LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
DECEMBER 17/2006

Bible Reading of the day
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 17,10-13.
Then the disciples asked him, "Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" He said in reply, "Elijah will indeed come and restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased. So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands." Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.

Free Opinions
Temporary face-saving is no substitute for statesmanship Daily Star 17.12.06
In Lebanon, Hizbullah's rise provokes Shiite dissent. By: By Nicholas Blanford 17.12.06

Latest news from the Daily Star for December 17/06
Papandreou in Lebanon to pledge support for Siniora-Ya Libnan - Beirut,Lebanon
Hezbollah seeks more power in Lebanon to avoid disarming-Ya Libnan
Moussa: No Ready-Made Solution To Lebanon's Crisis-Naharnet
Hariri Accuses Syria and Iran of Blocking the Course of Justice in ...Naharnet
UN Force In Lebanon Grows To 11,000 Troops-All Headline News
Saniora Wins Moscow's Support for Lebanon's Government-Naharnet
Leading Republican senator plans Syria trip, despite White House ...International Herald Tribune
Hezbollah seeks more power in Lebanon-Houston Chronicle
EU to Syria: stop meddling in Lebanon-Jerusalem Post
Syrian president arrives in Yemen for talks on Lebanon crisis-International Herald Tribune
Lebanon protesters dig in for winter-Middle East Online - London,UK
Hezbollah disarmament Lebanon's internal problem - premier-RIA Novosti - Moscow,Russia
A Mideast Counteroffensive-Washington Post - United States
Lebanese PM stresses his country's friendly ties with Iran, Syria-Islamic Republic News Agency - Tehran,Iran
Arab league official continues Lebanese talks with "optimism"Raw Story - Cambridge,MA,USA

 

Temporary face-saving is no substitute for statesmanship
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Editorial-Daily Star
No objective observer who has watched the current crisis in Beirut since its inception can accuse either side of having engineered it with malice aforethought. As has frequently been the case throughout the tragic history of Lebanon, the real problem is that while malice is an ever-present component of the Lebanese political climate, there appears in this case to have been no forethought at all. It is especially important to accept this fact as the finishing touches are applied to a package of compromises that, hopefully, will allow all sides to save face. Anyone who cares about the welfare of this country has to be pleased at anything that keeps its squabbling political parties from committing yet another catastrophic miscalculation - but the breathing space it provides must be used for something other than either idle waiting or active preparation for the next confrontation.
There is no need to further complicate the current negotiations by attaching consideration of additional issues. What is required is a collective resolve to get serious about preventing another crisis in the spring or the summer. Unless concerted and genuine efforts are made now, disagreements over a new law to govern the next round of parliamentary elections will bring Lebanon back to the brink of collapse. There is also the matter of how and when a new president will be selected. And over the next few months, those who fail to learn from past experience are surely capable of identifying and trumpeting myriad other matters upon which they and their rivals - wittingly or not - might break Lebanon once and for all.
The key to preventing the train wreck that is the existing system's only inevitable result lies in a profound change of attitude. If the much-ballyhooed "unity government" is to serve any purpose other than that of a short-term palliative, those who agree on it will have to view it as a caretaker body designed to set the sage for a new era of civilized and productive politics. The first priority is levelheaded dialogue on the form, function and timing of the mechanisms that will decide the next Parliament and the next president. The next is a process of platform-building, i.e. getting the parties to produce policy proposals so voters might have some idea of what they are being asked to support beyond the usual fare of demagoguery, tribalism, sloganeering and the like. Each party might also try something novel - like preparing for the possibility of ending up in the opposition after the next elections - by looking into how they might serve the nation's interests in that capacity instead of wasting everyone's time and patience with the tried and failed strategy of tarring the victors as crooks and/or traitors.
It is not surprising that a new grassroots movement has called "I'm somebody with nobody" has sprung to life: The Lebanese people have been badly shaken by recent events, and they are entitled to expect better from their leaders. If the current crop fails to blossom - very quickly - into something more substantial, it would be best to plow it under and start again.

