LCCC ENGLISH NEWS BULLETIN
December 13/06Bible Reading For the Day
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 18,12-14. What is your opinion? If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine in the hills and go in search of the stray? And if he finds it, amen, I say to you, he rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. In just the same way, it is not the will of your heavenly Father that one of these little ones be lost.Free Opinions
A serene Siniora continues to hold out.By David Ignatius 13.12.06
The Diplomacy of Silencers and Creative Chaos-Asharq Alawsat 13.12.06
Gibran Tueini knew how a free press fueled a productive society-Daily Star 13.12.06
Don't let the Iranians play an official role inside Iraq-By Iason Athanasiadis 13.12.06Latest News the Daily Star for Decembe 13/06
Brammertz keeps 'prejudicial' evidence out of latest report on Hariri slaying
Arab League chief scrambles to end Beirut standoff
Ball is in Berri's court as Cabinet hands Hariri tribunal proposal to Parliament
Lahoud 'could be tried' for blocking decrees
Diplomats expect Prodi to prod olmert on Shebaa at Rome talks
Army, ISF step in after family feud turns deadly in Chouf
Meal of poisonous fish claims youngster in Ain al-Hilweh
Hostage of my religion
Farmers demand government help to escape 'downward spiral of debt' wrought by war
Occupants of opposition tent city differ on conditions for pulling up stakes
Hundreds attend Mass honoring Tueni
Political circus part of core curriculum in Lebanon
Latest News miscellaneous sources for Decembe 13/06
Rice Gives Show Of Support To Embattled Lebanese PM-All Headline News
Arab League chief seeks end to Lebanon crisis-Washington Post
No Compromise Seen as Arab Diplomats Try to Defuse Crisis
Lebanon Honors Gebran Tueni on First Assassination Anniversary
Brammertz Presents Report on Lebanon Killings to Annan's Office
Sectarian Divide Widens in Lebanon: Poll
France Renews Support for Saniora
Rice warns Syria and Iran over Lebanon protests-Ynetnews - Israel
The struggle for power in Lebanon and the Middle East-Center for Research on Globalization - Canada
Why Egypt won't renege on peace-Ha'aretzNo Compromise Seen as Arab Diplomats Try to Defuse Crisis
Arab diplomats, looking for a settlement to defuse the crippling political crisis in Lebanon before it explodes, appeared to have reached no compromise Tuesday with the rival camps holding fast to their demands. Arab League envoy Mustafa Ismail, who arrived in Beirut on Monday from neighboring Syria, held talks with Prime Minister Fouad Saniora and Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir as well as leaders of the Hizbullah-led opposition, including Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. Following the meetings, Ismail said he proposed ideas to overcome the crisis and was waiting for reaction from the parties concerned. Lebanese newspapers on Tuesday said Ismail's visit did not lead to any breach in the ongoing crisis.
While the leading daily An Nahar said Ismail's talks "did not produce any new or tangible results," the leftist As Safir said the Arab diplomat's meeting with Saniora "did not reflect the ruling majority's good intentions." Ismail told reporters earlier in Damascus that the rival parties were favorably considering his proposals to "contain the current crisis in Lebanon." He did not elaborate. He also said that he had received Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah's "agreement in principle" to the Arab League proposal. Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa also cut short a visit to Washington and was expected in Beirut on Tuesday.
Moussa told Egypt's Middle East News Agency that his Beirut trip will focus on what he called "discussing a settlement to the current Lebanon crisis."
In a separate interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation Moussa said that Lebanon has long been reputed for its "no conqueror – no vanquished principle," adding that he will try to look for a settlement "based on this framework to see what are the most appropriate formulas and foundations for an agreement."An Nahar also said that Russia has invited Saniora to visit Moscow to discuss with senior officials there "the current Lebanese crisis and the situation in the region."It said Saniora was likely to travel to Moscow next Thursday, but that the final date will be set "once the circumstances allow him to leave Lebanon." An Nahar said Saniora's trip will precede a visit by Syrian President Bashar Assad scheduled for Moscow Dec. 19.
Both Ismail and Moussa were in Beirut last week in a bid to mediate between the factions.
Lebanon's political crisis began after Saniora called for a cabinet meeting to approve a Special International Tribunal for Lebanon to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri. In response, six ministers resigned from the cabinet and mass protests spearheaded by Hizbullah were staged in downtown Beirut to topple Saniora's administration. Saniroa's government, emboldened by Western and Arab support, has staunchly refused to step down.(Naharnet-AP) Beirut, 12 Dec 06, 09:25
Arab League chief scrambles to end Beirut standoff
'There must always be hope:' Moussa holds talks with politicians from both camps
By Nada Bakri -Daily Star staff
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
BEIRUT: The head of the Arab League met Lebanese leaders in Beirut Tuesday for talks aimed at ending the standoff between the government and opposition. Amr Moussa, who was visiting the capital for the second time in eight days, met with politicians from both camps in a bid to end a crisis some fear might lead to further violent clashes.
"I don't carry with me initiatives, but there are ideas that I hope to discuss," Moussa said at Beirut's airport. Asked if he was optimistic the deadlock in Lebanon might be broken, he said: "There must always be hope."
Moussa met Tuesday with Speaker Nabih Berri, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and parliamentary majority leader MP Saad Hariri. He is due to meet Wednesday with Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, a key Hizbullah ally.
"There is hope. Give us a chance since we are still at the beginning," Moussa told reporters after meeting with Berri.
When asked if Arab League efforts could bring an end to the crisis, he replied: "I believe so."
Moussa told the BBC on Tuesday that Lebanon has long been reputed for its post-Civil War mantra of "no victor, no vanquished," adding that he would try to find a settlement "based on this framework to see what are the most appropriate formulas and foundations for an agreement."
A Sudanese presidential envoy, who returned to Beirut Monday from neighboring Syria after having received initial approval of Arab League proposals, also continued his meetings with officials Tuesday, with no reported progress.
Following a meeting with Grand Mufti Mohammad Rashid Qabbani, Mustafa Othman Ismail said he had proposed several ideas to overcome the crisis and was waiting for reactions from all parties concerned.
The Sudanese envoy said he was building on a proposal made last week by the Maronite Church to form a new unity government and hold early elections.
Ismail said the proposal consists of discussing four issues: the formation of a national unity government; an international court to try those suspected of the assassination of a former premier; early presidential elections and a planned international donor's conference to assist Lebanon's reconstruction process.
The envoy said that all issues will be discussed simultaneously and, once approved by all parties, will form a new national pact.
Ismail attended Moussa's meetings on Tuesday with Berri and Hariri. He had met Monday with Siniora, Berri and Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir.
The government and the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority have called for the resignation of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, while the opposition wants a greater say through the formation of a new national unity government in which it would be granted veto power.
The opposition has held demonstrations outside the government's offices in central Beirut since December 1 and Aoun has warned it will set up its own interim government if its demands are not met.
