LCCC ENGLISH NEWS BULLETIN
December 8/06

Bible Reading For the Day
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 7,21.24-27. Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined."

Latest New from miscellaneous sources for December8/06
Gathering Storm in Lebanon-FrontPage magazine.com - Los Angeles,CA,USA
Hezbollah's rash allies-Globe and Mail - Canada
Lebanese army chief urges troops to remain neutral-Reuters
Why Hezbollah's Al-ManarTVBroadcastsSunday Mass. By: Sophie McNeil
Hezbollah-led opposition calls for 'historic' demonstration ...Asharq Alawsat -
Opposition Calls for New Mass Rally to Topple Saniora-Naharnet
Saniora Urges Rival Parties to Return to Talks-Naharnet
Nasrallah to Address Protestors at Beirut Rally Tonight-Naharnet
Lebanon protest enters seventh day-Euronews.net
Hezbollah-led opposition calls for 'historic' demonstration ...Asharq Alawsat
U.S. Treasury Targets Latin American Backers of Hizbullah-Naharnet
Man that Allegedly Funded Hizbullah Gets 21 Months in U.S. Prison-Naharnet
Israel: Soldiers Seized by Hizbullah Seriously Hurt-Naharnet
Baker Commission Calls for Comprehensive Mideast Peace, Ending Syria's Meddling in Lebanon-Naharnet
Maronite Church Calls for Early Presidential Elections-Naharnet
Sharaa: Syria Not Meddling in Lebanon Affairs-Naharnet
Aoun Pledges To Put Saniora Government in 'Deep Coma'-Naharnet
France, Israel Fail to Resolve Differences on Overflights-Naharnet

Iraqization is right, but surrendering to fascist regimes is wrong
Washington DC, December 6, 2006. Mideast Newswire
In his first analysis of the the Iraq Study Group recommendations, Mideast expert Walid Phares told three media outlets in the US, Europe, and the Middle East, that "the Iraq Study Group's recommendations resemble a salad bowl. The document contains some rational suggestions that should have been adopted by the Bush Administration years ago, and also some suicidal ideas that were tested decades ago and failed miserably." Phares, a senior fellow with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington, DC and author of Foreign Affairs best seller Future Jihad, was interviewed by Al Muharer al Arabi, Radio Free Iraq, and the Jack Ricardi radio show in the US. "These are only the first reactions to a comprehensive document; there will be a thorough analysis of the report from both American and Middle Eastern perspectives."
Phares told Al Muharer al Arabi that the global recommendation "to engage Iran and Syria's regimes positively and constructively means that they were mistreated before. My first question to the authors of the report is this: how was the United States mistreating these regimes in the past? Was asking Ahmedinejad to stop making a nuclear bomb and asking Assad of Syria to withdraw from Lebanon following a UN resolution signs of bad treatment? Were these demands wrong in their essence? Do they give Iran and Syria the right to feel victimized? If one perceives US action in this way, then all what Washington has to do is to release pressure on the Mullah to build their weapons and ask Assad to send his Army back to Lebanon" Phares added, "the public in America and the people in the region are not as naive as they were before 9/11. They will ask the hard questions when the time comes. The so-called engagement recommendation is a relic from the past and sounds like a suicidal idea. For surrendering to fascist regimes - regimes that are rejected by their own people - is utterly wrong." However on the Iraq restructuring suggestions, Phares told Radio Iraq and other radio shows that "the idea of the Iraqization process is a right one and has always received a consensus among Iraqis and Americans. General Abizaid and many others have voiced these suggestions in the past in the US and in Iraq." But Phares concluded by asking "how can we press for empowering the Iraqis on the ground on the one hand while surrendering their fate to Iran and Syria through diplomatic means on the other? That sounds like a recipe for chaos to me."
In a previous interview with Radio Free Iraq few days before the release of the report, Dr Phares said: "many ideas and suggestions are on the table, but one matter should be clear: there shouldn't be a return of dictatorship to Iraq and a return of Syrian occupation in Lebanon. On the other hand, inserting US forces within Iraqi forces should have been the initial plan. Listen to the interview in Arabic here Radio Free Iraq
http://www.iraqhurr.org/realaudio/correspondents/2006/12/20061205164448.ram