Beirut Gossip (Quotes excerpted from miscellaneous press reports on the demonstrations in Downtown Beirut): - Updated Dec. 15, 2006
• Mahmoud Komati, deputy chief of Hezbollah’s politburo, said Friday that “around 250” Hezbollah fighters were killed in the summer war with Israel, saying the group does not hide its casualties. “We are proud of our martyrs,” he said. (The Associated Press, December 15, 2006). [Note from Editor: During the war, Hezbollah claimed that no more than 70 of its fighters were killed in the fighting. If Hezbollah was as accurate, honest, and straightforward as it claims to be, it should come forward and tell the truth that most of the 1,191 Lebanese who were killed were in fact Hezbollah fighters. The highly suspicious number of “around 250”, which Hezbollah is only now admitting, shows that the pro-Iranian terrorist group continues to lie to the Lebanese people and the world.]
• “By God, neither the support of the US nor the Western countries and some Arab countries will help you.” (Naim Qassem, Hizbullah's second-in-command, Sunday Dec. 10, 2006, addressing Prime Minister Saniora)
• “You want to bring the Americans and we want to drive them away”, (Naim Qassem, Hizbullah's second-in-command, Sunday Dec. 10, 2006)
• [Addressing Prime Minister Siniora directly]: "If you want to truly show that you support the resistance and this people, as you say, then I advise you to prove it by doing one of two things, if not both. The first is that you issue an order to the Lebanese Army to give the resistance back the truckload of arms which it confiscated [in November].” (Naim Qassem, Sunday Dec. 10, 2006, addressing Prime Minister Saniora)
• “There is no fear! There is no fear! The blood of Shiites is a Kalashnikov.” (The crowd)
• “Does Bush want popular expression in Lebanon? Do the West and the Arabs want to hear the voice of the people in Lebanon? Tell them 'Death to America!'” (Naim Qassem, Sunday Dec. 10, 2006)
• “There is a constant and massive rearmament of Hizbullah”… “The weapons are for the most part Iranian and are entering Lebanon thanks to the complicity of Hizbullah supporters inside the Lebanese intelligence service” (Senior UN official, quoted by the French daily Le Monde, Dec. 8, 2006).
• “… A 50-man squad of militants linked to Al-Qaida [are] charged by Damascus with killing 36 anti-Syrian Lebanese personalities. The militants were recruited among fighters in Iraq and infiltrated via Syria into Lebanon, where they are based in a Palestinian refugee settlement in the north of the country” (Confidential document sent to U.N. headquarters, reported by AFP-Naharnet quoting the French daily Le Monde Dec. 8, 2006)
 

SOLIDA Message
The SOLIDA Movement (Support of Lebanese Detained Arbitrarily) has opened its new offices in Beirut in May 2006.
After operating for nearly 10 years from France, SOLIDA has decided to settle in Beirut in light of the relative but encouraging political changes that have occurred there in the recent past. As a result, SOLIDA has seen its activities sharply increase.
At the present time, a small team of about 10 volunteers is involved in monitoring the human rights situation, supporting twelve victims of arbitrary detention in Lebanon, tracking the issue of the missing and detained Lebanese in Syria and Is rael, as well as the thorny issue of national reconciliation, searching for sources of funds to operate the new office, and laying the ground for a rehabilitation center that is open to all victims of torture.
All these activities require considerable efforts by the volunteers who, thanks to the support of the Euro-Mediterranean Foundation of Support to Human Rights defenders, will be assisted by an Executive Director beginning in January 2007.
At this time, only 50% of all the activities of the office are funded by external sources. The remainder of the financial burden is assumed by the volunteers themselves. Two outside benefactors contributed to the replacement of the computer equipment that was stolen from our premises this past October 2006.
We are issuing this CALL FOR ASSISTANCE because we need your support in order to continue to work and improve our effectiveness at serving the victims and their families. We need financial support, and we need new volunteers.
We call on all people who feel deeply about our fight to establish an effective rule of law in Lebanon to make their contribution, either financially, even if in small amounts, in order for us to fund our activities, or by contributing their time to the service of the cause.
Thank you for responding to this email and making your contribution today. We know that this call will resonate with your desires and aspirations for a Lebanon in which human rights and the rule of law are upheld.
Our struggle will never cease until we achieve the objectives of human rights and the rule of law, a true national reconciliation based on Truth and Justice, the uncovering of the fate of each one of the disappeared and missing, the review of all unfair trials, and the reparations owed to each victim of human rights violations.
We count on your support.