The government refuses to resign or grant the opposition veto power, saying doing so would lead to greater Syrian and Iranian influence in Lebanon.
It also accuses the opposition of trying to stage a coup and attempting to derail plans for an international tribunal.
Speaking to MBC television station late Tuesday, Aoun upped the tensions with his continued threats to topple the government, saying: "Even though there are many legitimate and nonpeaceful means to topple a government, we are dedicated in toppling this government by peaceful means."
Despite some of his allies' refusal to storm the Grand Serail, the former army general said that "the natural tide can carry the demonstrators to the Grand Serail, which is why they increased the metal barriers."
"Siniora should not take this as a threat but rather a warning, to him and to all those who support him, that the people will not wait much longer for him to step down. They don't even need encouragement from the leaders."
Religious and political leaders - many of whom are allied with the Free Patriotic Movement and Hizbullah - have said that breaking into the Serail is a "red line" that the opposition cannot cross.
Siniora is scheduled to travel to Moscow this week to discuss with senior officials there "the current Lebanese crisis and the situation in the region," local daily An-Nahar reported on Monday.
It said Siniora was likely to travel to Moscow Thursday, but that the final date will be set "once the circumstances allow him to leave Lebanon," adding that the premier's visit will precede that of Syrian President Bashar Assad on December.
Siniora, who has been holed up in his office since the Hizbullah-led protests began nearly two weeks ago on Tuesday, received a delegation of women supporters from Sidon headed by Sidon MP Bahia Hariri.
"We want everyone to participate in solving national issues, but the truth is above everything," he said in reference to tribunal.
"We welcome expanding the government and welcome any formula that guarantees participation," he added.
Meanwhile, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said Arab efforts to end the standoff will succeed but added that the longer the opposition continues with its protests the bigger its negative impact will be on the country.
"In the end there is no dead end and of course we will reach a solution, but the difference would be at what price? If we resume dialogue now the price won't be that big, but the more this drags on the bigger the price will be," Geagea said after a visit to the influential Maronite patriarch.
Geagea's meeting with Sfeir coincided with a visit from a delegation of Aoun's Reform and Change parliamentary bloc headed by Zahle MP Elias Skaff.
Lahoud 'could be tried' for blocking decrees
By Leila Hatoum -Daily Star staff
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
BEIRUT: President Emile Lahoud could face legal action for refusing to sign Cabinet decrees, even if he doesn't consider them legitimate, legal experts said Tuesday. Lahoud vowed earlier this month that he would not sign any decision by the Cabinet after the resignation of six opposition ministers in mid-November. As the resigned ministers include all five of the government's Shiite representatives, Lahoud argued, the Cabinet is now in breach of the Constitution and the National Pact.
Accordingly, the president refused to sign a decree issued Monday calling for a by-election in Metn to replace slain Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel.
"President Lahoud is bound by law to ratify the decree to elect a new MP," said Hassan Rifaei, a constitutional expert. "If Lahoud doesn't do so, then the Parliament must call for him to be tried before the Higher Council, which tries presidents, premiers, speakers and ministers."
However, despite a majority in Parliament, the March 14 Forces do not have the necessary two-thirds for such a move.
The former head of the Administrative Court, Magistrate Youssef Saadallah Khoury, said there was no need to try Lahoud as the Constitution makes clear that elections must be held within two months in the event of an MP's passing away.
"Elections, by law, are bound to be held regardless of whether Lahoud refuses to sign the decree," he said.
Meanwhile, Lahoud has sent a written request to outgoing UN Secretary General Kofi Annan demanding that Zuheir Siddiq, a key witness in the Hariri assassination, be extradited to Lebanon. France, where Siddiq is currently being held, did not reply to an earlier similar request from Lahoud.
Ball is in Berri's court as Cabinet hands Hariri tribunal proposal to Parliament
By Nafez Qawas -Daily Star correspondent
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
BEIRUT: The Lebanese Cabinet formally handed over to Parliament on Tuesday a controversial text calling for the creation of an international tribunal on the 2005 assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri. In a session held at the barricaded Grand Serail, the Cabinet voted to seek Parliament ratification of the text, which would then allow the Cabinet to sign a tribunal agreement with the United Nations.
"The Cabinet unanimously decided to send the UN draft," Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh told Agence France Presse. "This is an important step in the ratification procedure," he said.
Leaders of Lebanon's political opposition have said any action undertaken by the current Cabinet, from which six ministers resigned in November, is by definition unconstitutional.The 24-member Cabinet was deserted by pro-opposition ministers last month, sparking a political crisis that has paralyzed the government and sparked mass demonstrations in the capital.Speaker Nabih Berri, a key opposition partner, has refused to convene Parliament to vote on the international tribunal until the political crisis is resolved.In remarks at the end of the session, Information Minister Ghazi Aridi stressed that Parliament would convene through "constitutional means," without elaborating on the issue."We don't seek to cause new problems, but for resolving all problems," Aridi told reporters gathered in the Grand Serail."The situation in Lebanon reached a deadlock and our only solution is to return to the constitutional institutions and communicate," he added.Asked if the government's decision would represent a blow to the Arab League initiative, which called for a national unity Cabinet with the international tribunal as its top priority, Aridi said that "I don't believe that this step disregards or hampers the Arab initiative because what happened during the session does not close the doors before talks but opens them."
President Emile Lahoud earlier this week rejected a final draft of a UN resolution on the court's creation, saying the draft was approved by an illegitimate Cabinet that did not represent the Lebanese people.According to Lebanon's Constitution, the legal quorum for a Cabinet meeting is two-thirds of its members.A statement delivered by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora during the session criticized Lahoud's decision and expressed the Cabinet's determination to refer the case of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel's assassination to the Civil Judicial Council. - With Agencies
Brammertz keeps 'prejudicial' evidence out of latest report on Hariri slaying
By Leila Hatoum -Daily Star staff
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
BEIRUT: Investigations into the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri have reached a critical stage, UN probe chief Serge Brammertz said in his third report to the Security Council.
Brammertz's 22-page report, which UN Secretary General Kofi Annan forwarded to UN Security Council members on Tuesday, stated that the probe "has reached a critical stage in its investigations and with this in mind ... [the investigation committee] believes that placing information concerning witnesses and suspects in the public domain would be contrary to the principles of fairness and justice and would defeat the purpose of, and be prejudicial to, any case presented before a tribunal," that would oversee the trial of suspects in the case.
International cooperation with the UN probe remains a main issue for Brammertz, who complained that some countries "have provided late or incomplete responses, or have not responded at all. At the end of the reporting period, responses to 22 requests sent to 10 separate member states are overdue."
The lack of responsiveness "by certain states has serious consequences in terms of delay for the work of the probe and its investigative progress."
Brammertz did not name the states in question, but made clear that the "cooperation of Syria with the Commission remains timely and efficient."
The UN probe has conducted "17 interviews to date in Syria and Lebanon and has held a number of meetings with relevant Syrian and Lebanese officials. It has collected substantial quantities of computer and electronic information and documentation and visited a number of locations in Syria."
