President Michel Sleiman to declare key positions Tuesday: sources
February 26, 2013/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: President Michel Sleiman will launch key positions on a number of controversial topics Tuesday evening, particularly the controversial Orthodox Gathering proposal and the Syrian breaches of Lebanon’s sovereignty, sources told The Daily Star. Sleiman, who will be the first guest of the new TV program “Al-Zaim” to be broadcast later today on al-Jadeed television channel, will also address the wages hike that has paralyzed most government services across the country for over a week, the sources said. According to the sources, the president will reiterate his rejection of the Orthodox law and will emphasize the need to discuss the electoral proposal endorsed by the Cabinet last year and the possibility of amending it. The repeated Syrian breaches of Lebanese sovereignty by neighboring war torn Syria over the past two years will also be tackled by the president. The sources said Sleiman will indicate he requested security officials and the country’s Foreign Ministry to ask Syrian officials for a clarification about the violations, the most recent of which took place over the weekend and led to the death of four Lebanese individuals in North Lebanon border towns. As for the new wage scale still to be referred by the Cabinet to Parliament, the sources said Sleiman will state that the government is looking seriously for a solution that will satisfy both the civil servants and public school teachers, as well as the country’s economic bodies, who have warned the wage hike could have negative repercussions on Lebanon’s economy.

Hezbollah denies Nasrallah's health deteriorating
By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON 02/26/2013 /Lebanese radio says Hezbollah leader transferred to Iran after being diagnosed with cancer; party disagrees over future leadership. Lebanese radio says Hezbollah leader transferred to Iran after being diagnosed with cancer; party disagrees over future leadership. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah Photo: REUTERS/ Ahmad Shalha Hezbollah denied a claim on Tuesday that its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, is having health problems, according to a report in the Lebanese French daily L’Orient Le Jour. Radio Sawt Beirut International, which is reported to have connections with Hezbollah’s opposition, claimed on Monday, citing unidentified sources, that Nasrallah was transferred on Sunday to Iran “aboard an Iranian presidential plane,” which left from the Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport.
The sources said that Nasrallah’s health has deteriorated since he was recently diagnosed with cancer. The radio station also reported that the party canceled several meetings in order to decide who would take over leadership. There were strong disagreements over the ascension of his deputy Naim Qassem to the top position.This report has not been confirmed.

Assad Pulls Ahead in Syrian War. Putin, Khamenei Are Co-Victors
DEBKAfile Video February 26, 2013/March 5 has been set as the date for peace talks to open in Moscow between the Syrian opposition and the Assad regime, debkafile reveals here exclusively. Opposition leader Moaz al-Khatib is waiting to meet the Assad regime’s representative, possibly Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, in the Russian capital by the end of February to set up the talks. Bashar Assad has taken his resignation off the agenda and insists on reserving the option to run again for president in 2014. He is backed in this by President Vladimir Putin. And even the Syrian opposition appears to have tacitly bowed to this precondition – an admission that the rebel movement has reached its limit and Assad’s genocidal, no-holds-barred tactics have paid off. With all their acclaimed victories, rebel forces know that their desperate bid to conquer Damascus was repulsed by the Syrian army’s superior fire power and heavy armor. They were thrown back from the heart of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city. And they failed to gain control of Assad’s chemical arsenal. Ferocious fighting failed to bring the big Syrian Air Force bases into rebel hands. Now, most of the fighting opposition to the Assad regime is ready to negotiate terms for a ceasefire as the opening gambit for a political settlement. They face their enemy standing firm as the unvanquished ruler of Syria and commander-in-chief of its armed forces at the cost of Syria 80-100,000 Syrian lives and a ravaged country. In so doing, Assad has cemented the Tehran-Damascus-Hizballah alliance. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s’s sphere of influence now stretches from the Persian Gulf up to the Mediterranean – his reward for the billion dollars worth of aid per month he poured into buttressing Assad. His other ally, Hassan Nasrallah, whose Hizballah operatives fought shoulder to shoulder with Syrian troops, emerges as the strongman of Lebanon. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Assad’s staunch backer in diplomacy, arms and moral support, congratulates himself for picking the winning side in Syria’s civil war and, moreover, frustrating US and NATO designs to remove the Syrian ruler from power. Those are the winners. And the losers are the United States, the Gulf emirates and Saudi Arabia, Israel and Turkey. Barack Obama’s vision of a democratic, liberal “Arab Spring” has collapsed. Al Qaeda is a ubiquitous presence as transitional governments struggle to their feet – or not - in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. Israel finds a tighter than ever Syrian-Hizballah-Iranian noose closing around its borders as Tehran’s nuclear weapons program marches on. Turkey gambled heavily on bringing about Assad’s overthrow as the key to its bid for regional power– and missed.

