LCCC ENGLISH NEWS BULLETIN
August 21/2006

Latest New from the Daily Star for August 21/06
Arab League foreign ministers pledge help for reconstruction
Beirut vows to compensate victims of war
Truce is still very fragile, UN envoy says
Siniora, Berri tour Beirut's southern suburbs - but not everyone is impressed
Murr issues stern warning over cease-fire breaches
Lebanese man arrested in Germany on suspicion of planting train bomb
Safadi surveys damage to over 80 bridges
Lebanese politicians accuse Israel of violating UN cease-fire
The Lebanese economy can recover, but only with appropriate measures
Scientists suspect Israeli arms used in South contain radioactive matter
Today's war forces delay on installation exploring yesterday's
Shattered state needs to be redesigned, not just rebuilt
Engaging Syria would sell Lebanon down the road-By David Schenker
The war's other victim: the environment.By Fouad Hamdan
Latest New from miscellaneous sources for August 21/06
Lebanon Warns Against Rogue Attacks-ABC News
Canada leading the charge to help Lebanon: Verner-CTV.ca
Arab foreign ministers discuss rebuilding Lebanon,Calgary Sun
Israel arrests senior Hamas lawmaker-CNN International
Custody confirmed for Lebanese in Germany train bomb plot-Monsters and Critics.com
Israel intends to kill Hezbollah leader-DailyIndia.com
Exposing smugglings from Syria to Hizbullah-Ynetnews
France asks for EU meeting on Lebanon-Reuters
UN warns Lebanon truce may unravel, urges restraint-Reuters
The lessons of Lebanon-Jerusalem Post
Lebanon demands truce be honored-International Herald Tribune
Iran's Shi'ite Wars-Die Welt - Germany
Larsen: Israel breached ceasefire-Ynetnews - Israel
Lebanon: Army will deal with those who break ceasefire-Jerusalem Post
Lebanon prime minister condemns Israel-AP
Hizballah in Lebanon: The War Was Not Supposed to End This Way-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
Israel sets up group to examine possible talks with Syria-Times of Oman - Oman
Lebanese Prime Minister condemns Israeli helicopter raid-Sunday Business Post
UN: Israeli raid violates cease-fire-CNN International
An Israeli officer from an elite commando unit was killed and twoJewish Telegraphic Agency

Between Al-Assad and Siniora
Walid Choucair Al-Hayat - 18/08/06//
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has put his Lebanese allies in a fix, thanks to the political campaign he launched against the March 14 Forces and the government with his speech in front of the Syrian Press Association on Tuesday. He said that these forces would soon fall.
Some might say that this is not the first time that al-Assad has launched a political campaign within Lebanon, with his allies there translating its stipulations without hesitation, whatever the slogans they wrap this campaign up in. Ever since the decision to extend President Emile Lahood's tenure, which came about through pressure, Damascus is no longer concerned if its Lebanese policy is exposed.
All the political and security developments that have cropped up in the country since the extension demonstrate that Damascus does not really care about lifting the Lebanese and foreign cover from its policies toward Lebanon. Those Lebanese who shelter behind Syrian politics have no qualms in going along with Damascus' bid to restore its influence over the Lebanese authorities. They were at the heart of this influence during the whole era of Syria's caretakership of the internal situation with all its specificities, regardless of their varying political weight in Lebanon. As a result, they find no embarrassment in expressing Syria's demands on the new Lebanese authority that was established after the parliamentary elections in May 2005.
Nevertheless, President al-Assad's declaration two days ago that the real battle has begun, and that the March 14 Forces are an Israeli product, is a declaration of war and a proposal to his Lebanese allies to adopt this declaration vis-à-vis their partners who rule the country. The most embarrassed party is Hezbollah, since the Syrian President apparently considers that the war it fought and won against Israel is not the 'real thing'. Al-Assad has also robbed Hezbollah of its victory and has straitjacketed it by his attitude toward other parties which he labeled as agents, regardless of the fact that Hezbollah has two cabinet ministers, and that the figureheads of the parties he attacked are also members of the cabinet. Al-Assad's campaign is an embarrassment to Hezbollah, which pivots itself on the great sacrifices it made in facing Israel, and which defended Lebanon's sovereignty in order to repulse the accusation that it is affiliated to the Syrian-Iranian axis. If Hezbollah's leadership were in harmony with this campaign, it would contradict its own efforts to assert its independence, no matter what, this time, the slogans this harmony would be wrapped up in.