Among the findings from the report, "it was confirmed that there was only one blast, that the Mitsubishi van was the carrier of the improvised explosive device [IED] and that the blast originated from inside the loading platform of the vehicle."
The IED was detonated by a suicide bomber, as the UN probe "considers that the use of a remote control mechanism is highly improbable in this case."
Brammertz also commented on the mobile phone SIM cards, which his predecessor Detlev Mehlis had pointed to as possible links to suspects in the crime.Brammertz said the probe "has conducted seven interviews in connection with the alleged bombing team and their use of six telephones to communicate on the day of the attack and in the days leading up to it. These interviews have provided new leads that are currently being pursued and will lead to more interviews in the next reporting period." The location of the phones "when used, and the purposes for which some of the linking numbers were used have revealed the high degree of security-aware behavior exhibited by individuals under investigation. Some persons used multiple mobile cellular telephones during a short period of time or registered telephones using aliases," it said.
The probe "has remained focused on three areas: developing crime scene evidence from investigation and forensic analysis, investigating potential perpetrators and collecting evidence relating to the linkage and context aspects of the case."
One of the "possible hypotheses," it added, "is the allegation of the attack on Hariri being delivered via aerial means."
Ahmed Abu Adas was identified as a potential suicide bomber in the attack, despite the fact that "the results of the expert report in this first phase of analysis show that the individual did not spend his youth in Lebanon, but was situated there in the last two to three months before his death."
Abu Adas, who claimed responsibility for the February 14, 2005, bombing in a pre-recorded video message, is a Palestinian refugee who spent most of his life in Lebanon, according to countless interviews with his family conducted since the assassination.
As for 14 other bombings that have occurred in Lebanon since February 2005, the UN probe "has collected evidence from its interviews to date of a considerable number of links." Concerning the assassination of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel on November 21, 2006, Brammertz said "over 49 rounds using four different types of ammunition" were used. In other developments, US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch said Tuesday that "no one can stop the investigations into the assassination of Hariri," and that Washington "will continue to support Lebanon's democratically elected government."The Lebanese Cabinet forwarded a draft to Parliament Tuesday to approve the formation of an international tribunal for the Hariri case.
Don't let the Iranians play an official role inside Iraq
By Iason Athanasiadis
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Nothing is more instructive about the trepidation coursing through Iraq's neighbors over that country's future than the recent saga of Nawaf Obaid, a security analyst and adviser to Saudi Ambassador to the United States, Turki Al-Faisal. In an opinion piece for The Washington Post, Obaid warned that the withdrawal of US forces from Saudi Arabia might prompt the kingdom to give funds, arms and supplies to Iraq's Sunni militias to counter Tehran's support for Iraqi Shiite militias.
The article raised a storm of Saudi official protest. The Saudi Press Agency, a government entity, pointed out that Obaid's article does "not represent in any way the kingdom's policy." Just to be sure, it added the caveat that Riyadh's policy is "to support the security, unity and stability of Iraq with all its sects and doctrines." A few days later, Obaid was dismissed. He had touched a raw nerve.
"Saudi Arabia has been, mostly unofficially, supporting Sunni Islamist movements around the world for a long time with the philosophy that their money buys them some minimal influence and even immunity from criticism from them," said Graham Fuller, the former vice chair of the National Intelligence Council. "I have no information about what the kingdom is doing in Iraq, but almost certainly they are in touch with and aiding to some extent the Salafis and maybe the Islamic Party of Iraq as well."
With barely an inquiry by the Western media into Saudi Arabia's role in Iraq, it is not peculiar that Riyadh's relationship with Sunni political groups there has gone unremarked. But as early as 2004, Sheikh Saleh al-Luhaidan, the chief justice of Saudi Arabia's Supreme Judicial Council, was caught on videotape at a government mosque encouraging young Saudis to go to Iraq and wage jihad against the Americans.
It is in light of such evidence that recent optimism over involving Iran in the political process should be judged. In a sign of how un-navigable the Iraqi quagmire has become, many Western commentators have been arguing for Iran's entry into Iraq. The way they present it, Tehran's involvement will provide a panacea and banish the increasingly unruly Iraqi civil war from our television screens. But how can this happen as long as Iran and Saudi Arabia - both flush with near-record oil receipts - are intent on going head to head? Iran is a regionally resurgent Shiite theocracy while Saudi Arabia is the self-proclaimed champion of Sunni Islam and views Iran as a regional and religious trespasser.
A month ago in Tehran I interviewed a childhood friend of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The last time I had seen him, just before the summer, he had appeared an enthusiastic proponent of his friend's presidency. This time, however, he was complaining. "Ahmadinejad is demolishing all these efforts that [former Iranian President Mohammad] Khatami made to allay the Arabs' fears of us. He believes Iran has to be a superpower and does not like the Arab sheikhdoms because he is anti-royalty. So he is returning the revolution to where we started and it has taken 27 years to assure [the Arab states] we are not a threat."
If America's involvement in the Middle East over the past three years should have taught US policymakers anything, it is that its demonization of Shiite Iran has unforeseen effects. Listing Iran as a member of an "axis of evil" and accusing it, despite the absence of published evidence, of destabilizing Iraq and sponsoring a "Shiite axis" across the wider region, has terrified staunch Arab Sunni allies such as Saudi Arabia and Jordan. Even Syrian policymakers, who are allied to Iran, have been less than jubilant over the prospect of Iranian influence lapping against their eastern borders. So it is unremarkable that cries of treason are elicited from the Arab world when Americans change tack and invite Iran into Iraq to pacify it.
The US invasion of Iraq demolished the regional security architecture that prevailed in the 1980s and contributed to a stable Gulf. Saddam Hussein is no longer the cork in the Sunni bottle, protecting Arab states from the spread of Iranian influence. Nor is Iran the boxed-in, under-fire country it was in the first years after the revolution, when Sunni Arab money kept Iraq's war machine oiled and on the offensive against the nascent Islamic Republic. It was Saddam's aggression against Iran in September 1980 that sparked off the bloody Iran-Iraq war that claimed some 1 million victims in over eight years.
Iran's new leadership has done little to avert confrontation aside from making soothing rhetorical overtures toward its Arab neighbors. Ahmadinejad has not repeated the diplomatic success effected by Khatami. Where Khatami invited Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah to Tehran and hosted a successful meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in 1998, Ahmadinejad's Persian chauvinist utterances have heightened the Arabs' perceptions of vulnerability. By stressing the anti-royalist, populist strains that run through Shiism, the president has refocused a confrontation between the Islamic Republic and the Gulf's kingdoms and emirates that had been in remission.
But there is little the small Gulf states can do against a muscular, security-centered Iran numbering 70 million and intent on assuming regional leadership. In early December, Iran's national security supremo, Ali Larijani, counseled the Arabs to eject the US military from American bases in the region and join Tehran in a regional security alliance. It was an unprecedented statement and a sign of Iran's growing confidence. Further proof that Tehran's message is being heard in the capitals of miniscule US allies such as Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, was their non-participation in recent US-led maneuvers in the Gulf designed to send a warning to the Islamic Republic.