Calls for New Mass Rally to Topple Saniora
The Hizbullah-led opposition has vowed to step up its campaign, setting Sunday as a new ultimatum to bring down Prime Minister Fouad Saniora's government through a mass street protest.
Meanwhile, Arab diplomats, fearful of a return to civil war, are exerting intensive efforts in an attempt to mediate the crisis.
The new zero hour set for 3 p.m. Sunday by the predominantly Shiite opposition came after the influential Maronite Church called for early presidential elections to help settle the serious crisis which is threatening to split Lebanon. The church, the biggest in Lebanon, also called on Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to convene the house to break the critical political deadlock. In an apparent response to the church's call, President Emile Lahoud Wednesday rejected early presidential elections, and reiterated that the formation of a national unity government was the only solution to the political crisis, according to a statement issued by his office.
Lahoud has rejected repeated demands by Saniora and the parliamentary majority to step down. He has vowed to stay in office until his term expires in November next year. However, Christian opposition leader General Michel Aoun adopted the church statement. "I have no objections to holding early presidential elections," Aoun told As Safir in remarks published Thursday. But there was no comment from Berri on the church's statement, which avoided the term "national unity government," the opposition's primary demand, and proposed the formation of a "reconciliation government that ensures wide participation at the national level."
The Organization of the Islamic Conference also urged Lebanese leaders to act with "the highest degree of self-restraint, wisdom and responsibility in order to save the country from slipping on the inevitable slope of confrontation".
The opposition call also followed an appeal by Saniora to those who are trying to topple him through mass protests to stop "digging bunkers," return to the negotiating table, and help rebuild Lebanon. Meanwhile, thousands of protestors camped in a tent city outside the Grand Serail for a seventh straight day Thursday as the opposition asked the Lebanese people to prepare for other forms of peaceful protest to force the formation of a new unity government.
"We call on the Lebanese to participate en masse in a demonstration at 3 p.m. Sunday in downtown Beirut in the hope that this will be a historic day on which our voices are heard," the opposition said in a statement released late Wednesday. It also asked the Lebanese to "be ready for other forms and means of peaceful protest" to obtain the fall of the government, which is backed by an anti-Syrian parliament majority elected in 2005. The statement did not elaborate.
Earlier, Berri, the influencial speaker whose Amal group is an ally of Hizbullah, said that street protests would continue, and Christian leader Michel Aoun warned that the opposition would escalate its rally if the government failed to accept demands for a national unity cabinet.A fresh initiative by a Sunni scholar with the opposition to expand the government has failed after being rejected by both camps. Deep political tensions in Lebanon and a number of street fights that have killed at least one Shiite sympathizer have raised concerns of a resurgence of sectarian strife in a country still reeling from the 1975-1990 civil war.
The opposition, which is seeking a greater say in the government, has held an open-ended sit-in since Friday outside Saniora's offices in central Beirut where he and nearly a dozen ministers have been residing since the Nov. 21 assassination of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel. Saniora's coalition has accused the opposition of seeking to block a cabinet decision for an international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 murder of former Premier Rafik Hariri, widely blamed on Syria.(Naharnet-AFP) Beirut, 07 Dec 06, 09:01

Saniora Urges Rival Parties to Return to Talks
Prime Minister Fouad Saniora on Thursday called on rival political factions to return to talks as thousands of predominantly Hizbullah protestors camped outside the Grand Serail vowing to topple the government. "No matter how long it takes, the Lebanese will have to sit together," Saniora told a group of sympathizers visiting the government offices in downtown Beirut. "Why do we have to waste time and energy? We have to go back to dialogue. We have to find a solution by sitting together, away from tension and confessional incitement." The March 8 coalition, which comprises factions led by Hizbullah, and general Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement have no longer recognize the Saniora government after six pro-Syrian ministers resigned last month. They have been calling for the formation of a national unity government. However, the country's anti-Syrian leadership has claimed that Hizbullah and its allies acted in a bid to block Lebanese approval of an international court to try suspects in the murder of former premier Rafik Hariri. Syria has been widely blamed for the killing, something it denies.
The rump cabinet subsequently approved the tribunal, but the measure must also be okayed by parliament, whose speaker, Nabih Berri, is a Hizbullah ally.
Saniora reiterated that his government had not accepted the resignations of the six ministers, two of whom were from Hizbullah. "Our hands are extended. Our government is constitutional and we did not accept the resignation of our colleagues," said Saniora, whose government has its power base in the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority elected last year. "We are staying and we are steadfast in our position," he stressed. The anti-government demonstrators have also stood firm, vowing to stage a new mass protest in Beirut on Sunday in order to topple the government.(AFP-Naharnet) Beirut, 07 Dec 06, 14:00

