LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
April 10/2007Bible Reading of the day
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 28,8-15. Then they went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me." While they were going, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had happened. They assembled with the elders and took counsel; then they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, telling them, "You are to say, 'His disciples came by night and stole him while we were asleep.' And if this gets to the ears of the governor, we will satisfy (him) and keep you out of trouble." The soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has circulated among the Jews to the present (day).
Free Opinion
In Lebanon, the crisis settles into a routine-By Anthony Shadid-Washington Post. March 10/07
Iran's leaders may have laughed too soon-By Karim Sadjadpour. March 10/07Latest News Reports From The Daily Star for April 10/07
Sfeir says Chirac efforts to help Lebanon no secret
March 14 camp lashes out at Nasrallah
Qatari rebuilding effort wins gratitude of battered town
UNIFIL says find in South was just mortar bombs, not rockets
Russia 'won't veto Hariri court' but urges Lebanese to agree
Stubborn political crisis threatens to prevent return of investors
Palestinian MP tours refugee camps
Sayyed's lawyer writes to UN chief again
Rizk says presidency needs 'a new approach,' not just a new person
NGOs advance electoral reform as path out of political deadlock, cure for sectarian ills
Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous sources April 10/07
Bomb scare in Zahle church, eastern Lebanon-Ya Libnan
Lebanon majority assails Hezbollah chief speech-Ya Libnan
Nasrallah's address escalates Tension, Fuels Counter Accusations-Naharnet
Nasrallah Accused of 'Defending' Suspects in Hariri Crime-Naharnet
Bomb Scare in Zahle Delays Church Service-Naharnet
Hezbollah chief sees no hope of a compromise in Lebanon-Gulf Times
Jumblatt: 'Army aiding Hezbollah'-MWC News, Canada
Iran pays for rebuilding Lebanon by Hezbollah-run firm
First Amendment Defense Is Pursued in Hezbollah TV Case-New York Sun, NY
Syria’s businessman backdoor peacemaking: Special report.Newsweek
Syria celebrates forgettable 60th Birthday Ba'ath-Ya Libnan
Lebanon's 'determination'-Jerusalem Post
Invisible lives: Iraqis in Lebanon-Electronic IraqBomb Scare in Zahle Delays Church Service
Naharnet: A bomb scare on Monday forced the delay of services at a church in Zahle in east Lebanon's Beqaa Valley, security sources said. They said a suspicious device, discovered around 10 a.m., was left outside the Maronite Catholic Saint Antoine De Padou church in the Karak neighborhood near Zahle. The fake bomb consisted of white cement powder filled in two juice cans, besides which lay four small batteries and a wrist watch in addition to electric wires, the sources said. They said a phrase reading "a present to your children" was taped to one of the cans. Police launched an investigation into the incident after the church was cordoned off and searched for bombs. Beirut, 09 Apr 07, 13:55March 14 camp lashes out at Nasrallah
By Rym Ghazal -Daily Star staff
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
BEIRUT: Politicians from the ruling coalition on Monday responded to accusations from Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah of "scheming" and "taking orders from the United States." Nasrallah said in a lengthy speech on Sunday that a national dialogue had failed and Hizbullah had "given up" on its demand for 11 ministers in a proposed 30-member national unity government.
MP Walid Jumblatt, a senior member of the ruling coalition, responded on Monday, describing Nasrallah as "the president of the republic of Hizbullah."
"Enough lies about the government, as the real problem is with UN Security Resolution 1701 and the seven-point plan and the deployment of the Lebanese Army in the South ... and the international peacekeepers," Jumblatt told Kuwaiti daily Al-Anbaa. "All these things prevent the Syrian and Iranian regimes from holding military exercises in the South."
Addressing a description of Lebanon as a "weak" state, Jumblatt said the "presence of [Hizbullah's] arms is one of the main reasons the state hasn't been able to become strong."
"When you become a strong state, then come and talk to us about us becoming a state within a state," Nasrallah had said.
The Druze leader said Nasrallah was "covering up" for his Syrian and Iranian allies by criticizing the draft of an international tribunal to try those accused of the murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Jumblatt said he was "very surprised" that Nasrallah has made a "strange defense of the four generals" suspected in involvement of the Hariri assassination and other crimes.
"Did Nasrallah forget that he was part of this government that he criticizes so strongly, and did he forget he was part of the agreement for the cease-fire and the seven-point plan?" he asked.