Iran's official entry into Iraq - even if only diplomatic - would create a perception of threat and possibly lead to an escalation in that country's travails. That should be clear by now.
***Iason Athanasiadis is a journalist specializing in the Middle East. This commentary first appeared at bitterlemons-international.org, an online newsletter.
Gibran Tueini knew how a free press fueled a productive society
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Editorial-Daily Star
The one-year commemoration this week of the assassination of late An-Nahar general manager Gebran Tueni reminds us of three related phenomena that are vital for Lebanon and the entire Arab region today. The first was his own spirit and skill, as a Lebanese citizen and a committed journalist. Talented and dynamic individuals working in the press or other public fields can have a real impact on their entire society, in life as in death.
The second is the remarkable Tueni family legacy in the business of journalism and its example of selfless, patriotic citizenship. Rarely in any country has a single media institution and the family of individuals that defines it, like the Tuenis, played such a central and continuous role in the struggle for freedom, sovereignty and quality in all spheres of public life.
The third is the wider role and importance of the free press in Lebanon and the Middle East today, at a moment when we remember Gebran Tueni's assassination along with the many others who have died for this cause in the past half-century. These assaults on journalists are not just an attempt to kill intellectual, media and political leaders and intimidate their colleagues. They are an attack on the capacity of a rational society to conduct its affairs on the basis of citizens who need to know facts and sift through competing ideas in order to operate productively and efficiently. The output of a free press in a sovereign land ruled by law is not a pleasant bonus to independence, but rather is the grease that makes it run.
We remember Gebran Tueni and his murdered colleagues at a pivotal moment for the quest for truth. On Tuesday the head of the UN International Independent Investigation Commission gave his latest interim report on the Hariri assassination and other killings to the UN secretary general, and the Lebanese government sent to Parliament its agreement to create a special tribunal to try the accused.
The critical need for justice in these cases rests on a fundamental bedrock of facts, painstakingly garnered through hard work and courage, in the face of immense odds and pressures. Gebran Tueni understood that process, and never hesitated to pursue it.
A serene Siniora continues to hold out
By David Ignatius -Daily Star staff
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
The Lebanese not so long ago liked to refer to their gaudy capital as "the Paris of the Orient." But on Sunday afternoon, with more than a half-million pro-Hizbullah demonstrators chanting "Death to America!" and "Death to Israel!" in the heart of Downtown, the Lebanese capital seemed more like a vision of Tehran. The very incongruity of this scene, in the most Westernized city in the Arab world, makes me wonder if Hizbullah is overplaying its hand in its campaign to oust the pro-American government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. America isn't very popular here, after its ally Israel bombed the country's infrastructure last summer in reprisal for Hizbullah's kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers. But for all their anger at America and Israel, the Lebanese aren't likely to defect to the Iranian camp. Watching the demonstrations with seeming serenity is Siniora himself, the man the Hizbullah protesters are targeting. When I visited him Monday, he had been holed up in his office for 10 days, surrounded by Lebanese soldiers and acres of barbed wire. During our discussion, he was the picture of calm and confidence. That's been his tactic as the protests have mounted: The louder Hizbullah's leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, has called for his head, the quieter has been Siniora's response.
Siniora hasn't yet found a way out of the impasse, and the crisis is giving the country a serious case of the jitters. But he did seem to strike a chord with many Lebanese when he said last Friday, after an especially feverish speech by Nasrallah: "You are not our lord ... Who made you a judge over us to decide who is a traitor or a nationalist?" He said Nasrallah's supporters were attempting a coup d'etat.
The Lebanese prime minister continued his measured tone in his conversation with me Monday. "I think Nasrallah has become very much tense," he said. "He is between a rock and a hard place. Everybody knows the influence being exercised on Hizbullah by Iran and Syria." He said at another point of Nasrallah, "he has lost the battle."
"We all have to realize we have Iran on our borders," Siniora explains. "But Iran has to understand it cannot impose things on the Arabs. This is not helpful to them." When I asked Siniora if he thought the Iranians had gotten this message, he answered: "Not yet."
Siniora said he is looking for a compromise - he used the Arabic word taswiyah, which means an arrangement short of a final settlement - that will defuse the crisis before it explodes into open sectarian conflict. He said there are various formulas for giving the opposition a stronger voice in the government, short of a paralyzing veto. He used the phrase "the majority" to describe the pro-government coalition of Sunnis, Druze and Christians, and "the minority" to describe Nasrallah's coalition of Shiites and Christians led by former General Michel Aoun.
The prime minister's apparent confidence isn't widely shared in the Lebanese capital, which is bracing for another escalation of Hizbullah's tactics. Beirut isn't on the edge of civil war, but there are some spooky precursors. A Shiite friend tells me he is beginning to feel unsafe living in a Sunni neighborhood. When you drive home at night, he says, "the watchers are out."
The hard edge of Siniora's strategy, hidden behind his lawyerly calm, is that he is prepared to play the sectarian game, too. An ominous sign of the dangers ahead was a huge counter-rally Sunday in support of the government by angry Sunnis in the Northern city of Tripoli. "They don't have the numbers," Siniora said of the Hizbullah-Aoun alliance. "The majority can send to the street more than what the opposition can send."
The Sunni trump card is rarely discussed, but universally understood: Syria, a crucial ally of Hizbullah, is an overwhelmingly Sunni country. If the Syrian-Iranian alliance squeezes the Sunnis in Lebanon too hard, there is likely to be a backlash inside Syria. Here's the way Siniora delicately phrased it to me: "The Syrian position is what it is. It has to be part of the Arab world, not the Iranian overall plans in the region."
And what of America, whose supposed mastery of Lebanon enrages the demonstrators outside Siniora's office? Its diplomacy unfortunately has been as feckless here as elsewhere in the region. Despite American promises to bolster Siniora by getting a map of Israeli land mines in Southern Lebanon, or exploring Lebanese claims to a disputed, Israeli-occupied territory known as the Shebaa Farms, the Bush administration has done little. "America gives us letters of support," says Siniora. "We get tons of paper, which can't be recycled."
Syndicated columnist David Ignatius is published regularly by THE DAILY STAR.
