LCCC NEWS BULLETIN
FEBRUARY 4/2006

Below News From The Daily Star For 4/2/06
Hizbullah 'punishes' Israel for death of 15-year-old shepherd boy
Hizbullah attacks Israeli positions in Shebaa Farms
Hariri probe leaks cut after Brammertz
Berri set to referee warring politicians
Fadlallah welcomes Shiite ministers' return to Cabinet
We haven't totally given up on Aoun, says Gemayel
MP hits at lack of will to probe Lebanese held in Syria
ISF raids homes in hunt for bombing suspects
The Shiites' return to Cabinet ends a period of political deterioration
No sign of agreement over Baabda-Aley candidate
How to increase the productivity of Lebanese companies?
Rally, concert to mark anniversary of Hariri's murder
Thousands protest prophet outrage
Recent border clashes prove that Israel is a dangerous neighbor
The democratic urge and Hassan Nasrallah -By David Ignatius

Israel confirms aircraft strike in south Lebanon
03 Feb 2006 15:07:13 GMT
JERUSALEM, Feb 3 (Reuters) - An Israeli aircraft bombed suspected Hizbollah targets in southern Lebanon on Friday, a military spokeswoman said. Israel also fired artillery after Hizbollah launched a barrage of rockets at an Israeli military outpost in the disputed Shebaa Farms area on the northern border between the two countries. The military spokeswoman said that one Israeli soldier was lightly wounded in the Hizbollah attack. Witnesses in the area said the forces continued to exchange fire as darkness fell. The spokeswoman said the area targeted was the point from which Israel suspected the rockets had been fired.

Israel Strikes Back at Hezbollah Sites
© 2006 The Associated Press
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Hezbollah guerrillas attacked an Israeli military position in a disputed part of the south Lebanon border on Friday, provoking a swift Israeli airstrike on suspected Hezbollah sites, Lebanese security officials said.
Hezbollah said in a statement that its bombardment of rockets and shells was in retaliation for the killing by Israel this week of a Lebanese person who went missing in the border area on Wednesday. Hezbollah added it attacked the same Israeli position that fired the shots which killed the person. The Israeli army said Hezbollah fired a barrage of rockets at an Israeli military position in Chebaa Farms. There were no immediate reports of injuries. Shortly afterward, Israeli planes bombed suspected Hezbollah targets along south Lebanese border, said a Lebanese security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. On Wednesday, Israel said its troops fired at, and apparently hit, a man who crossed the U.N.-demarcated border. Lebanon says the victim was 15-year-old shepherd Ibrahim Youssef Rhayyel, while Israel says the victim was an armed man with binoculars. Hezbollah insisted Rhayyel was a civilian and its leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, warned Wednesday that if he were found dead, the guerrillas would "punish the killers without hesitation."
The was found Thursday, riddled with bullets, on the Lebanese side of the border.
In its statement Friday, Hezbollah said the Israeli outpost took "direct hits" from the shelling, but the group did not mention any casualties. Chebaa Farms is frequently the scene of fighting between Hezbollah and Israeli troops. A tiny parcel of land held by Israel, Lebanon claims the territory and Hezbollah has vowed to liberate it. But U.N. cartographers say it belongs to that part of Syria which is occupied by Israel. It lies only a few miles from Israel proper.

Shiite parties call off Lebanon cabinet boycott
Middle East on line 3.2.06: Siniora’s statement in parliament that Hezbollah should be called only by its name is behind Shiite parties’ comeback. BEIRUT - Five pro-Syrian Shiite ministers announced Thursday an end to their nearly two-month long boycott of the Lebanese cabinet, which was sparked by a war of words over the Shiite fundamentalist movement Hezbollah.
The ministers, who are members of or close to the Amal and Hezbollah movements, "have decided to end the suspension of their participation" in the government, said Ali Hassan Khalil, an Amal minister. He spoke during a joint press conference with Hezbollah political advisor Hussein al-Khalil. The breakthrough came after Prime Minister Fuad Siniora made a statement in parliament that the Islamic Resistance armed wing of Hezbollah should be called "only by its name".
Hezbollah and Amal had objected to it being referred to as a militia, and demanded that a government declaration recognize the "resistance," whose operations led to Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000 after 22 years of occupation. Lebanon's government has been virtually paralysed since December 12 when Hezbollah and Amal ordered their cabinet members not to participate in protest at calls for an international probe into a wave of attacks on Damascus critics. The political crisis was exacerbated by increasing international pressure for Beirut to comply with UN resolution 1559 which calls for dismantling "all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militia." However, the anti-Syrian majority, which won the most seats in May-June parliamentary elections for the first time, has agreed that the question of disarming Hezbollah should remain an internal matter.