Listening to the Prime Minister (and not the President of the Republic) Fouad Siniora's message to the Lebanese on the eve of the deployment of the Lebanese army in the South is more than enough to explain al-Assad's position. Siniora's call for toppling the March 14 Forces preceded al-Assad's. Siniora said: "We have drawn strength from the national consensus and will not back down on our determination to maintain our fixed national consonants, and we have spared no effort to convince the international community to give proper consideration to these consonants." At the same time he drew attention to how Resolution 1701 "did not answer all our demands…"
This is the first time that a decision has been issued that carries with it a comprehensive solution to the situation in Lebanon, in that it deals with the major powers from the perspective of an independent Lebanon, and without referring to Syria to receive its conditions. Furthermore, the decision expressed that Lebanon will heed the advice of Arab countries, but not Syria, and calls on the international community to adopt Lebanon's demands as stated in this decision. In his negotiations with the major powers, Siniora based himself on a national consensus, which was mainly crafted by parliamentary speaker Nabih Biri.
Siniora had weaved several parties into the government coalition, and he has made this good on the ground. He was also successful in his collaboration with Biri in formulating the international resolution with unerring precision, in the hope of establishing "one free, independent State that possesses the authority to make decisions, not a State where this is a dual authority. No power in or outside Lebanon has the right to take its citizens and the country wherever that power wants," Siniora said. Perhaps what worries Damascus is that the Lebanese will believe that they can realize this hope.

DEBKAfile Reports: Turkey forces one Syrian, 5 Iranian arms planes to land at Diyarbakir military base
August 20, 2006, 11:47 AM (GMT+02:00)
Six Iranian ILDT type 4-cargo planes and a Syrian aircraft were forced to land at the southeast Turkish military airport last Thursday after US spy satellites spotted they were loaded with missiles, missile launchers and eight boxes of Chinese made C-802 missiles, dubbed by Iran “Nur.”
DEBKAfile’s military sources disclose: The flights were bound for Damascus and Syrian military air bases just across the Turkish border. The C-802 is the advanced ground-ship missile which crippled the Israeli Navy’s gunship off Beirut, and killed three of its crew on July 14, two days after the outbreak of the Lebanon war. Searches by the Turkish authorities disclosed that one of the planes was carrying crates of Fajer rockets which Hizballah fired at Israeli towns. Two of the Iranian cargo planes have not been permitted to take off from Turkey unless they fly back to Iran.
Four flights, carrying light ammunition including anti-tank weapons, were allowed to complete their journey to Syria after their pilots presented documents proving they were purchased in Iran for the Syrian army.
DEBKAfile adds: This is the first time American military satellites have been openly revealed to have aided in the UN embargo against arms transfers from Syria and Iran to the Hizballah.
DEBKAfile’s military sources also disclose that the Iranian and Syrian cargo flights were bound for three Syrian military airfields, two of which were transferred at the end of July to the control and supervision of the air wing of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. The flight carrying the C-802 missile was destined for the military section of Damascus’ Mezze international airport. The launchers and Fajer rockets would have been unloaded at Syria’s Nasiriya air base, 40 km from the Lebanese border. The anti-tank rockets and ammunition were bound for al Qusayr, north of Damascus and only 25 km from Lebanon’s northern Beqaa Valley

Hezbollah is Using Christian Villages to Shield its Military Operations in Violation of International Law
By Rev. Dr. Keith Roderick
July, 2006
WASHINGTON, August 1, 2006: Hezbollah is using Christian villages
to shield its military operations against Israel. Southern Lebanese Christian villages, such as Ain Ebel, Rmeish, Alma Alshaab, and others are being used by Hezbollah terrorists for launching missile attacks."Hezbollah is repeating the same pattern that it practiced against Israel in 1996," says former South Lebanese Army commander, Col. Charbel Barkat. "Hezbollah is hiding among civilian populations and launching attacks behind human shields."A Christian from the village of Ain Ebel, who is nameless because he fears retribution by Hezbollah, discovered Hezbollah guerillas were setting up a launcher to fire Katyusha rockets from the rooftop of his home. Ignoring his pleas to stop, they fired the missiles. He immediately gathered his family and fled home, which indeed was bombed and destroyed
15 minutes later by an Israeli air strike.In addition to having their homes commandeered for launching Hezbollah's attacks, there have been attempts to obstruct Christians from fleeing their villages.On Saturday, July 28, Hezbollah fighters fired upon several Christians fleeing Rmeish with their families, wounding two according
to Christian sources in south Lebanon. Hezbollah has been the ruling power in the south since Israel withdrew from Lebanon six years ago. Christian villages suffer from extensive neglect of infrastructure under Hezbollah rule. Even though Christians pay the taxes for basic government services,
such as road repair and other utilities, these services are rarely provided. On the other hand, Shiite villages supportive of Hezbollah do not pay taxes and benefit from infrastructure development and new residential and business construction. Once the majority, the Christian population in Lebanon since the civil war has declined to under 40% due to pressures by Islamic militias supported by Iran and Syria."Hezbollah is the issue," warns Rev. Dr. Keith Roderick, Washington
Representative of Christian Solidarity International and secretary general of the Coalition for the Defense of Human Rights. "A misrepresentation of the position of most Lebanese Christians is underway." Roderick recently traveled to Lebanon to meet with the leaders of the Cedar Revolution and Lebanese activists.
