaya/July
28/11
Beyond reproach/By:
Matt Nash/July
28/11
Latest News Reports From
Miscellaneous Sources for July 28/11
General Suleiman” and the myth of
free speech in Lebanon/By: Angie Nassar
Christian parties condemn attack on
Koura MP bodyguard/The Daily Star
MPs who drafted Taif
urge its implementation/The
Daily Star
Peacekeeper bombing
used sophisticated technology/The
Daily Star
Italy Approves Withdrawal of 700
Soldiers from UNIFIL/Naharnet
March 14 Slams Hizbullah’s
‘Provocation’ of Comparing Hariri Assassination Suspects to Saints/Naharnet
'General Suleiman' Song Lands
Musician in Jail/Naharnet
N. Korea Warns of New Nuclear Arms
Race ahead of U.S. Talks/Naharnet
Britain Recognizes Libyan Rebels as
Government/Naharnet
Suleiman to Sarkozy: Lebanon is
Keen on Safety of UNIFIL Members/Naharnet
Gemayel Says Property Seizure a
Recipe for 'Civil Strife/Naharnet
Israeli Diplomatic Package onboard
Cypriot Plane Accidentally Arrives in Beirut/Naharnet
Singh: UNIFIL’s Safety and Security
is of the Utmost Importance/Naharnet
Berri: Dialogue is Not a Cover-up
for Cabinet, it Belongs to Whole of Lebanon/Naharnet
Almost 3000 missing in Syria
crackdown: NGO/The Daily Star
Israel sees Lebanon bombing as
Hezbollah warning to UNIFIL/J.Post
Iran's Popularity Sinks in Arab
World, Turkey Rises/International Business Times
Hizbullah Denies Claims it is
Suppressing Syrian Protests/Naharnet
Almost 3,000
missing in Syria crackdown: NGO
July 28, 2011 /NICOSIA: Almost 3,000 people have gone missing in Syria since the
start of anti-regime protests more than four months ago, the Avaaz
non-governmental organization said in a statement Thursday. “Avaaz has today
revealed the identities of 2,918 Syrians who have been arrested by Syrian
security forces and whose whereabouts are now unknown,” the organization said in
statement received by AFP in Nicosia. It said it was launching a campaign
Thursday “to call for the release of the nearly 3,000 Syrians who have been
forcibly ‘disappeared’ since the peaceful uprising began on March 15th of this
year.” “The in-depth survey conducted by Avaaz estimates that one person is
disappearing every hour.
“In the past week alone there have been more than 1,000 arrests and the number
of enforced disappearances has been rapidly rising on a daily basis, as the
regime steps up its efforts to repress dissent in the build-up to Ramadan,” the
statement said. According to the organization’s executive director, Ricken
Patel, “hour by hour, peaceful protesters are plucked from crowds by Syria’s
infamously brutal security forces, never to be seen again.” Avaaz said 1,634
people have died in the crackdown, 26,000 have been arrested, of whom 12,617 are
still in detention. The group said it is establishing a website with photos and
brief descriptions of those who have disappeared which would be regularly
updated. It added it has been working in collaboration with two credible Syrian
human rights organisations to collect the names and photos of each disappeared
case “to ensure the list of names is wholly verified.”
Israel
sees Lebanon bombing as warning to UNIFIL
By YAAKOV KATZ
07/28/2011 05:01
J.Post/The bombing of a UNIFIL convoy in southern Lebanon on Tuesday night was
likely aimed at sending a message to the peacekeeping force to scale back its
operations against Hezbollah, Israeli defense officials said on Wednesday.
UNIFIL’s mandate is up for renewal in mid-August and the attack is understood in
Israel as a sign of Hezbollah concern that the force is looking to bolster its
rules of engagement.
Six officers from the French contingent were wounded when an explosion targeted
a convoy of four trucks traveling near the southern Lebanese town of Sidon. In
May, a similar bomb attack took place wounding six soldiers from the Italian
contingent just a few kilometers from the scene of Tuesday night’s attack.
Israel has been lobbying diplomats from countries which contribute to UNIFIL –
particularly Spain, Italy and France – to get the UN to issue new rules of
engagement for the peacekeeping force that will enable it to search Lebanese
villages without prior coordination with the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF).
According to UNIFIL’s current rules of engagement, the force is not allowed to
enter southern Lebanese villages to search for Hezbollah arms caches unless it
coordinates the operation with the LAF. If approved by the UN, the new rules
would still need to be approved by the Lebanese government.
On Wednesday, UNIFIL announced that it was working with the LAF to investigate
the bombing. The peacekeeping force also said that it would review its security
arrangements in wake of the bombing.
“Security and safety of UNIFIL personnel and installations is of paramount
importance,” the force said in a statement. “The Mission already has in place
comprehensive security and protective arrangements, which are regularly reviewed
and risk mitigating measures applied while ensuring mandate implementation.”
'General Suleiman' Song Lands
Musician in Jail
Naharnet /Lebanese vocalist and musician Zeid Hamdan was briefly detained on
Wednesday for slander over a song posted on YouTube in which he urges President
Michel Suleiman to "go home.""General prosecutor Saeed Mirza ordered Zeid Hamdan
detained for a song posted more than 18 months ago," Zeid’s lawyer Nizar
Saghiyyeh told Agence France Presse.
"This is shocking," he added. "This case concerning the reputation of the
president suddenly erupts while in the entire region you have heads of state
being brought down and the people calling on them to leave. "It is surreal in
Lebanon to have this taking place." Zeid was released late Wednesday, Saghiyyeh
said. He said the prosecutor must now decide whether to file formal charges
against his 35-year-old client. Slandering the president in Lebanon carries a
maximum prison sentence of two years. The rebel artist was interrogated by the
authorities for the first time on July 20 and another time on July 21, Saghiyyeh
said earlier in a statement. The lawyer called on the Lebanese public opinion to
“take a stance in defense of public freedoms in Lebanon.” Earlier in the day,
Zeid wrote on his Facebook wall that he was arrested Wednesday morning on
charges of "defamation".