No sign of agreement over Baabda-Aley candidate
By Majdoline Hatoum -Daily Star staff
Saturday, February 04, 2006
BEIRUT: The Baabda-Aley by-elections were once again at the center of debate between concerned political forces Friday, with no sign of an agreement over a compromise candidate for the Parliamentary seat. Following a visit to Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader, MP Michel Aoun, Druze MP Wael Bou Faour said the by-elections could be a chance to "mend the differences" between various factions of the March 14 Forces.
"There is a certain conviction by all March 14 Forces that the elections should be an occasion to reunite all March 14 Forces ... and to push our march for a stronger more independent Lebanon forward," he said.
Although the date is not set yet, the Baabda-Aley by-election is expected to witness a very fierce electoral battle in case concerned political factions do not agree over a compromise candidate. There are three candidates currently running for the post, the strongest of which is Pierre Dakkashe, who was adopted by Aoun as a compromise candidate.
The other two candidates are Dory Chamoun, head of the Liberal National Party, and former anchorwoman May Chidiac who was maimed in an attempt on her life last September.FPM Spokesperson Tony Nasrallah told The Daily Star that Aoun explained during the two hour meeting his reasons for adopting Dakkashe as a compromise candidate.
"Dakkashe is a very well known figure that is close to everyone in Baabda-Aley and he came first after Naim during the last elections," Nasrallah said.Dakkashe, who visited Speaker Nabih Berri during the day, labeled himself a compromise candidate, asserting he was not part of any political party.
"I do not represent any political party at all," Dakkashe said following his meeting with Berri, and added "I want to assert again that Aoun was not the one to present me as a compromise candidate, he merely accepted me as one after I asked him to."
"Whether the compromise occurs over me or over someone else does not matter, what matters is that the area is spared an electoral battle in such hard circumstances."But Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea had said during a TV interview late Thursday night Dakkashe can not be viewed as a compromise candidate "just because Aoun decided so."
"A compromise candidate means a candidate we all agreed over after sitting down and debating the issue. Aoun can not just send someone our way and say 'this is my compromise candidate, take it or leave it' and expect us to agree ... this is not how things are done," he said. Geagea added that he was not concerned about the by-elections in Baabda-Aley.
"We have our ways, and we know how to win the seat if there is an electoral battle over it," Geagea told his interviewer.
He said his party has not decided on its candidate yet. "We are still waiting to see if we can reach an agreement over the candidate with other political forces, mainly with Aoun's FPM. We don't have a candidate yet, but our electoral machine is getting ready for an electoral battle, in case no agreement is reached," he said.
He added that TV anchorwoman May Chidiac - a candidate for the seat who was maimed following an attempt on her life last September - did not represent the LF. "It is true that May is a dear and close friend of my family ... and she supports the LF, but she is not a member of the LF," he said.