Jumblatt said a referendum to decide the way forward proposed by Nasrallah was "against the democracy of consensus that prevails in Lebanon."
He also again accused Hizbullah of smuggling weapons from Syria, and questioned the presence of "a large number" of Syrian workers in the southern suburbs of Beirut, Aley and Choueifat, where "there isn't much construction going on."
In comments made over the weekend, Jumblatt accused Hizbullah of erecting "a state within a state," and urged the Lebanese Army to control tunnels allegedly used to smuggle weapons into Lebanon from Syria.
Resigned Energy and Water Minister Mohammed Fneish said he had had enough of "misleading statements" from the ruling March 14 Forces.
"The war of false words is shortlived," Fneish told reporters on Monday. "The majority is trying to cover up the true meddlers in the country, the United States and its allies."
Telecommunication Minister Marwan Hamadeh said Nasrallah had "admitted" that Hizbullah was a state within a state.
"He does not recognize the Lebanese state, and at the same time he is determined to hang on to his own state, together a clear admission by him of head-ing a state exclusive to him," Hamadeh said in a statement on Sunday.
Free Patriotic Movement MP Neamatallah Abi Nasr, a senior member of the opposition, bemoaned a crisis of "governance" and "dysfunctional democratic institutions."
"We are at a dangerous point and need to reach a solution through a national conference," Abi Nasr said. "Lebanon can't survive by isolating any sect."
Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Fatfat said Nasrallah had "killed Rafik Hariri again" with his speech.
"We need the international court" he argued.
Mount Lebanon Mufti Mohammed Ali al-Jouzo accused Nasrallah of leading a Syrian and Iranian party, and Hizbullah of "hiding behind the pretext of resistance to launch its own projects in the Lebanese arena."
The Hizbullah leader said Sunday that he was tired of repeating himself.
"We in the opposition became like beggars ... I don't want this 19-11 anymore," he said during a ceremony to honor 1,734 university graduates.
He made clear that he was speaking on behalf of Hizbullah and "not the opposition."
Nasrallah said "the doors are completely closed" to further dialogue and that only two solutions remained to the impasse in Beirut.
"Now we have to return to the people and hold a referendum or we carry out early parliamentary elections. These are the only two ways out now," he said. "Today the courageous decision is to return to the will of the Lebanese people."
He also told Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to "go ahead and replace" six opposition ministers who resigned in November.
"If we have to pick between a civil war and keeping the situation as it is, we prefer to continue with the political deadlock," he said, warning the majority to make their decision "soon."
"It is easier to reach a settlement now than later," he said, "because later we will be deciding whether or not to give you the 11" ministers.
Nasrallah also denied reports that Hizbullah would send the UN Security Council a list of changes to the draft for the international tribunal as "that would signify a consecration of the division of Lebanon and of the Security Council as a point of reference on this, Lebanese, constitutional question."
"Many have asked to see the list [of changes], including Iran and Saudi Arabia ... but we refuse to show it to anyone except the other Lebanese side," he said. "Unfortunately, the majority never wanted to discuss our changes seriously."
"[UN Secretary General] Ban Ki-moon and others have now become the experts on the Lebanese Constitution and have started to rule Lebanon," he quipped, criticizing pro-government MPs for having sent a petition to Ban to establish the court through the Security Council.
Nasrallah said the tribunal was "conceived in such a way as to return pre-established verdicts," and described four former security chiefs jailed in connection with the Hariri assassination as "political prisoners."
He was referring to Jamil Sayyed, Ali al-Hajj, Mustafa Hamdan and Raymond Azar, the former security chiefs detained since the Hariri slaying.
Nasrallah said Hizbullah would "maintain our course for the next 50 years" to prevent the majority from altering the Lebanese identity.
"They don't want a national army, they want a sectarian one they can manipulate, but the army will not give in to rule by militia leaders," he added.
He hailed President Emile Lahoud as a man who has withstood "wave after wave of insults and campaigns by the ruling majority."
Nasrallah Accused of 'Defending' Suspects in Hariri Crime
Naharnet: The daily Al Mustaqbal, mouthpiece of MP Saad Hariri's Future movement, on Monday hit back at Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, accusing him of "defending" those accused of involvement in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Al Hayat newspaper also judged that Nasrallah sabotaged all chances for a settlement to the ongoing political crisis in Lebanon. "Nasrallah announces the death of the (national) dialogue, ruling out civil war," wrote a bold headline in Al Hayat. Nasrallah on Sunday said Hizbullah was no longer interested in a 19-11 formula, a reference to the number of ministers in a new national unity government. "If we were to choose between civil war and keeping the situation this way for a limited period of time, we prefer to continue with this state of affairs (stalemate)," he said.