"Dear friends, I am now in the prison of the police station of the palace of
justice in Beirut because of my song 'General Soleiman'. They are prosecuting me
for defammation of President Soleiman. I dont know, until when I am staying in
prison. Please mobilize!" Zeid wrote on his wall. In the song, entitled "General
Suleiman", Zeid's band criticizes the warlords and corrupt politicians in the
country: "All the militia man GO HOME Corrupted politician GO HOME, To Weapon
dealer say GO HOME, To trouble maker say GO HOME, Foreign intelligence GO HOME,
Neighbor influence GO HOME,... General Suleiman, U're a miracle man, Gene gene
general , GO HOME !"
The song's video was uploaded to YouTube in August 2010. Zeid's production
company Eka3 issued a statement denouncing his detention as a bid to trample on
freedom of expression in the country."It's hilarious really," a company official
said, requesting anonymity. "Here you have all these revolutions going on in the
Arab world and we have this in Lebanon."
Zeid was one half of Soapkills, the seminal electro-Arabic fusion act whose
other half Yasmine Hamdan was the voice of an entire generation of post-civil
war youth in Beirut.
A veteran on the independent music scene in Beirut, Zeid has a mystique about
him within the Lebanese cultural milieu.
He is currently the vocalist of "Zeid and the Wings". In 2010 three young men
were arrested and charged with defaming Suleiman after they criticized the
president on the social networking website Facebook. No charges were brought
against them and they were released after 11 days.
Peacekeeper bombing used
sophisticated technology
July 28, 2011
By Nicholas Blanford /The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Preliminary findings of the investigation into Tuesday’s bomb attack
against a convoy of French UNIFIL soldiers suggest that the explosive device was
detonated by a command wire, allowing it to circumvent the electronic defenses
used on UNIFIL vehicles, The Daily Star learned Wednesday.
Components of the command wire were discovered by investigators shortly after
the 6 p.m. bomb blast that wounded five French soldiers at the southern end of
Sidon.
The use of a command wire suggests the perpetrator could have been relatively
close to the scene of the blast, allowing him to see the approaching convoy and
set off the bomb as it passed by. The bomb was planted on the edge of a patch of
rough ground where a command wire could have been hidden.
An alternative is that the command wire was connected to an electronic receiver,
such as a cellphone, located out of range of the convoy’s radio frequency
jammers. That technique would allow the perpetrator to stand much further away
and dial the number of the cellphone connected to the command wire. The
cellphone would receive the incoming signal and detonate the bomb via the
attached command wire.
In May, six Italian soldiers were wounded when a bomb of approximately 10
kilograms exploded at the northern entrance to Sidon. It was the first attack
against UNIFIL since January 2008, when a similarly sized bomb exploded also
north of Sidon beside a jeep, wounding two members of the Irish UNIFIL
contingent.
Following the May bombing against the Italians, UNIFIL officials privately
acknowledged that further attacks were possible, a consequence of heightened
tensions in Lebanon and the region. Initially, it appears that Tuesday’s bombing
bore similarities to the previous two attacks in the Sidon area. Security
sources said that the bomb was approximately 10 kilograms and was a
Claymore-style device which discharged hundreds of steel ball bearings.
Investigators found little explosive residue behind the bomb, suggesting that it
may have been shaped in such a way to direct the blast laterally against the
targeted vehicle.
While the use of shaped-charge techniques shows a certain degree of expertise,
it may not help in narrowing down the identity of the perpetrators. The turmoil
and insurgencies that have engulfed the Middle East and Asia over the past
decade have created numerous skilled practitioners in the art of bomb-making and
detonation techniques, some of whom may well reside in Lebanon. This latest bomb
attack, like others against UNIFIL in the past, has gone unclaimed, leaving open
a wide array of suspects and motives.
Unhappily for UNIFIL, the 11,000-strong force is a sitting duck for this kind of
attack. It is probably no coincidence that the last three attacks have occurred
in the Sidon area. First, it lends some weight to theories that the perpetrators
may emanate from the nearby Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp or from Sunni
jihadist circles in the Iqlim al-Kharroub.Second, Sidon is a natural choke
point. Any UNIFIL vehicle travelling between Beirut and the south has to pass
through the city as other road routes – such as via the Western Bekaa – are not
permitted. Furthermore, Sidon’s crowded streets and the lower level of security,
compared to UNIFIL’s area of operation south of the Litani river where the
Lebanese Army also operates in strength, allows greater freedom for attackers to
plant and detonate bombs.
Since UNIFIL’s expansion following the 2006 war, force protection has been a top
concern, particularly given the predominance of large European battalions. The
challenge facing UNIFIL now is to augment its security measures without allowing
the need for improved force protection to undermine its ability to carry out its
mandate. Still, if there are further bomb attacks against European troops in
UNIFIL – particularly if any of them prove fatal – how long will it be before
their respective governments decide to call it a day in south Lebanon?
Italy Approves Withdrawal of
700 Soldiers from UNIFIL
Naharnet /The Italian Senate agreed on Wednesday to withdraw 700 soldiers from
the United Nations Interim force in Lebanon, reported AKI Italian news agency.
This decision was part of an agreement to lower the number of Italian troops
from international peacemaking missions from 9,250 to 2,028 in 2012.
The decision also encompasses reducing the number of Italian troops in Libya and
the Balkans, with 884 troops returning from the former and 271 from the latter.
