LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
DECEMBER 19/2006Bible Reading of the day
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 1,18-24.
Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means "God is with us."When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.Free Opinions
Hezbollah's Rise Worries Lebanese Shiites-CBS NewsLatest news from Miscellaneous sources for December 19/06
Lebanese opposition demands early elections-Washington Post
Moussa to visit Beirut again for Lebanon crisis-People's Daily Online
Sfeir: time to end Hezbollah sit-in in Beirut-AsiaNews.it - Italy
Moussa to Damascus after Beirut with Saudi Support to End Lebanon Crisis-Naharnet
Report: Saniora Wants Moscow's Help in Normalizing Ties With Syria-Naharnet
MPs Consider Suing Lahoud for Refusal to Approve By-Elections-Naharnet
Verbal War Continues Between Pro-, Anti-Government Leaders-Naharnet
Pontiff Appeals for Aid for Iraqi Refugees in Syria-Zenit News Agency
Mousa faces tough task to end Lebanon crisis-Gulf News
MPs Consider Suing Lahoud for Refusal to Approve By-Elections-Naharnet
PM: US holding Israel back on Syria-Jerusalem Post
Yatom: Israel should enter into talks with Syria-Jerusalem Post
Don't turn Syria away-Ha'aretz
Report: Syria looking for secret contact in Israel-Jerusalem Post
Fears of Fatah-Hamas Clashes Spilling into Lebanon-The Media Line
PM Saniora: Moscow could help normalize Lebanon-Jerusalem Post
Moussa briefs Saudi king on Lebanon-Aljazeera.net
Former POW, Sen. John McCain, meets with families of captured ...International Herald Tribune
Lahoud backs Aoun as successor-Daily Star - Lebanon
Deir el Qamar rallies in support of Lebanon government-Ya Libnan
Arab League chief seeks Saudi king's help in solving Lebanon's ...International Herald Tribune
'This is not a game'-Mail & Guardian OnlineSfeir: time to end Hezbollah sit-in in Beirut
Assad’s visit to Moscow has come under the spotlight: he and Putin will discuss ways out of the Middle East crisis and the international court set to try the murder of Hariri.
Beirut (AsiaNews) – It is time to put a stop to the opposition sit-in that has blocked the centre of Beirut since 1 December, because it is harming the economy. “Unchecked” gatherings taking place throughout the sit-in should also be stopped because “they could endanger the family”. On the eve of the return of the Secretary of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, to Beirut, the Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir expressed his opposition to the continuation of a protest that is damaging the nation’s already sorely tried economy.
Apart from internal developments of the situation – yesterday two pro-government rallies were held in Chouf – attention today focused on the visit of the Syrian President Bashar al Assad to Moscow. Lebanese dailies devoted their front pages to the trip, emphasizing that Assad’s visit to Putin came three days after the Russian president met the head of the Lebanese government Fouad Siniora. Officially dedicated to the “difficult situation in the Middle East and ways to overcome the crisis”, the meeting between Assad and Putin has political rather than economic aims, according to Evgeny Posukhov, a Russian diplomat in Damascus. Lebanese sources said one item on the agenda will be the international tribunal – backed by Russia at the UN headquarters – to try those responsible for the murder of ex-Lebanese premier, Rafic Hariri, and other political crimes perpetrated in the country of the cedars since 2004. Pro-Syrian groups in Beirut, including the President of the Republic, Emile Lahoud, have expressed several reservations about the formation of such a tribunal. Lahoud yesterday voiced his support for the candidature of Michel Aoun, a Christian leader allied with Hezbollah, for the highest position in the State. Lahoud exhorted Aoun to remain “steadfast” in his stands. “I support the opposition because it has the political values in which I believe,” Lahoud told Al-Aalam television.
As for Cardinal Sfeir, at the end of yesterday’s Sunday mass, which was dedicated to the family, he warned against “unchecked mixed gatherings” that were taking place during the sit-in. “We have been told that some participants of the sit-in have forbidden their children to spend the night in the centre: they are wise,” he said. “In any case, it is time to put an end to this harmful situation, which is especially damaging to the economy of the country. Have the leaders of these manifestations forgotten that families have come to the point of a very big crisis? We pray for the success of the mediators and a return to normality.”