The democratic urge and Hassan Nasrallah
By David Ignatius -Daily Star staff
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Are Muslim radicals changed by the experience of sharing in the responsibilities of government? The world has a lot riding on the answer to that question, and I can offer a small vignette drawn from a conversation with Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese Shiite militia Hizbullah. I visited the black-turbaned Nasrallah Thursday in his heavily guarded headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut. This is Hizbullahland: The narrow streets are chaotic, with bootleg telephone, electricity and cable television wires dangling from every building, and surveillance cameras watching everything that moves. When you enter the inner compound, Hizbullah gunmen check for explosives or tracking devices in your pen, your watch, even your wedding ring.
Nasrallah was talking in the abstract about the democratic successes of Hamas, Hizbullah and other Islamic movements. Yes, he said, having political power would change Hamas. It would "burden them with larger political responsibilities." The group would remain attached to its principles, he said, "but its behavior may be influenced" by the responsibility of government.
Then the phone rang, and the Hizbullah leader took a series of calls about the political stalemate that has paralyzed the Lebanese government. What transpired over the next few minutes was a demonstration that Nasrallah himself can, in the crunch, make the political deals that are part of governing. It also showed that however eager Islamic groups are for political power, they won't easily give up their guns.
Here's the background: A month ago, Nasrallah decided that the two Hizbullah members of the Lebanese Cabinet and three other Shiite ministers should walk out in protest against decisions made by Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. The technical issue was Siniora's call for an international tribunal to weigh evidence gathered about the assassinations of Lebanese political leaders. But the real problem was Nasrallah's fear that Siniora was challenging Hizbullah's status as an armed "resistance" fighting Israel.
Without its Shiite members, the Lebanese Cabinet was unable to take decisions on major issues, and the country was nearing political and economic paralysis. Siniora told me Wednesday night that it was a full-blown "political crisis," and he was searching frantically for a way out. French and American diplomats here feared that Nasrallah might scuttle the government altogether. Instead, reason prevailed, or at least a Levantine version of it. Siniora made a statement in Parliament Thursday that finessed the resistance-militia issue to Nasrallah's satisfaction. The prime minister also promised that consensus would rule on major issues if the Shiite ministers returned.
Nasrallah, after fielding a second phone call, turned to me and said the issue was "99 percent resolved." Hizbullah would get to keep its weapons, for now, and Lebanon would avert political disaster, for now. Before we got into the hardball reality of Middle East politics, I had been asking Nasrallah about the idealistic version advanced by President George W. Bush in his State of the Union speech. I read him a passage in which Bush said that "liberty is the future of every nation in the Middle East, because liberty is the right and hope of all humanity." "Nice words. Lovely words," he answered, "but the important thing is to allow people to act in liberty and freedom." He wondered, for example, whether the real power in Iraq would be exercised by the newly elected Iraqi government, or by the more than 100,000 U.S. troops based there. Yet he did suggest that the Bush administration's democratization campaign might soften Muslim anger at America, if the U.S. can show it is serious.
"One reason for this hostility is that U.S. administrations for decades have always supported dictatorships in the Islamic world," Nasrallah explained. "The people of the Muslim world have held the U.S. responsible for what these governments did. I can assure you that to allow democracy will begin removing the barrier and the well of hatred against the U.S. But the real thing is to deal positively with the outcome of the elections." There's one more area where Nasrallah agrees with the Bush administration - in his view that Al-Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is fanning Sunni-Shiite tensions. "I believe the most dangerous thing we confront is the so-called Zarqawi phenomenon," he said. "This is a creed of killing without any responsibility - to kill women, children, to attack mosques, churches, schools, restaurants." The issue in Iraq, he said, is "how to stop the killing." The Bush administration's campaign for democracy has produced an unlikely cast of winners - Hamas in Palestine, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Shiite clerics in Iraq. To that list must be added Hassan Nasrallah, who may prove to be the cleverest and toughest of them all.
**Syndicated columnist David Ignatius is published regularly by THE DAILY STAR.

Protesters in Syria decry Mohammed cartoons, threaten retaliation
Khaled Mashaal, head of the Islamic Hamas Movement delivers a speech at al-Murabet Mosque in Damascus on the occasion of Muslim new year, 03 February 2006. In his speech Mashaal denounced the offensive drawings of Prophet Muhammad published in a Danish newspaper last September. The drawings have sparked a wide scale Islamic denunciation as well as angry demonstrations and calls to boycott Danish products. EPA/YOUSSEF BADAWI
Damascus - Anger in Syria mounted Friday over cartoons published in a Danish newspaper of Islam's Prophet Mohammed with more public protests, calls for boycotts of Danish products and threats of retaliation.
Worshippers entering the al-Murabet Mosque in Damascus for Friday prayers trod on the flags of Israel, France, Denmark and the United States at the entrance.
Banners denouncing the drawings and calling for a mass demonstration to be held Saturday in front of the Danish embassy in Damascus were seen hanging from buildings. Others banners called for a boycott of Danish, US and European products. The leader of prayers at al-Murabet Mosque, which were attended by the exiled head of the Palestinian Hamas movement, Khaled Mishaal, said Muslims were to be blamed for their failure to tell the world about Prophet Muhammad, while also calling on them to defend their religion.
Mishaal said in a speech that Muslims would conquer the West, adding 'their defeat (the West) has started in Palestine' and that the US was being defeated in Iraq. Mishaal called on the countries that published the drawings to apologize to Muslim nations, threatening they would 'regret it' otherwise.
Meanwhile, around 200 protestors gathered in front of the Danish embassy in Damascus and some 200 Palestinians led protests in at al- Yarmouk refugee camp near Damascus.
The Danish ambassador to Syria met late Thursday with Syria's grand mufti, Sheikh Ahmed Badr al-Dean Hassoun, and conveyed Denmark's apology for the offence caused by the cartoons. SANA news agency quoted the Danish ambassador as saying that the majority of the Danes were 'very sorry for this situation which the newspaper has put them into.'
© 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Bosnian Grand Mufti Calls For Supporting Syria
Friday, February 03, 2006 - 05:35 PM
TUNIS, (SANA)The Grand Mufti of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mustafa Ceric called on Friday for standing by Syria in the face of pressures put on her. “ What Syria is exposed to and what is going on in Iraq and Palestine disturb us in the west,” the Mufti said in an interview with Tunisian al-Shorok newspaper, adding: “There would be no peace in the west without the realization of peace in the east.”“What the world had offered to Jerusalem during 50 years of occupation?” the Mufti inquired, indicating that the city of has become a city for war.“ Humanity has to move for turning away what threatens the holy city.” Ceric concluded.