On May 27, six Italian peacekeepers were wounded -- two of them seriously --
along with two civilians in a roadside bomb explosion targeting a U.N. patrol
along a highway near the Lebanese southern city of Sidon, officials said. "There
was an explosion late afternoon that targeted a UNIFIL logistics convoy along
the main highway near Sidon," UNIFIL spokesman Neeraj Singh told Agence France
Presse. Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said Italy was "intent" on reducing its
presence in Lebanon which currently numbers nearly 1,800 Italian soldiers.
"It's obvious that this is a decision that will be communicated in a U.N.
context because this is not an Italian mission, it's a U.N. mission," he said.
UNIFIL, a multinational force which currently has 12,000 troops stationed in
south Lebanon, was initially set up to monitor Lebanon's border with Israel.
It was expanded after a devastating 2006 war between the Jewish state and
Hizbullah. Some 292 peacekeepers have been killed since the force was
established in 1978.
It has been the target of four other unclaimed attacks, the latest on Tuesday
when French officers were wounded by a roadside bomb near Sidon.
In the deadliest incident, three Spanish and three Colombian peacekeepers were
killed in June of 2007 when a booby-trapped car exploded as their patrol vehicle
drove by.
Israeli Diplomatic Package onboard Cypriot Plane
Accidentally Arrives in Beirut
Naharnet /An Israeli package from the Israeli Embassy in Larnaca accidentally
arrived in Beirut on Wednesday onboard a Cypriot plane. Airport security
confiscated the package and is currently conducting investigations over how it
arrived in Lebanon. The package was headed to the Israeli Foreign Ministry. The
package does not contain any explosive material. It has been handed over to
military prosecutor Saqr Saqr who will deliver it to Cypriot Embassy. Lebanon
has the right to open any diplomatic package to determine whether it contains
explosives.
MPs who drafted Taif urge its implementation
July 28, 2011/ By Wassim Mroueh/ The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Amid calls by senior politicians to amend the 1989 Taif Accord, and a
difference of opinion over whether it is “dead,” lawmakers who took part in the
drafting the document complained that most of its clauses have not been
implemented.
The administrative committee of the League of Former MPs convened Wednesday in
Parliament, along with other former and current MPs, some of whom participated
in drafting the accord, which ended Lebanon’s 1975-90 Civil War.
“Participants discussed the current situation, touching on the fact that most
clauses of the Taif Accord have not been implemented,” said a statement released
after the meeting.
The participants tasked the committee with pursuing contacts with all political
factions to help implement the clauses of the Taif Accord, especially when it
comes to a law governing parliamentary elections.
Incumbent lawmakers in attendance were MP’s Butros Harb and Abdel-Latif Zein.
The lawmakers also urged all political factions to resume dialogue, saying “it
is the best means to reduce current tension and to protect and boost national
unity,” and thanked Speaker Nabih Berri for supporting the work of the
committee.
The accord was ratified in November 1989 in the Saudi city of Taif, which saw
many rounds of negotiations between MPs. The agreement transferred some
prerogatives from the president to the government and equally divided
parliamentary seats among Muslims and Christians.
The Taif clauses which have yet to be implemented include establishing a
national committee to consider abolishing political sectarianism, holding
parliamentary elections based on an electoral law that divides Lebanon into
governorates, and implementing administrative decentralization.
But many Lebanese groups are calling for amending the agreement. In May,
Maronite Patriarch Behsara Rai called for filling gaps in the accord,
highlighting the need to boost the powers of the president.
“Can the president solve problems if he is denied prerogatives?” Rai asked,
urging all Lebanese political leaders to review the Constitution to grant the
president further powers to allow him to settle conflicts in times of political
crisis.
“The Taif Accord is not [a religious text]. We all approved it but there are
gaps that need to be filled,” Rai added. “We are not requesting anything out of
the ordinary.”
“The prime minister and his Cabinet along with Parliament are the institutions
running the country and there is no power in the hands of the president,” Rai
said.
Last month, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah urged the introduction of
reforms to improve the Constitution and political system, to avoid a discussion
of amending Taif.
Speaking to The Daily Star, Harb denied that the agreement, which he
participated in drafting, had been completely derailed.
“It did not die, but some are trying to end it. Matters are progressing at the
expense of Taif and its major clauses were violated,” he said.
“But we should not surrender to what is happening because targeting Taif will
jeopardize coexistence in the country,” Harb said.
But former Beirut MP Najah Wakim, who heads the People Movement and who also
took part in the Taif talks, said that the accord was “dead.”
Gemayel to Suleiman: No
Dialogue with Backers of ‘Saints’
Naharnet /Phalange leader Amin Gemayel has reportedly said that his party would
not engage in dialogue with representatives of Hizbullah who consider the four
suspects accused of involvement in ex-Premier Rafik Hariri’s Feb. 2005 murder as
“saints.”An Nahar daily said Wednesday that Gemayel made his remarks to
President Michel Suleiman the day before after the president launched
consultations to inquire about the politicians’ viewpoints on his invitation for
national dialogue. “The Phalange will not seat at a table with people whose
party members are accused and consider them saints,” Gemayel told Suleiman.
All-party talks are rejected if they are aimed at legalizing the coup that
Hizbullah led against former Premier Saad Hariri’s cabinet in January, the
former president reportedly said. Phalange sources told al-Joumhouria daily that
Gemayel said the dialogue should consolidate the seat of the presidency. “The
failure of the next stage would be a disaster to the post.” He also accused the
Hizbullah-led March 8 alliance, which is now encouraging dialogue, of
obstructing previous sessions by rejecting to discuss the fate of the Shiite
party’s arms. While he welcomed any type of dialogue among Lebanese leaders,
Gemayel said his party can’t sit at the dialogue table with people who are
trying to exercise the power authorized to security forces.