Hezbollah's Rise Worries Lebanese Shiites
BEIRUT, Dec. 17, 2006
Hezbollah'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 Hezbollah'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.
"Hezbollah'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.
Hezbollah 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 Hezbollah and opposition supporters filling downtown Beirut seem to ebb and flow at the call of Hezbollah 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.
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-Hezbollah Voices
Sheikh Amine has become Hezbollah's most visible critic after sparking controversy four months ago by publicly refuting Hezbollah's claim of a "divine victory" in its summer war against Israel. Still, he appears an unlikely critic of Hezbollah.
Wearing a black turban that marks him as a descendent of the prophet Muhammad, he was once close to Hezbollah and in 1981 taught the youthful Hassan Nasrallah at a Shiite seminary in the Iranian city of Qom. The sheikh remembers the future Hezbollah leader as "clever and a quick learner."
"I never wanted to turn myself into a figure of opposition to Hezbollah. But during the war I saw mistakes," he says. "The aim of Hezbollah 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 Hezbollah.
"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 Hezbollah cleric who had issued a fatwa, or religious edict, forbidding any Shiite from accepting a ministerial post after the pro-Hezbollah ministers walked out of the government.
"The edict crossed the red line between democracy and a parliamentary system run by the clergy," 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 Hezbollah 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 Hezbollah 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 Web site was shut down during the war due to kindly advice, slash, threats," he says with a wry smile.
Hezbollah'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.
Hezbollah 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
Hezbollah, 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 Hezbollah's military wing against Israeli occupation forces further sustained its popularity and earned it a regional standing.
Today, Hezbollah 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 Hezbollah as the only real representative of Shiites, making it all but impossible for an alternative Shiite political entity to emerge.
"According to opinion polls, Hezbollah 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.
Hezbollah'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 Hezbollah. Although they say there is a need for a political alternative, swaying Shiite public opinion away from Hezbollah is a near hopeless task.
"We are unable to compete against Hezbollah as secular republican Shiites," says Slim. "They have God on their side, and it's impossible to compete."
Moussa to Damascus after Beirut with Saudi Support to End Lebanon Crisis
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa will return to Beirut on Tuesday to carry on his mediation efforts in a bid to conclude a deal that would end Lebanon's crippling political crisis. The daily As Safir said that Moussa will also visit Damascus after Syrian President Bashar Assad returns from a visit to Moscow that starts Monday. Moussa said that in Riyadh, he briefed Saudi King Abdullah on "efforts to resolve the Lebanese crisis and to bring about an agreement between the government and opposition."The talks were also attended by Saudi Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz and Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal.
The Arab League chief described his talks with the monarch as "good and supportive," As Safir said Monday."We discussed ways to get out of the political impasse," Moussa told As Safir by telephone. Moussa said the monarch vowed to "make every effort to ensure the success of the Arab League mission," the daily quoted him as saying. Moussa left Beirut last Thursday after trying to broker an agreement between Prime Minister Fouad Saniora and the Hizbullah-led alliance demanding the formation of a national unity government. Lebanese newspapers said Moussa secured a "holiday truce" during his mediation trip, which they described as a "half-success" after weeks of political feuding that triggered round-the-clock opposition protests in central Beirut. Oil-rich Saudi Arabia is a major supporter of Lebanon's government, and it came through with a massive aid package after the devastating summer war between Israel and Hizbullah.(Naharnet-AFP) Beirut, 18 Dec 06, 08:46
Report: Saniora Wants Moscow's Help in Normalizing Ties With Syria
Premier Fouad Saniora said that his government was eager to improve strained relations with Syria, which Russia could help in achieving, according to an interview published Monday.
The Lebanese Premier also warned Damascus against meddling in Lebanon's domestic affairs.
Saniora, speaking to the Russian daily Vremya Novostei, said he told officials during his trip to Moscow last week that the kremlin could help normalize the situation in Lebanon by using its contacts with Iran and Syria.