Le Mouvement SOLIDA (Soutien aux Libanais Détenus Arbitrairement) a ouvert au mois de mai 2006 ses bureaux à Beyrouth.
SOLIDA, qui existait en France depuis près de 10 ans, et qui a choisi de s’implanter à Beyrouth à la faveur du relatif changement politique, a considérablement développé ses activités depuis son installation au Liban.
Aujourd’hui, une petite dizaine de volontaires s’implique dans le monitoring de la situation des droits de l’Homme, le soutien à dou ze personnes victimes de détentions arbitraires au Liban, le suivi de la question des disparus et des détenus libanais en Syrie et en Israël, la problématique de la réconciliation nationale, la recherche de financements pour le fonctionnement du bureau et pour la mise en place d’un centre de réhabilitation ouvert à toutes les victimes de la torture.
Toutes ces activités demandent des efforts considérables de la part des bénévoles, qui, grâce au soutien de la Fondation Euro Méditerranéenne de soutien aux défenseurs des Droits de l’Homme, seront secondés à partir de janvier 2007 par une directrice exécutive.
La mise en place de toute l’activité du bureau n’est pour l’instant financée qu’à 50 % par des financements extérieurs. Le reste de la charge financière est assumé par les volontaires eux-mêmes. Deux donateurs extérie ur s ont participé au remplacement du matériel informatique volé dans nos locaux en octobre 2006.
Aujourd’hui, nous lançons cet appel car NOUS AVONS BESOIN DE VOTRE SOUTIEN pour continuer à travailler et améliorer notre efficacité au service des victimes et de leurs familles. Nous avons besoin d’un soutien financier, et de l’aide de nouveaux volontaires.
C’est pourquoi, nous appelons toutes les personnes qui se sentent concernées par notre lutte pour l’édification d’un véritable état de droit au Liban, à apporter leur contribution, soit financièrement, même de manière très modeste, pour le financement de nos activités, soit en donnant de leur temps au service de la cause.
Merci de répondre à cet email dès aujourd’hui si vous vous sentez concernés par cet appel et de contribuer ainsi à l’édification d’un Liban où règnent les droits de l’Homme et un véritable état de droit.
Notre combat ne pourra cesser qu’avec l’édification d’un état de droit, qu’avec une véritable réconciliation nationale basée sur la Vérité et la Justice, qu’avec une clarification du sort de chacun des disparus, qu’avec la révision de tous les procès inéquitables, qu’avec la réparation dûe à chacune des victimes de violations des droits de l’Homme.
Nous comptons sur votre soutien
Marie Daunay
Présidente de SOLIDA

Hezbollah: 250 Killed in War With Israel
The Associated Press
Friday, December 15, 2006; 11:25 AM
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- A senior Hezbollah official said Friday that around 250 members of the guerrilla group were killed in the summer war with Israel, the highest toll acknowledged by the Shiite Muslim movement. Mahmoud Komati, deputy chief of Hezbollah's politburo, dismissed Israeli claims that many more Hezbollah fighters were killed, saying the group does not hide its casualties. "We are proud of our martyrs," he told The Associated Press. He estimated that around 250 guerrillas were killed in the July 12-Aug. 14 fighting with Israeli forces. A tally compiled by the AP from Hezbollah and police reports during the war put the guerrilla losses at 70 dead. Miri Eisin, an Israeli government spokeswoman, said the toll was "closer to 600." "It just goes to show that slowly they'll let out the truth. And we hope that everyone will take notice that Hezbollah is trying to hide its losses," Eisin said. Lebanon's Higher Relief Council, a government agency that handles humanitarian crises, has said 1,191 people were killed in Lebanon, mostly civilians, before fighting ended with a U.N.-brokered cease-fire. An official Lebanese police report put the toll at 1,100. The figures are based on reports from hospitals and morgues around the country.Israel said the 34-day fighting killed 159 Israelis, including 39 civilians.

