LCCC NEWS BULLETIN
APRIL 24/2006

Below news from miscellaneous sources for 24/04/06
Lebanese PM: Al-Assad threatened Hariri-CNN
Lebanon: Did Syria add Hezbollah leader to its hit list-Ya Libnan
Jerusalem Orthodox Flame in Beirut, a 1st in More Than 50 Years-Naharnet
Jumblat Accuses Assad of Undermining Lebanese Security and Dialogue-Naharnet
A Dangerous Dance-Newsweek
Lebanese PM: Syria Still Has Agents in Lebanon-Arutz Sheva
Lebanon looks forward to relations with Syria -- Al-AridiKNA
Ahmadinejad felicitates Syria on Independence DayIRNA
Hamas's true colors, US hypocrisy, America and Iran-International Herald Tribune
Keep Iran out of nuclear club-Waterloo Record
Montrealer killed on return visit to Iraq homeland-CTV.ca
Bush administration drops sanctions campaign-DEBKA file
Militant Slain in Pakistan ID'd as Senior Al Qaeda Operative-FOX News
Lebanon would not extradite Mokbel-The Age - Melbourne
Plastic surgery is a booming business in Lebanon-Khaleej Times -
 

Jerusalem Orthodox Flame in Beirut, a 1st in More Than 50 Years
Naharnet: The flame that marks the resurrection of Jesus was brought to Lebanon on the occasion of the Eastern Orthodox Easter this weekend for the first time since the 1948 Arab Israeli war. The candle was first brought overland to Jordan and then by plane to Beirut, allowing the orthodox community, the second largest Christian sect in Lebanon, to participate in the holy land's rituals. Clergymen from Jerusalem escorted the torch to Lebanon, one of many that are sent to bless some 200 million orthodox Christians around the world, An Nahar reported Sunday. The candle is part of thirty three torches, representing the age of Christ at the time of crucifixion, which are released in Jerusalem every year at Easter.(Photo shows the flame and Orthodox Archbishop for Beirut Elias Awdeh surrounded by worshippers) Beirut, 23 Apr 06, 10:38

Jumblat Accuses Assad of Undermining Lebanese Security and Dialogue
Naharnet: Walid Jumblat is predicting another major security jolt in Lebanon in the run-up to the next report by the United Nations team investigating the murder of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Speaking from the sanctuary of his ancestral home in Mukhtara, Jumblat suggested that the alleged plot to assassinate Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah probably was a "deflecting tactic." Alternatively, it is an indication that Syria has added Nasrallah to its hit list to undermine Lebanese unanimity on controversial issues solved at the National Dialogue. The Druze leader and Mount Lebanon MP recalled that just before the Dec. 12 assassination of An Nahar's publisher Gebran Tueni explosives were uncovered on a road Jumblat frequents in the Chouf, and an alleged plot to kill Hizbullah's deputy secretary-general, Naim Qassem, was uncovered in Baalbek.
"The Syrian regime is capable of undertaking any action that deflects attention, such as fabricating a plot to assassinate Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, when the target is totally different," Jumblat said, according to An Nahar. He held out the possibility that Syrian President Bashar Assad added Nasrallah to Damascus' alleged hit list after Hizbullah's chief endorsed demands for demarcating the Syrian-Lebanese border, banning armed Palestinian presence outside refugee camps and establishing Beirut-Damascus diplomatic relations."We need to be alert," Jumblat said. "We are approaching June, the deadline for the report (of U.N. Chief Investigator Serge Brammertz). Also, the Lebanese dialogue has produced, in theory, very positive unanimous decisions.""Bashar Assad seems perturbed and uncomfortable," said Jumblat. "His only weapon is to undermine security in Lebanon." Beirut, 23 Apr 06, 09:56

Lebanese PM: Al-Assad threatened Hariri
Sunday, April 23, 2006;
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Syrian President Bashar al-Assad threatened to "break" Lebanon if the late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri did not support a longer term for President Emile Lahoud, a pro-Syrian politician, Lebanon's prime minister claimed Sunday. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's assertion, on CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer," adds fresh fuel to the debate over Syria's alleged role in Hariri's assassination last year, which triggered a series of protests in Lebanon that led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops. Syria's government has denied any involvement in the bombing, which killed 22 others on February 14, 2005. But Siniora said Hariri recounted the threat to him in person.
"After the meeting that Prime Minister Hariri had with President Assad, he called me over the telephone, just immediately, about one hour after he left," Siniora said. "And he asked me to join him, to meet him in his house in the mountains."
The prime minister said he went to Hariri's home with an assistant, where Hariri recounted "that President Assad told him that if he doesn't really abide by the election of -- or the extension of the term of President Lahoud, he [Al-Assad] will break the country on his head."
In an October 12 interview with CNN, Al-Assad denied that he or his country was involved in Hariri's assassination, and he denied that he had threatened Hariri.
"I'm a very quiet person. I'm very frank, but I wouldn't threaten," he said.
Al-Assad reiterated his claim in a March 27 interview with PBS interviewer Charlie Rose.
Hariri was killed February 14, 2005, in a car bomb attack in Beirut. His death sparked massive anti-Syrian demonstrations -- the so-called Cedar Revolution -- that helped sweep Syrian troops out of the country last year.
U.S. officials contend Damascus is still attempting to exert influence in Lebanon.
The ongoing U.N. investigation into Hariri's death has found evidence it believes indicates top-ranked Syrian and Lebanese officials were involved in the blast.
Siniora said Sunday there should not be any accusations until the end of the investigation.
"We are giving all the necessary support to the international investigation commission, and we need to really get to know the facts, what really happened," he said. "I am in no position to make any accusation to anybody."
Syrian officials have dismissed the U.N. investigation as false and politically motivated.
Former Syrian vice president Abdel-Halim Khaddam told the Arabic language TV network Al-Arabiya in December that al-Assad made direct personal threats against Hariri months before his assassination.
Khaddam has met with U.N. investigators and fled into exile. Syrian lawmakers have branded him a traitor.
In the October interview, Al-Assad told CNN such an assassination would go against the principles and interests of Syria as well as his own values.
"I would never do such a thing in my life. What do we achieve?" Al-Assad asked.
"I think what happened targeted Syria. That would affect our relation with the Lebanese people and with most of the country. So we wouldn't do it because it's against our interest, and it's against my principle. I would never do it. It's impossible."