March 14 Slams Hizbullah’s ‘Provocation’ of Comparing
Hariri Assassination Suspects to Saints
Naharnet /The March 14 General Secretariat condemned on Wednesday Hizbullah’s
“provocation” of comparing four suspects in the assassination of former Premier
Rafik Hariri to saints.
It said in a statement after its weekly meeting: “These stands demonstrate the
party’s nervousness ahead of the unveiling of the truth.”The first phase of the
indictment in the Special Tribunal for Lebanon included arrest warrants against
four Hizbullah members. The party had repeatedly said that it would not
cooperate with the tribunal, with MP Nawwaf al-Moussawi comparing the suspects
to saints over their role in Hizbullah. The deadline for handing over the
suspects is set to end soon, said the March 14 statement. This will be followed
with the publication of the indictment and the details of the accusations, it
noted. Furthermore, the statement condemned the “Hizbullah-led campaign against
former Prime Minister Saad Hariri”, deeming it an attempt to politically
assassinate him. “The campaign is doomed to fail given the March 14 forces’
determination to confront any coup and illegitimate arms at the time Lebanese
and Arab people have achieved the victory for dignity, freedom, justice, and
democracy,” it stressed. The General Secretariat also condemned Tuesday’s attack
against a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon patrol, labeling it as an
attack against U.N. Security Council resolution 1701 and Lebanon’s commitments
to international agreements.
It noted that the attack took place “at a suspicious time and it falls in favor
of Israel’s interests and that of a certain regional alliance.” “These attacks
would not have taken place in the first place had it not been for Hizbullah’s
hostile positions towards international agreements,” the statement said. On the
anti-regime demonstrations in Syria, the March 14 forces called on the Arab
League to assume its responsibilities in the matter and work on halting the
bloodshed. “The success of the revolt will pave the way for a new chapter in
ties between Syria and Lebanon and Syria and the region,” it remarked. “It will
present a chance for the establishment of civil peace in Lebanon that has long
been manipulated by the Syrian regime,” added the statement.
Jumblat Seeking to Restore Good Ties with Hariri, Maintain
Alliance with Nasrallah
Naharnet /A debate has emerged among the Lebanese forces allied to Syria over
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat’s recent positions, with
some sides voicing their disappointment with them, revealed a March 8 source to
al-Jumhuriya newspaper on Wednesday.“We are monitoring his stances” in
apprehension of any shift in his alliance, it added. “Some contacts have been
made between March 8 camp factions and PSP officials close to the MP to
determine the truth behind his recent positions,” it revealed.
His circles asserted the Druze leader’s principles of supporting the Resistance
and the alliance with Syria and preventing any internal sectarian strife, said
the source.
The March 8 source noted that the slight shift in Jumblat’s stance coincided
with that of Moscow, which is the most prominent international backer of the
Syrian regime.
He may have received a Russian message during his recent visit to the country
that attempts to salvage the Syrian regime will fail, it stated. Jumblat may be
seeking to bridge the divide between him and his former allies in the March 14
camp, reported al-Jumhuriya. His sources said: “He will not take any step that
may harm his ties with Hizbullah out of his keenness on the security of Mount
Lebanon.” “He is trying to restore amicable ties with former Prime Minister Saad
Hariri, while maintaining good relations with Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan
Nasrallah,” they continued, “In addition, he is trying to separate his ties with
the party from his alliance with Syrian President Bashar Assad,” they stressed.
Furthermore, the sources ruled out the possibility that the MP is preparing for
the 2013 parliamentary elections, where he would have to respect the Sunni
authorities in Beirut, the Shouf, and western Bekaa.
N. Korea Warns of New Nuclear Arms Race ahead of U.S. Talks
Naharnet /North Korea said Wednesday, ahead of landmark talks with the United
States, that a U.S. missile defense shield will set off a new nuclear arms race.
The target of the shield is "the gaining of absolute nuclear superiority and
global hegemony over the other nuclear power rivals," North Korea's U.N.
ambassador Sin Son Ho told a U.N. debate on nuclear disarmament. North Korea and
the United States are to hold two days of talks in New York from Thursday on
issues including the North's nuclear arsenal. However the U.N. envoy said the
shield showed the United States has no "moral justifications" to lecture other
countries about proliferation.
"In this current changing world, one can easily understand that this dangerous
move will eventually spark a new nuclear arms race," Sin said. "This shows that
the world's largest nuclear weapon state has lost its legal or moral
justifications to talk of proliferation issues before international society, on
whatever ground," the envoy added.
The Stalinist state's U.N. envoy said recent developments such as the shield had
cast "dark shadows" over prospects for nuclear disarmament and weapon
modernization programs had been launched that resemble the "Cold War period."
Vice foreign minister Kim Kye-Gwan is leading the North's delegation at the New
York talks.
Kim and U.S. North Korean envoy Stephen Bosworth are expected to discuss
improving U.S.-North Korean ties and ways to re-launch six-nation talks on the
North giving up its nuclear weapons. Talks between North Korea and the United
States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia have been frozen since December
2008.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the New York talks on Sunday,
two days after the nuclear envoys of South and North Korea held a surprise
meeting on the sidelines of an Asian security conference in Bali, Indonesia. In
Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said North Korea's meeting
with the South in Bali was "constructive" but that the communist state needed to
do more. "What we're looking for is in our mind a clear indication that North
Korea is serious about moving forward," Toner told reporters.
The United States will be watching to see if North Korea will recommit to a 2005
agreement at the six-way talks "as well as take concrete and irreversible steps
towards denuclearization."