"Russia could help Lebanon stop serving as an arena for somebody else's battles and become a normal, successful country," Saniora was quoted by the newspaper as saying. The Syrian-backed Hizbullah and its allies have been holding an open-ended sit-in in downtown Beirut since December 1 in an effort to topple Saniora's majority government. The group is demanding the formation of a national unity government that would give it the power to veto decisions. Saniora said that he had proposed to meet Syrian President Bashar Assad, but insisted that the agenda for the talks must be set in advance. "Lebanon will not be directed (ruled) by anyone against Syria, but it will never again be governed by Syria," he was quoted as saying.
Saniora told Vremya Novostei that Lebanon would be grateful to Russia if it helps mediate the normalization of relations between Syria and Lebanon.
Assad was expected to arrive in Moscow Monday for a two-day visit.(AP-Naharnet) Beirut, 18 Dec 06, 12:29
Verbal War Continues Between Pro-, Anti-Government Leaders
Pro-, and anti-government leaders continued their verbal war with the two sides firing sharp words at each other despite an Arab League call for an end to the tongue-lash. Hizbullah MP Nawwar Sahili attacked Druze chieftain Walid Jumblat and Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea, describing them as "fortune tellers." "They (Jumblat and Geagea) were the ones who predicted all the assassinations. They have tried in a systematic and well-studied plan to drag this country into a sectarian fight," Sahili on Sunday told Hizbullah-led protestors camping outside the Grand Serail since Dec.1. Sahili attacked Jumblat, saying: "He accused us of being totalitarian. He is the feudal lord and the totalitarian person."
Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) member Naaman Mrad urged the cabinet to resign or form a national unity government in a bid to break the political deadlock. "They speak of sovereignty and independence. They are the ones who sold themselves to the devil and (Syrian) intelligence officers, while we were fighting the occupation all the time," Mrad said. FPM protestors on Sunday put up a 15-meter-tall Christmas tree in the heart of the tent city.
Meanwhile, LF legislator George Adwan slammed the opposition for trying to hamper the government. "All they (opposition) are doing now is going back to the (Syrian) tutelage era," Adwan told a huge rally at Deir al-Qamar in the Shouf mountains on Sunday.
March 14 leader Dori Shamoun also criticized the Hizbullah-spearheaded open-ended sit-in, accusing protestors of "paralyzing the country and devastating its economy." "They want to end the future of the Lebanese, particularly that of the educated and conscientious young men," Shamoun said.
Jumblat's representative, Sharif Fayyad, however, reiterated his leader's call for "national settlement."
"We are ready, as we have always been, for a national settlement that would salvage Lebanon from its current crisis based on correct national power sharing and devotion to the Lebanese independent decision," Fayyad addressed the crowd at Deir al-Qamar on behalf of Jumblat.
Former MP Ghattas Khoury, representing the Moustaqbal, or Future, Movement of Saad Hariri, restated that the government of Prime Minister Fouad Saniora has received a majority vote "and that needs to be respected." "This government is our government," Khoury said. "It is a government of unity and from and with all Lebanese." Pro-government supporters at Deir al-Qamar brandished posters that read "no arms but army arms" and "one united Lebanon." (AP photo shows a man decorating a Christmas tree in front of a mosque in Beirut) Beirut, 18 Dec 06, 11:55
MPs Consider Suing Lahoud for Refusal to Approve By-Elections
MPs were considering suing President Emile Lahoud for his refusal to approve parliamentary by-elections to replace assassinated Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel. In comments to The Daily Star published Monday, Youth and Sports Minister Ahmed Fatfat accused Lahoud of violating the constitution by his refusal to sign a decree calling for an election in Gemayel's Metn region.
"Since he (Lahoud) is breaching the constitution, the MPs are thinking of forming a petition to hold him accountable and try him after that," Fatfat told the daily on Sunday. The constitution says the government must issue a decree to be signed by the president calling for elections within 60 days of a parliamentary seat being vacated. Gemayel was shot dead on November 21 in the northern Beirut suburb of New Jdeideh.