Hizbullah 'punishes' Israel for death of 15-year-old shepherd boy
By Adnan El-Ghoul -Daily Star staff
Saturday, February 04, 2006
BEIRUT: Hizbullah delivered on its vow on Friday to "punish the culprits," who killed a teenage shepherd near the UN demarcation line in the Shebaa Farms area, attacking an Israeli military position and provoking air raids on the Shebaa Farms, Israeli and Lebanese officials said. Around 3 p.m., Hizbullah guerrillas initiated attacks, firing a barrage of rockets at the same Israeli position that fired the shots which killed teenage shepherd Ibrahim Youssef Rahil.In its statement Friday, Hizbullah said the Israeli outpost took "direct hits" from the shelling, quoting an Israeli military spokesperson who reported one casualty. Hizbullah-sponsored Al-Manar television station broadcast footage of Israeli posts in Shebaa Farms area being hit.
Israel confirmed the strikes and held the Lebanese government responsible for the Hizbullah attack. "We see this attack as a very serious provocation from the Hizbullah terror organization which is working under the auspices of Lebanon," Israeli Army spokeswoman Avital Leibowich said. "The State of Israel holds the Lebanese government responsible for any terror attack emanating from its territory." On Wednesday, Israel said that its troops fired at a man who crossed the border earlier in the day carrying a firearm and binoculars. Hizbullah insisted Rahil was a civilian and Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned that if he were found dead, the resistance would "punish the killers without hesitation."
Lebanese sources said Israeli aircraft flew five sorties over the South, striking near the towns of Kfar Shouba, Hibbariyeh and Khiam, without causing any casualties. UNIFIL's senior adviser Milos Strugger told The Daily Star that UN officials made immediate contacts with officials on both sides and managed to arrange for a cease-fire, which went into effect at 5 p.m., two hours after the clashes began.
Lebanese officials said the Israeli planes fired at least four missiles at targets near the villages of Kfar Shouba, Kfar Hamam and Halta in the Shebaa Farms area. Strugger said: "We are assessing the damages and casualties while encouraging all parties to exercise restraint. We believe Hizbullah started the attacks but its leadership responded to our call to cease-fire and keep calm across the border line." UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's spokesperson Farhan Haq said UN officials were aware of the "unpleasant developments and call on all parties to respect the blue line and refrain from violating the borders."
Haq added that Annan's personal representative in Lebanon Geir Pederson had condemned the Israeli violation and the killing of the Lebanese shepherd. Pederson announced the UN position after his meeting with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who confirmed to the UN official that Rahil was killed on Lebanese soil.
Pederson said: "Israel is responsible for the killing of Rahil, who did not pose any military threat that would entail an Israeli reaction." He added that the UN was still investigating the incident, anticipating an "escalation of the tense situation."
"One violation should not justify another," he said, calling on all sides to exercise restraint. Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh summoned the ambassadors of the member states of the Security Council. Acting upon instructions from Premier Fouad Siniora, Salloukh gave the diplomats a copy of Lebanon's complaint to the UN, calling on the world body to condemn the killing of Rahil by Israeli soldiers. The ambassadors did not comment after the meeting, but Salloukh held a news conference in which he said: "We were specifically angered because Rahil was shot while leading his herd peacefully inside the liberated Lebanese territories. We call on the international community to condemn this Israeli violation of our sovereignty."
He added that the Israeli violation is not the first and probably not the last, "because Israel hates to see our citizens live in peace on their land."Salloukh said: "The UN must handle the tensions caused by the Israeli aggression and repeated violations in land, sea and air. Lebanon cannot tolerate the continued occupation of our land or keeping Lebanese citizens in Israeli jails."
Asked about the position of the U.S. Ambassador Jeffery Feltman, Salloukh said: "Like the position of other ambassadors, Feltman condemned the killing and his country is contacting Israeli officials to learn more details about the circumstances surrounding the shooting incident." - With agencies