Nasrallah attacked the international tribunal, saying it was designed to announce ready-made verdicts against certain suspects in the Hariri murder and related crimes. Al Mustaqbal newspaper retorted on its front page that Nasrallah had "uncovered the hidden (truth) by rejecting the international tribunal … and by defending the suspects involved (in the Hariri killing), and labeling them political prisoners." In a televised speech to 1,700 Hizbullah university graduates, Nasrallah said that four Lebanese generals jailed in connection with the Hariri crime were "political prisoners" in Lebanon. He was referring to former Director General of the Surete Generale's Security Department Gen. Jamil as-Sayyed, former commander of the Internal Security Forces Gen. Ali el-Hajj, former Presidential Guards commander Brig. Gen. Mustafa Hamdan and former director of army intelligence Raymond Azar. Al Mustaqbal also accused Nasrallah of "continuing to take hold of the whole of Lebanon for the interest of Syria and Iran." Beirut, 09 Apr 07, 10:21Sfeir says Chirac efforts to help Lebanon 'no secret'
By Maroun Khoury -Daily Star correspondent
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
BKIRKI: Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir urged Lebanese leaders to "sow reconciliation and peace" and respect human rights on Monday. Speaking during an annual Mass held at Bkirki to express thanks to and friendship with France, Sfeir said that the European nation had "helped Lebanon achieve its sovereignty, independence, freedom and prosperity."
The service was attended by French Ambassador Bernard Emie, as well as several other officials from the French Embassy in Beirut.
"This traditional service reflects an old and strong relationship between France and the Maronite Patriarchate," the prelate said.
Sfeir met with Emie after the service. "Sfeir is playing a positive role in the critical period that Lebanon is going through," the ambassador said. "There are special ties between the Maronite Patriarchate and France."Sfeir said that attempts by French President Jacques Chirac to ease the political tension in Lebanon were "no secret to anyone.""Chirac is deploying strenuous efforts to re-launch Lebanon's political activity, which is totally hampered," Emie said.
The prelate also thanked Emie for his efforts to resolve a four-month-old deadlock in Beirut. "You are living with us and following up on problems plaguing our political life, which were and are still difficult" to resolve, Sfeir said. "We cannot ignore the interests of all those surrounding us."
Sfeir once more highlighted the issue of youth emigration, and its multiple causes.
"Last summer's war with Israel has inflicted severe damage on the Lebanese economy ... destroyed infrastructure and the string of the 2005 assassinations have caused our youths to leave their country," he said. "But our traditional friends do not refrain from helping us."
Sfeir met with several political, security and religious figures on Monday to receive their best wishes after the Easter weekend, including Education Minister Khaled Qabbani, Finance Minister Jihad Azour and Free Patriotic Movement MPs Gilberte Zwein, Shamel Mozaya, Farid Khazen and Salim Salhab.
Sfeir also received goodwill telephone calls from parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri, former Premier Najib Mikati, Sheikh Aql Naim Hassan and Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani. During his sermon for Easter Sunday, Sfeir urged the Lebanese to "remember that they are brothers though they have different religious, social and political affiliations." "The Lebanese people have the same fate ... no one can be happy at the expense of the other, nor can one suffer because of the other," he said. "We have endured enough suffering and we are still suffering ... we hope that the resurrection of Jesus lifts us from the crises we are plunging into in order to recover security and prosperity."
Sfeir also received goodwill calls on Sunday from President Emile Lahoud and Higher Shiite Council Vice President Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan.
Separately, the Orthodox archbishop of Beirut, Elias Aoude, highlighted the need for solidarity during a sermon on Sunday.
"Lebanon's resurrection from its pain can be achieved through the unity and solidarity of its people," Aoude said.