SamiEl-Khoury, president of the World Maronite Union, says that reports on Christian support for Hezbollah are misleading. "Contrary to Western press reports, indicating high percentages of Christian support for Hezbollah, 90% of Christians, 80% of Sunni and 40% of Shiites in Lebanon oppose Hezbollah," says El-Khoury.
Christian Solidarity International (CSI) laments the destruction and violence inflicted upon the Lebanese country and acknowledges that the international community must play a role in Lebanon's restoration. It also recognizes that if Hezbollah is not disarmed, the future of Lebanese Christians and all pro-democracy supporters will be bleak. "The Lebanese government should focus their rage against Hezbollah, not Israel," notes Tom Harb, secretary general for the International Committee for UN Security Council Resolution 1559 (UNSCR 1559).CSI calls for the U.N. to establish a politically independent commission to investigate Hezbollah's violations of the Geneva Convention's provision for the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol 1). This protocol prohibits the use of
civilians as military shields. CSI also calls on the U.N. Security Council to deploy without further delay an international force in southern Lebanon and
eastern Lebanon to facilitate a cease fire between Israel and Hezbollah, stop the flow of arms from Syria to Hezbollah, and assist the Lebanese government in fulfilling its obligation to disarm Hezbollah in accordance with UNSCR 1559.

Lebanon prime minister condemns Israel
By SAM F. GHATTAS, The Associated Press
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Standing in the midst of the rubble of south Beirut, Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora called the Israeli bombing campaign "a crime against humanity," and Lebanon's defense minister warned any group that breaks the Middle East cease-fire will be dealt with harshly.
Saniora toured south Beirut accompanied by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah backer. The area, a Hezbollah stronghold, bore the brunt of Israeli airstrikes during the monthlong fighting between Israel and the Shiite militia. "What we see today is an image of the crimes Israel has committed," Saniora told reporters. "There is no other description other than a criminal act that shows Israel's hatred."Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr, meanwhile, said Hezbollah was committed to the U.N.-imposed cease-fire. He warned militia groups against any rocket attacks aimed at Israel saying Israel could use rocket attacks as a pretext to renew its airstrikes. On Saturday, Israeli commandos raided a Hezbollah stronghold deep in Lebanon, engaging in a fierce gunbattle, and the Lebanese government threatened to halt further troop deployments to protest what U.N. officials called a violation of the 6-day-old cease-fire.
Israel said the raid was launched to stop arms smuggling from Iran and Syria to the militant Shiite fighters. An Israeli officer was killed during the raid, and two soldiers were wounded, one seriously. There were no signs of further clashes, but the flare-up underlined worries about the fragility of the cease-fire as the U.N. pleaded for nations to send troops to an international force in southern Lebanon that is to separate Israeli and Hezbollah fighters.
The office of Secretary-General Kofi Annan issued a statement later Saturday labeling the operation a violation of the U.N. truce.
A contingent of 49 French soldiers landed in the south Saturday, providing the first reinforcements for the 2,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping mission known as UNIFIL that has been stationed in the region for years. About 200 more were expected next week.
They were the first additions to what is intended to grow into a 15,000-soldier U.N. force to police the truce with an equal number of Lebanese soldiers. France leads UNIFIL and already had 200 soldiers in Lebanon before the reinforcements. But with Europe moving slowly to provide more troops, Israel warned it would continue to act on its own to enforce an arms embargo on the Lebanese guerrilla group until the Lebanese army and an expanded U.N. peacekeeping force are in place.
"If the Syrians and Iran continue to arm Hezbollah in violation of the resolution, Israel is entitled to act to defend the principle of the arms embargo," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said. "Once the Lebanese army and the international forces are active ... then such Israeli activity will become superfluous."
Defense Minister Elias Murr met with U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen and threatened to halt the movement of Lebanese troops into the former war zone in the south if the United Nations did not intervene against Israel. That could deeply damage efforts to deploy a strong U.N. peacekeeping force.