Are Israeli drones being attacked in the skies above Lebanon?
February 26, 2013 / By Nicholas Blanford /The Daily Star
BEIRUT: The straight horizontal white contrails left by Israeli jets criss-crossing Lebanese skies on a near daily basis are a common sight. Less common was the contrail that rose through a blue sky Sunday afternoon in a twisting, weaving path on a near vertical trajectory from somewhere in the Bekaa Valley before dissipating a minute or two later. The contrail, spotted by a Daily Star correspondent in Laqlouq, carried the hallmarks of an anti-aircraft missile launch.
From the direction of the contrail in relation to Laqlouq, the missile launch site appeared to originate from a belt of territory stretching across the Bekaa from Baalbek at the southern end to Younine, 10 kilometers further north.
An-Nahar newspaper reported Monday that two missiles had been fired from the Bekaa “in mysterious circumstances” without further elaborating. The Lebanese Army said in a statement Monday that three Israeli aircraft – two jets and a reconnaissance drone – had flown above Lebanon Sunday. The drone crossed the southern border above Rmeish at 3:10 p.m. and “executed circular flights of the Riyaq and Baalbek regions” before departing Lebanese airspace at 5:35 p.m. above Naqoura, the statement said. The timing and location of the drone flight fits in with the apparent missile launch, which occurred around 4:15 p.m.
This latest sighting comes just four days after the tail of an anti-aircraft missile crashed into an area near the southeast border town of Deir al-Ashayer. The circumstances of that launch are still unclear, although several reports from Lebanese and Syrian media said the Syrian army had shot down an Israeli drone. The Israelis have made no comment on either last week’s incident above Deir al-Ashayer or Sunday’s missile firing in the northern Bekaa.
The two incidents of anti-aircraft fire – a highly unusual development in the context of the Hezbollah-Syria-Israel theater – comes amid increased Israeli aerial activity in Lebanese skies in the past two months and an unprecedented Israeli airstrike against a suspected arms convoy near Damascus three weeks ago.
Numerous reports quoted U.S. and Israeli sources as claiming that the target of the Jan. 30 attack had been one or more SA-17 Grizzly missile batteries, an advanced Russian air defense system. Syria said the target of the raid had been a research facility at Jamraya and broadcast footage of damage to the site.
However, satellite images of the facility taken after the airstrike and broadcast on Israeli television appeared to confirm that the research facility had not been the primary target and only sustained collateral damage when the nearby column of vehicles was struck. Among the damaged vehicles shown on Syrian TV were three SA-8 Gecko anti-aircraft missile launch vehicles.
In 2009, it was reported that Hezbollah units were being trained on the SA-8 Gecko at Syrian military bases, although none of the units were believed to have been transferred to Lebanon at the time. Syria acquired three SA-17 batteries from Russia following Israel’s airstrike against a suspected nuclear facility under construction near Deir al-Zor in northeast Syria in 2007. Two of the batteries were reportedly deployed along the Syria-Lebanon border by April 2012 and the third was retained for training.
Given the lingering, albeit fading, threat of a NATO-imposed no-fly zone over parts of Syria and the fact that there are only three SA-17 batteries in Syria’s possession, it would seem unlikely that Damascus would be willing to hand to Hezbollah one of its most sophisticated air defense systems, assuming the resistance group has the logistical and technical expertise to handle it in the first place. Perhaps the target instead was the SA-8 Gecko batteries shown damaged on Syrian TV. The provision of SA-8 batteries to Hezbollah also would be considered by Israel as a breach of its “red line,” requiring action.
Syria, Iran and Hezbollah condemned the Israeli attack, but there was no immediate retaliation.
Given the circumstances in Syria and the calm along the Blue Line in south Lebanon that has prevailed since the end of the 2006 war, choosing a means of retaliation is fraught with risk.
If Syria and its allies ignore the Israeli strike, it does nothing to dissuade Israel from repeating such actions, particularly as it can be expected that Hezbollah will continue to try and bring into Lebanon arms of sufficient power to uphold its deterrence posture against Israel.
However, a retaliation risks causing an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel the likes of which has not been seen since before the 2006 war. Neither Hezbollah nor Israel appears willing to embark upon another war at this time in recognition of the predicted devastating scale of another conflict, despite the enormous preparations undergone by both sides in the past six-and-a-half years.
That raises the possibility that Syria and its allies are opting for a potential midway solution of shooting down the occasional Israeli drone in Lebanese airspace. Shooting down an unmanned drone might send the requisite message to Israel while diminishing the risk of an unwanted escalation that would be sure to follow the downing of a piloted jet and the loss or capture of an Israeli aircrew.
Furthermore, every Israeli overflight in Lebanese airspace is a breach of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 and Lebanon has a right to defend its skies under international law. But then one must ask how many downed drones Israel would be willing to accept before raising the stakes again. Such are the risks of unwanted escalations.
Indeed, Israel has lost at least one drone over Lebanon since 2006 in still unexplained circumstances. In October 2011, an Israeli drone abruptly lost height and then disappeared from UNIFIL-operated radar over Wadi Hojeir near Ghandourieh in the south. The Lebanese Army and UNIFIL searched the valley and found nothing.
The mystery of the disappearing drone persists until today with observers speculating that Hezbollah took control of the drone electronically, landed it safely and whisked it away before anyone turned up. The incident came a month before Tehran announced it had electronically taken control and safely landed a U.S. RQ-170 Sentinel “stealth” drone flying a reconnaissance mission over eastern Iran. The Israelis never admitted to losing a drone, not even to UNIFIL, and the incident has been classified as another example of the secret intelligence war that rages daily between Israel and Hezbollah, yet rarely seeps into the public domain.
Still, it cannot be ruled out that Sunday’s firing was a rare mistake by Hezbollah. Such an error would not be without precedent. In August 2005, three medium-range artillery rockets were launched apparently by accident from then-Hezbollah-controlled Wadi Salouqi in the south near Majdal Silm.
Two of the rockets landed inside Lebanon and the third struck just inside Israel. The incident unintentionally confirmed for the first time that Hezbollah had acquired such rockets (apparently 220mm Syrian Urugans), suggesting a mishap.To confirm whether Sunday’s missile launch was merely an accident or whether it and last week’s firing near Deir al-Ashayer are examples of a new strategy at play, one must look in the days and weeks ahead to the skies above Lebanon for more coiling vertical contrails.

Hezbollah says Syrian refugees not receiving needed aid
February 26, 2013/PM The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Hezbollah figure Ammar Musawi said Tuesday the international community had failed in fulfilling its financial pledges toward Syrian refugees, during talks with U.N. Special Coordinator to Lebanon Derek Plumbly.
According to Hezbollah’s office, the head of the party’s international relations department said “the international community is responsible for not fulfilling its promises and commitments in providing for the needs of tens of thousands of families who live in tragic conditions.” Lebanon has appealed to the Arab League and the international donor countries for some $200 million to help the government cope with a rising number of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, expected to reach more than half a million. Over 300,000 refugees have fled their home country and sought refuge in Lebanon since the beginning of the uprising against Hezbollah’s ally, President Bashar Assad.
With no end of the raging violence in Syria in sight, the U.N. has said it expects the number of refugees to reach 1.1 million by next June. A donor conference in Kuwait held on Jan. 30 pledged $1 billion in aid to host countries. During the meeting Monday, Plumbly and Musawi discussed the results of ongoing talks and consultations related to a new electoral law. Musawi stressed that Hezbollah is concerned with providing an appropriate atmosphere to hold the June parliamentary poll as rival leaders scramble to agree on a new law to govern the elections.The Hezbollah official also spoke about the effect of the crisis in Syria in Lebanon, accusing some parties of dragging the conflict into the country. “Some people in Lebanon do not hesitate to play dangerous games that would bring the Syrian crisis into Lebanon with the aim of achieving illusions to strengthen their role and presence, referring to the Arsal incident and border skirmishes as a result of smuggling of gunmen and arms in the north into Syrian territory.”