Hariri probe leaks cut after Brammertz
By Leila Hatoum -Daily Star staff
Saturday, February 04, 2006
BEIRUT: UN Chief Investigator Serge Brammertz visited two ministers on Friday and said he was "content" with the steps taken by the Lebanese authorities to facilitate the mission of the UN probe investigating the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri, according to a source from the Interior Ministry. Brammertz met with Interior Minister Hassan Sabaa, and then with Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamade but didn't talk with reporters after either meeting.
According to the source, "Brammertz told Sabaa that he was content with the interior ministry's procedures to facilitate the mission as well as its security apparatus." Brammertz said that the security and judiciary "complement one another" and that the coordination between both apparatuses "is necessary for any mission to succeed.""The meeting with Sabaa was merely a protocol visit to get to know him," said the source. Sabaa, who came back to Beirut late Wednesday from Tunis, had not previously met with Brammertz, who arrived in Beirut on January 19. Ever since Brammertz was assigned to lead the UN probe, leaks about the UN probe's work have decreased and so did the rumors.
On his arrival in Beirut, Brammertz had told reporters that his priority "will remain to assist the Lebanese authorities in their investigation," and to work "with independence and impartiality and in compliance with Security Council resolutions."
Also in the course of the continuing Lebanese judicial investigations into Hariri's assassination, Investigating Magistrate Elias Eid listened to the deposition of one witness Friday.
Meanwhile, the nature and form of the court which is expected to try the killers remains vague as the UN Undersecretary General for Legal Affairs Nicolas Michel has yet to make other visits to Lebanon to speak with Lebanese officials on the nature of the court. The court is expected to be of an international nature and supported by the UN. Michel arrived in Lebanon last week and met with the President, Speaker, Premier and Justice and Foreign Ministers, leaving two days later, saying that he "had fruitful consultations" with the officials. Security sources had reported that Speaker Nabih Berri had proposed the idea of a mixed court which would hold its sessions and deliberations in Lebanon, and that the UN official had "promised to provide Berri with several modules on the various forms of courts."
Michel had said that the consultations "should be continued in the coming days and weeks."Also on Friday, British Ambassador James Watt met with Justice Minister Charles Rizk to discuss the Memorandum of Understanding signed between both countries last December 23, facilitating "the deportation of persons suspected of activities associated with terrorism," according to a joint statement released by both parties at the time of the signing.
"We strongly feel that the bilateral agreement between Britain and Lebanon on the handling of deportation of terror suspects is an important instrument which depends on and protects human rights," said Watt.