Top terrorist plotting revenge on West
(UPI Top Stories Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) April 23, 2006] Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly has met in Syria with one of the world's most wanted terrorists. U.S. officials and Israeli intelligence sources told the Sunday Times of London they believe Imad Mugniyeh, the Lebanese commander of Hezbollah's overseas operations, is plotting Iran's retaliation should U.S. President George Bush order a strike on Iranian nuclear sites.

A Dangerous Dance
Lebanon's P.M. rips Israel and criticizes Syria. He wants President Lahoud to quit, but that could be a death sentence.
By Lally Weymouth-Newsweek
May 1, 2006 issue - Lebanon's new prime minister, Fuad Siniora, visited President Bush last week to appeal for support. Lebanon is struggling to emerge as a democratic country—free from Syria's grip. Yet Damascus still wields vast influence over the affairs of its weaker neighbor, in part through a potent network of intelligence agents. NEWSWEEK's Lally Weymouth spoke with Siniora in New York last week. Excerpts:
WEYMOUTH: What did you request from President Bush?
SINIORA: I came to ask President Bush three specific things. One is to empower the Lebanese government politically. The most important point is to help Lebanon achieve the full integrity of all its territories and [to achieve] the withdrawal of Israel from the remaining parts of Lebanon which are still occupied, the Sheba Farms.
According to the U.N. secretary-general and the Security Council, Israel fully withdrew from Lebanon in 2000; Sheba Farms was [considered] Israeli-occupied Syrian land.
Sheba Farms is Lebanese. The Syrians say verbally that it is Lebanese. [But] they don't provide the necessary documentation to the United Nations.
So your No. 1 aim is to get Israel out of Sheba Farms. What's No. 2?
No. 2 is to [enhance] the capabilities of Lebanon's internal security forces and its Army, by providing equipment and training.
And the president said?
Yes. We will be sending some ministers to the U.S. to discuss this.
And No. 3?
To empower the Lebanese government economically.
One of the March 14th [pro-freedom] group's aims was to get rid of President Lahoud [who has strong ties to Syria]. In order to have a free Lebanon, don't you have to get a new president, and how are you going to do that?
I would recommend for the president to resign. If that happens, it will open new horizons for the country.
Do you think that the Syrians have threatened Lahoud? Could he quit or would they kill him?
I think, personally, he is not the type to do that.
They would kill him?
I don't want to use that term. He is not free to resign.
Who can disarm Hizbullah as required by the U.N. resolution?
If the U.S. and friendly countries help us achieve the withdrawal of Israel from Sheba Farms, this would make it possible for the Lebanese forces to be the sole owner of weapons and arms in the country.
Why would Hizbullah give up their weapons? Didn't they threaten you and tell you not to come here?
They didn't threaten me, though some of them said I should not come.
But Hizbullah has strong ties to Iran, as the recent U.N. report points out. It says that arms came to Hizbullah via Syria during the last six months.