New Shiite group threatens Iranian exiles in Iraq
February 26, 2013/Daily Star/BAGHDAD: The head of a new Shiite militant group in Iraq has threatened to carry out more attacks on a refugee camp for Iranian exiles that was struck by dozens of rockets and mortar shells earlier this month.Seven people were killed in the Feb. 9 attack on the camp near Baghdad airport that houses members of Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, the militant wing of a Paris-based Iranian opposition group. Iraq's government considers the MEK a terrorist group and wants its members out of country.In a phone interview Tuesday, Wathiq al-Batat said his Iranian-supported Mukhtar Army group was behind the attack and said more are to come.
Al-Batat was a senior official in the Hezbollah Brigades. He announced formation of the new group, the Mukhtar Army, earlier this month.

Lebanon's Future Movement seeking common ground over vote law: source
February 26, 2013/The Daily Star/BEIRUT: The Future Movement has been holding intensive consultations with its allies as well as the Progressive Socialist Party in a bid to reach common ground over a new electoral law for the parliamentary polls, a source in the party told The Daily Star Tuesday.The March 14 party is also discussing with the PSP the Cabinet-endorsed proposal and is open to talks on a hybrid vote law, but not as put forward by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, the source said. “We are maintaining contact with different political groups to reach an electoral law that wins the approval of everyone,” the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
He said the head of the Future parliamentary bloc, MP Fouad Siniora, met with Kataeb leader Amin Gemayel Monday as part of the series of talks with Christian politicians and figures in the country.
Extensive meetings are also being held between the party, which leads the opposition, and MP Walid Jumblatt’s Progressive Socialist Party to reach agreement on a new electoral draft, he added.
Siniora’s talks are broad in scope and do not focus exclusively on any single electoral proposal, he said.
“Different proposals are being discussed,” the Future Movement source said, adding: “One of them is the Cabinet’s proposal,” referring to the Cabinet draft which would see polls being held under a proportional representation system with Lebanon divided into 13 electoral districts.In remarks published Tuesday, Jumblatt confirmed that his PSP and the Future Movement are in talks over the Cabinet draft endorsed in 2012.
“We are carrying out discussions based on the electoral draft law proposed by Cabinet and we might reach a deal between the March 8 and 14 forces over the matter after modifying it,” he told As-Safir.
According to the source, the Future Movement opposes the Cabinet proposal in its present form but does not rule out the possibility of amending it.
“We are totally opposed to the government proposal in its present form but we are not against amending it to reach a common formula with other political groups,” he said. Jumblatt, who has previously opposed the Cabinet proposal, told As-Safir he was not against the government draft law per se, but against proportional representation in general.
However, he added that there was an urgent need to bridge the gap between rival groups.
“I was opposing the adoption of an electoral law based completely on proportional representation,” he said, adding that the Cabinet proposal is “good and might open certain horizons that would end the tension and division.”
As for the hybrid formula endorsed by Berri, the source said: “We [Future Movement] are open to the hybrid vote law, but not as Berri suggested it.”
Berri’s plan calls for 64 lawmakers to be elected based on a winner-takes-all system and another 64 to be elected under a proportional representation system.
Hezbollah MP Ammar Musawi met Tuesday with President Michel Sleiman and discussed recent political developments, according to the latter’s office.
The two emphasized the need for political parties to reach an understanding over a new electoral law that would meet the national aspirations of the Lebanese.

24 Lebanese football players suspended from games
February 26, 2013/The Daily Star/BEIRUT: Twenty-four Lebanese football players were suspended from games Tuesday over match fixing and bribery in the Asian Football cup.Twenty of the players were suspended from games for one season with a fine of $3000, while two others were suspended for three seasons with a fine of $7000, and the remaining two were suspended from playing for life with a fine of $15,000.The football scandal came to light late last year when a number of football players were accused of manipulating the results of the Lebanese National Football Team in the Asian league's matches.The players allegedly took money from betting companies and intentionally lost the games they were playing for the sake of other teams.Lebanon’s Football Association then appointed the General Secretary of West Asian Football Federation Fadi Zreiqat to head the investigation committee in the case. Zreiqat said the committee’s investigations proved the involvement of 24 players and two officials in the scandal. He added that the investigation was carried out over three stages, while listening to the testimonies of 65 football players.The committee's head also said that the results of the investigation will be referred to the international police agency, Interpol.