"We have put the matter forward in a serious manner and the U.N. delegation was understanding of the seriousness of the situation," Murr told reporters. "We are awaiting an answer."Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert defended the raid during a phone conversation with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, saying it was "intended to prevent the re-supply of new weapons and ammunition for Hezbollah," officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly on the issue. The Israeli leader pointed to the importance of the supervision of the Syrian-Lebanese border as well, they said.
The Israeli military also said the raid was launched "to prevent and interfere with terror activity against Israel, especially the smuggling of arms from Iran and Syria to Hezbollah."The Foreign Ministry spokesman rejected the characterization of the raid as a truce violation, saying the Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers must take control of Lebanon's border with Syria to ensure arms don't reach Hezbollah.
"But in the interim, of course, we can't have a situation where endless amounts of weaponry arrive for Hezbollah, so we are forced to act in response to this violation," he said, warning that further incursions could occur. A statement issued by Annan's spokesman later Saturday said that the U.N. chief spoke with both Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and Olmert about the fighting. "The secretary-general is deeply concerned about a violation by the Israeli side of the cessation of hostilities," it said.
"All such violations of Security Council Resolution 1701 endanger the fragile calm that was reached after much negotiation," said the statement, issued by spokesman Stephane Dujarric. The White House declined to criticize the raid, noting that Israel said it acted in reaction to arms smuggling into Lebanon and that the U.N. resolution calls for the prevention of resupplying Hezbollah with weapons.
"The incident underscores the importance of quickly deploying the enhanced UNIFIL," White House spokeswoman Jeanie Mamo said.
Roed-Larsen said earlier the Lebanese army has deployed more than 1,500 soldiers in three sectors of the south where Israeli forces have left, and the 2,000 peacekeepers of UNIFIL have set up checkpoints and started patrolling the areas.
The broad outlines of the U.N. cease-fire plan call on Hezbollah to halt all attacks and for Israel to stop offensive operations. It gives Israel the right to respond if attacked, but the commandos were flown in by helicopter and the raid took place far from Israeli troops in southern Lebanon.
Israel did not identify the officer killed in the raid. Hezbollah issued a terse statement saying guerrillas "ambushed" the commando force and suffered no casualties. Lebanese security officials said three guerrillas were killed and three wounded.
The security officials said the commandos flew in by helicopter to a hill outside the village of Boudai west of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon, about 17 miles from the Syrian border. Witnesses said Israeli missiles destroyed a bridge during the fighting. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release information to the media, said the Israelis apparently were seeking a guerrilla target in a nearby school but they had no other details.
Lebanese media speculated that Sheik Mohammed Yazbeck, a senior Hezbollah official in the Bekaa Valley and a member of the group's executive council, may have been the target. Yazbeck is a native of Boudai. The Israeli army denied it had captured any Hezbollah fighter, and said it had not been the raid's objective.
Overflights by Israeli jet fighters drowned out the clatter of helicopters that flew the commandos into the foothills of the central Lebanese mountains, local Hezbollah officials said. Using two vehicles also delivered by helicopter, the commandos drove into Boudai and were intercepted by Hezbollah fighters in a field, the officials said. They said the Israelis identified themselves as Lebanese soldiers, but the guerrillas grew suspicious and gunfire erupted.
Israeli helicopters fired missiles as the commandos withdrew and flew them out of the area an hour later, the Hezbollah officials said.
Witnesses reported seeing bandages and syringes at the landing site outside Boudai. The bridge that witnesses said was destroyed was about 500 yards from the landing site. The area in the eastern Bekaa Valley, 60 miles north of the Israeli border, is a major guerrilla stronghold. Baalbek is the birthplace of Hezbollah, a militant Islamic movement that is supported by Iran and Syria. Hezbollah, meanwhile, buried 55 fighters Friday and Saturday in Haris, Majdel Silim, Bint Jbail, Deir Qanoun and south Beirut, security officials said. Israel claims it killed hundreds of guerrillas during the war. Hezbollah reported 68 deaths.
U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown said more countries needed to join the peacekeeping force. The U.N. wants to have 3,500 soldiers on the ground by Aug. 28 to help police the truce that took effect Monday and ended 34 days of brutal warfare. Bangladesh, Indonesia, Italy, France and Finland have promised troops. In an effort to encourage more countries to sign on, Annan said the peacekeeping force would not "wage war" on Israel, Lebanon or Hezbollah militants, addressing a key concern of many countries. The U.N. and Lebanon's government have said Hezbollah will not be allowed to bring weapons out in public, but have declined to commit to trying to disarm the guerrillas, as called for in a September 2004 U.N. resolution.