DEBKAfile Reports:
Lebanese sectarian militias mushroom after US and France drop sanctions campaign against Damascus and ouster of president Michel Lahoud
April 23, 2006, 6:53 PM (GMT+02:00)
When he visited the White House on April 18, Lebanese prime minister Fouad Siniora was shocked to discover that president George W. Bush had cooled to the campaign he launched with France against the Assad regime in February 2005, after the assassination of the Lebanese politician Rafiq Hariri.  He saw that Bashar Assad and his clique were getting away scot-free from being brought to account as suspects in the crime.  Siniora also learned, according to DEBKAfile’s Washington and Middle East sources, that the Americans had abandoned their drive to oust Lahoud, disarm the Hizballah, disband Palestinian militias in Lebanon, and impose on them the implementation of a key UN Security Council resolution.
As he left the White House, the Lebanese prime minister remarked: “Lebanon is back to square one. We are left with the ruins of the American-French initiative.”
Our sources in Beirut report that, scenting the new winds blowing from Washington and Paris, all the Lebanese militias, including those linked to al Qaeda, are re-arming and rebuilding their strength.
The picture accompanying this article shows a company of new recruits to the Lebanese Forces (Christian Maronite Phalange). This force had scattered in the face of the UN resolution. Last week, the Maronite force’s former commander Samir Geagea and his wife Astreda started mobilizing the militia anew, to stand up to the Shiite Hizballah. A new Christian military base is open for business in Wadi Qudban, on Mount Lebanon, and training is going forward briskly.
Seen on the photo is the new officer, Nadim Jumayel, son the Lebanese Forces most outstanding commander, former president Bashir Jemayel, who was assassinated in 1982.
DEBKAfile’s military sources add that the flurry of militia-building has also overtaken Saad Hariri, the son of the slain politician, who has begun converting his 250-man bodyguard unit into an armed Sunni force called “Hariri’s Fedayeen.” A Saudi donation has paid for 300 fighters to take a crash course in commando and urban guerrilla combat in the United States, under American civilian security contractors. A Hariri Fedayeen base is operating in southern Lebanon east of Sidon on the Awali River, similar to the mountain installation established by the Maronites.
Hizballah’s Shiite rival, Amal, once one of Lebanon’s largest and most important militia before its leader Nabih Berri went into politics, is likewise re-mobilizing and training, loath to leave the Shiite terrain in Hizballah hands.
The vacuum left by the withdrawal of the United States and France has sent Lebanon’s Sunnis, Shiites and Christians, running back to their armed militias for protection, while Damascus returns to asserting mastery over its small neighbor.

Montrealer killed on return visit to Iraq homeland
Updated Sat. Apr. 22 2006 10:49 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
A Montreal man died in his homeland Iraq last month during a trip to see his daughters who he left behind 15 years ago.
Bandits robbed Sadeq Aldifai and shot him in the head after he crossed the Syrian border into Iraq on March 7. The 38-year-old was traveling with his cousin when they were robbed. The cousin was also executed, according to Aldifai's family.
Their bodies were discovered by chance last weekend. "For one whole month, nobody found them. Then a guy just passing in the desert found the two bodies," Aldifai's nephew Ali Zeayel told the Montreal Gazette.Aldifai fled Iraq 15 years ago after being shot in an uprising against then-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, leaving behind his pregnant wife and infant daughter.
Last month he decided to travel back to Iraq, see his family again -- who live in Karbala, about 110 kilometres south of Baghdad -- and make his dream come true. "It was a very strong desire to go to Iraq. If you don't see your daughters for 15 years, you cannot say it. It's inside of you," Zeayel said.For Iraqi-Canadians wanting to visit their homeland to see family, Aldifai's murder is a grim reminder of the ongoing violence in the war-torn nation.
Riadh Muslih, an Iraqi-Canadian, safely visited Iraq two years ago and reunited with his mother who he hadn't seen in 38 years.But he says it's a journey he wouldn't make today because of the risk to both his life and his family's.
"There is a lot of criminal kidnapping and ransom-taking happening in Iraq that we don't hear about in the news, and they're afraid when a son or a daughter (comes) from abroad," Muslih said."There's a perception they're coming loaded with money, so their family becomes a target."For that reason, Iraqi-Canadian Kais Sammarie is planning to meet his family in Syria next month."Even after the collapse of Saddam's regime, we still cannot go back and see our family and connect back with our homeland," he said.With a report from CTV's Jed Kahane

Lebanon looks forward to relations with Syria -- Al-Aridi
CAIRO, April 22 (KUNA) -- Visiting Lebanese Information minister Ghazi Al-Aridi said on Saturday that Lebanon was looking forward for a relations with Syria on basis of mutual respect. The official told the press about the meeting with the Arab league Secretary General discussed the new developments in the Middle East. He discussed the Syrian-Lebanese relationship by saying it was very important to open diplomatic relationships between the two countries and he hoped that the Syrian officials share the same thing regarding the issue. The official said regarding the Shebaa farms issue that all Lebanese agreed on the idea that Shebaa farms were part of Lebanon and we must prove that legally to the UN. He mentioned that the Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Al-Siniora is currently in New York to discuss the issue with Secretary General Kofi Anan who said that the issue of the farms must be agreed upon by Syria. Regarding the Lebanese dialogue, Al-Aridi said that there was agreement Al-Sinora meetings at the UN and they hoped that the Syrian and Lebanese officials would reach an agreement on Shebaa farms.The official said that discussions on the Lebanese presidency and the resistance in lebanon will kick off on the 28th of this month.

Ahmadinejad felicitates Syria on Independence Day
Tehran, April 23, IRNA
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a message on Sunday, felicitated the Syria's president, government and people on the country's Independence Day (April 17).  President Ahmadinejad, in his message, pointed to consolidated ties between Iran and Syria and stressed the importance of further bolstering ties with respect to ongoing international challenges.
He expressed hope the sides would witness further expansion of ties through their joint efforts, promotion of justice.