Source Agence France Presse
Britain Recognizes Libyan Rebels as Government
Naharnet /Britain on Wednesday recognized Libya's rebel council as the country's
sole legitimate government, after dramatically expelling all remaining staff
loyal to Moammar Gadhafi from the London embassy. Foreign Secretary William
Hague said he had invited the National Transitional Council (NTC) to take over
the embassy and appoint an official envoy to London in a major boost for the
rebel movement fighting Gadhafi's regime. "The prime minister and I have decided
that the United Kingdom recognizes and will deal with the National Transitional
Council as the sole governmental authority in Libya," Hague said at the Foreign
and Commonwealth Office.
"We are inviting the National Transitional Council to appoint a new Libyan
diplomatic envoy to take over the Libyan embassy in London." He added: "In line
with that decision we summoned the Libyan charge d'affaires to the Foreign
Office today and informed him that he and the other regime diplomats from the
Gadhafi regime must leave the UK."
"We no longer recognize them as the representatives of the Libyan government."
Britain's move comes nearly two weeks after the Libya contact group, a group of
major Western and regional powers, recognized the NTC as Libya's legitimate
government.
Britain is one of the lead nations in a NATO-led Western alliance that has been
carrying out an aerial campaign against Gadhafi's regime since March, when the
U.N. approved action to protect civilians. On Monday Hague reiterated Britain's
demands for Gadhafi to step down but said the Libyan leader may be allowed to
remain in the North African country in an apparent shift in London's position.
Britain expelled the Libyan ambassador in May following attacks on the British
embassy in Tripoli, and has also already kicked out several Libyan diplomats
including the country's military attache. It has no diplomatic representation in
Tripoli but a Foreign Office special representative is based in the eastern
rebel stronghold of Benghazi where the NTC is based. "We will deal with the NTC
on the same basis as other governments around the world," Hague said.
"We are dealing with them as if they are the state of Libya," he said. "This
decision reflects the National Transitional Council's increasing legitimacy,
competence and success in reaching out to Libyans across the country. "Through
its actions the National Transitional Council has shown its commitment to a more
open and democratic Libya, something that it is working to achieve through an
inclusive political process. "This is in stark contrast to Gadhafi whose
brutality against the Libyan people has stripped him of all legitimacy."
Hague said the decision could also help with the unfreezing of some assets which
have been frozen by the international community to stop Gadhafi profiting from
them.
Hague was meanwhile scathing about the "pretty worthless" medical advice that
allowed the freeing of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi,
who appeared at a rally in support of Gadhafi on Tuesday. Megrahi, 59, who has
terminal cancer, was released from a Scottish jail on compassionate grounds in
August 2009. He is the only man convicted over the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight
103 which killed 270 people, mostly U.S. nationals. Source Agence France Presse
Suleiman to Sarkozy: Lebanon is
Keen on Safety of UNIFIL Members
Naharnet /President Michel Suleiman cabled his French counterpart Nicolas
Sarkozy on Wednesday stressing Lebanon’s keenness on the safety of UNIFIL troops
following the roadside bombing that targeted a French patrol near the southern
port city of Sidon. In his cable, Suleiman “condemned the attack on the French
unit and reiterated Lebanon’s keenness on the safety of UNIFIL members.” Also
Wednesday, Suleiman asked security agencies to intensify efforts to find the
suspects of Tuesday’s bombing and bring them to justice.
“Repeated attacks do not serve Lebanon and its image abroad,” the president
said. “The preservation of the security stability in the country is the right
and necessary foundation to launch development.”“It is forbidden to tamper with
security under any circumstance,” he said, denouncing any attack against
“friendly countries that have sent soldiers to help the Lebanese army in
preserving security and stability in the south and implementing international
resolutions, particularly resolution 1701 that the Israeli enemy continues to
violate.”
Suleiman also tasked Health Minister Ali Hassan Khalil with attending the
transportation of the injured soldiers to Paris at Beirut airport.
Pathos in Beirut, and new directions
July 28, 2011/By Michael Young/The Daily Star
Pathos has become standard fare in Beirut lately. There was something pathetic
in the bearing of Prime Minister Najib Mikati during his recent interview with
CNN’s Richard Quest. And no less pathetic have been the assurances of March 14
figures that Saad Hariri will return to Beirut during the month of Ramadan.
With Mikati the pathos came in the prime minister’s unpersuasive effort to put a
brave face on a bad situation. He told Quest that the four individuals indicted
by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon were being actively sought by his
government, even as the dubious reporter reminded him that Hezbollah’s secretary
general, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, had vowed never to surrender the men. Mikati,
too smart to engage in self-delusion, instead spread a pitiful illusion.
As for March 14, there was something just as wretched in the statements
heralding Hariri’s homecoming. The former prime minister’s bloc and allies have
been embarrassed by their leader’s disappearance and the contradictory
explanations for this. Now Hariri is coming back and a zephyr of hope has kicked
up in the coalition’s ranks, as no more explanations have to be offered.
Lebanon is being damaged by fragmentation in the political game. Nasrallah is
flying the banner of defending our offshore gas fields – in search of new
relevance for a party that has lost its meaning beyond being the armed sentinel
of the Shiite sect, and that may soon be deprived of a valuable Syrian ally;
Mikati is engaged in an elaborate act that all is dandy in Lebanon, to reverse
waning confidence in stability; March 14 is all sound and fury, but signifying
nothing as it fails to define an alternative to the vague program on the other
side.
In this otherwise dispiriting context, there may yet be interesting things to
watch for that will shape Lebanon’s political future. One, is whether the notion
of a government of “one color” can provide a model of sorts, or alternatively
will turn into a practice best avoided. Another, is whether such a “one-color”
government will help spawn in positive ways a responsible opposition.