The Diplomacy of Silencers and Creative Chaos
10/12/2006
Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban
Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban is Minister of Expatriates in Syria, and writer and professor at Damascus University since 1985. Before assuming her current ministerial position, Dr. Shaaban was Director of the Press Office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Syria. She received her Ph.D. in English Literature from Warwick University in England in 1982, and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an advisor in 1988. Since then, she has represented Syria as a spokeswomen on an international level. In 2005 Dr. Shaaban was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and in the same year, was presented with "the Most Distinguished Woman in a Governmental Position" award by the Arab League. Dr. Shaaban has published four books, and contributed to numerous others. When I learnt that the weapon used in the assassination of the Lebanese Minister of Industry, Pierre Gemayel, was a gun equipped with a silencer, I remembered the important news report appeared in Al-Akhbar Lebanese daily on November 31. The report says: "On February 3rd, 2006, customs authorities at Beirut International Airport intercepted a suspicious parcel sent by Liban Post from England to an employee at the US embassy in Beirut called Mark Savageau containing a military outfit, part of which seemed to be used for special commando operations. The seized parcel, which was sent later to the military court, contained three military rifle covers, three different types of sound suppressors, DEBEN magazine which was concerned with "Pellet Rifles" and high tech mechanical and electronic outfits such as night vision binoculars, communication devices and military disrupted pattern devices". Although the report contained photos of the intercepted items and serious information about the consignee, it seems that it was not taken seriously enough and the outcome of the investigation, like that of the case of the Mossad connected terrorist network of Mahmoud Rafeh, remained vague and inconclusive.
The silencers parcel continued to be a mystery until Gemayel was assassinated by a gun equipped by a silencer. The crime and the fierce campaign of accusations followed revealed the need of some Lebanese parties to shed the blood of a figure like Gemayel to accuse Syria of committing the crime, which was deliberately schemed to implicate Syria and kindle hatred against it.
Eyewitnesses' description of the crime tells that the criminals who shot Gemayel and his companion dead were unmasked and seemed to be experienced enough to cold bloodedly commit such a crime in daylight and swiftly jump into the car and escape. This description shows that if the responsible police and security apparatuses had moved seriously and in the right time, then arresting the criminals and finding out the facts about the crime would have been very possible. However, the slackness in dealing with the crime seems a calculated attempt to repeat the scenario of accusing Syria of assassinations and destabilizing actions have been taking place in Lebanon since the assassination of late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The purpose of repeating this scenario is to drive a wedge between the brotherly peoples of Syria and Lebanon and to sow the seeds of discord among the Lebanese themselves.
This crime and all its precedents signify that Lebanon is pushed towards the "democracy of torn bodies" applied in Iraq and boasted about by President Bush who always expresses the determination to spread this pattern of democracy in the Middle East.
The assassination of Pierre Gemayel aimed at stopping the intended demonstration of the Lebanese opposition, to distract the world's attention from the increasing debate about the faults of the Bush administration in Iraq and from the calls to have dialogue with Syria. It also targeted the European endeavors to make a new peace initiative in the Middle East to put an end to the ongoing Israeli war on Palestinians. Obviously, Israel seems to be the only beneficiary of all of these. Those who want to oppress Arabs have declared their plans to spread "the creative chaos" in the Middle East and build bloody democracies, on the ruins of the Arab history, culture and heritage, like what they did in Iraq. However, the success of these evil plans depends on the level of awareness, wisdom and leadership. Arab rulers would be able to exercise. Would they, after all, wake up and live up to confront the alarming perils?
Army, ISF step in after family feud turns deadly in Chouf
By Maher Zeineddine -Daily Star correspondent
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
CHOUF: Law enforcement and party officials worked overtime Tuesday to contain damage from an inter-familial clash that left one dead in the town of Roueisseh in the Chouf a day earlier. A reported quarrel over real estate matters between members of the Khaddaj family and the Zeidan family led to an armed clash that resulted in the death of Fadi Zeidan and the wounding of Ihab Zeidan. Sources close to the incident told The Daily Star that MP Walid Jumblatt's Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc MPs Ayman Choucair and Akram Chehayeb are working on appeasing both the Zeidan and Khaddaj families. "They are making sure that this simple quarrel does not turn into political strife, since the person who fired is close to the Progressive Socialist Party while the victims are close to the Syrian Social Nationalist Party," according to one source. The Lebanese Army, in collaboration with the Internal Security Forces (ISF), quickly cordoned off all roads to Roueisseh, preventing anyone from coming into the town, after members of the Zeidan family attempted to use rocket-propelled grenades. The army also arrested those involved in the clashes. The PSP issued a statement Tuesday commenting on the Roueisseh incident, saying the measures undertaken by the Lebanese Army and the ISF to contain the incident "should be commended." The PSP statement added that the party "rejected any violations of the law.""Thus, all necessary steps ought to be undertaken, in order to unravel the details of the incident," the statement said.Hostage of my religion
Lebanon needs a new political force free of coercive authority structures
By Nesrine Yaghi
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
First person Nesrine Yaghi
Growing up in a multicultural country like Lebanon has, no doubt, been a blessing. The differences that make up our society were always considered a richness rather than grounds for cultural shock. For years, I believed that all Lebanese are equal, with equal rights and that no one shall ever deny me of my rights. Or so I thought.
The devastating Israeli war on Lebanon this past summer and the stressful times we're currently living, through, have deeply shaken my beliefs.
Many Lebanese, who like myself have always felt free to speak their minds and have fundamentally pledged allegiance to country before religion, are at a crossroads. As time passes, I'm starting to feel abandoned by the first and taken hostage by the second.
This is especially true for many Lebanese Shiites who are bewildered by the position taken by both parties "officially" representing them. It is unconceivable that, under the pretext of religious righteousness, hundreds of thousands of Lebanese are voluntarily obstructing the rebirth of a free, just and independent Lebanon.
It's an undeniable fact that Lebanon's two main Shiite political parties have managed to rally the bulk of the Shiite population. Yet what is inexplicable is how they were able to do so without remotely being challenged by other Shiite contenders.
Personally, the principle of Wilayat al-Fakih, or following the imam, doesn't specifically convince me, since a vast majority of Shiites are highly educated and fervent believers in diversity and debate. The only responsible explanation that arises is that extraordinary circumstances have tamed this otherwise rebellious group into total submission.
I believe that most Shiites have fallen victims to the "Stockholm Syndrome." The population is not being held at gunpoint, but rather a financial and educational blackmail that has taken place for the past 15 years. The people have grown accustomed to being fully dependent on their party for economic survival, and have thus completely lost the ability to decide for themselves.Breaking this vicious circle will demand tremendous dedication, in addition to favorable regional circumstances (i.e. the creation of a viable Palestinian state and the liberation of the occupied Shebaa Farms), as well as the support of all Lebanese sects. Salvation has to come from outside this corrupt circle, which claims to represent all Shiites, as if God and divinity were enough to blindfold us and lead us like cattle to the alter to be slaughtered. An independent Shiite force has to emerge, blended with independent free spirits of all sects. This is our only true salvation. I call on all Lebanese to take a stand and make their voice heard. This country is tired of demonstrations and confrontations. So make your voices heard and organize workshops for people to speak their mind without intimidation.
And, for God's sake, leave God out of it!
**Nesrine Yaghi was a member of a joint UND/Social Affairs Ministry project to gather information and compile statistics following the Lebanese Civil War.