"No matter what strangers do to us, they try to serve their interests. As for the people, they assume the responsibility of rescuing their country," he said. "Don't we know that if we lose our country we will never recover it?"Christians take time out for Easter
'Business has been really good'
By Nour Samaha -Daily Star staff
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
BEIRUT: Supermarkets and sweets shops were bustling over the weekend as the Christian community prepared to break its 40-day fast over the Easter holiday weekend. Giant multi-colored eggs and huge chocolate bunnies were lined up on many store shelves, offering a tantalizing temptation to many customers. Despite an economic crisis exacerbated by a tense political deadlock, retail sales picked up over the weekend as the Christian community got set to remember the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
"This year business has been really good for Easter," said Noura Abboud, the manager of Noura, a posh confectionary near Sassine Square in Achrafieh. "We're lucky because both the Orthodox and the Maronite Easters fall on the same day [this year], so all those celebrating Easter are buying at the same time.""People tend to buy all the traditional things for Easter - the eggs, the bunnies, the chicks," she added. "It is a very stressful time for me, but it is good for business."Across the street at the ABC shopping mall stood Mischa Chamoun, 24, who had spent the last two weeks working for Lindt chocolate.
"Business has really picked up in the last few days as people start really preparing for Easter," she said, standing amid boxes of chocolate eggs and cardboard cutouts of Easter bunnies. "I would say this year's Easter celebrations are different - people are not spending a lot of money. They would rather save money as they don't know what is going to happen [politically], and so they're not really splashing out like they have done in previous years."
Preparations for Easter begin on Good Friday with the painting of hard-boiled eggs, which are smashed against one another on Easter Sunday to mark the end of Lent. The egg is seen by many believers as a symbol of rebirth and a representation of the resurrection of Christ. The notion of the rabbit as Easter bunny, believed to have originated in Germany in the 15th century, is also a symbol of fertility and rebirth for many believers.
Following the painting (and hiding) of eggs on Friday comes a midnight Mass to commemorate the crucifixion of Christ. Pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants saw a noticeable dip in clientele on Friday evening as many of their Christian customers attended Mass across the country.
"Good Friday is the one Friday I never go out on," said Mirella, a 26-year-old brand manager. "It's a sad and upsetting day. It's the day they put Jesus on the cross."
Chamoun echoed the importance of the holiday.
"I go to Mass every year on Good Friday ... It is tradition in our family," she said. "We always have a family lunch with my uncles and aunts and cousins" on Easter Sunday, she added. Some also believe that rain on Good Friday is a sign of a good harvest in the coming year, which, if true, could give many farmers in the beleaguered South something to smile about as the first drops were felt shortly before midnight this year.
"The thing I'm looking forward to the most is all the chocolate and Easter eggs," said Tamar, 29, excitedly. Mother of two Ghada Merhi insisted that she enjoys Easter as much as her children. "I don't get stressed out at all with the preparations," she said. "I enjoy running around and coloring the eggs ... and the children absolutely love the chocolate ... Lunch on Sunday is with the family. It has always been like that."
Iran's leaders may have laughed too soon
By Karim Sadjadpour -Daily Star
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
"You know the thing about Iran," a European ambassador in Tehran once lamented to me. "It has such a rich culture, a grand history, wonderful people. The cuisine is sophisticated and the scenery is breathtaking. It's got incredible poets, musicians and filmmakers. Beautiful art and architecture. But it's cursed with lousy politicians."
I was reminded of these words when watching the pageantry last week of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announcing that 15 British sailors and marines held captive in Iran would be "pardoned" as an Easter "gift" to the British people in a gesture of magnanimity from "the generous Iranian nation." Hard-liners in Tehran are probably still congratulating themselves, believing the entire incident to be a diplomatic victory. After all, Iran publicly humiliated its long-time nemesis, the United Kingdom, and won the release of an Iranian official who had been detained in Iraq.
But at what cost? From a diplomatic perspective Tehran may feel like it has chastened the Europeans, so that they will think twice before working in concert with the United States. In fact it has likely achieved the opposite effect. Instead of splitting the international coalition assembled against Iran by weaning the Europeans away from the Americans - a strategy which Iran successfully employed during the era of reformist President Mohammed Khatami - Iran's leaders have further eroded European confidence that they are mature and amenable to diplomatic compromise.
And what effect will this have on the moribund Iranian economy, the regime's Achilles heel? Is the multinational corporation looking for investment opportunities in the Middle East going to go to Iran or to Dubai? Is the international energy firm looking to sign lucrative natural gas contracts going to choose Iran or Qatar? Are European tourists who were planning to visit the Middle East this year going to journey to Iran or to Egypt? In every case, Iran's recent behavior will probably help undermine trust that interacting with the country is a good bet.
Iranian hard-liners similarly proclaimed victory after the 444-day hostage crisis in 1979 with Washington, which humiliated the Carter administration. While three decades on the crisis is a blip in the history of the US, Iran continues to pay for it in terms of a blemished international reputation, political and economic isolation, and vastly unfulfilled potential.