Lahoud has refused as "a matter of principal" to sign any cabinet decrees issued after the mid-November resignation of six ministers, said presidential spokesperson Rafik Shlala. Shlala said that Lahoud "is not hindering the decree calling for parliamentary by-elections in the Metn. He considers the current cabinet unconstitutional." The president has sent a letter to Prime Minister Fouad Saniora and told him his opinion, Shlala said.
He said Lahoud "is not trying to halt the elections; he simply considers the decisions of the current illegitimate cabinet to be null, and thus they have no legal effect. So it is a matter of principal." Fatfat said the constitution "is very clear about this issue. The president has to sign this decree issued by the cabinet. He is bound by law and the constitution to do so.
"If he doesn't, then he is breaching the constitution and he must be held accountable," Fatfat said. "Even if his view is that the cabinet (has effectively) resigned, then he has to deal with it (accordingly), which means this is a caretaker government to pass work until a new cabinet is appointed," added Fatfat. Legal expert Ziad Baroud told The Daily Star in a telephone interview Sunday that the problem "isn't only with signing the decrees."
"All of Lebanon's constitutional institutions are (paralyzed). As for the Constitution, it is up to Parliament to explain the content of the constitution," he said. "As for the president, I cannot explain if he is breaching the constitution or not," Baroud added. Beirut, 18 Dec 06, 10:33
Mousa faces tough task to end Lebanon crisis
Reuters
Beirut: Efforts by Arab League chief Amr Mousa this week to resolve Lebanon's political crisis will be complicated by the influence of foreign powers on the country's rival factions, analysts say. Despite shuttling among the opposing political leaders last week, he had little to show except to say some progress had been made. He is expected to return early this week to try to end the standoff between the pro-Western government and the opposition, led by pro-Syrian Hezbollah. Demonstrators have been holding a mass protest in Beirut since December 1, threatening to topple the government unless it gives the opposition a strong voice in the cabinet. But it will be difficult for Mousa to reach a deal unless Syria and Iran on the one hand, and the United States and Saudi Arabia on the other, can agree to a balance of power in Lebanon.
The government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora is backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia, which see any rise in the power of Hezbollah as enhancing Syrian and Iranian influence in the region, analysts say. The Arab League has had little success in mediating regional disputes because of the conflicting interests of its members and Mousa, who was to visit Saudi Arabia yesterday, would have to navigate the political cross-currents in Lebanon.
Not effective
"The Arab League has not been an effective mediator because it is always under pressure from parochial interests," said Oussama Safa, head of the Lebanese Centre for Policy Studies. He said on Friday that without support from regional countries "Mousa's mission won't go anywhere".
Former prime minister Salim Al Hoss said Mousa must "obtain a clear green light for his mission ... especially from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, and naturally the United States". Syria and Iran, staunch backers of Hezbollah, want the militant group to have more legislative power to reflect its strength in the country, analysts say. Syria had more influence in Lebanon until it was forced to withdraw its troops last year after the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri. Political sources said Mousa's proposals would expand the cabinet to 30 ministers from 24, and give Siniora's ruling coalition 19 ministers and the opposition 10. One minister would be neutral. The stumbling bloc was opposition insistence the 'neutral' minister be a close ally.
PM: Israel hesitant on Syria due to US
By HERB KEINON
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made it clear to the cabinet on Sunday that one reason Israel is not embracing recent overtures for negotiations from Syria is American opposition.
Olmert said that with US President George W. Bush having taken a firm stand against engaging Syria - going against the recommendations of the Baker-Hamilton panel - and with the international community demanding that Syria improve its conduct, now was not the time for Israel to throw Syria a lifeline and help it to emerge from international isolation.
At the same time, Olmert said the cabinet would hold a comprehensive debate on policy toward Syria in the near future.
A senior cabinet official said Olmert's comments at the meeting did not imply that if the US changed its policy regarding engaging Syria, Israel would necessarily follow suit. The official said that even if Bush gave a green light for Israeli-Syrian negotiations, Israel would still have to decide whether the price Syria would demand - the return of the entire Golan Heights, plus or minus a few meters along the Kinneret - would be enough to pull Syria out of the "axis of evil" orbit. Diplomatic officials have been saying in recent weeks that there is no guarantee that even if Israel returned the Golan, Syria would break its ties with Iran and cease its support for Hizbullah and Hamas.