Private Lebanese schools crippled by public sector wage strike
February 26, 2013/ By Rima S. Aboulmona/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: An open-ended public sector strike over wages crippled many private schools in Lebanon for the first time Tuesday as the work stoppage by civil servants entered its second week.
The majority of private schools in Beirut and other parts of the country were shut Tuesday and Education Minister Hassan Diab warned that official exams for Grades 9 and 12 could be postponed.
As in previous days, rallies were held outside government buildings led by the Union Coordination Committee, which represents public school teachers and civil servants.
The protests in the capital Tuesday centered on the Economy Ministry, where some 500 teachers and civil servants shouted slogans against Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s government.
The strike over the Cabinet’s failure to refer a wage hike proposal, which began Feb. 19., has paralyzed most government services across Lebanon as most public employees turn up to work but refrain from carrying out their duties.
The Cabinet argues it needs more time to ensure the financing of the wage hike before referring it to Parliament.
Following a meeting with Mikati Tuesday, Finance Minister Mohammad Safadi said the Cabinet still needed more time.
“We have to reconsider some figures,” he said, adding that "eventually we should develop a mechanism that is suitable for everyone after we introduce slight amendments to the pay scale so that it will have little impact on the private sector,” he said.
The Economic Committees, a body that represents the private sector, fiercely oppose the wage hike, saying it will only fuel inflation and widen the budget deficit.
Speaking to reporters, Safadi also said that the Cabinet could not set a minimum wage for public sector employees higher than that of the private sector.
“What would the private sector do then? They would definitely call for a pay raise,” he said.
Many private schools close their doors to student Monday.
In a statement late Monday, the UCC said sit-ins would be held Tuesday in front of private schools “whose owners threaten teachers and prevent them from taking part in the strike or in demonstrations.”
Lebanon’s Catholic schools decided Monday to close in light of threats by various unions should they open.
Father Butros Azar, the secretary-general of Catholic schools, denied Tuesday that the call for the closure of Catholic schools was in solidarity with the UCC strike action.
“The closures are not due to the strike,” he told The Daily Star.
“A circular was distributed to Catholic schools yesterday [Monday] asking them to close Tuesday after the hullabaloo that happened outside some private schools,” he added.
He said many teachers and pupils in schools east and north of Beirut had been harassed by protesters Monday, adding that the entrances to some schools had been blocked in a bid to force them to close.
Azar blamed the government for not taking action to stop the acts of harassment.
“Where is the government? Where is the state?” he asked.
There were reports that protesters briefly blocked the entrance to four schools north of Beirut – two in Jounieh and two in Jbeil – early Monday.
The head the Association of Private School Teachers, Nehme Mahfoud, told the Daily Star Sunday that teachers would seal off the entrances to private schools starting from 6 a.m. Monday to make sure none of them receive students.
In its statement Monday, the UCC warned that it would escalate its action Wednesday if the government failed to refer the controversial pay scale to Parliament for approval.
“Monday’s and Tuesday’s actions are nothing but preparations for Wednesday’s major demonstration that will kick off at 11 a.m. from Barbir square toward the Grand Serail,” the UCC said.
The UCC also renewed calls on parents to refrain from sending their children to private schools in line with the strike action.
Meanwhile, the education minister warned Tuesday that official exams could be postponed.
“There is a big possibility that official exams are going to be postponed," Diab told reporters after talks with Mikati at the Grand Serail in Downtown Beirut.
Some private schools also voiced concern the strike might threaten the dates of official exams.
“I’m afraid the exams will be postponed as public school students have lost a lot of academic days due to the ongoing strike,” said a private school administrator in Beirut who spoke to The Daily Star on condition of anonymity.
Safadi, following his meeting with Mikati, said the wage scale would not be on Cabinet’s agenda Wednesday.

Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri defends own hybrid formula
February 26, 2013/The Daily Star/BEIRUT: Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri defended in remarks published Tuesday his own formula of a hybrid electoral law that joins both proportional representation and a winner-takes-all-system and said he was willing to convince his allies in the March 8 alliance of its merits.“I presented a hybrid formula that [raises chances] for all camps to win in the elections,” Berri told As-Safir newspaper.According to the speaker, the formula he has put forward would boost competition among rivals in the upcoming elections as the results of the polls could not be anticipated in advance.
“The most important thing about my hybrid formula is that its outcomes are unknown and that it is based on constructive obscurity,” Berri said.
Berri’s plan calls for 64 lawmakers to be elected based on a winner-takes-all system and another 64 to be elected under a proportional representation system.
The speaker said he was ready to convince his allies in the March 8 of the merits of his proposal, adding that the opposition March 14 coalition had failed to submit any adequate formulas.
“I am willing to assume the responsibility for my proposal, even if it requires a debate with my allies ... but in return, what is the logical, alternative proposal presented by other groups?” he asked.
“It is not enough to present [empty] proposals that can’t compete with other suggestions,” said Berri.Earlier this month, joint parliamentary committees endorsed the Orthodox Gathering law, in a vote boycotted by the Future Movement and Progressive Socialist Party.Berri said that he had put the Orthodox Law to a vote when he sensed Future Movement lawmakers were “maneuvering” to avoid reaching a new electoral law.
Supporters of the Orthodox law claim that it secures fair representation for Christians in Parliament.But the Orthodox proposal, which projects Lebanon as a single electoral district where each sect votes for its own MPs under a proportional representation system, is opposed by the country’s president and prime minister, the Future Movement, Progressive Socialist Party and independent Christian MPs.
The speaker added that although he “does not defend” the Orthodox law, he understood the reasons behind its proposal. “Such a law has been implemented in Lebanon since 1943 in the distribution of electoral districts where one sect is dominant over others,” he said.“We have been adopting it in secret, but now we are simply adopting it in the open,” he added.

Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rai leaves for Russia
Now Lebanon/Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rai left Lebanon for a four-day-visit to Moscow on Tuesday after receiving an invitation from Russian Patriarch, Kirill I, the National News Agency reported. Rai commented on the 1960 electoral law before heading to Russia: “Shame on the Lebanese if they go back to this bad law after five years.”
“Muslims and Christians both agree that the Orthodox proposal is good, but its repercussions are bad. That is why we are calling for finding a better alternative,” he added. Earlier in February, Lebanon’s joint parliamentary commissions approved the Orthodox law, which prompted criticism from a number of political figures. This draft was endorsed by the Christian Free Patriotic Movement and Marada Movement, as well as the opposition Lebanese Forces and Kataeb Party. However, the Future Movement, Progressive Socialist Party, National Liberal Party, and independent March 14 Christians refused it on the grounds that it could lead to sectarian divisions in the country.The meeting came after weeks of deliberation at the end of which the country’s competing political forces failed to reach a unanimous agreement to choose a proposal that would replace the 1960 law despite the cabinet’s approval in September 2012 of a draft law based on proportionality and 13 electoral districts.