PRESS RELEASE
American Lebanese National Mission (ALNM)
Contact: Ms. Rita Sleiman
Public Information Officer- Beirut
Ph: 713.589-4440
Email: PIO_Beirut@alnm.net
RE: ALNM and LYB meet with Sheikh Mohammed Hajj Hassan, Leader of the Free Shiite Movement
Beirut, Lebanon- Earlier this week, Dr. Mazin Moufarij, ALNM Ambassador to Lebanon and Mr. Shady Dirany, Chairman of the Lebanese Youth Bridges (LYB) met with Sheikh Mohammed Hajj Hassan, Leader of the Free Shiite Movement. The meeting was very cordial and conducted in a safe atmosphere.
The discussion focused on the ongoing crisis in Lebanon . Sheikh Hassan reiterated his disapproval of one faction’s "hegemony" over the Shiites saying "what we see in the streets of Beirut today is a dangerous indicator of how the opposition is jeopardizing, not helping, true peace and national unity." He added that “the majority of the Shiite citizens do support the government of PM Fouad Saniora and consider it legitimate and constitutional. Some of them are just forced to behave in a manner contrary to their beliefs.”
“We are very thankful to Sheikh Hassan for this meeting,” stated Dr. Mazin Moufarij. “His wisdom and courage is a beacon of light at a time when darkness covers the streets of Beirut . We look forward to a strong friendship and partnership with Sheikh Hassan and those who like him want to place the interest of Lebanon before their own. ALNM is always willing and eager to meet with whomever and whenever to help restore civility to the country and to jointly build a Lebanon of integrity.”
Mr. Dirany stressed that “people can’t call for government of national unity while at the same time work to shut down our businesses, our tourism, and our educational institutions and threaten our personal security. They caused billions of dollars in damages in the summer and now they are forcing hundreds of small businesses to close their doors permanently.” Lebanese Youth Bridges is an emerging organization of Lebanese young professionals from all corners of the country. LYB, a strong ally of ALNM, has built a network of professionals who care about the future of Lebanon , "work to enhance its economy and encourage Reverse Immigration in hope to bring Lebanese talents back to the homeland. “
The Free Shiite Movement, the Lebanese Youth Bridges and the American Lebanese National Mission call on all leaders to return to the table of dialogue. Hundreds of young Lebanese Christian and Muslim professionals are seeking visas at various embassies to run away from this madness that has turned Lebanon into a joke even in third world countries. FSM , LYB and ALNM asks those who are camping in downtown Beirut , “What good is a ‘government of national unity’ if there are no more talents and trust left in Lebanon to rebuild it?”
The American Lebanese National Mission is a civil, charitable and independent association with no political or religious character. ALNM now operates two offices in Lebanon , one in North and one in Beirut . For more information on our offices in Lebanon , contact Dr. Moufarij at ambassador@alnm.net