Channel 2 reported Sunday night that a third-party intermediary with the Syrians said Damascus was looking for a secret channel of communication with Israel. According to the source, Syria has the capability to control Hamas, but not, as Israel maintains, Hizbullah.
The intermediary also said Syria was not planning a war with Israel for the summer of 2007, helping to assuage fears in the Israeli intelligence community that a Syrian offensive will follow what was generally perceived in the Arab world as a failed Israeli war against Hizbullah in the summer of 2006. According to the source, Syria is ready for cooperative endeavors in tourism and industry, and Israelis would be able to travel freely from Haifa to Istanbul via Syria. The idea of a secret channel with the Syrians was also brought up at the cabinet meeting, and advocated by Minister-without-Portfolio Ya'acov Edri (Kadima).
Edri's was one of a wide range of opinions expressed at the cabinet regarding how Israel should react to the flurry of Syrian overtures, with Vice Premier Shimon Peres (Kadima) saying Israel should not go against the US position on the matter, and Industry and Trade Minister Eli Yishai (Shas) cautioning against running after the Syrians. Yishai's party colleague Communications Minister Ariel Attias and Education Minister Yuli Tamir (Labor) said Israel should "check into the matter." Peretz, meanwhile, said Israel needed to convene an "emergency" cabinet meeting to determine "what our position is, and not respond to every other sentence." He said Israel had to decide whether it had preconditions to negotiations with Damascus.
"This issue is complex," he said. "Every agreement has a price tag. The price tag with the Syrians is clear. The question is whether we see strategic importance in cutting off Syria from radical terrorism, and in preventing cooperation with Hizbullah."
Olmert told the cabinet Israel had to ask why Assad "is making these declarations specifically today, after the publication of the Baker report in Washington, after President Bush took a firm stance on the subject, and when the entire international community is demanding that the Syrians stop stirring up war and pitting its forces against the Saniora government in Lebanon. Is this right, when the whole international community seeks to put pressure on Khaled Mashaal in Syria?"
Olmert seemed, however, to be most concerned about the opposition from the US, contending that at a time "when the president of the United States - Israel's most important ally, with whom we have a system of strategic relations - is struggling from every angle... against all the forces that want to impede him," Israel had no right to "do the opposite" and negotiate with an enemy country. Reporting to the cabinet on his recent trip to Germany, he said German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier returned from a visit to Damascus two weeks ago "disappointed."
He emphasized that before Israel develops any new policies regarding Syria, "it is advisable to weigh things with restraint and caution."
The debate on Syria came a day after Syrian President Bashar Assad called on Israel to accept his proposal for opening peace negotiations, and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said the return of the Golan Heights was not a precondition to talks.
Lahoud backs Aoun as successor
Daily Star staff
Monday, December 18, 2006
BEIRUT: President Emile Lahoud voiced support Saturday for the Lebanese opposition and for Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader MP Michel Aoun to succeed him as president. "I support the opposition because it has the political values in which I believe," Lahoud told Al-Aalam television.
Urging Aoun to remain "steadfast," Lahoud said the FPM leader was bringing the Lebanese people closer to one another: "I agree Aoun should become the next president." Lahoud highlighted the Lebanese identity of the Shebaa Farms, stressing that they need to be returned to Lebanon.
"The Shebaa Farms are Lebanese and should not be put under UN control," he said. Premier Fouad Siniora has said the disputed Shebaa Farms should be put under UN control.
Lahoud called on Siniora to "reconsider his choices and serve Lebanon's interests.""The Lebanese should resolve their problems away from foreign interference," he said. "Israel and the US keep reiterating their support for Siniora's government, which does not meet the premier's interests," he added. "But Syria has never said it is against any government." He also praised Hizbullah's leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, declaring that: "this man is ready to offer all kinds of sacrifices for the sake of his country ... We can barely find a similar figure in Lebanon and the region." - The Daily Star
Former POW, Sen. John McCain, meets with families of captured Israeli soldiers
The Associated PressPublished: December 17, 2006
JERUSALEM: Sen. John McCain, who spent five grueling years as a prisoner of war during Vietnam, met with the families of two captured Israeli soldiers Sunday, sharing his own harrowing story of survival behind enemy lines and promising to work for their release.