Israel Attacks, Rejects Lebanese and UN Claims
By Hillel Fendel
PM Olmert's office staffer says Israel's raid in Lebanon yesterday was not a violation of the ceasefire, but rather the required response to Hizbullah's ongoing violations of the ceasefire. "The operation was necessary," the official in the Prime Minister's Office, said, "because Hizbullah is violating the ceasefire by smuggling in war materiel from Syria and Iran. It was a necessary operation, and it is good that we did it."The weekend operation involved two Hummer jeeps that were helicoptered in to the Baalbek region of southern Lebanon, not far from the Syrian border. The Hummers were used to attack a school building used to store weapons brought in from Syria. The building also served as a hideout for Hizbullah terrorists. IDF officer Lt.-Col. (ret.) Emanuel Moreno, 35, of Kibbutz Tlamim in the Negev, was killed in the operation, and two soldiers were wounded, including one in serious condition. Three Hizbullah men were killed.
The IDF announced afterwards, "The purpose of the operation was to prevent and interfere with the transfer of arms from Syria and Iran to Hizbullah... The objectives were achieved in full.""Hizbullah cannot complain when we take action to stop them from smuggling weapons, in violation of the ceasefire," the aide said. "Hizbullah is not adhering to the ceasefire in other ways as well. There were several incidents this past week in which they fired at IDF soldiers."
Lebanese Defense Minister Alias Al-Mor threatened, following the Israeli attack, that his country would stop deploying its forces in the southern region. He demanded that the UN make its position clear on Israel's action. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has already gone on record as saying that it was Israel that violated the ceasefire.

2. IDF Strike Warns U.N. To Get Tough
By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
The daring weekend IDF commando strike aimed at Hizbullah leaders and Syrian weapons has put the U.N. on notice that Israel will not allow the ceasefire resolution to serve as a tool for terrorists. United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan accused Israel of violating the United Nations Security Council ceasefire resolution and only vaguely referred to the violation by Hizbullah's smuggling of weapons from Syria.
But the lack of a significant number of troops from European nations for the proposed international force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), along with Hizbullah's refusal to disarm, may signal an end to the erosion of Israel's diplomatic position. "If the Syrians and Iran continue to arm Hizbullah in violation of the resolution, Israel is entitled to act to defend the principle of the arms embargo," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said. "Once the Lebanese army and the international forces are active ... then such Israeli activity will become superfluous." Annan already has made it clear that the U.N. does not intend to enforce the resolution and disarm Hizbullah. He has claimed that the UNIFIL mandate is to keep Hizbullah from attacking Israel while leaving the matter of disarmament for diplomats.
The deterrence potential of the United Nations has weakened with the lack of a strong European commitment, which has clearly disappointed UN leaders. UN Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown said, "The particular appeal I want to make... is that Europe comes forward with troops for this first wave [of troops]."He said it will be "challenging" to come up with 3,500 soldiers by the end of the week, far less than the original plan of up to 20,000 soldiers. France is sending 200 men instead of more than 10,000 as originally planned. Brown claimed that he has sent to several nations a clearer definition of the UNIFIL mandate.
The deputy secretary-general did not specify when UNIFIL officers could open fire but made it clear that there is no intention for the force to disarm Hizbullah terrorists. "[It] is not an offensive force," he told reporters in New York. "This is not going to be a force...to disarm Hizbullah, but [it] is going to provide Israel with that security guarantee. Rather it is going to police the political agreement which triggers disarmament....Where combatants forcefully resist a demand from UNIFIL or from the Lebanese army to disarm, UNIFIL will then exercise use of force, if it has to, to force that disarmament."
One sticking point is the increasing possibility that anti-Israel Muslim nations will make up a large part of the force. Brown and Israel have made contradictory statements concerning the presence of soldiers from Malaysia and Indonesia. Israel has objected to their being part of a force to protect Israel, particularly in light of Malaysia's call to other nations to cut off diplomatic ties with Israel.
However, Brown stated, "As a number of people have said, the final word on what is acceptable is ours, and these troops are deployed in Lebanese territory, not Israeli territory."He added that it is important that Muslim nations be represented in the force along with European nations in order to keep a balance. "The more we can fill this force out with a number of key nationalities providing major pillars or legs to it, the more the Israelis can be persuaded to look at its overall composition rather than focusing singularly on particular contributors," he explained.An unnamed senior IDF commander told the The New York Times that Hizbullah terrorist leader Hassan Nasrallah is marked for death. "There is only one solution for him,” he said. "This man must die."