Berri set to referee warring politicians
Speaker's 'National dialogue' talks will start after ashoura
By Nada Bakri -Special to The Daily Star
Saturday, February 04, 2006
BEIRUT: The Shiite ministers' return to Cabinet will pave the way for the much anticipated national dialogue and discussions about the date to launch it will start once Ashoura is over, according to politicians Friday. "After Ashoura ends, delegates from Speaker Nabih Berri will start a series of talks with different leaders starting with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir to inform them of the mechanism of the dialogue and the time to start it," sources close the Amal Movement leader said.
"The end of the ministers' boycott opened positive and optimistic horizons to kick off the national dialogue and the mechanism for it is now ready," the parliamentary sources said. The sources added: "Berri will participate in these discussions as a key political figure along with various parliamentary forces, to include in later stages political leaders who are not represented in Parliament." The three key issues to be discussed are the investigation into Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination and the international court to try suspects in the murder, the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559 and means to implement the remaining clauses and Lebanese-Syrian relations.
Senior Amal member and MP Ali Hassan Khalil told The Daily Star that the dialogue is likely to begin after the commemoration of Hariri's assassination on February 14. "Political disagreements and differences can only be dealt with through dialogue and political leaders including the parliamentary coalition of March 14 are eager to start it," Khalil said.
But the security situation in the country has kept most politicians and party leaders house-bound during the past year that witnessed 14 assassinations and assassination attempts. "The security situation will certainly have negative effects on this dialogue," anti-Syrian MP Boutros Harb told The Daily Star. Not only are the dialogue sessions expected to take longer in light of deaths threats, but the insecurity will also force party leaders and senior politicians to send their representatives to these sessions. "It will take us at least twice as long to finish talks because the security situation will prevent leaders from participating in person," Harb added.
Future Movement MP and Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Fatfat said that "starting national dialogue is the most pressing issue and should include all government institutions.""We can't leave discussion over the role of the resistance and its arms and UN resolution 1559 pending. The Shiites ministers suspended their participation over a direct reason and then required another condition to return. Dialogue will prevent things like that from happening again," Fatfat added.
Hizbullah MP Mohammad Raad welcomed attempts to kick off the national dialogue which he expected will be held after February 14. The disagreement between Hizbullah and Progressive Socialist Party over the role of the resistance and its arms and which reached a deadlock is believed to take a big portion of the round-table discussions.
"We will participate in the dialogue and so will Hizbullah. We will see what Speaker Berri will propose regarding the role of the resistance and its arms and then discuss it," PSP member and Information Minister Ghazi Aridi told The Daily Star.
But Aridi said the Shiites ministers' Cabinet boycott "led the country to a situation of complete stalemate which we do not need at this point.""They left over one reason and they demanded something else to return. The country needs to be spared such things," he added.

Fadlallah welcomes Shiite ministers' return to Cabinet
Daily Star staff-Saturday, February 04, 2006
BEIRUT: Senior Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah welcomed the recent accord toward solving Lebanon's political crisis, further calling for more steps in that regard. Preaching on Friday following prayers at the Imamein Hasanein mosque in Haret Hreik, Beirut's southern suburbs, Fadlallah said: "These positions and procedures that were taken to solve the governmental crisis should be supported with practical steps in order to strengthen confidence between all Lebanese people, particularly between their representatives in government."
Fadlallah asked politicians to remain committed to their stated positions regarding the resistance' role. He added "this will protect Lebanon internally through reinforcing confidence inside the Cabinet."Commenting on the caricatures of Prophet Mohammed, the Shiite cleric called on Muslims all around the world "to continue their protest of this insult." He described the incident as "a war on the Muslim nation and its divinities and an insult to all spiritual values."
He urged "peaceful pressure" to prevent such offenses from happening again. Fadlallah spoke with Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani who called to check on his health following a recent operation. Fadlallah met with Hizbullah's Secretary General's political assistant Hussein Khalil and MP Ali Khalil who informed him of the return of the Shiite ministers and its positive implications.
Vice-President of the Higher Islamic Shiite Council Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan has demanded that the journalist responsible for publishing the 12 caricatures in the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten be put on trial. Qabalan was speaking on Friday following a meeting with Danish Ambassador to Syria and Jordan Ole Egberg Mikkelsen who conveyed to the Shiite cleric a letter from Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen that included an apology for the insult made to Prophet Mohammad and Islam.
Qabalan said: "I believe that the person responsible for the caricatures is a Jew or Zionist, because such an insult is the work of a Zionist."He further called for an investigation to be opened with the journalist and have the newspaper closed.
Qabalan said "the Danish prime minister should make an announcement that the journalist is being tried and will be punished."
He said: "We know that this small country (Denmark) is a civilized country that doesn't attack anyone and protects human rights. That's why, we don't want hostile relations between Denmark and Lebanon."Mikkelsen who described the meeting as "very constructive" hoped that "dialogue will be continued in the future between Lebanon and Denmark." - The Daily Star