And what about the Iranian people, for whom Ahmadinejad professes to speak? They have been diminished to a mere footnote during his presidency - amidst all the bustle surrounding uranium enrichment, centrifuges, Holocaust denial, and now British sailors; this, despite the fact that Ahmadinejad's campaign platform was about compassion for the common man and putting oil money on people's dinner tables.
Before announcing the release of the sailors, Ahmadinejad felt compelled to lecture the West on gender sensitivity, asking why the UK would send Faye Turney, a mother, on such a compromising mission. "Why don't they respect the values of families in the West?" he asked, "Why is there no respect for motherhood?"
His remarks came one month after a few dozen Iranian women were arrested and beaten while peacefully assembling against laws which, among other things, permit the stoning of women to death if they are convicted of adultery, and deny them equal rights in divorce, custody and inheritance matters. I'm sure the double standard was lost on Ahmadinejad.
In characteristic fashion, Iranian hard-liners are consumed by making short-term tactical gains at the expense of advancing long-term interests. In the short term Iran stuck its finger in the eye of the West and put a smile on the face of millions around the world - especially in the Islamic world - who abhor Western policies in the Middle East.
But once the dust settles in Tehran, more sober officials will come to realize that Iran has only increased the distance it will need to travel before it can reintegrate into the international community and assume its rightful position as a respected member of the partnership of nations.
***Karim Sadjadpour recently joined the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace after serving four years as chief Iran analyst at the International Crisis Group. He is a regular contributor to BBC Radio & TV, CNN and National Public Radio, and has written in The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The New Republic. This commentary originally appeared on The Washington Post-Newsweek PostGlobal blog (www.newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal) and is published by permission.
UNIFIL says find in South was just mortar bombs, not rockets
By Iman Azzi -Daily Star staff
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
BEIRUT: The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Lebanese Army denied on Monday that 17 rocket launchers had been found in the South over Easter weekend, explaining that the discovery of a pile of "egg-sized" mortar bombs had been exaggerated.
"It's absolutely false. There were no rocket launchers found," Major Diego Fullco, senior military public information officer for UNIFIL, told The Daily Star. "A regular Spanish patrol came across 17 rounds of ammunition, and in cooperation with the Lebanese Army confiscated them and plans to destroy them, if they haven't already done so."Fullco said each of the mortar bombs found in Rashaya al-Foukhar was "about the size of an egg."
A statement released Friday by the Spanish Defense Ministry said that a cache of 17 rocket launchers had been found and that "the depot was camouflaged in a hard to reach area and the weapons were in a sealed barrel beside a small stream."
Fullco said the Spanish peacekeepers were conducting a regular patrol and believed the munitions had been found in a field.
The soldiers also found a concrete base, which could be used to launch the Bulgarian-made weapons, the ministry statement claimed, but Fullco said it couldn't be confirmed that any such item had been used during the 34-day war with Israel last summer.
A Lebanese Army general, speaking to The Daily Star on condition of anonymity, agreed with UNIFIL and called the Spanish report "exaggerated."
"They exaggerated. There were no rocket launchers," the general said. "They found normal, leftover ammunition from the summer war. The area was probably used as a base during the fighting by the resistance, but maybe the ammunition was Israeli, there's no way to know."
Hizbullah fired over 4,000 rockets into northern Israel while the Israeli military fired constantly at targets throughout Lebanon, dropping around 4 million cluster bombs alone. On November 19, 2006, UNIFIL announced the discovery of 17 Katyusha rockets also found in Rashaya al-Foukhar, although the exact date of seizure was not disclosed. "Since the beginning of September, there have been several incidents where UNIFIL has discovered unauthorized arms," a UNIFIL statement said, without giving specifics. All weapons found by UNIFIL are turned over to Lebanese Army.
This was the first ammunition announcement by UNIFIL since November. Nearly 13,000 troops from 30 countries contribute to UNIFIL, which was expanded as part of the cessation of hostilities that ended the war. UNIFIL first deployed in Lebanon in 1978 after an earlier Israeli invasion.In Lebanon, the crisis settles into a routine
Monday, 9 April, 2007
By Anthony Shadid-Washington Post
Beirut - On the 124th day of Lebanon's deepest crisis since its civil war ended in 1990, lawmakers from across the divide gathered in the parliament.