Lebanon’s Syndicate Coordination Committee calls for mass Wednesday protest
Now Lebanon/Lebanon’s Syndicate Coordination Committee called for a mass protest Wednesday in Downtown Beirut to coincide with a cabinet meeting as the public sector strike demanding the implementation of wage increases entered its second week.“I repeat my calls for the Lebanese people: Tomorrow is the day of the march towards Beirut, it is the day of victory for the Lebanese people,” SCC chief Hanna Gharib said during a protest held by the SCC on Tuesday in front of the Economy Ministry in Beirut.The SCC chief also said: “[Prime Minister Najib Miqati] make up your mind. At times you say there are no funding means for the [public wage increase] and at other times you say there are.” “If you [Miqati] are not able to implement the agreement then why did you sign it?” Gharib asked, adding that “the problem is that you [Miqati] obey the economic committees which have robbed the private sector and are now trying to rob the public sector.”Meanwhile, the head of the Teacher’s Syndicate in Private Schools Nehme Mahfoud warned that “if the cabinet does not discuss the ranks and salaries system in its meeting on Wednesday it will be the last straw.”“The private school teachers are now free and we will not leave the streets until the [ranks and salaries] system gets referred [to parliament],” he added.
Lebanon’s SCC plans to stage a central protest towards the Grand Serial on Wednesday where the cabinet would be holding a session chaired by Premier Najib Miqati.
Economy Minister Mohammad Safadi said Tuesday following a meeting with Miqati that the cabinet tomorrow will not tackle the issue of funding means for the ranks and salaries system of improved public salary wages.
Lebanese school teachers and government employees are on an ongoing open strike and have been staging general strikes across the country demanding that the government speed up its approval of salary raises.
In early September 2012, the Lebanese cabinet approved a new ranks and salaries system. However, a debate is ongoing regarding the requisite funds to cover the wage increase for public employees.

FPM MP says party open to electoral alternatives
Now Lebanon/Lebanon’s Change and Reform bloc MP Ibrahim Kanaan said that the Free Patriotic Movement is willing to discuss an alternative to the Orthodox electoral law proposal for the country’s upcoming parliamentary elections.“The solution to the electoral law issue is through the adoption of the Orthodox proposal… but we are prepared to discuss another proposal that provides parity,” Kanaan told Al-Akhbar newspaper in remarks published Tuesday.Kanaan addressed the Future Movement and their allies, saying: “Do not bet on the electoral law like you did in the deliberations in the parliamentary sub-committee and joint commissions.”
“Your opinion is important but you cannot paralyze the country and the course of democracy,” he added. Earlier in February, Lebanon’s joint parliamentary commissions approved the Orthodox law, which prompted criticism from a number of political figures. This draft was endorsed by the Christian FPM and Marada Movement, as well as the opposition Lebanese Forces and Kataeb Party. However, the Future Movement, Progressive Socialist Party, National Liberal Party, and independent March 14 Christians refused it on the grounds that it could lead to sectarian divisions in the country.
The meeting came after weeks of deliberation at the end of which the country’s competing political forces failed to reach a unanimous agreement to choose a proposal that would replace the 1960 law despite the cabinet’s approval in September 2012 of a draft law based on proportionality and 13 electoral districts.

Ahead of Russia visit, Maronite Cardinal Beshara Raisays new vote law needed
February 26, 2013/The Daily Star /BEIRUT: Maronite Cardinal Beshara Rai said Tuesday ahead of an official visit to Russia that a new electoral proposal that provides parity between Christians and Muslims in the country is needed for the upcoming elections in light of divisions over the Orthodox Gathering law. “They spoke about ... the so-called Orthodox proposal, which gives the rights to Christians and Muslims, but then they said it would have negative repercussions. Therefore, we need to find something similar in order for both [Christians and Muslims to have proper representation],” Rai said at Rafik Hariri International Airport, according to the National News Agency. Parliament’s joint committees endorsed the Orthodox Gathering proposal earlier this month, in a vote boycotted by the Future Movement and the Progressive Socialist Party.
The voting system would see each of the country’s various sects elect their own members of Parliament under a proportional representation system with Lebanon as a single electoral district.
Rai said any new electoral law needed to address what he said was an imbalance of political representation between Muslims and Christians.
“Lebanon is like a bird with one Christian wing, the other Muslim, but it can’t fly with one wing broken, the other strong. These two wings aren’t equal,” he said. “The electoral law is the best means of restoring balance,” Rai added. The head of the Maronite Church also expressed hope that politicians would reach a law soon. “We hope that through good will they will reach an honorable law this week that unites all and we have been promised this,” he said. Asked whether he still opposed the 1960 law, which was used in the previous polls, Rai said: “This would be shameful if they returned to this bad law after five years [since the previous elections].”
He added that MPs should resign if they failed to find an alternative to the 1960 law. “If they can’t find an alternative law to the 1960 law then let them all resign,” he said.
“I am still of the conviction that a new, noble law that unites and satisfies all Lebanese is needed,” the Maronite cardinal added. According to media reports, during his four-day visit to Russia, Rai is expected to meet with the speaker of the Duma, Sergei Naryshkin, and Orthodox Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. He will also hold a Mass Wednesday morning at St. Maroun Church and is scheduled to visit Moscow's Cathedral as well as the State Tretyakov Gallery.