The newspaper reported his comments on Israel's resolve to keep Hizbullah from re-arming one day before the daring commando raid in eastern Lebanon Saturday morning aimed at Hizbullah leaders who had smuggled weapons from Syria. The United States also has been trying to prevent arms from getting to Hizbullah, according to a report in USA Today. It stated that on the eighth day of the Hizbullah terrorist war, the U.S. convinced Iraq and Turkey to prevent an Iranian cargo plane from entering their air space on the way to Syria with advanced missiles intended for the terrorist organization.
The IDF officer interviewed by The Times maintained that the war showed that Hizbullah is not just Israel's problem. "The world understands that we are helping to stop the influence of Iran," he said. The officer also revealed that contrary to previous denials by the government, civilian officials delayed the IDF ground movement for four days until the administration realized that it was losing ground in diplomatic negotiations. He also admitted that the IDF miscalculated the amount and quality of weapons in the Hizbullah arsenal. The officer added that there is no such thing as a decisive victory against terrorism, but that Israel scored a success in the retaliation against the Hizbullah attacks on northern Israel. Israel eliminated more than three-quarters of Hizbullah's medium and long range missile launchers, he explained, and its ability to destroy launchers within one minute after their use is unmatched by any other country. Comment on this story

One IDF Soldier Killed on the PA Battlefront
By Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
An IDF soldier was shot dead in an attack by Palestinian Authority terrorists on Saturday. The attacker was killed and another suspect was captured.
The attack took place at the Bekaot Checkpoint, in the Jordan Valley. The shooter approached the soldiers stationed at the checkpoint and opened fire at close range, critically injuring Sgt. Ro'i Farjoun, of the Nachal Hareidi "Netzach Yehuda" Battalion. Farjoun, 21, from Yehud, later died of his wounds, despite efforts by medics to save him.  IDF Nachal Hareidi troops, long stationed in the Jordan Valley, immediately initiated a pursuit of the attacker, overtaking and killing him. A second terrorist, suspected of involvement in the shooting, was also captured. Fatah, led by PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas, claimed responsibility for the attack, which was carried out by the terrorist organization's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. The shooter was identified as Mohammed Bani Ouda, from the Jenin area.
In other incidents on the PA battlefront, IDF soldiers killed two terrorists Friday afternoon west of Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in the western Negev. Several PA residents were spotted near the Gaza perimeter fence preparing bombs for an attack on the IDF. Troops opened fire at the cell. One of the terrorists died almost immediately, a second succumbed to his wounds while fleeing, and at least two others were injured.
On Friday, IDF forces killed two wanted Islamic Jihad terrorists near Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem and adjacent to the Gush Etzion town of Efrat.
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Israel Captures PA Deputy PM in Ramallah
By Nissan Ratzlav-Katz and Hillel Fendel
The PA deputy prime minister, a senior Hamas terrorist, was extracted from his Ramallah home in a joint IDF-Shabak (GSS) operation. Several weekend instances of Arabs opening fire at soldiers. The captured Hamas leader, Nasser A-Din Ahmed Shaer, was apprehended when IDF soldiers surprised him in his home early Saturday morning. According to his wife, who spoke with reporters after the raid, the Israelis broke in, searched the house, took her husband into custody and left.
The IDF Spokesman's Office released a statement saying, "Shaer is not immune despite his seniority, and the IDF will continue to act against various terrorist activists." The capture of Shaer is "part of our fight against the radical Hamas movement," an IDF spokesman told the press.
Shaer, who also serves as the PA education minister, was a key figure in the formulation of the policies of the current Hamas-led PA government. He is considered to be the most senior terrorist in Judea and Samaria ever since widespread Israeli arrests of Hamas leaders in June. Shaer was erroneously reported to have been captured in that series of arrests. In the 1980s, IDF sources said, Shaer was active in the Muslim Brotherhood and quickly became a leader in the Hamas student organization. More recently, he was religion department head at An-Najah University in Shechem.
A spokesman for the PA, Ghazi Hamad, called the detention of Shaer part of "the Israeli aggressions aimed at toppling the Palestinian government, which was democratically elected by the people."
Closure Removed, Soldiers are Attacked
Meanwhile, the IDF has removed the closure from the Palestinian Authority residents of Judea and Samaria. The closure was declared during the war in Lebanon. 26,500 Arab providers aged 35 and older will be allowed to enter pre-1967 Israel for work purposes, the IDF announced.
Palestinian Authority terrorists opened fire at IDF reserves soldiers near Tzofim in the Shomron this morning (Sunday). The soldiers returned fire and entered the PA-controlled city of Kalkilye in pursuit, where they were attacked again with gunfire and an explosive device. No Israelis were hurt.