In Lebanon, Hizbullah's rise provokes Shiite dissent
They worry that its quest to topple the Western-backed government will hurt their long-term interests.
By Nicholas Blanford | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
BEIRUT, LEBANON – Hizbullah's ability to draw hundreds of thousands of Shiites to central Beirut to rally against the Lebanese government is the most visible evidence that the militants are now the undisputed representative of the country's Shiite community.
Yet some of the party's coreligionists have started to publicly question Hizbullah's political monopoly. They worry that its ambitious gambit to topple the Western-backed government is intended to benefit backers in Iran and Syria and will be detrimental to the long-term interests of Shiites.
"Hizbullah's actions definitely are not in the interests of Shiites nor of Lebanon," says Sheikh Ali al-Amine, the Shiite mufti of the Jabal Amel district of south Lebanon. Shiite voices of dissent are few, but are gaining more attention at a time when Lebanon is serving as a battleground in the emerging struggle between Iran and its regional allies - dubbed by some as a "Shiite crescent" - and the Sunni-dominated Arab world led by Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Hizbullah is caught in the vortex of this regional contest, torn between satisfying the demands of its foreign patrons while serving the needs of its domestic Shiite constituency. Demonstrations calling for the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora have been ongoing since Dec. 1. Since then, the numbers of Hizbullah and opposition supporters filling downtown Beirut seem to ebb and flow at the call of Hizbullah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.
Thursday, in a bid to ease the political crisis, the Lebanese government and opposition groups agreed on a national unity cabinet in which major decisions could be taken only by consensus, said Arab League chief Amr Moussa. He told reporters, however, that more talks were required to conclude the deal.
Mr. Moussa called on all the parties to defuse the tension and expressed hope that the remaining issues could be resolved in the next two weeks. "Progress is clear and consensus is rising. Please be patient a bit longer," he said. "We hope to finish in the next two weeks or at the end of the month."
The anti-Hizbullah voices
Sheikh Amine has become Hizbullah's most visible critic after sparking controversy four months ago by publicly refuting Hizbullah's claim of a "divine victory" in its summer war against Israel. Still, he appears an unlikely critic of Hizbullah.
Wearing a black turban that marks him as a descendent of the prophet Muhammad, he was once close to Hizbullah and in 1981 taught the youthful Hassan Nasrallah at a Shiite seminary in the Iranian city of Qom. The sheikh remembers the future Hizbullah leader as "clever and a quick learner."
"I never wanted to turn myself into a figure of opposition to Hizbullah. But during the war I saw mistakes," he says. "The aim of Hizbullah is to capture all the Shiite sect and push it into the unknown."
During the war, Mona Fayyad, a professor at the Lebanese University in Beirut, penned an acerbic opinion piece titled "To be a Shiite now," railing against the sect's subservience to Hizbullah.
"To be a Shiite is to keep silent and not to ask what is the purpose of liberating a country. Is it to destroy it all over again and to make it possible for it to be occupied once more?" she wrote.
A year ago, Mohammed Mattar, a Shiite lawyer, filed a lawsuit against a prominent Hizbullah cleric who had issued a fatwa, or religious edict, forbidding any Shiite from accepting a ministerial post after the pro-Hizbullah ministers walked out of the government.
"The edict crossed the red line between democracy and a parliamentary system run by the clergy," Mr. Mattar says, describing the fatwa as the "politics of intimidation."
The lawsuit, which was signed by five Shiites and three Christians, was, he says, "bold, but ultimately you have to defend the principles of the republic. If you want to live in a society ruled by clerics, go to Iran."
Those that have spoken out against Hizbullah say they have been subjected to subtle intimidation. Amine had to cancel his e-mail address after receiving anonymous hate mail, while others have been told they are not welcome at social events.
Lokman Slim, a vocal Hizbullah critic who heads Hayya Bina, a political reform group, says his name was included on two "lists of dishonor" circulated on the Web during the war.
"The Hayya Bina website was shut down during the war due to kindly advice, slash, threats," he says with a wry smile.
Hizbullah's dominance of Shiite politics in Lebanon has its roots in the Lebanese state's historical neglect of the Shiite community. Traditionally marginalized by Lebanon's Christian and Sunni elite and ruled by a handful of feudal clans, the Shiites were mainly confined to the impoverished rural south and east.
Hizbullah was established with Iranian support in the wake of Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon and soon began to challenge the already existing Amal Movement for dominance of Shiite politics.
Both groups secured loyalty through offering services to their constituents. Nabih Berri, the leader of Amal and Lebanon's parliamentary speaker, adopted a typically Lebanese system of patronage, using his influence within the state to provide his supporters with employment in government institutions.
From shadow militia to Shiite institution
Hizbullah, which initially operated outside the state, used Iranian funds to build a shadow social welfare network for poor Shiites that included schools and hospitals. The battlefield successes of Hizbullah's military wing against Israeli occupation forces further sustained its popularity and earned it a regional standing.
Today, Hizbullah is a formidable multifaceted organization, arguably the second-largest employer after the Lebanese state, with some 35,000 Shiite families directly or indirectly dependent on the party.
Last year, it formed a strategic alliance with rival Amal, effectively absorbing the movement into its own apparatus. That leaves Hizbullah as the only real representative of Shiites, making it all but impossible for an alternative Shiite political entity to emerge.
"According to opinion polls, Hizbullah commands the support of over 90 percent of the community and it's very difficult for any new group to compete against that," says Amal Saad-Ghorayeb of the Carnegie Endowment's Middle East Center in Beirut.
Hizbullah's Shiite opponents argue that the party's popularity is lower than the polls suggest. But they agree that the state's historical disregard for Shiites is to blame as it created a social and political vacuum that was subsequently filled by Hizbullah. Although they say there is a need for a political alternative, swaying Shiite public opinion away from Hizbullah is a near hopeless task.
"We are unable to compete against Hizbullah as secular republican Shiites," says Mr. Slim. "They have God on their side, and it's impossible to compete."