Reserve soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser were captured July 12 by Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas in a cross-border raid that ignited a 34-day war. No details on the soldiers' current conditions have been released and their captors have not provided any signs that they are still alive.
"I don't know if I was able to bring comfort, but we certainly said we would do everything in our power to bring attention to the situation and see that Geneva Conventions are observed," McCain, a Republican from Arizona, said after his meeting with the soldiers' relatives.
McCain, a former pilot and current U.S. presidential hopeful, was shot down over North Vietnam during a bombing run in 1967. During his five years in captivity — two spent in solitary confinement — McCain was frequently tortured by his captors and thought to be on the verge of death.
Omri Avni, Goldwasser's father-in-law, said McCain's experience gave his family a shred of optimism.
"We know (McCain) was captured and held in Vietnam for five years and he suffered a lot and he is now known to be a hero," Avni said. "This is a very good hope for us, because even after five years (in captivity) there is new life. We are hoping that after five months we can get our boys back to start a new life."McCain, who was traveling with Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a Democrat from Connecticut, also assured the families during the meeting of continued efforts to bring about the soldiers' safe return.
"I think (McCain's) life story is a great a source of hope to the families," Lieberman said. "We will go beyond that, as we promised them, and do everything we can diplomatically and politically."
Pontiff Appeals for Aid for Iraqi Refugees in Syria
U.N. Estimates Number at 600,000
VATICAN CITY, DEC. 17, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI appealed to the international community and to private institutions to help the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who have sought refuge in Syria.
The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates the number of such refugees at 600,000.
"My thoughts go today to the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees in Syria, obliged to leave their country because of the dramatic situation that is being lived there," the Pope said today after praying the midday Angelus with the crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square.
"Caritas-Syria is going all-out to assist them," the Holy Father commented. "However, I am launching an appeal to the sensitivity of private individuals, international organizations and governments so that they will make further efforts to address their most urgent needs." Benedict XVI assured his prayers that the Lord "may give consolation to these brothers and sisters and move the hearts of many people to generosity." A report published Dec. 2 by the UNHCR estimates that there are at least 1.6 million Iraqis internally displaced with at least another 1.6 million to 1.8 million in neighboring states. The report said: "UNHCR estimates that there are some 700,000 Iraqis in Jordan; 500,000-600,000 in Syria; 100,000 in Egypt; 20,000 to 40,000 in Lebanon; 54,000 in Iran; and tens of thousands more within the region and further afield."
Moussa to visit Beirut again for Lebanon crisis
Arab League (AL) Secretary-General Amr Moussa will return to Beirut on Tuesday to continue his mediation efforts to conclude a deal that will end Lebanon's political crisis, Lebanese daily As Safir reported on Monday.
The report said that Moussa is scheduled to head for Beirut on Tuesday, two days after he wrapped up his lightning visit to Saudi capital of Riyadh, where he conferred with Saudi King Abdullah on "efforts to resolve the Lebanese crisis" and a proposed agreement between the Lebanese government and its opposition.
Describing his talks with the king as "good and supportive," the AL chief said that "we discussed ways to get out of the political impasse."
Moussa, who had visited Beirut at least twice in the past days, was managing to persuade the two Lebanese sides to accept an agreement which would end the street protests and political crisis.
He left Beirut last Thursday after trying to broker an agreement between Prime Minister Fouad Seniora and the Hezbollah- led alliance demanding for the formation of a national unity government.
The AL leader said at the end of his last visit to Beirut that he had made a progress toward a deal to resolve the current crisis, but that the full agreement leading to the end of political crisis still needs more talks.