There was no session; the speaker has refused to call one, in a test of wills between the government and its opposition. So in the entryway, each side's representatives approached a podium and reiterated their demands, a little ritually.
The rest of the lawmakers then spent the morning in a scene that approached the surreal, given the stakes: Across a marble floor, they kissed the cheeks of their avowed enemies, shared cigarettes, exchanged jokes and engaged in the kind of small talk that prompts chuckles.
"We're all lovebirds," quipped Ali Bazzi, a member of the opposition.
Lebanon's standoff has entered its fifth month, and the questions driving it are still decisive for the country's future: Whose patrons -- the United States, France and Saudi Arabia for the government, Syria and Iran for the opposition -- have the biggest say in its politics? Which community -- Sunni Muslim or Shiite Muslim -- is ascendant? What posture should Lebanon take toward Israel?
But as the weeks pass, the unusual has become ordinary -- a blessing and a curse for a country rarely free of crisis. The sense of routine has removed the crackling tension of the confrontation's early weeks, but many believe it has made resolving it seem less urgent, as well.
While representatives of each side joked in the parliament Tuesday, a sit-in downtown convened by the Shiite movement Hezbollah and its allies in the opposition displayed yet another element of permanence: Protesters divided into 11 teams and played their weekly soccer tournament in a deserted parking lot. Some of their tents have wooden doors, satellite television and even solar panels. Dozens of businesses in the city center have shuttered, because the protest keeps customers away, but a mile or so farther off other nightspots are booming, packed with revelers well past midnight. Partisan media still deride the other side as illegitimate -- be it Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's cabinet or President Emile Lahoud, who is allied with the opposition -- but many people have simply turned down the volume on their televisions.
"Life goes on," said Raymond Asseily, who runs a music store near the American University of Beirut. "We are Lebanese, and we have had 30 years of crisis since the civil war began in 1975.
"It will never stop. This crisis will never stop," he added. "There may be a solution, but it will only amount to a 'meanwhile.' "
"I'm ready to talk about anything but politics," interjected a customer, 42-year-old Nabil Mroue. "I'm sick of politics."
Even Hasan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader, appeared to suggest the crisis could become a permanent status quo.
"The dialogue is deadlocked. What do we do?" he said at a ceremony Sunday in Beirut's southern suburbs. "We don't want a civil war. If the stalemate continues for a while until a solution is found or we go to a civil war, then let the stalemate continue."
The latest incarnation of the crisis began Dec. 1, when Hezbollah and its allies -- followers of a former Christian general, Michel Aoun, and the Shiite Amal movement of the parliament's speaker, Nabih Berri -- launched a sprawling protest in downtown Beirut.
Another protest, possibly the largest in Lebanese history, followed Dec. 10, along with the sit-in that continues today in scores of tents pitched at the foot of the barricaded, Ottoman-era headquarters of Siniora's government. Then, as now, the opposition has insisted that the cabinet resign in favor of what it calls a national unity government. Siniora's cabinet, its agenda largely survival at this point, has refused, with the backing of the United States, France and Saudi Arabia.
For a time, the crisis surged every few weeks, with occasional but pitched street clashes. An opposition-aligned newspaper spoke darkly this week of politicians "busy setting the table for war," and rumors swirl of civil war-era groups rearming.
But the crisis is defined more these days by rhetorical gestures and periodic but fruitless meetings that have left negotiations over the two key issues largely where they were when the crisis began.
The opposition wants 11 seats in the 30-member cabinet, a number that would allow them to block the most important decisions. (The government is willing to give 10 seats. The 11th would be ostensibly neutral.) The government's supporters want the opposition to acquiesce in the formation of an international court to try the killers of former Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri, whose assassination in February 2005 is blamed by many here on Syria. The opposition has yet to make its objections public, but the court, already approved by the cabinet, must also be approved by parliament. And only Berri, the Hezbollah ally, can call parliament into session.
Last week, government-aligned lawmakers asked the United Nations to set up the court on its own. Berri responded by asking Saudi Arabia to mediate the dispute, and in his speech Sunday, Nasrallah suggested that there was no room left for negotiation. He said the debate should be put to a national referendum. Both sides have tried to blame the other for the deadlock.
In parliament Tuesday, Amin Sherri, a Hezbollah lawmaker, compared the confrontation to a folk dance from southern Lebanon, the debke khaimieh, in which participants jump and skip energetically without moving from their spot. "This is what we've been doing since the crisis started," Sherri said.