Hundreds attend Mass honoring Tueni
Statue at site of killing pays tribute to slain journalist
By Rym Ghazal -Daily Star staff
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
BEIRUT: Hundreds of mourners turned out Tuesday for an honorary Mass held in remembrance of slain journalist Gebran Tueni after a statue depicting the MP's "pen" was erected at the site where he was assassinated one year ago. "Gebran Tueni believed that Lebanon has no future without dialogue," Beirut Archbishop Elias Aoude, who presided over the mass, said at the Mar Mitr Church in Achrafieh.
Relatives of the late An-Nahar general manager were joined at the somber event by journalists and leading political leaders, including ministers Nayla Mouawad, Charles Rizk, Joseph Sarkis, Marwan Hamadeh, Elias Murr, Tarek Mitri and senior March 14 Forces member MP Walid Jumblatt and Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan. Free Patriotic Movement MP Ghassan Mokheiber and former Speaker Hussein Husseini were on hand, seated next to family members MP Ghassan Tueni and Nayla Tueni, who repeatedly broke down into tears during the Mass.
"But a dialogue can't succeed if it is done through threats and force," Aoude said, taking a jab at Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
The Hizbullah leader took aim at Premier Fouad Siniora and his government last weekend during a massive protest in Downtown Beirut that called for the premier's resignation. "The only dialogue we accept is a calm, sincere and committed one," Aoude added.
Arab League chief Amr Moussa was in Beirut Tuesday to hold meetings with Lebanon's political elite in an effort to broker a deal to end the enduring political deadlock. "Love creates no fear, but only true love. Let's hope there is true love on all sides, and one committed to the love of Lebanon," the archbishop said. Aoude said Lebanon must be run by Lebanese for Lebanese. "Gebran died defending his country and his loved ones, and there is no greater and more dignified death than that," he said. "Gebran refused tutelage of any kind and we, as Lebanese, refuse foreign interference of any kind in the running of our country." A ceremony held earlier in Mkalles, northeast of Beirut, saw the unveiling of a tribute to the late MP.
The statue, shaped to represent Tueni's pen and adorned with a portrait of the slain journalist, sits on the exact spot he was killed on December 12, 2005, in a large bomb blast. "To the youth of Lebanon, its future, here is the place where Gebran's blood was spilled to leave a permanent illuminating symbol for you to remember in the fight for the freedom of Lebanon," Michelle Tueni, Gebran's youngest daughter, said in a speech at the unveiling.
"We all miss you; the newspaper, the youth, the members of Parliament, and I miss you, my dearest father," she said.
The road on which the statue now sits has been renamed Gebran Tueni Street, Michelle added, in honor of her father's "great sacrifice in the name of Lebanon's freedom.""All the Lebanese that will pass through here will remember you and your oath calling for unity. So you will forever mark all our lives and the lives of the future," she said.
Lebanon Honors Gebran Tueni on First Assassination Anniversary
Lebanon on Tuesday unveiled a memorial statue commemorating MP-journalist Gebran Tueni on the first anniversary of his tragic assassination by an explosion that targeted his car. Family members, led by the victim's father Ghassan, pulled the rope unveiling the statue of a quill planted on a newspaper page carrying Gebran's famous oath –pledge by the nation's Muslims and Christians to remain united in defense of Lebanon.
The crowd that attended the ceremony in suburban Mkalles, northeast of Beirut, where Tueni was killed, repeated the famous oath which he first declared in a March 14, 2005 mass rally demanding the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon. Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon nearly one month after Tueni's oath, and the March 14 coalition won parliamentary majority in the summer of 2005. Five anti-Syrian Lebanese leaders have been killed and three wounded in a series of bomb blasts since Oct. 1, 2004. The latest assault claimed the life of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel on Nov. 21.
Beirut, 12 Dec 06, 14:51
Report: Italy Will Ask Olmert to Hand Shebaa Farms to U.N.
Italy will ask Israel to place the disputed Shebaa Farms area under United Nations control, diplomatic sources close to Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said Tuesday a day ahead of Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert's visit to Rome. Such a gesture would reinforce the position of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Saniora whom the Hizbullah-led opposition is seeking to topple, the sources said. Saniora himself has said that if Israel gave up Shebaa Farms, "that would be useful," the sources added. Lebanon has claimed sovereignty over the 25 square kilometers of land located along the Lebanon-Syria-Israeli borders which Israel captured from Syria during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and then annexed along with the rest of the Golan Heights.
The U.N. has offered to manage the territory, which has been a central pretext for Hizbullah's ongoing battle against the Jewish state after Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, until a final settlement is negotiated. Prodi will tell Olmert that "the status quo (in the Middle East) cannot continue" and ask "if progress is possible on the Shebaa Farms issue," the sources added. The Italian premier will also encourage Olmert to follow up on promises to return to the negotiating table with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. In an interview published Tuesday in the La Repubblica daily, Olmert repeated statements made at the end of November to immediately resume peace talks with Abbas. "I am ready to sit down at the negotiation table with the Palestinian president at any time and at any place without conditions," Olmert said. "I am ready to cede territories, ready to evacuate Jewish settlements and you know how difficult that is.""I am ready to do this in such a fashion that the Palestinians in the West Bank have a compact territory. For this we will give up all the territory necessary," he said.(AFP-Naharnet) Beirut, 12 Dec 06, 14:54
Brammertz Presents Report on Lebanon Killings to Annan's Office
Chief U.N. investigator Serge Brammertz has presented to the international organization his report on the assassinations that have plagued Lebanon for over two years, Al-Hayat newspaper reported Tuesday. It said the Belgian Prosecutor handed over the report to U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Malloch Brown and that the Security Council was expected to receive it Monday evening or Tuesday morning.
The U.N. press office, however, has said that the report by the investigating commission is expected to be turned over to Secretary General Kofi Annan Tuesday or Wednesday, Al Hayat quoted sources as saying that the report deals mainly with criminal evidence and the linkage between the series of assassinations related to ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's Feb. 2005 murder.
The newspaper also quoted the sources as saying the Brammertz report does not include names of suspects, witnesses and countries involved in the murders, which started with the attempt to assassinate Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh on Oct. 1, 2004.
Presenting the report coincided with the first anniversary of MP and general manager of An-Nahar newspaper Gebran Tueni's assassination in a car bombing on December 12, 2005. Brammertz's German predecessor Detlev Mehlis had implicated in the Hariri murder senior officials from Syria, which for decades was the power broker in Lebanon. Damascus has denied any connection with Hariri's slaying.
The Security Council has authorized the investigating commission to help Lebanese authorities probe 15 other attacks that targeted anti-Syrian Lebanese figures and commercial interests in Beirut and its suburbs. The latest attack resulted in the killing of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel on November 21.
Al-Hayat said the U.N. received the report earlier than originally planed which will allow the Security Council to discuss it before December 18.