The daily added that Moussa will also visit Damascus for the Lebanese issue after Syrian President Bashar As sad returns from a visit to Moscow that starts Monday. Source: Xinhua
'This is not a game'
Clancy Chassay | Beirut
18 December 2006 12:38
Hizbullah supporters wave flags during the 10th day of an open-ended protest to force the resignation of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora in Beirut, Lebanon, on Sunday. (Photograph: AP)
The leader of the biggest Christian faction in Lebanon, General Michel Aoun, who has formed an alliance with the militant Shia group, Hizbullah, said their opposition movement was prepared to set up their own national unity administration if the Western-backed government of Fouad Siniora did not bow to their demands.
Speaking to The Guardian, Aoun said the largely Shia and Christian coalition, which is headed by Hizbullah, was preparing to ratchet up the pressure with unspecified acts of civil disobedience. “This is not a game, we have had enough of political manoeuvring ... we have the people, we are the real leaders of the Lebanese people, we can double the numbers on the streets any time.”
Aoun addressed hundreds of thousands of supporters who had gathered near the government buildings in central Beirut last weekend in what the army described as the largest demonstration in Lebanon’s history.
The former prime minister has accused the Siniora government of being corrupt and unrepresentative. He is calling on ministers to agree to a financial audit and face prosecution if found guilty of misappropriating state funds.
“I don’t consider these as requests. Fighting corruption is the demand of the people ... but it might be a problem for some in government as they may see themselves targeted by this,” he said.
Siniora’s embattled government is urging negotiations, but Aoun has given the government days to accept the inclusion of opposition ministers in the Cabinet or face undisclosed measures that could include strikes, disruptions of public office and mass parliamentary resignations.
The Arab League secretary general, Amr Mussa, arrived in Beirut this week to meet leaders from both sides in the hope of negotiating a way out of the deadlock. Talks are expected to focus on a United Nations-proposed international tribunal to try Lebanese and Syrian security personnel accused of murdering the former prime minister, Rafik Hariri, in February 2005, and government demands for early presidential elections to depose the country’s president, Emile Lahoud -- a close ally of Damascus.
Independent polls suggest that Aoun, who waged a 15-year campaign to drive Syrian forces out of Lebanon, is the favourite candidate for president, with about 45% of the national vote, but he is unpopular with some pro-government forces who are loath to see him back in power.
His detractors accuse him of seeking to block the formation of the international tribunal to try to protect Damascus and secure Syrian backing for his presidency. “We are not with Syria, and we are not with Iran,” Aoun said. “I am for the tribunal. I was the first one who demanded it, but we, as MPs, have not been shown a draft. We need to make sure it doesn’t violate Lebanese law before signing off on it.”
As the US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, warned of a Syrian attempt “to bring down the Siniora government using or supporting extremist forces”, Aoun cautioned that the West’s unwavering support for the Siniora government was alienating large swathes of the Lebanese public.
“They should not take sides. They should support the entire Lebanese people, not some of them ... it is turning more of the public against them.”
The former general dismissed speculation -- prompted by violent skirmishes between Sunnis and Shias in recent days -- of a return to civil war, but expressed fears of violence from government supporters, accusing the current leadership of protecting “mercenaries” and instigating the clashes.
He said pro-government forces linked to a largely Sunni-controlled division within the internal security services played a part in the recent killing of a 20-year-old Shia protester who was shot in the back on Monday night as he passed through a Sunni neighbourhood.
Aoun came under fire from both friends and critics for his decision to side with Hizbullah, an ally of Damascus, earlier this year. But he insists he remains a steadfast opponent of Syrian interference and fears the recent thaw in relations between Damascus and Washington may allow Syria, which controlled Lebanon for 15 years before withdrawing under popular and international pressure last year, to again play a hand in Lebanese affairs.
“We fear that if the United States concludes a deal, they will allow Syria back into Lebanon, which we oppose.”
Aoun said his partnership with Hizbullah was born out of a shared commitment to fighting corruption, and to political reforms aimed at strengthening the state.“Sometimes we agree, sometimes we don’t, but our agreement is our guarantee that Syria will not return.”