Beirut's rebuilt downtown is a metaphor, in a way, for the latest turns in the crisis. Its vision, inspired by Hariri, was always controversial: Was it a sleek, elegant bridge for a divided city or a neighborhood-size playground for the rich? These days, it is neither.
On one side of barbed wire and concrete barricades, a trickle of people visit outdoor cafes or idly sample ice cream under the landmark clock tower. Children play soccer in Place de L'Etoile, home to parliament. Shops are shuttered; signs blame their closing on "overpowering circumstances." Other restaurants make the best of the situation, as pedestrians adapt to a new routine of navigating knots of soldiers and police and traffic that has been redirected around the downtown.
"Against all odds, we are now open for dinner every Saturday," declares a sign in the front window of Duo.
"Every 10 years you have a crisis here. This is Lebanon. It's always a country of ups and downs, and we get used to it," said Nassim Zakhour, 24, standing in his shop selling office supplies and stationery.
On the other side of the barricades, near the site of the Hezbollah-led sit-in, graffiti declares the area "the Street of Liberation and Resistance." Iron stakes tether the canvas tents to the sidewalks and asphalt. Many of the tents are empty during the day but start to fill at dusk, when loudspeakers begin blaring the protesters' anthem: "Oh, you most honorable people."
A sign next to a stage in Riad es-Solh Square counts off the days since the sit-in began.
"We went through 33 days of war last summer with Israel. That was death and destruction," said Jalal Hassan, a 20-year-old student at the Lebanese University who said he leaves for classes every day at 6 a.m., then returns to his tent at 3 p.m.
"This isn't that," Hassan said, waving his hand over the sprawl of tents. "We could endure this for 33 years."
"Three hundred and thirty years!" shouted his friend, 15-year-old Hassan Murtada.
Picture: Hezbollah protester smoking the water pipe inside his tent in downtown Beirut.
Sources: Washington Post
Iran pays for rebuilding Lebanon by Hezbollah-run firm
Sunday, 8 April, 2007
By: Hugh Macleod
Beirut -- The U.S. Treasury Department considers Hezbollah's construction firm Jihad al Binaa -- "The Struggle to Build" -- a terrorist organization, prohibiting transactions between the firm and American citizens, as well as freezing any assets it may have under U.S. jurisdiction.
But the designation is unlikely to have much impact on an organization that receives hundreds of millions of dollars a year from donations channeled directly through Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the spiritual leader of the world's Shiites as well as the highest religious authority in Iran.
"The majority of the money is donated from rich Shiite businessmen to Khamenei, who passes it on to Hezbollah," Bilal Naim, a member of the executive council of Hezbollah, said during an interview in his makeshift office -- a tent set amid the dust and rubble of Dahie, the Hezbollah stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut. "It is not the Iranian government's money, but Shiite money."
Hezbollah estimates 14,000 buildings were completely destroyed in the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon, while 90,000 others were damaged, eight times as many as were left in need of repair after Israel's 1996 invasion of Lebanon.
In response to the huge task ahead of them, Jihad al Binaa, which began operating in 1987, has recruited more than 2,000 young people since the end of the war, swelling the already 2,000 professional engineers drawn from across Lebanon working for the firm.
The business employs all sects, stressed Naim, but is controlled by a core committee of 100 Hezbollah members. While most youths work as volunteers, those with qualifications can take home as much as $1,000 per month, a healthy salary by Lebanon's standards.
With some 300 buildings completely destroyed in the southern suburbs alone, Hezbollah is creating a new foundation to oversee reconstruction of the area, to be known as Al Wa'ad, -- "The Promise," Hezbollah's title for last summer's war. Hezbollah's ability to resist the stronger Israeli Defense Forces was hugely popular across the Arab world.
The new firm will undertake repairs itself, while contracting out for the work of complete rebuilding.
Yet political wrangling and the closure of parliament in the wake of the opposition protests have meant that not any building permits for the southern suburbs have been issued since the war, according to a report last month in the Daily Star newspaper.
Nonetheless, Hezbollah's construction effort is set to begin in early May, Naim said, and should be completed within two years. Any shortfall in the government's promised $50,000 compensation for each damaged apartment will be made up out of Binaa's own funds.
"America is concerned because Hezbollah faced the military aggression of Israel and now it is also taking responsibility for rebuilding the houses that were destroyed," said Naim. "What can the U.S. say to the world when they support the people who destroy homes and label those who rebuild them as terrorists?"