Beirut, 12 Dec 06, 11:49
Sectarian Divide Widens in Lebanon: Poll
An overwhelming majority of Lebanon's Shiite population has lost confidence in Premier Fouad Saniora's government which most of the country's Sunni and Druze sects support, according to a poll published Tuesday.The survey by the country's main polling institute, the Beirut Center for Research and Information, also pointed to an even split within the country's Christian population.A full 94 percent of Shiites and 50 percent of Christians said the Saniora government had "lost constitutional legitimacy."Eighty-three percent of Sunnis and 90 percent of Druze, the main backers of the government, said the opposite. Despite the divisions, the poll showed nearly three quarters of Lebanese agree that there should be a new national unity government.
The survey was based on a sample of 800 people between November 30 and December 5 and its results were published by the English-language The Daily Star newspaper. No margin of error was given.The polling coincided with the start on December 1 of a massive opposition demonstration, led by Hizbullah and General Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement, which has paralyzed the government. The poll also pointed to major disparities on the hot-button issue of a Special International Tribunal on Lebanon. The survey showed that 73.1 percent support the creation of the international court.Nearly 52 percent agreed with the way the government was handling the issue, while 48 percent disagreed. The government accuses the opposition of trying to block cabinet moves to support the creation of an international court in the 2005 murder of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri.
On Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel's assassination, more than 48 percent were undecided about the culprits behind the murder, while 21 percent said they believed the March 14 forces were responsible.(AFP-Naharnet) Beirut, 12 Dec 06, 10:25
Free Shiite Movement Leader Slams Hizbullah
Sheikh Mohammed Hajj Hassan, who heads the anti-Iranian Free Shiite Movement, has held Hizbullah responsible for any assassination attempt that might target any of the group's leaders. He accused Hizbullah and other factions of forcing members of his clan to sign a "petition disavowing from us."
"We fear that this is the beginning of assassination attempts that could physically target us and we hold Hizbullah fully responsible for any harm that could happen to any of the movement's leaders," Hajj Hassan told reporters on Sunday. "Also responsible will be those who signed the petition," Hassan said after a meeting with Druze leader Walid Jumblat in Moukhtara. He slammed Hizbullah's "hegemony" over the Shiites, saying "what we see in Beirut streets is a dangerous indicator and exposes national unity and peace." "This is what (Syrian President) Bashar Assad has promised to do, and unfortunately destruction has begun on the hands of the Lebanese," Hassan added. He declared opposition to what he dubbed "Farsi project" Iran is allegedly seeking to impose on Lebanon with the backing of the Syrian regime. Beirut, 11 Dec 06, 16:55
Washington: No Compromises with Syria, Iran on Lebanon
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday warned Syria and Iran that the "future of Lebanon is not an issue for negotiation" as the White House reiterated its support for Premier Fouad Saniora.
In an exclusive interview with AFP, Rice rejected mounting calls to deal directly with Damascus and Tehran as part of efforts to end the crisis in Iraq and said the two states should have no doubts about Washington's commitment to Premier Fouad Saniora's government.
"In no way is the U.S. going to get into a situation where it is even a conceivable notion on the part of Syria or Iran that the future of Lebanon would somehow be compromised for other interests of the U.S.," she said.
"I want to make it very clear that the future of Lebanon is not an issue for negotiation with anybody," she said.
Hizbullah-led protesters are seeking to topple the Lebanese government since December 1 through an open ended sit-in outside Saniora's offices in downtown Beirut. The protracted deadlock has paralyzed the government as protesters have clogged the capital in an escalating campaign to force a new national unity cabinet. "It's just extremely important that we be very clear: we understand who Lebanon's enemies are and those that are trying to bring down the Saniora government," Rice said. "There is no way that the United States or the international community could ever countenance a reassertion of Syrian authority in Lebanon," she said. Her comments came the same day the White House expressed strong support for Saniora and warned Syria not to interfere in Lebanon's internal affairs. "The president is committed to the success of the government of Prime Minister Saniora," White House spokesman Tony Snow said. "It is important for people in the region to be supporting that elected democracy, and also that they not try to interfere in the internal workings of the government of Lebanon, and that, obviously, would include the Syrians," Snow told reporters.(AFP-Naharnet) Beirut, 12 Dec 06, 07:30
Petition To: Lebanese Pls take a moment to forward this petition (copy/paste) with your signature to MP Dr. Farid El-Khazen at his e-mail address: fk00@aub.edu.lb
ENGLISH:
Dear Sirs, Members of Lebanese Parliament: Mr. Nehmtellah Abi Nasr, Dr. Farid El-Khazen, Dr. Walid Khoury, Mrs. Gilberte Zouein, Mr. Ghassan Moukhaiber, Mr. George Kassargi, Dr. Camil Maalouf, Dr. Youssef Khalil, Dr. Selim Salhab,
We address you the hereby petition in your quality of representatives of the Lebanese people and more particularly as MPs of the Christian community of the Keserwan, Jbeil, Metn and Zahleh regions in order to call for your conscience’s voice during these difficult and painful times Lebanon is going through.
Dear Sirs, members of Parliament, never in the Lebanese Christians’ history we’d have seen such a categorical shift initiated by a prominent figure of the community against the values and principles of the latter.
General Michel Aoun has represented for a long period of time the Lebanese Christians’ historical aspirations for an independent, free of any interference and totally sovereign country! General Aoun has symbolized, alongside other Christian leaders, the long and aching struggle for the liberation of our country from the Syrian occupation. It is sad to note today that the policy followed by General Aoun since he is back from exile in 2005 is merely opposite to the Christians’ historical will as well as to their future’s aspirations.
The concluded alliance between the Tayyar and Hizballah, the Syrian Nationalist Progressive Party as well as all the other pro-Syrian parties puts the Christian community next to the assassins of Bachir and Pierre Gemayel, Dany Chamoun, Gibran Tueni and many other outstanding historical leaders of Lebanon’s Christian community. By allying himself, directly or indirectly, to the Syrian regime, General Aoun has betrayed the blood of dozens of thousands of our martyrs who’ve been scarifying their life for more than 30 years for the honor of Zahleh, Achrafieh, Jounieh, Damour, El-Kaa, Beit Mery, Knat, Dahr El-Wahch, Souk El-Gharb and so many other regions where their memory is forever engraved in every village, at every road’s corner and under the roof of every house…
There is no bigger offense to the memory of our martyrs, to the sufferings of our handicaps, to the silence of our detainees in Damascus’ prisons, there is no bigger offense to the struggle of the thousands of young persons arrested, terrorized, tortured, imprisoned and persecuted in the last 15 years than to see their own today’s MPs, those who should be defending their convictions alongside the other Lebanese representatives, sitting down under the Syrian flags and Bachar El-Assad’s photographs, hand in hand with those who have blasphemed, like no one ever did before, Bkirki and the name of the Maronite Patriarch, all this without the least reaction or condemnation on your behalf.
Dear Sirs, members of Parliament, many of us have voted for you during the last legislative elections in the name of the values and principles you’d been defending.