Lebanese Parliament mandate likely to be extended for two years
February 26, 2013/By Hussein Dakroub/The Daily Star
BEIRUT: Parliament’s four-year mandate, which expires June 20, will likely be extended for at least two years, given the rival factions’ inability to agree on a new electoral law, a senior political source said Monday.
“Deep differences over a new electoral law will lead to the extension of Parliament’s mandate for two years as a way out of the electoral deadlock,” the source told The Daily Star.
The source’s remarks came amid warnings that failure to reach a deal on a voting system to govern the June 9 elections would plunge Lebanon into further political malaise.
The bleak prospects for reaching an agreement on a new electoral legislation were evident Monday as some parties stood firm on their support for the controversial Orthodox proposal, while others, notably Speaker Nabih Berri, maintained that a compromise hybrid vote law that combines proportional representation with a winner-takes-all system could help break the monthslong stalemate over a voting system.
Despite his support for the Orthodox Gathering’s proposal, Berri ruled out convening a Parliament session in the absence of consensus on a new electoral proposal to govern the upcoming elections.
“Let it be clear that I will not call for a general parliamentary session without a prior consensus [on an electoral law],” Berri said in remarks published by As-Safir and other newspapers Monday.
“I am not a [mere] manager of sessions, but one of the pillars of the National Pact. I take the country’s interest into consideration in any decision I take,” he added.
The speaker was responding to a question on whether he would convene Parliament’s general assembly to vote on the Orthodox proposal, which was approved earlier this month by the joint parliamentary committees.
Rather than narrowing the wide gap over a voting system, the endorsement of the Orthodox draft has deepened political divisions and dented hopes for holding the elections on time. The draft projects Lebanon as a single electoral district in which each sect elects its own lawmakers through a proportional representation voting system.
A source close to Berri insisted that the speaker’s hybrid vote plan, presented by Amal MP Ali Bazzi during the recent meetings of a parliamentary subcommittee, held the key to breaking the deadlock over an electoral law. Berri’s plan calls for 64 lawmakers to be elected based on a winner-takes-all system and another 64 to be elected under a proportional representation system.
Kataeb Party leader ex-President Amin Gemayel sounded downbeat about reaching an agreement on an electoral law. He warned that failure to hold the elections on time would plunge Lebanon into turmoil.
Speaking to reporters after chairing a weekly meeting of his party, Gemayel defended the Orthodox proposal, rejecting the argument the controversial draft was at the root of the electoral law crisis.
“Let’s put this law aside. We support holding the elections on time in order to secure a real partnership. The problem is that the political parties are unable to agree on a law that will lead to holding the elections on time,” Gemayel said.“The country would be left in ruins if the elections were not held on time. We must reach a consensual solution. That’s what we are working on,” Gemayel added.
He said his party was contacting all political parties in an attempt to reach consensus on an electoral law that would reassure everyone of a true representation in Parliament.
Batroun MP Butros Harb, one of the independent March 14 Christian lawmakers who staunchly opposed the Orthodox proposal, said a hybrid law that combines proportional representation with a majority system would be the best solution.“We should adopt a law that joins both proportional representation and a winner-takes-all-system and does not put elections at risk,” Harb said following talks with Berri.
Harb was among a number of independent Christian lawmakers and politicians who visited Berri at his Ain al-Tineh residence for talks on the electoral law.
“We had a very useful meeting with Berri and we held in-depth discussions over the elections,” Harb said. He added that among ideas discussed with the speaker were the adoption of a single district and a hybrid vote system.
Harb said that some parties had reservations about Berri’s proposal and what is required now was to reach a compromise formula over the hybrid law among political rivals.
Metn MP Ibrahim Kanaan from MP Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement said that no alternative to the Orthodox proposal has been presented yet.
“So far, the only draft law that ensures equal power sharing [between Muslims and Christians] is the Orthodox law. So far, there has been no other proposal that can ensure this equal power sharing,” Kanaan told reporters after meeting Berri at Ain al-Tineh.
Western Bekaa MP Robert Ghanem, who chaired the parliamentary subcommittee on an electoral law, predicted a postponement of the elections.
A harsh critic of the Orthodox proposal, Ghanem warned that the draft would further deepen sectarian divisions.
“The Orthodox [law] isolates sects from each other, which could cause a civil war,” Ghanem told a news conference in Parliament. “This [Orthodox] proposal clearly contravenes the Lebanese Constitution both in form and in content ... It contradicts the pact of coexistence,” he said.Noting that the lawmakers have only 10 or 15 days left to reach a deal on an electoral law, he said:
“There is a big possibility that the elections might be postponed in order to reach a consensus on an electoral law within a specified deadline.”
Meanwhile, former Deputy Speaker Elie Ferzli, the author of the Orthodox law, defended his proposal, calling it a constitutional bid to boost Muslim-Christian coexistence.
“The Orthodox draft law is constitutional and has more positive [elements] than negative ones, especially since it asserts the partnership between Muslims and Christians,” Ferzli said following a meeting of members of the Orthodox Gathering in Ashrafieh. “We don’t aim at causing sectarian splits among the Lebanese,” he added.

Lebanese opposition March 14 parties U-turn revives bid to extend Kahwagi, Rifi terms
February 26, 2013/By Hasan Lakkis/The Daily Star
The opposition March 14 parties’ termination of their boycott of Cabinet-related meetings in Parliament has revived the possibility of extending the terms of both Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi and Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, director-general of the Internal Security Forces, political sources said Monday.
The draft law sent by Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn to the prime minister’s office to extend Kahwagi’s term remains with Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
The idea of extending Kahwagi’s term was based on the assumption that if parliamentary polls are held in June as scheduled and the process of forming a new government proves as difficult as the last time, Kahwagi might reach the age of retirement on Sept. 25 without a fully functioning executive authority in place.
Also, Kahwagi’s deputy, the Army chief of staff, who takes charge of the Army Command while Kahwagi is away or when he retires, is also headed for retirement on May 11.
Similarly, the remaining four members of the country’s Military Council will retire successively between April 7 and May 15. The chief of Army Intelligence will also retire in April, as will Rifi.
Based on this information, there are fears that the Lebanese Army will be left without a commander, without a chief of staff to replace him and without a Military Council.
This generated the idea of extending Kahwagi’s term, which prompted the defense minister to send a draft law in this respect to Mikati; the Cabinet would then refer it to Parliament to vote on making the Army commander’s retirement age 62 instead of 60.At the time, leading political parties, which were sounded out on their opinions about the extension of Kahwagi’s term, welcomed it as a good idea. However, the possibility of extending the Army chief’s term opened the door to a similar extension of the term of Rifi, on the grounds that sectarian balance must be maintained. Rifi is eligible for retirement in April.
While negotiations were being held between Cabinet members and the March 14 opposition to arrive at a formula that would secure the extension of Kahwagi and Rifi’s terms together by raising the retirement age, the Oct. 19 assassination of Maj. Gen. Wissam Hasan, the head of the ISF’s Information Branch, stalled the issue after the opposition decided to bring down the Mikati government at any cost and boycotted all Cabinet-related meetings in Parliament.Nevertheless, the return of March 14 parties to Parliament and their participation in the joint parliamentary committees’ meetings could revive the discussions on keeping both Kahwagi and Rifi in their posts for another two years.Sources following up on this issue said that by ending their boycott of Parliament and attending the joint committees’ meetings with the presence of ministers, and subsequently dropping their demand for toppling the Cabinet, the March 14 parties have signaled their readiness to attend a Parliament session designed to approve the extension of Kahwagi and Rifi’s terms.
Although Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun and his ally, Hezbollah, oppose the extension of Rifi’s term, Speaker Nabih Berri’s endorsement of this extension would secure the needed majority for the draft law to be sent by the Cabinet to Parliament in the first session to be held by the general assembly before mid-March, or during the legislature’s regular session in the middle of the same month, the sources said.