Hamas or Fatah gunmen also opened fire at Israeli soldiers in Jenin; no one was hurt. Further south, outside Shechem, Arabs reported one dead and three wounded; under investigation is whether the fire was directed by Arabs at IDF soldiers, or by IDF soldiers at a suspicious vehicle that tried to detour the checkpoint. IDF forces arrested seven wanted terrorist suspects last night, as well as 1,007 PA residents who remained illegally in pre-1967 Israel overnight.
Late last week, the Hamas movement was reported to be in the midst of negotiations with Fatah, led by Mahmoud Abbas, regarding the formation of a joint coalition regime in the Palestinian Authority. Abbas is currently chairman of the PA, while the Islamist Hamas holds its ministerial posts and a majority of the parliamentary seats. Despite talks with Abbas on Friday, PA prime minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas vowed that no joint Hamas-Fatah government would be set up as long as Hamas legislators remained in Israeli jails.
Israel began to arrest Hamas leaders in the PA government following the June 24 kidnapping of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit by Hamas terrorists. Over 20 Hamas legislators are currently in Israeli custody, including PA speaker Aziz Dweik, several ministers, the mayors of Jenin and Kalkilyeh, and most of the members of the Jerusalem-Ramallah area Hamas faction of the PA governing body.

Jewish Students Raise Funds to Aid Israelis and Lebanese
By Ezra HaLevi
A group of young people from Jerusalem and the Judean Hills have organized a concert to provide aid to residents of both northern Israel and southern Lebanon. They hope to beat Hizbullah to it. Shimshon Siegel, a rabbinic student at the Bat Ayin Yeshiva in Gush Etzion; Amy Kaplan, a student at Simchat Shlomo, a yeshiva in Jerusalem’s Nachlaot neighborhood adhering to the tradition of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach; and Dan Sieradski, an increasingly observant left-wing anarchist who also studies at Simchat Shlomo and directs the non-profit Jewish organization Matzat, have embarked on an effort to raise money to support war victims on both sides of the border. The three emphasize the need to “have compassion for all civilians who have suffered, as well as the need to circumvent Hizbullah's leadership in reconstruction efforts.”“Even though we each have different opinions on the war and the Middle East, we are joined together in the conviction that concern for human beings should transcend politics,” said Dan Sieradski, known for his left-wing politics and blogs.
Sieradski, though driven by concern for the suffering of those on both sides of the border, believes providing relief to Lebanese civilians is critical. “With Hizbullah's dominance of relief efforts in Lebanon, we will not stand idly by while the Lebanese become further indebted to Hizbullah,” Sieradski said.
The concert, called Acharei HaMilchama (After the War), will feature both Jewish and Arab musicians, religious and secular, and will take place Monday, August 28th at Jerusalem’s Yellow Submarine (13 HaRechavim street). The concert will begin at 8 PM and last until 1 AM, featuring Eden Mi’Kedem, Sagol 59, Samech “SAZ” Zacuth and others. Funds raised by the concert will be split between Lebanese and Israeli aid efforts. Table-to-Table’s Northern Relief Campaign is providing displaced Israeli families with needed supplies such as food, clothes, diapers, toys, and other essential goods. They are working with the Welfare Department to determine the most urgent needs of communities in the north, including rebuilding wrecked homes, volunteer help for farmers, restoring businesses, and sending school supplies for the upcoming academic year. The organizers are still working to identify an organization doing Lebanese relief aid that can verify that their efforts will not benefit Hizbullah or any Hizbullah-related organizations.

Environment: The ´Other´ Aftermath of War
By Hana Levi Julian
In the aftermath of war, environmental damage to both Israel and Lebanon has started a new war – the struggle to preserve the ecology of both countries.
Environmentalists and other scientists are beginning to deal with the “other” aftermath of the war -- the effect on the land and sea and how that will affect those who live there. Thousands of acres of Galilee forest were blackened and destroyed in Katyusha-ignited conflagrations, along with the animals and plants which so enriched the region. Israeli farmers, rangers, firefighters and nature lovers point out the raw bald spots on the landscape where thousands of acres of green forests once stood, in the wake of raging blazes sparked by the rocket attacks launched by the Hizbullah terrorists in southern Lebanon.
More than 600 fires decimated the landscape across the north. Forests will need to be replanted on the Naftali Mountains overlooking Kiryat Shmona, in Biriya near Tzfat and in Beit Keshet in the central Galilee, to the tune of several million shekels, according to JNF officials.
Environmental experts from the United Nations and European Union plan to visit the region in the near future to see what can be done to repair the damage. The Jewish National Fund (JNF) and the Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority (INPPAA) will shortly begin to assess the damage as well.