Today, it is so astonishing to see you silent, not to say consenting with General Aoun’s new policy. The Lebanese Christians’ choice has never been (and will never be!) that of the alliance with Lebanon’s executioners and even less the choice of an open-country delivered to the war of the others.
Dear Sirs, members of Parliament, do know that each and every electoral vote that was given to you was not, in any way, a white proxy that would let you deny all the sacrifices of the Lebanese Christians by taking out their community towards a fundamentalist Syrian/Iranian axis that uses Lebanon as a simple battlefield against the West. We have paid the highest price when the Lebanese State had submitted its sovereignty to the Palestinian mini-State by the 1969 Cairo agreements, we do not want to be, 40 years later, the new victims of the dismissal of the Lebanese State in front of Hizballah mini-State.
Dear Sirs, members of Parliament, we ask you not to participate to this historical crime committed by the new General Aoun’s policy whose consequences will be disastrous on the future of Lebanon’s Christians. Our youths are emigrating and are loosing any hope in their future in Lebanon, our families are being impoverished and the Christian villages of the South are becoming empty of their inhabitants because of the unprecedented economic crisis due to the last war triggered by Hizballah! In front of this new threat to our community’s existence, there is no place for silence or compromise.
For all these reasons and for many others we didn’t state, we invite you to simply listen to your conscience and Bkirki’s call by refusing the suicidal policy of General Aoun. We ask you to stay faithful to the principles of Lebanon’s independence, freedom and sovereignty, these principles in name of which many of us had given you their trust to represent them in the Lebanese parliament.
Dear Sirs, members of Parliament, we urge you to listen to this call coming from the heart and to act as soon as possible… before it gets too late for us, before it gets too late for all Lebanon!
FRANاAIS :
Messieurs les Députés Nehmtellah Abi Nasr, Farid el-Khazen, Walid Khoury, Gilberte Zouein, Ghassan Moukhaiber, Georges Kassargi, Camille Maalouf, Youssef Khalil, Sélim Salhab,
Nous nous adressons à vous par la présente pétition, en votre qualité de représentants du peuple libanais et plus particulièrement en tant qu’élus de la communauté chrétienne des régions de Keserouan, Jbeil, Metn et Zahlé afin de faire appel à la voix de votre conscience dans cette période difficile et douloureuse que traverse le Liban.
Messieurs les députés, jamais dans l’histoire des chrétiens du Liban on aura vu un retournement aussi catégorique initié par une figure éminente de la communauté sur les valeurs et les principes de cette dernière.
Le Général Michel Aoun a pendant longtemps représenté les aspirations historiques des chrétiens du Liban à un pays indépendant, libre de toute ingérence étrangère et souverain sur l’ensemble de son territoire ! Le Général Aoun a symbolisé, auprès d’autres grands leaders chrétiens, le long et douloureux combat pour la libération de notre pays de l’occupation syrienne. Il est malheureux de constater aujourd’hui que la politique entamée par le Général Aoun depuis son retour d’exil en 2005 est aux antipodes de la volonté historique des chrétiens du Liban ainsi que de leurs aspirations pour l’avenir. L’alliance du Tayyar avec le Hezbollah, le Parti socialiste national syrien ainsi que tous les autres partis prosyriens au Liban place la communauté chrétienne dans le même camp des assassins de Béchir et Pierre Gemayel, Dany Chamoun, Gebran Tuéni et tant d’autres figures marquantes de l’histoire des chrétiens du Liban. En s’alliant, directement ou indirectement, au régime syrien, le Général Aoun a trahi le sang des dizaines de milliers de nos martyrs ayant sacrifié leur vie, plus de 30 ans durant, pour l’honneur de Zahlé, Achrafié, Jounié, Damour, el-Kaa, Beit Mery, Qnat, Dahr el-Wahch, Souk el-Gharb et tant d’autres régions où leur mémoire est à jamais gravée dans chaque village, au coin de chaque rue et sous le toit de chaque maison…
Il n’est de plus grande insulte à la mémoire de nos martyrs, à la souffrance de nos handicapés, au silence de nos prisonniers dans les geôles de Damas, il n’est de plus grande insulte au combat des milliers de jeunes arrêtés, terrorisés, torturés, emprisonnés et persécutés pendant les 15 dernières années que de voir aujourd’hui leurs propres députés, ceux censés défendre leurs convictions avec les autres élus du peuple libanais, assis sous les drapeaux syriens et les portraits de Bachar el-Assad, tenant la main à ceux qui ont blasphémé comme personne n’a jamais osé le faire le siège de Bkerké et le nom du Patriarche maronite, tout cela sans la moindre réaction ou condamnation de votre part.
Messieurs les députés, beaucoup d’entre nous avaient voté pour vous lors des dernières élections législatives au nom des valeurs et des principes que vous vous étiez chargés de défendre. Il est si stupéfiant de vous voir aujourd’hui silencieux, pour ne pas dire consentants, face à la nouvelle politique du Général Aoun. Le choix des chrétiens du Liban n’a jamais été (et ne sera jamais !) celui de l’alliance avec les bourreaux du pays du Cèdre et encore moins celui d’un Liban-trottoir livré à la guerre des autres.
Messieurs les députés, sachez que chaque voix électorale qui vous a été donnée n’était en aucun cas une procuration à blanc vous permettant de renier tous les sacrifices des chrétiens du Liban en plaçant notre communauté dans un axe intégriste syro-iranien qui utilise le Liban comme un simple champ de bataille contre l’Occident. Nous avons payé le plus grand tribut lorsque l’ةtat libanais avait soumis sa souveraineté au mini-ةtat palestinien avec les accords du Caire en 1969, nous ne voulons pas être, 40 ans plus tard, les nouvelles victimes du désistement de l’ةtat libanais face au mini-ةtat du Hezbollah.
Messieurs les députés, nous vous appelons à ne pas participer à ce crime historique commis par la nouvelle politique du Général Aoun dont les conséquences seront désastreuses sur l’avenir des chrétiens du Liban. Nos jeunes émigrent et perdent tout espoir en leur avenir au Liban, nos familles s’appauvrissent et les villages chrétiens du sud se vident de leurs habitants à cause de la crise économique sans précédent causée par la dernière guerre déclenchée par le Hezbollah ! Face à cette nouvelle menace sur l’existence même de notre communauté, il n’y a plus de place au silence ou au compromis.
Pour toutes ces raisons et pour tant d’autres que nous n’avons pas citées, nous vous invitons à simplement écouter la voix de votre conscience et à entendre l’appel de Bkerké en refusant la politique suicidaire du Général Aoun. Nous vous appelons à rester fidèles aux principes de l’indépendance, de la liberté et de la souveraineté du Liban, ces principes au nom desquels beaucoup d’entre nous vous avaient donné leur confiance pour les représenter au Parlement libanais.
Messieurs les députés, nous vous prions d’écouter cet appel venant du fond du cœur et d’agir au plus vite… avant qu’il ne soit trop tard pour nous, avant qu’il ne soit trop tard pour tout le Liban !
Sincerely,
The Undersigned