U.S. Treasury Targets Latin American Backers of Hizbullah
The U.S. government Wednesday froze assets of nine individuals and two organizations in Latin America accused of supporting Hizbullah.
The U.S. Treasury said those targeted are located in the "Tri-Border Area" of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay and have provided financial aid to a "specially designated global terrorist" named Assad Ahmed Barakat, who has been cited for his support of the Hizbullah leadership.
Barakat's assets were frozen in 2004 when he was listed as "one of the most prominent and influential members of the Hizbullah terrorist organization."
U.S. officials said at the time Barakat had been Hizbullah's treasurer and had funneled money raised through coercion to the group in Lebanon and Iran.
"Assad Ahmed Barakat's network in the Tri-Border Area is a major financial artery to Hizbullah in Lebanon," said Adam Szubin, director of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control. "Today's action aims to disrupt this channel and to further unravel Barakat's financial network."
The move was taken on the basis of a presidential order aimed at shutting down the financial flows supporting terrorism, which can freeze assets under U.S. jurisdiction. The United States has stepped up a financial offensive on Hizbullah since it kidnapped two Israeli soldiers on July 12 in a deadly cross border raid, sparking a 34-day offensive on Lebanon. Among the new targets was Mohammed Yusif Abdullah, described by U.S. officials as "a senior Hizbullah leader" in the South American region and an important contributor of funds to the group. Officials said he has been a "courier of Hizbullah funds" to Lebanon and has been "involved in the import of contraband electronics, passport falsification, credit card fraud, and trafficking counterfeit U.S. dollars."
The sanctions also target two brothers and a cousin of Assad Ahmed Barakat, as well as electronics store Casa Hamze and shopping center Galeria Page, both in Ciudad del Este in Paraguay.(AFP-Naharnet) Beirut, 07 Dec 06, 08:14

Man that Allegedly Funded Hizbullah Gets 21 Months in U.S. Prison
A man linked to a ring that dealt in contraband cigarettes, counterfeit Zig-Zag rolling papers and counterfeit Viagra and allegedly sent some of the profits to Hizbullah was sentenced to 21 months in prison. Imad Majed Hamadeh, 51, of Dearborn Heights, Michigan, pleaded guilty to racketeering charges in July. He was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen. Hamadeh is one of 18 people who ran a multimillion-dollar cigarette-trafficking ring, according to an indictment unsealed earlier this year. The indictment alleged that from 1996 to 2004, the group purchased low-taxed or untaxed cigarettes from North Carolina or a New York Indian reservation and resold them in Michigan and New York, making profits by evading state cigarette taxes.
The group also transported stolen property and laundered money and operated in Lebanon, Canada, China, Brazil and Paraguay in addition to the United States, U.S. Attorney Stephen Murphy said.

Maronite Church Calls for Early Presidential Elections
The Maronite Church on Wednesday called for early presidential elections to help settle the serious crisis which is threatening to split Lebanon.
The council of Maronite Bishops, in a declaration of the church's principles, also urged leaders of the community and other Lebanese spiritual groups to agree on a "code of honor" to settle differences through dialogue, reject violence and armed confrontations and refrain from agitation.
The Maronite declaration of principles called for ratifying an agreement with the United Nations on an International Tribunal to try suspects charged with the 2005 assassination of ex-premier Rafik Hariri and other related "terrorist" crimes.
It warned against linking Lebanon to regional and international disputes and called for the formation of an "entente government" to contain the explosive situation.
If the entente government could not be formed, the statement noted, efforts should be exerted to form a government of "independent" figures to adopt a new elections law based on the principle of small electoral constituencies that can "truly represent" the various Lebanese communities.
The statement also called for the full implementation of the Taef Accord, which ended the Lebanese civil war in 1990, and stressed on the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland.
The Maronite Church stressed on the need for settling the question of armed Palestinian factions in Lebanon.
Commenting on Hizbullah's weapons, without mentioning the Shiite faction by name, the statement said weapons in Lebanon should be "strictly controlled by the legitimate security forces."
The council of Maronite Bishops also called for an urgent meeting of the Lebanese parliament to tackle the serious crisis which is splitting the nation.
The council, which held its monthly meeting at suburban Bkirki under Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, called on Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to convene the house to deliberate the issue that has paralyzed constitutional institutions.
The statement noted that the "confusing situation through which the Lebanese are going is regrettable. Constitutional institutions have been paralyzed."
It said: "nothing is left except parliament, but it doesn't convene."
"That is why," the statement added, "we plead with its speaker Nabih Berri to convene it so it may find a way out of the crisis." Beirut, 06 Dec 06, 14:58
Some members charged a "Resistance Tax" in excess of the contraband cigarettes' black market price to fund Hizbullah, which has been classified as a terrorist group by the federal government, Murphy said.
Three other defendants in the case pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Six more are scheduled to go to trial Jan. 7. The other eight are wanted as fugitives and believed to be outside the United States, Murphy said.
Hamadeh got his prison sentence the same day the U.S. Treasury Department froze assets of nine individuals and two organizations in Latin America accused of supporting Hizbullah.(AP-Naharnet) Beirut, 07 Dec 06, 11:26