Meanwhile, seabed contamination along the Mediterranean coast of Lebanon is affecting turtles, tuna and other marine life. Pure white sand on the coastal beaches is now toxic from an oil slick that resulted when Israel bombed a fuel installation south of Beirut.
The 10,000-ton oil spill damaged some 85 miles (140 kilometers) of shoreline along the Lebanese coastal waters and the life that flourished within, according to the Lebanese environmental organization “Green Line.” The United Nations estimated that the coast of Syria was affected as well.
Lebanon will receive technical assistance from international maritime agencies and the United Nations to help clear away the oil spill, according to a report by the Associated Press. Senior officials from the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the European Union met last week near Athens to discuss the disaster and agreed at the meeting to seek international funding to contain the slick, which they say could threaten Cyprus, Turkey and Greece. Experts said the operation could cost more than $65 million.
A high price has been exacted from both land and sea by the war. The precise total is as yet unknown, but it is clear that the destruction is long-lasting and in some cases, perhaps permanent – especially the loss of Israeli’s trees.
“Natural woodlands require dozens of years to recover,” noted INNPPA ecologist Didi Kaplan. The organization, in the past, has taken the “natural” approach, allowing the forests to heal themselves. “It is not just a matter of direct damage during the course of the fire. Tens of thousands of dunams of grassland were burned on the edges of the Golan Heights. I assume that the antelope that live in the area fled, but their source of food for the coming months has been damaged.”
The threat of landslides in the coming winter will force the organization to intervene at least somewhat. Kaplan said, however, she expects the Golan Heights to recover after the winter rains.

Canada leading the charge to help Lebanon: Verner
Updated Sun. Aug. 20 2006 1:30 PM ET
CTV.ca News Staff
Canada's $30.5 million contribution to aid in Lebanon makes it the top contributor, per capita, to international efforts to help the country dig out from the rubble, says Minister of International Cooperation Josee Verner.
Canada originally pledged just $5.5 million to help rebuild the country devastated by Hezbollah's war with Israel, but this week added another $25 million.
"Our first commitment, our announcement, was $5.5 million, now we add $25 million, so in all it's $30.5 million, and I must say Canadians will be proud that we are at the top of the donors, and per capita we are number one," Verner told CTV's Question Period on Sunday.
The money isn't intended specifically for Canadians living in Lebanon, but for "the Lebanese population in general," Verner said.
"Right now, it's a real disaster in that country and I'm very proud to announce something to go immediately to help people in Lebanon to rebuild homes, schools, clinics, water systems and all the basic needs that they have. Because as everybody now in Canada knows, the victims of this conflict are the Lebanese people and we have to help them as soon as possible."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the new funding on Wednesday, saying in a release that the fund was created "to respond effectively to relief, early recovery, and stabilization needs in Lebanon.".
Verner, a cabinet minister from Quebec, said although much of her province has levelled strong criticism against Prime Minister Stephen Harper's pro-Israel stance and his unwavering support for military efforts in Afghanistan, there is also support for the government's position on those issues.
"I have a lot of military people in my riding. When I go home they tell me it's so important or us to be there," Verner said.
"Quebecois are not so different. We are pro peace and we are for peace we demand freedom. We have to repeat the message and it's what people want in Quebec."
Liberal leader responds to criticism
Meanwhile, the Liberal Party and its interim leader Bill Graham in particular, have faced tough criticism for not providing strong enough support for Israel.
Graham said the perception that the party has turned its back on Israel is simply not true, but Canada does have to take its own stance on the issue.
"I certainly regret some of the perceptions of the Jewish community that the Liberal party is in any way changing its position, which has always been a strong supporter of Israel," Graham told Question Period.
"We recognize that Israel is the dominant democratic state in the Middle East and is under tremendous pressure and must be able to defend itself and hopefully help us bring democracy to the region."
However, Graham underscored earlier comments that Canada must make its own decisions on foreign policy in order to maintain international credibility.
"We as Canadians must retain our credibility to be able to act in a way that is independent -- particularly of the United States -- in the region, so we can have more credibility to help Israel and others bring peace."
Canada has the opportunity to play a crucial role in bringing calm to the region, but that opportunity could easily be lost if the situation is mishandled, Graham said.
"Peace and ultimate stability only comes through political dialogue, and political dialogue can be helped by Canada or hindered by our foreign policy, and I don't think that by our prime minister saying 'I'm with Mr. Bush and where he is on the Middle East' knowing where that has taken the Americans throughout the Middle East, is helpful to Israel," Graham said.

"It's not helpful to Canada and is not helpful to the region. I believe we must have that credible, independent voice."