First Gaza rocket in three months rattles cease-fire
February 26, 2013 /By Daniel Estrin/Daily Star
JERUSALEM: Gaza militants on Tuesday fired a rocket into Israel for the first time in three months, rattling a cross-border truce that has held since Israel's military offensive against the Hamas-run territory.
Israel closed Gaza's main cargo crossing until further notice, an apparent warning to Gaza's Hamas rulers to clamp down on rocket squads.
"Quiet will be met with quiet, missiles will be met with a response," said Israeli President Shimon Peres, adding that he believes both sides "have a deep interest in lowering the flames."
Militants claiming affiliation with the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a violent offshoot of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah, movement took responsibility.
They said in an email to journalists that they fired the rocket to avenge the death of a Palestinian in Israeli custody. It was impossible to independently verify the claim of responsibility.
The detainee, Arafat Jaradat, 30, died over the weekend after interrogation by Israel's Shin Bet security services. Palestinian officials, citing an autopsy, said the detainee was tortured, while Israel says more tests are needed to determine the cause of death.Jaradat's death has sparked protests in the West Bank, including near the town of Bethlehem on Monday.
Two Palestinian teens, ages 13 and 16, were wounded in a confrontation with Israeli soldiers. The older boy was transferred to Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital after being shot in the head and was in critical condition Tuesday, hooked up to a respirator, officials said.The rocket from Gaza landed south of the Israeli city of Ashkelon early Tuesday, said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. The rocket caused damage to a road but no injuries, he said.
It was the first rocket fired from Gaza since Israel's military offensive against rocket squads in the coastal strip last November. The Hamas militant group has ruled Gaza since ousting forces loyal to Abbas in 2007.
Over the past decade, Gaza militants have fired thousands of rockets and mortar shells at Israel, and Israel has responded with military strikes. In between periods of cross-border violence, informal cease-fires have taken hold.
Hamas government spokesman Ehab Ghussein denied a rocket was fired, indicating Hamas was trying to distance itself from the incident. In the past, militant splinter groups have fired rockets at times when Hamas tried to discourage such attacks.Hamas has enforced an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire that ended eight days of fighting with Israel in November, when Gaza militants fired hundreds of rockets at Israel as the Israeli air force pounded targets in Gaza.Israel's closing of the Kerem Shalom cargo crossing with Gaza appeared aimed at pressuring Hamas to prevent further rocket fire. Kerem Shalom is the main conduit for goods into Gaza, though smuggling of goods from Egypt through tunnels continues.Under the cease-fire, Israel pledged to increase the movement of goods into Gaza, which has been subject to an Israeli blockade since the Hamas takeover. Until Tuesday's closure, Israel was permitting most consumer items into the coastal strip.A military statement said the crossing would be reopened only "following a government directive."
In the West Bank, meanwhile, Abbas accused the Israeli military of using increasingly harsh methods to clamp down on Palestinian rock-throwing protests. There has been an increase in clashes between Palestinian stone throwers and Israeli troops in recent weeks"We don't want tensions. We don't want escalation," Abbas said Tuesday, rejecting recent allegations by Israeli officials that he was stoking tensions for political gains.
In Monday evening's confrontation near Bethlehem, the Israeli military said protesters threw "improvised hand grenades" at a Jewish shrine in the area, endangering worshippers inside.

Lebanese court accepts judge’s recusal in Samaha case
Now Lebanon/Lebanon’s Civil Court of Cassation approved on Tuesday the recusal of the judge currently presiding over former Information Minister Michel Samaha's case.
The National News Agency reported that the court agreed to allow Penal Court of Cassation Judge Joseph Samaha to not head the hearings on the Samaha case as well as that of Syrian security chief Ali Mamlouk.
On Monday, Samaha announced that he wished to recuse himself from this case in order to avoid “embarrassment”.
Military magistrate Riad Abu Ghida demanded last week a sentencing of capital punishment for ex-minister Michel Samaha and security chief Ali Mamlouk, who are charged with the plotting of attacks on political and religious figures in Lebanon.The Christian former minister is known for having close ties to the Damascus regime and has been accused of "inciting sectarian strife."
Samaha was arrested at his home on August 9, while an arrest warrant for Mamlouk was issued on February 4.