Sharaa: Syria Not Meddling in Lebanon Affairs
Syrian Vice-president Farouq al-Sharaa has said Damascus was not meddling in Lebanon's domestic affairs, criticizing the stream of visits to Beirut by Western officials. Sharaa reiterated, in a speech Wednesday, Syria's readiness to establish diplomatic ties with Lebanon, saying that when "things in Lebanon go back to normal, we will open an embassy and consulates in all Lebanese cities.""We do not interfere in Lebanon, and if we wanted to we would have cleared up the issue from the first day of the demonstration" launched Friday by predominantly Hizbullah protestors to topple Premier Fouad Saniora's government.
In a meeting with representatives of the National Progressive Front on Wednesday, Sharaa stressed that Syria had no intention of "returning its military to Lebanon, having ultimately folded this page." Syria pulled out its troops from Lebanon in 2005 following the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri after a presence of almost three decades. His remarks were published by the official Syrian news agency, SANA. Sharaa accused Western diplomats of interfering in Lebanon's internal affairs. "This interference aims to place the country under foreign hegemony so as to separate it completely from Syria," Sharaa said.
"The endless visits by Western officials dictating their will on Lebanon ... amounts to interference," he said.
Meanwhile, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Syrian President Bashar Assad have called for greater regional cooperation to lower tensions in the Middle East. They stressed "the necessity to exert efforts to lower tension in the region", SANA said, and played up the importance that "states of the region cooperate to achieve security and stability". Assad and Erdogan also agreed "to pursue coordination and consultation between the two countries on questions concerning the Middle East and of mutual interest", the agency said. SANA said they discussed the situation in Lebanon and Iraq as well as developments in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The two leaders started with a one-on-one meeting shortly after the start of Erdogan's brief visit to the Syrian capital on Wednesday, before an enlarged session with their delegations, SANA said. "Our aim is to contribute to peace in the Middle East," the Turkish premier said Tuesday in Ankara. "The region is in deep chaos." When he first announced his intention to travel to Damascus in late November, Erdogan said he would ask Syrian leaders for "positive contributions" in Lebanon after the assassination of industry minister Pierre Gemayel. On Tuesday, he reiterated his opposition to the possible break-up of neighboring Iraq amid bloody feuding between religious and ethnic groups, saying Iranian leaders he met in Tehran last Sunday agreed.(Naharnet-AFP) Beirut, 07 Dec 06, 12:10