Sources: San Francisco gate
Syria’s businessman backdoor peacemaking: Special report
Monday, 9 April, 2007 Newsweek
Washington - In the living room of his home in suburban Maryland, Ibrahim Soliman unfolds a topographical map of the Golan Heights, the territory Israel captured from Syria in 1967 that remains at the heart of their dispute.
Covered on both sides with thick plastic sheeting and marked up with lines that divide the plateau into seven zones, the map was a prop in one of Soliman's first secret contacts with Israelis in the early 1990s. Soliman ( R ) , 70, is a Syrian-American businessman with close ties to the Assads, the ruling family in Damascus. Though he is not an official of any government, Soliman has been quietly conducting a kind of backdoor mediation between the two warring countries for more than 15 years, relaying messages and discussing peace initiatives with private Israelis. His recent talks with the former director general of Israel's Foreign Ministry even produced a draft accord, which Soliman showed leaders in Damascus and which others presented to U.S. officials. Washington's response? A resounding silence
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Damascus marked the latest challenge to the Bush administration's policy of isolating Syria for its alleged support of terrorism. It also raised new questions about the U.S. approach to peace talks between Israel and its neighbors. President Bush has chosen to focus on the Israeli-Palestinian track, sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Jerusalem and Ramallah four times since January. But a growing number of Middle East experts, in and outside of government, now believe progress is more likely on the Syrian track. "There's certainly more potential there and fewer complications," says Dennis Ross, Washington's main Middle East troubleshooter for a decade under Republican and Democratic presidents.
The complications in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are bound up mainly with Hamas, the Islamic group that dominates the Palestinian government and refuses to recognize Israel, much less forge a peace agreement. In contrast, Syrian President Bashar Assad has offered face-to-face talks without preconditions, a formula Israel had long sought. But officials versed in Mideast diplomacy say Washington has pressured Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to continue spurning Damascus. Rice made the case to Israeli leaders just last month, say knowledgeable Israeli and American sources who didn't want to be named revealing details of closed-door meetings. She argued that talks would amount to a reward for Assad's backing of Hezbollah in Lebanon and his ties with Iran, the sources say. (Asked about the exchange, a State Department spokesman says the U.S. position is to "not encourage" Israel to engage with Syria.)
Soliman believes Americans are misreading Assad. A member of the same Allawite sect as the Assads, Soliman first met Bashar's father in 1957. Hafez Assad was an Air Force lieutenant at the time, serving under the command of Soliman's older brother in the city of Hama. "There was a casino along the river in Hama where he and I would drink coffee and play backgammon," Soliman tells NEWSWEEK in a rare print interview. Hafez impressed Soliman as "very smart and very ambitious" but also bitter about events in the Middle East—the creation of Israel and the partition of Lebanon from Syria. Soliman left Syria to study in America the following year, but kept in contact with Assad, who grabbed power in 1970 and led Syria for three decades. Soliman says Assad came to terms late in life with Israel's existence and focused mainly on retrieving the Golan, an objective he bequeathed to his son. "Bashar wants to see the Golan returned to Syria, and he's genuinely prepared to make peace with Israel to get it back."
Israel has its own qualms about negotiating with Syria. Olmert told Pelosi last week that talks could begin only after Assad expels leaders of Hamas and the more-radical Islamic Jihad, and stops the flow of weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon , the group Israel waged war against last summer. With a plummeting approval rating, Olmert must be worried that bargaining over the Golan would alienate hawkish voters. Adhering to Washington's veto might be his way of avoiding the issue altogether. But Olmert also faces pressure from some key cabinet members who are agitating for the government to at least test Assad's sincerity. So are a few top military officials, who believe a potential war with Syria over the rearming of Hizbullah might be averted through negotiations.
Soliman hopes that kind of Israeli sentiment will eventually win out. To encourage it, he's accepted an invitation to address the Israeli Parliament's influential Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee this week. His appearance there will mark the first time a Syrian national speaks at the Israeli Assembly. Among the arguments he anticipates having to counter: that Assad's gambit is aimed at deflecting pressure over the assassination two years ago of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri (an independent investigation is still underway). "If I thought that was true, I would not be making all this effort," he says. ("Soliman was acting of his own convictions," says Ahmed Salkini, press secretary of the Syrian Embassy in Washington.) Soliman believes an Israeli-Syrian accord will also have a wider impact, weakening radicals in the region including Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. "I want to convince the skeptics," he says. His chances might just be a shade better in Jerusalem than in Washington.
Sources: Newsweek