As much as a national-unity government is preferable given our present political
predicament, because Lebanon needs a forum for dialogue in volatile times, that
choice has not been the norm in modern Lebanon. One must differentiate between a
representative government and a national-unity government: the first brings in a
range of political forces who agree on the basics of policy, but does not
necessarily integrate all major forces in the way that a national-unity
government does. Lebanon has frequently had representative governments that were
not national-unity governments.
It is too early to judge how the Mikati government will perform. However, the
signs are not heartening when the prime minister finds himself on a different
wavelength than Hassan Nasrallah, his far more powerful confederate. Oddly, this
may not end up mattering much. Whatever the outcome for the government, success
or failure, it may help bolster the view that a government of compatible
political partners is better than a national-unity government.
Here’s why. If the Mikati government succeeds, then many Lebanese will, of
course, applaud the experiment, seeing little to condemn in a politically
compatible governing team. Conversely, if the government fails, then this is
likely to discredit Mikati and those around him in their political capacity, but
not at all the principle of a like-minded government. In other words,
disappointment with the current ministers and their sponsors could create a
backlash leading to the establishment of a substitute Cabinet of March 14 and
its comrades.
Many Lebanese are tempted to favor compatible governments over national-unity
governments. But that can only work if partisanship is kept in check and there
is broad agreement over Lebanon’s social contract. When government actions and
political and security appointments serve mainly to consolidate a politician’s
or party’s interests at the expense of the majority, inside or outside
government, then the advantages of compatibility break down.
And what of the opposition? March 14 has disappointed on a host of questions
since Mikati took office. Tactically, the coalition has sought to highlight the
flaws of the government, and the prime minister in particular. But it has been
wishy-washy on sensitive issues, from addressing declining economic conditions,
where the responsible position requires backing Mikati, to taking a stance on
the Syrian situation, to providing a convincing counter-offer to the majority’s
tendentious vision for a national dialogue. Demanding that Hezbollah’s weapons
be included in a dialogue is natural, but this will not serve as the basis of
serious discussion until March 14 corners the party by presenting a detailed
project for disarmament that incorporates a political quid pro quo.
If we were to predict the popularity of March 14 in an election, what might we
discover? Looking through a narrow but useful prism, if elections were held
today in the different districts of Mount Lebanon, which accounts for a hefty
number of parliamentarians, I would wager heavily that Michel Aoun would again
win a lion’s share of seats. That’s not because the general is more popular than
in 2009, but because his adversaries have lost ground. It was no coincidence
that Michel Murr, an astute electoral operator, voted confidence in the Mikati
government after his list’s disastrous results in the Metn two years ago. Expect
him to negotiate with Aoun in 2013.
This should be a cautionary tale for March 14. A government of one color imposes
obligations on an opposition. Even if the public has doubts about those in
authority, that doesn’t mean it will side with their critics. Until now the
opposition has appeared strident, devoid of ideas, and focused on provoking
Mikati’s collapse. That’s not a serious strategy and it’s not working. It makes
Mikati look good when his difficulties should expose how feeble the prime
minister really is.
**Michael Young is opinion editor of THE DAILY STAR and author of “The Ghosts of
Martyrs Square: An Eyewitness Account of Lebanon’s Life Struggle” (Simon &
Schuster), listed as one of the 10 notable books of 2010 by The Wall Street
Journal. He tweets BeirutCalling.
Iran’s
Popularity Sinks in Arab World, Turkey Rises
July 27, 2011/International Business Times
Iran's popularity among the Arab countries have plunged over the past decade,
while Turkey’s favorability ratings have soared, according to a survey by the
Arab American Institute in Washington. The poll, which was conducted last month
in six Arab countries -- Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan
and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) – indicate that Iran, a Shia Muslim power
which is developing a nuclear program, is becoming a grave concern to the Arab
world. A majority in each country polled (except Lebanon) thinks Iranian
involvement in the Middle East is largely negative. According to the Zogby poll,
Iran’s positive rating is an abysmally low 6 percent in Saudi Arabia. In the
other Arab countries surveyed, Iran’s favorability rating ranges between 14
percent and 37 percent. In Lebanon, however, Iran enjoys a positive rating of 63
percent. Still, as recently as 2006, Iran positive rating ranged between 68
percent and 82 percent. “It really was rather shocking I thought,” the director
of the Arab American Institute, Dr. James Zogby, told Newsmax. “Even a couple of
years ago, people would say, 'Oh, Arab leaders are against Iran, but their
people aren’t.'" Zogby thinks the Arab countries are becoming annoyed and
alarmed by Tehran’s constant meddling in their affairs. For example, Iran has
repeatedly criticized Saudi Arabia’s presence in neighboring Bahrain, where the
ruling Sunni elite has been brutally quelled an uprising by Shias.
Iran is also friendly with Syria (which is quickly becoming a pariah state) and
is also involved with Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The poll also indicated that five of the six Arab countries polled would like to
see a nuclear-free Middle East. However, most Lebanese did not share this view.
In fact, a majority of Lebanese Shias actually believed that the Middle East
would be more secure if Tehran had the bomb. "It shows Arab leadership is
concerned with Iran - but so are Arab people, so the Arab leadership will have
to take these sentiments into consideration", Zogby told reporters. "It's not an
exclusive American portfolio anymore, to be concerned about Iranian actions, but
for the Arab public, it's not among the top priorities in the region - they are
much more worried about the occupation of the Palestinian territories. It's true
though that Israel is not the target of Iran, it's the lever that Iran uses in
the Arab world. They know that by picking the fight with Israel, it helps them
to rally support of their alienated and frustrated public. If there were a peace
agreement - Iran wouldn't have any boogey man to play off with - as much as Iran
is the convenient boogeyman for Israel".