The danger of engaging with the enemy
By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist | December 6, 2006
Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts SHOULD THE United States turn to Iran and Syria for help in reducing the violence bloodying Iraq? James Baker's Iraq Study Group, out this week with its well-leaked recommendations, thinks direct talks with Tehran and Damascus would be a fine idea. I think so too -- right after those governments switch sides in the global jihad.
As things stand now, however, negotiating with Iran and Syria over the future of Iraq is about as promising a strategy for preventing more bloodshed as negotiating with Adolf Hitler over the future of Czechoslovakia was in 1938. There were eminent "realists" then too, many of whom were gung-ho for cutting a deal with the Fuehrer. As Neville Chamberlain set off on the diplomatic mission that would culminate in Munich, William Shirer recorded in "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich," Britain's poet laureate, John Masefield, composed a paean in his honor . When the negotiations were done and Czechoslovakia had been dismembered, the prime minister was hailed as a national hero. The Nobel Committee received not one, not two, but 10 nominations proposing Chamberlain for the 1939 peace prize.
Chamberlain and his admirers had been certain that Munich would bring "peace in our time." Instead it helped pave the way for war.
How many times does the lesson have to be relearned? There is no appeasing the unappeasable. When democracies engage with fanatical tyrants, the world becomes not less dangerous but more so.
PART ONE: Fighting to win in Iraq (By Jeff Jacoby, Globe Columnist, 12/3/06)
That wasn't the fashionable view in 1938, however, and it isn't popular today. According to a new World Public Opinion poll, 75 percent of Americans agree that to stabilize Iraq, the United States should enter into talks with Iran and Syria. "I believe in talking to your enemies," James Baker declares. "I don't think you restrict your conversations to your friends."
But with totalitarian regimes like those in Iran and Syria, the effect of such "conversations" is usually negative. It buys time and legitimacy for the totalitarians, while deepening their conviction that the West has no stomach for a fight. No one was more pleased with Chamberlain's diplomacy than Hitler, for it proved that Germany was in the saddle, riding the democracies -- that the momentum was with Berlin, while London and Paris were flailing. The Baker panel's recommendations will bring similar satisfaction to Tehran and Damascus.
Shortly after 9/11, President Bush famously declared that every nation "now has a decision to make: Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists." At every step of the way, Iran and Syria have unambiguously been with the terrorists.
As the world's foremost sponsors of radical Islamic violence, the State Department reported in April, "Iran and Syria routinely provide unique safe haven, substantial resources, and guidance to terrorist organizations." While the Assad regime engineers the assassination of Lebanese politicians, Iran's rabid president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, calls openly for "death to America" and demands that Israel be "wiped off the map."
Syria was Saddam Hussein's most dependable Middle East ally, and almost from the moment the Iraqi insurgency began it was clear that Damascus was pouring fuel on the fire. Iran, too, works overtime to intensify the Iraqi bloodshed. ABC News reported last week on the discovery of "smoking-gun evidence of Iranian support for terrorists in Iraq: brand-new weapons fresh from Iranian factories." Among the finds: "advanced IEDs designed to pierce armor and anti-tank weapons." In other words, to murder US troops.
No regimes on earth have more to gain from an American defeat in Iraq than the theocracy in Iran and the Assad dictatorship in Syria. They have every incentive to aggravate the Iraqi turmoil that has so many Americans clamoring for withdrawal. "There is no evidence to support the assumption that Iran and Syria want a stable Iraq," writes Middle East Quarterly editor Michael Rubin, whose experience in the region runs deep. "Rather, all their actions show a desire to stymie the United States and destabilize their neighbor. More dangerous still . . . is the naive assumption that making concessions to terrorism or forcing others to do so brings peace rather than war."
The war against radical Islam, of which Iraq is but one front, cannot be won so long as regimes like those in Tehran and Damascus remain in power. They are as much our enemies today as the Nazi Reich was our enemy in an earlier era. Imploring Assad and Ahmadinejad for help in Iraq can only intensify the whiff of American retreat that is already in the air. The word for that isn't realism. It's surrender.
Jeff Jacoby's e-mail address is jacoby@globe.com.
© Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company.
 