20 years in Dahiyeh
RASHA AL-AMIN/Now Lebanon
The Christian coast, the southern Metn coast, and then Dahiyeh: All are places where I grew up.I was raised in Dahiyeh, which I have recently begun comparing with a circle with many entrances, shuddered by invisible screens. I grew up on its streets, which were adorned with pictures of Imam Sayyed Moussa Sadr, Ayatollah Khomeini, and the martyrs of the Amal Movement and Hezbollah. I did not witness the era of Communist martyrs, whose pictures disappeared from the streets - along with alcoholic beverages - before 1985, the year I was born. I was used to seeing long beards and black robes, especially when I was forced to attend Ashura ceremonies with my family. This was different from the 'atmosphere' in my school, far away from Dahiyeh, creating a contradiction within me and an unconscious sense of belonging more to my school community than the one in which I lived. I even thought I belonged to a different religion than my neighbors in Dahiyeh. Circumstances changed and I began attendting another school near home. I started interacting with my new school community and its strange 'shape'; this prompted me to begin wearing the hijab to emulate my classmates. I started to feel that a 'barefaced woman' in this area was the exception and that a veiled woman was the rule.
I have always been asked whether I was forced to wear the hijab, and my answer is that I was convinced of my choice, even though most of my friends were forced by their parents to wear it, and most of them would take it off before arriving at school. During my school days, I was influenced by the line of thinking wherein the 'resistance' reigns uppermost. 'Resistance' here is of two kinds: the first is the rough resistance packed with Hezbollah’s Jihadist thinking and wrapped in a religious, not Lebanese, cloak; the second is the smooth resistance of the Amal Movement, which was at the heart of Lebanon’s political life and which – as per my parents’ example – I preferred to the former. As I grew up, I noticed the segregation between men and women in Dahiyeh and I started paying heed to the rules of society, traditional inherited ideas, the strict patriarchal system and the 'taboos' that inevitably locked down society, as was the case with some other regions living in self-imposed isolation.Entertainment in Dahiyeh took, at its wildest, the shape of an amusement park or a religiously approved café, with green spaces gradually being converted into concrete gardens. I remember the surprise when the first unisex café opened in Dahiyeh, and how my friends and I were happy to visit it even though it only played classical music, as Hezbollah had issued an order banning modern songs in cafés. The other surprise came a few years back when they earmarked certain corners in cafés for women wearing black robes.
When I went to college, I met people with different orientations, leanings, and ideas, and I realized that I was not wearing the hijab out of religious conviction, but because it was the norm at school. So I took it off and all the rest that I had inherited from my closed society. Based on the principle of 'silence is no cure', I decided then to raise my voice and protest against the permanent stifling of my opinion because I am a girl, and proper girls in my society allow their opinions to be silenced, whether it is about sexual harassment, domestic violence, rape, etc. We in Dahiyeh are under a different kind of occupation, that of hearts and souls; and a different kind of terrorism, that which attacks the mind and thoughts. Whoever is not with them is against them. I laugh at my friends when they tell me they are afraid to go into Dahiyeh or when they ask me about armed men on the streets. Dahiyeh is just like any other Lebanese region, with party signs and slogans, Hezbollah’s militant units, and their Ashura roadblocks, the Imam al-Hassan chicken place, the Sabaya lingerie shop, the Imam Hussein School, and taxis with white-colored license plates.
That is Dahiyeh.
This article is a translation of the original Arabic

Lebanon security “at risk,” Syrian envoy says
Now Lebanon/Syrian ambassador to Lebanon Ali Abdul Karim Ali said that Lebanon’s internal security is at risk and this issue “worries Syria.” “The Lebanese Armed Forces are trying to do their job but there must be cooperation between all agencies in Lebanon to prevent armed people from attacking either Lebanon or Syria,” Ali told Al-Manar television on Tuesday. The Syrian envoy refused to comment on the stances of President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Miqati regarding their calls for Syria to stop shooting towards Lebanon. Ali added that “everyone in Lebanon is waiting for the Syrian crisis to be over to build on its outcome. That is a faulty way of looking at things because in order to protect Lebanon, [politicians] must not wait to see who comes out victorious in Syria.” On Saturday, two Lebanese men identified as Mohammad Hussein Ezzo and Hussein Ismail were killed by gunfire originating from Syrian territory, which led to violent clashes on the Lebanese-Syrian borders between the Syrian army and armed men. Tension later arose in the Wadi Khaled area in specific, where mortar shells and machine guns were fired. The issue prompted President Suleiman and PM Miqati to denounce the incident and urged Syria’s warring parties to keep their clashes on Syrian grounds.
Regarding the case of former Minister Michel Samaha and Ali Mamluk, Ali said: “Syria is completely innocent of this issue.” “There is no proof of Mamluk’s involvement and the exaggeration in this issue has gone overboard and opposes Lebanon’s interest,” he added. On August 9 of last year, Lebanese security forces arrested Samaha, who has close ties with Syria's embattled regime, for smuggling weapons into Lebanon in a bid to foment terrorism.
Two Syrian army officers, including Mamluk and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s advisor Bouthaina Shaaban, were indicted by the Lebanese judiciary for their alleged involvement in Samaha’s case. The Syrian crisis has split Lebanon’s political scene between pro-Syrian regime parties affiliated with the March 8 alliance – spearheaded by Hezbollah – and parties associated with the March 14 coalition who are backing the rebels.

Kerry sees "diplomatic path" on Iran nuclear issue
AFP/US Secretary of State John Kerry insisted on Tuesday there was a "diplomatic path" to be forged with Iran on its disputed nuclear program, as world powers and Tehran held crunch talks. "There is a diplomatic path," said Kerry after meeting his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle in Berlin. He expressed his "hope" that "Iran itself will make its choice to move down the path of a diplomatic solution." The five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany -- the so-called P5+1 -- are meeting the Iranian team headed by top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili in Kazakhstan in a bid to break the deadlock over Iran's program.Kerry said it "would really be a mistake in the middle of the talks for me to try to talk at any length about what the dynamics of those talks are." "I want these talks to have their chance to work through before I comment," added the secretary. Nevertheless, he urged Tehran to accept the offer of western powers, saying they included "reciprocal measures that encourage Iran to make concrete steps in order to begin addressing the international community's concerns." The world powers are offering Iran permission to resume its gold and precious metals trade as well as some international banking activity which are currently under sanctions, Western officials told AFP.
But in exchange, Iran will have to limit sensitive uranium enrichment operations that the world powers fear could be used to make a nuclear bomb, the sources added.
The two-day meeting in the Kazakh city of Almaty comes as sanctions bite against the Islamic republic and Israel still refuses to rule out air strikes to knock out Iran's suspected nuclear weapons drive.
Westerwelle for his part said the talks were "an opportunity that I really hope the Iranians will take." "Our goal is a diplomatic solution in the nuclear argument with Iran but there must be substantial progress because a nuclear-armed Iran is unacceptable to us," added the minister. "It would endanger not only the region but it would be a danger for the security architecture of the whole world."