Meanwhile, Turkey is enjoying high popularity among the Arab nations polled.
Turkey has a favorable rating in Morocco (80 percent), Egypt (64 percent),
Jordan (45 percent), Saudi Arabia (98 percent), UAE (62 percent), and Lebanon
(93 percent). Turkey is cited as helping to promote peace and stability to the
region.
Indeed, Turkey (which, like Iran, is not an Arab country) has taken more of a
leadership role in regional affairs, including mediating with Libya and
accepting refugees fleeing Syria.
Middle East drama on Capitol Hill
Middle East policy is a hot topic in Washington, from congressmen calling on
Obama to adopt a more decisive stance toward Syria to conflicting views on how
to solve stalled Palestinian-Israeli talks.
By Natasha Mozgovaya
This summer is much busier than usual in Washington, DC, even without taking the
debt ceiling drama into account.
Here are some updates on what is going on in the U.S. capital
1. Congressmen press the Obama administration to take a more decisive position
on Syria
The U.S. administration has pretty much exhausted all the possible ways to put
pressure on Assad's regime - sanctions, rebukes, hints that the regime "is not
indispensible" – other than explicitly calling for Assad to step down. And
that's exactly what members of Congress would like the Administration to do.
"Noting that Assad has lost legitimacy without calling for his immediate
departure from power trivializes the death of thousands of Syrians killed by
Assad's thugs", Rep. Gary Ackerman (New York, Democrat), said Wednesday during
the hearing of the Middle East and South Asia Subcommittee of the House Foreign
Affairs Committee, titled "Axis of Abuse: U.S. Human Rights Policy Toward Iran
and Syria".
Ackerman continued, saying "the Obama administration has barely scratched even
the surface of their utility in aiding the people of Syria in throwing off this
regime of murderers and thieves and torturers of children. History will record
not only how we mostly ignored the people of Syria in their hour of need but,
worse, how we overlooked our own blindingly obvious national interest in the
demise of the Assad regime".
Ackerman then told the committee that he keeps a black-and-white photo in his
office of Sierpc, Poland, the place where his family came from.
"Following the Nazi invasion in 1939, the Jews in Sierpc were rounded up, sent
to the Warsaw ghetto, and liquidated. There was no help for them,” he said.
The congressman continued, saying "the free world claimed not to know. And even
if it had, it probably still would not have helped. We said "never again." But
it happened again. It happened in Cambodia. It happened in Bosnia. It happened
in Rwanda, Congo,Sudan.”
He then said that this same phenomena is happening again today in Syria, “and in
each case, governments, including ours, like guilty children, look down at their
shoes and say to no one in particular, ‘There's nothing we could have done.’"
Ackerman clarified that he is not calling for military intervention in Syria,
but that "the President must call for Bashar Assad, the “blood-soaked dictator”,
to step down.
“Trifling with the lives of the people of Syria with nuanced, lawyerly phrases
like ‘President Assad must understand he is not indispensable’ is shameful", the
congressman said.
Jeffrey Feltman, Assistant Secretary of State from the Bureau of Near Eastern
Affairs, who represented the administration at the hearing, along with Michael
Posner, Assistant Secretary of State from Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and
Labor Location, shared the Congress members’ contempt for the Syrian leader,
saying that "Bashar al-Assad is not a reformer but someone whose rule relies on
terror, theft and torture".
2. Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon fails to stop people from calling the
West Bank ‘occupied territories’
Danny Ayalon's video in which he explains why the West Bank shouldn't be called
"occupied territories", failed to convince its audience.
Ayalon says in the 6-minute video that "the West Bank shouldn't be considered
‘occupied’, because there was no legal sovereign in the area. These are
‘disputed’ territories.”
The minister then went on to explain that “these are not just my own opinions
they are based on conclusions of the world renowned jurists. Let's stop using
the term ‘occupied territories’ and ‘1967 borders’ - they are simply not
politically correct. “
"Atlantic" magazine's correspondent Jeffrey Goldberg wrote in response to
Ayalon’s comments in his blog that "the Israeli Foreign Ministry is now part of
the settlement movement", and calls the video "disturbing".
3. Watchdog group presents report showing PA gives prisoners in Israeli prisons
monthly salaries
"The Palestinian Media Watch" presented a special report to members of the
Republican Israel Caucus at the Congress on Tuesday, titled "Palestinian
Authority glorification of terrorists and paying salaries to terrorists with US
money".
According to the report, the Palestinian Authority pays monthly salaries to
5,500 prisoners in Israeli prisons, including terrorists - taking the money from
its general budget.
Last week, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs adopted two amendments written
by Rep. Eliot L. Engel (New York, Democrat), setting forth condition for
assistance to the Palestinian Authority. According to the amendment, aid to the
PA is to be blocked if they declare independence or seeks UN recognition. It
also stipulates that the Palestinian leadership put an end to incitement and
prepare its people for peace with Israel.
This was, of course, only the first legislative step - but at the initial
committee reading, it was adopted with a 44 to 0 vote, which is in all
likelihood indicative of further votes.
4. Durban III to proceed despite widespread opposition
Despite the fact that the U.S., Canada, Israel, and recently the Czech Republic,
Italy and the Netherlands decided to skip what has been dubbed the "Durban III"
conference that will take place on September 22, there is already a draft
resolution, to be discussed at an informal meeting of UN member states Thursday
at the New York UN Headquarters.
Durban III will proceed, and despite the text of the initial draft which does
not explicitly mention Israel by name, it does call for the implementation of
other relevant resolutions, which have been defined by Israel and its supporters
as anti-Israeli.