US Treasury targets individuals, businesses in South America for allegedly channeling money to Hizbullah
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Thursday, December 07, 2006
WASHINGTON: The Bush administration took action on Wednesday aimed at choking off a major South American fundraising channel for Hizbullah in the tri-border area of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. The US Treasury Department's action targets nine people and two entities - a shopping center in Paraguay and an electronics company, Casa Hamze, located in the shopping center.
The United States alleges that the designated targets have provided financial and logistical support to Hizbullah, considered a terrorist organization by the US.
Hizbullah called the US action an "attack" on Wednesday.
"This is part of the US policy to attack the party," Hizbullah politburo member Ghaleb Abu Zeinab said.
Abu Zeinab added that "every person who does not follow the US policy is being made a victim of the US and Israeli intelligence and being implicated in such allegations."Americans are forbidden from doing business with the designated targets, whose bank accounts or other financial assets found in the US were frozen.
Specifically, the department alleges that the designated people gave financial and other assistance to Assad Ahmad Barakat, whom the government several years ago added to its asset-blocking list for his support of Hizbullah.
"Assad Ahmad Barakat's network in the tri-border area is a major financial artery to Hizbullah in Lebanon," said Adam Szubin, director of the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control.
The department alleged that Muhammad Yusif Abdallah is a senior Hizbullah leader in the tri-border area and an important financial backer of the group.
The department says Abdallah is an owner and manager of the Galeria Page shopping center located in Paraguay, which the department also designated on Wednesday.The department alleged that Abdallah pays a percentage of his income to Hizbullah based on the profits he receives from the shopping center.
The department also alleges that Abdallah has been involved in importing contraband electronics, falsifying passports, credit card fraud and trafficking counterfeit US dollars.Barakat was himself targeted, with the government alleging that he is a Hizbullah member in the tri-border area.
He is further suspected of trafficking in narcotics, counterfeit US dollars, arms and explosives, the government said.
Hamzi Ahmad Barakat, who allegedly traveled to Chile to collect money for Hizbullah and is the brother of Assad Ahmad Barakat, was also named.
Others named Wednesday are: Muhammad Fayez Barakat, whom the US alleges is responsible for the Barakat network's finances; Muhammad Tarabain Chamas and Saleh Mahmoud Fayad, whom the US alleges have been involved in counterintelligence; Sobhi Mahmoud Fayad, whom the US says served as a liaison between the Iranian embassy and the Hizbullah community in the tri-border area; Ali Muhammad Kazan, who helped raise more than $500,000 for Hizbullah from Lebanese businessmen in the tri-border region, the US alleges; and Farouk Omairi, whom the US says is a member of the Hizbullah community in the tri-border area. - AP, The Daily Star

CLAO
December 5, 2006 PR061205
Let There Be A Government Of Unity In Lebanon
The Council of Lebanese American Organizations (CLAO) is anxiously following the events in Lebanon with the escalating popular protest. In the last few days nearly a million and a half, exceeding a third of the Lebanese population, took to the streets of Beirut in peaceful protest of the abusive practices of power by the government of Mr Fouad Siniora. With questionable representation since inception, the recent resignation of six ministers from the current government, represents the final blow to any semblance of representation of the will of the Lebanese People: Over 70% of the Lebanese Christians, over 90% of the Lebanese Shiites, and a large portion of the Lebanese Sunnis and Druze are now unrepresented in this cabinet, based on popular vote figures from the last Parliamentary Elections.
Since coming to power, the government of Mr Fouad Siniora has committed numerous and serious constitutional infractions in interfering with the Judicial and Legislative branches, failed to deliver on any item of the political program promised by his Cabinet, most notably a new Electoral Law to replace the Syrian Occupation imposed version of 2000 along with much needed economic reform to address the mounting national debt of over $40 Billions.
The protests have started on Friday December 1, 2006 and still going strong, vowing no end until the resignation of the current Siniora Government and the formation of a National Unity Government that is truly representative of the Will of the Lebanese. Mr. Siniora and the remnants of his Cabinet remain adamant at defying the Will of the people drawing his true backing ironically from the expedient foreign policy of the greatest democracy in the world, our beloved United States.
While CLAO praises President Bush for his genuine efforts in support of a free, sovereign, and democratic Lebanon, CLAO calls on the Bush administration to reevaluate its policy towards the Siniora government. Such government is none less than a byproduct of Syrian Occupation by virtue of the 2000 Electoral Law that was forced on the Lebanese against their will in the 2005 elections. Often referred to as the “Ghazi Kanaan Law”, in reference to the late Syrian Minister of Interior, the 2000 Electoral Law was designed to marginalize the Lebanese Christians, for instance, by diluting the contribution of their popular vote to actual numbers of MP’s. A fair and truly representative Electoral Law is the foundation of any democratic form of government: anything short is an aberration and not true democracy.
CLAO urges the US administration to support the formation of a National Unity Government to replace the current Cabinet of Mr Fouad Siniora and lead the country through a period of transition to accomplish the following objectives:
Pass the proposed Electoral Law
Call for early Parliamentary Elections
Elect a New President of the Republic
These steps will ensure the establishment of a cohesive central authority armed with the trust and overwhelming support of the broadest Lebanese popular base. Only such an authority would be capable of disarming Hezbollah and the Palestinian militias and undertake the enormous political and economic reform challenges facing the Lebanese Nation.