He said he supported UN resolution 1559, which calls for the disarmament of Hizbullah, but proposes a strategy of government-controlled civilian mobilisation to compensate for the weakness of the army in the event of an attack on Lebanon. -- © Guardian News & Media Ltd 2006Righteous Muslims
A briefing by Robert Satloff
December 11, 2006
http://www.meforum.org/article/1073
Robert Satloff is the executive director of The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the author of Among the Righteous: Lost Stories from the Holocaust's Reach into Arab Lands. Mr. Satloff, a specialist in Middle Eastern politics and U.S. Middle East policy, is the author or editor of nine books and monographs. His views on Middle East issues have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times. As creator and host of Dakhil Washington ("Inside Washington"), a weekly program on al-Hurra, the Arabic satellite television channel, he is the only non-Arab to host a program on an Arab satellite channel. Mr. Satloff addressed the Middle East Forum on December 11, 2006. The following is an account of his briefing, as reported in the Jewish Exponent.
Scholar Delves Into Arab Heroes of the Holocaust
by Rachel Silverman
Jewish Exponent
December 14, 2006
Just this week, about 60 "scholars" from around the world gathered for a conference on Arab soil to debate the veracity of the Holocaust, and to call for more "proof" on the subject.
Had Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, been invited, he might have told them to simply look outside.
According to Satloff's new book, Among the Righteous, not only did the Holocaust play out in Arab countries like Morocco, Tunisia and Libya, but Arabs themselves were involved -- both as rescuers and perpetrators.
Speaking Monday night at the Jewish Community Services Building in Philadelphia, Satloff framed his 11-country, four-year search into this story as a potential antidote to the trend of Holocaust denial and trivialization in the Arab world.
What's more, Satloff's lecture -- jointly sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia's Center for Israel and Overseas, the Middle East Forum, the Gershman Y and the National Museum of American Jewish History -- even attempted to put a positive spin on Arab involvement in the Holocaust.
As the scholar writes: "If I could tell the story of a single Arab who saved a single Jew during the Holocaust, then perhaps I could make Arabs see the Holocaust as a source of pride, worthy of remembering, not just something to avoid or deny."
To begin this undertaking, Satloff said that he had to dispel the notion that the Holocaust was strictly a European phenomenon.
Seeking firsthand evidence to support his thesis, Satloff -- who lived in Rabat, Morocco, with his wife and children for 21/2 years during the research process -- interviewed Jewish and Arab witnesses, combed through archives and drove along the route of the Trans-Sahara railway.
During that time, Satloff determined that the 500,000 Jews in French North Africa during World War II experienced "all the precursors of the final solution" that Jews on the European continent did -- anti-Jewish laws, deportations, forced labor camps -- except that they were spared the gas chambers.
He also found that the relationship between Arabs and Nazis ranged from Arabs "in complete cahoots with the Nazis and with Vichy France" to "breathtaking stories of Arabs who, in some cases, risked everything to save Jews."
In fact, his search for an Arab Oskar Schindler yielded Si Ali Sakkat, a former mayor of Tunis, Tunisia, who sheltered 60 Jewish workers when they showed up at his farm, and Si Kaddour Benghabrit, rector of the Great Mosque of Paris, who gave 100 Jews counterfeit Muslim identity papers.
Finding the Stories
Satloff's book also asks a significant question: Why haven't these stories been told?
He offered two answers: "Jews didn't look too hard," and "Arabs didn't want to be found."
Satloff blamed Jews for overemphasizing the Holocaust as an Ashkenazi narrative. But Arabs, too, should be faulted for this omission, he said.
Because many Arabs remain wary of any narrative that paints Jews as victims -- and that could potentially legitimize the founding of Israel -- Satloff said the Arab world has generally regarded Arab Holocaust stories as downright "toxic." But according to the scholar, relaying such information is potentially beneficial for both parties.
Though Satloff admitted that he's "not a romantic on the possibility of making peace between Arabs and Jews anytime soon," he's "encouraged" by e-mail from Arabs assuming responsibility for their actions during the Nazi period.
"Given what is going on in the Middle East today, I'll take whatever progress we can get."