5. Middle East policy expert blames U.S. opposition to Palestinian bid to UN for
statehood on U.S. domestic policy limitations
After the Quartet meeting in Washington failed to yield results, Daniel Levy,
director of the Middle East Task Force at the New America Foundation, argued
that the Obama administration’s adamant opposition to a Palestinian bid to the
UN for statehood stems from the domestic policy limitations.
"With re-election coming up the president would be unenthusiastic about having
to deal with the background noise criticism that many of the so-called
pro-Israel lobbying groups would undoubtedly generate in the wake of any UN
vote", Levy wrote.
6. U.S. still ‘engaged’ in the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, but nothing
new to report
Defense Ehud Barak arrives in Washington on Thursday, but it is questionable as
to whether he brings any news to the U.S. capital, or if he is just coming to
greet his new counterpart (and old friend), Secretary of Defense Leon Panneta.
When asked about whether the peace process is “still alive”, State Department
Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner said that the U.S. remains “engaged on the peace
process. I don't have any updates for you today, but, you know, we are aware of
events in September and are working diligently to get the parties back to the
table", Toner said.
As for the deadline for a negotiated agreement that was once set for September -
Toner said that "it's not a hard and fast deadline. We're obviously cognizant of
the fact that this [unilaterally seeking recognition] is an action that the
Palestinians may take. And we're trying to dissuade them and persuade them that
the only true way to a comprehensive settlement is through the negotiating
table".
Beyond reproach?
Matt Nash, July 28, 2011/Now Lebanon
The song “General Sleiman,” above, got musician Zeid Hamdan detained on
Wednesday. (Video via YouTube)
It’s been a worrying week for human rights activists in Lebanon.
On Monday, Saadeddine Chatilla was detained and questioned for around 12 hours,
he told NOW Lebanon. Chatilla is the head of the Lebanon office of the NGO Al-Karama,
which also has an office in Geneva.
“Our work revolves around documenting cases and submitting them to the United
Nations for their special reports on torture,” he said. “We also work on
arbitrary detention, [forced] disappearance and torture.”
Some of the reports he’s written, he said, included allegations he documented of
torture at the hands of Military Intelligence officers. On July 22, he received
a letter from Military Intelligence asking him to come to their Beirut office.
When he arrived on Monday, he was held and questioned.
“They were asking me about the sources of information [cited in the torture
reports] and if we as an organization have proof,” he said. “We protect our
sources in case they might face further threats, so I didn’t give them any
names.”
On Tuesday, Military Judge Sakr Sakr questioned Chatilla for 45 minutes.
Chatilla said that so far as he understands, the state is suing him for
defamation and spreading false information.
The next day, musician Zeid Hamdan was detained and questioned for defaming the
president. Hamdan was held because of a song his band Zeid and the Wings
produced in 2010 that called on Sleiman to "go home."
While the two cases are unrelated, human rights activists see a disturbing trend
developing. Since early 2010, there have been several cases of people being
detained for defamation after they criticized either the army or the president.
In March 2010, Khodor Salameh, a journalist and blogger, was held for his
critiques of the army, the speaker of parliament, the prime minister and the
president. The army detained and questioned Ismael Sheik Hassan in August 2010
for a satirical article he wrote in As-Safir lambasting the Nahr al-Bared
reconstruction process.
A few months later, both Farah Kobaissy and Ghassan Abdullah were also detained
for criticizing the army’s handling of Nahr al-Bared. In August 2010, Al-Akhbar
journalist Hassan Oleik was held and questioned by Military Intelligence for an
article he wrote that detailed an “alleged conversation between Defense Minister
Elias Murr and the country's army commander, Jean Kahwaji, concerning a
suspected Israeli spy,” according to Human Rights Watch.
In the summer of 2010, three people were taken in for authoring a Facebook page
that slammed Sleiman (a fourth was also arrested upon his arrival at Beirut’s
airport as he was out of the country when the three others were detained).
Though generally those held have not been charged with crimes in the end, the
incidents have many human rights activists worried.
“It’s a setback for freedom of expression,” Darine el-Hage, director of the
human rights NGO ALEF, told NOW Lebanon. She said such cases of detention defy
both Lebanon’s constitution, which commits the country to the UN Declaration of
Human Rights, as well as the UN Convent on Political and Civil Rights
(particularly Article 19).
“If this trend continues, that means we may have to stop our work as a human
rights group,” she added.
Nadim Houry, a researcher with Human Rights Watch, told NOW Lebanon that it is
unfortunate that, in Chatilla’s case, Military Intelligence detained and
interrogated an activist doing his job instead of investigating the claims he
documented.
Nizar Saghiyeh, a lawyer who frequently works with clients who allege they were
either arbitrarily detained or tortured while in custody, told NOW Lebanon, “I
think there is somehow the same trend [in the detentions happening since last
year]. They wanted to intimidate them through arrest.”
Saghiyeh said he thought the recent detentions of critics of the army and
president were happening because both feel vulnerable. Most political leaders
have a natural support base because of the sectarian nature of Lebanon's
political system. He said that he thought the president and army might be
concerned, as they have no such reliable base and are therefore extra sensitive
to critique.
“I don’t believe Lebanon is a rule-of-law state,” he added. Most of those held
recently were done so based on defamation provisions in Lebanon’s penal code,
but some, like Oleik and Hassan, were held based on the press law, which is
problematic, Saghiyeh said.
“When the press law is concerned, there are specific provisions saying they’re
not allowed to detain people,” he said. “But there’s no similar [provision] in
the penal code.”
Hage told NOW Lebanon that she is particularly concerned by the increase in
detentions because she feels the authorities are missing the larger point.
“When we disseminate this kind of information, we want to see Lebanon progress,”
she said of writing reports about torture, arbitrary detention and abuse. Human
rights groups, she said, are not trying to give Lebanon a bad reputation or
defame authorities, but “we want to make a better country.”