We haven't totally given up on Aoun, says Gemayel
By Maroun Khoury -Daily Star correspondent
Saturday, February 04, 2006
BKIRKI: Former president Amin Gemayel congratulated Prime Minister Fouad Siniora on Friday on his efforts to secure the return of the Shiite ministers to Cabinet. Gemayel said he hoped that priority would be given to the Beirut I donors' conference that will constitute "the solution to the smothering economic crisis."Speaking to reporters after a visit to Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir with Phalange Party president Karim Pakradouni, Gemayel said he truly believed that the Shiite ministers will return to Cabinet because "such a governmental crisis definitely does not serve any party."
Gemayel said the March 14 alliance had hoped to keep MP Michel Aoun on their side and had repeatedly asked him to cooperate "but unfortunately, the other party has problems with that." Asked if Aoun's ambition to become president stopped him from joining the March 14 alliance, Gemayel replied: "You should ask him," adding that the alliance had not yet given up on uniting everyone. Commenting on the Baabda-Aley elections, Gemayel said he hoped all parties would reach a consensual solution, but if a battle is to be waged the Phalange Party's side is with the March 14 alliance.
Meanwhile, speaking after a visit to Beirut's Maronite Bishop Boulos Matar, MP Akram Shehayeb said of the polls that efforts to reach a consensus are underway and "therefore the electoral battle is marginal."Asked about rumors that the Progressive Socialist Party president Walid Jumblatt is afraid of the electoral results and therefore wishes to avoid the ballot box battle by agreeing on a consensus candidate. Shehayeb, a PSP member himself, stressed that the party "rather fears for the future of Lebanon and not for a parliamentary seat."

MP hits at lack of will to probe Lebanese held in Syria
By Raed El Rafei -Daily Star staff
Saturday, February 04, 2006
BEIRUT: There isn't enough political momentum to form an international investigation committee to investigate the disappearance of Lebanese thought to be detained in Syrian jails, MP Ghassan Moukheiber told The Daily Star on Friday.
"There is no political consensus in the Parliament to call on the international community to establish an international commission of inquiry," said Moukheiber, who is also part of the Human Rights parliamentary committee. He said the Syrians "haven't shown any transparency or any will to help in this case," stressing that "enforced disappearance is considered a crime against humanity." If Syria continues to refuse to cooperate, we will have to call for the intervention of the international community, he said. Moukheiber criticized the Lebanese government for "hiding" behind the Syrian-Lebanese commission tasked to investigate this case, adding that there should be strong political will from both the Lebanese and Syrian sides to find the Lebanese missing in Syria.
Ghazi Aad, head of the Support of Lebanese in Detention and Exile organization (SOLIDE), Thursday asked Premier Fouad Siniora, to refer the case of the Lebanese detainees in Syrian jails to the UN Security Council. But sources close to Siniora said that the government will probably not call for an international inquiry team.  Aad slammed the Syrian authorities for their lack of transparency. He said that the Syrian committee had recently presented Lebanese officials with a list of 88 persons only, 44 of which had already been released and surreptitiously returned to Lebanon. The Syrian authorities had not even notified the Lebanese authorities about them, he said.
Aad said that his organization had provided Lebanese authorities with a list of more than 600 people. He also called on authorities to build a DNA database of the families of those detained by Syria to facilitate identifying bones found in the mass graves at Anjar.

ISF raids homes in hunt for bombing suspects
By Mohammed Zaatari -Daily Star staff
Saturday, February 04, 2006
SIDON: The Internal Security Forces raided late on Thursday suspected hide-outs, as part of their investigation into the bombing of the Lebanese Army barracks in Ramlet al-Baida. On Thursday at 11 p.m., a suspect threw a hand grenade in Dirani Square toward the zone of the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp. The zone is located dozens of meters away from the Lebanese Army checkpoint in the neighboring Hay al-Taamir area. The blast did not inflict any human or material damages.
Sources familiar with the issue in the port city said the raid targeted various residential apartments and mobile phone shops. Several persons were taken to Beirut for interrogation, the sources said.
Security forces raided several suspected hide-outs, including an apartment located on the eastern boulevard of the city next to the ALPHA company, two homes in the old city of Sidon, a third home in the Bustan al-Kabir area, two mobile phone shops on Dellaa street and one library for Islamic studies. The explosion occurred soon after a bomb exploded near an army barracks in Beirut, in the wake of a warning by an alleged Al-Qaeda operative made from a public phone booth located in Ain al-Hilweh, Lebanon's largest refugee camp.

The Shiites' return to Cabinet ends a period of political deterioration
By Walid Choucair -Saturday, February 04, 2006
The return of the Amal and Hizbullah ministers to the government, following Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's acknowledgment that "the national resistance in Lebanon was never and will never be called anything but resistance," was a great source of satisfaction to the parliamentary majority. The government can now relaunch its work with a quorum after seven weeks of relative paralysis.However, the majority's reaction did not stop at this level because the Shiite ministers' withdrawal from Cabinet was not a mere general discord, but the source of serious political deterioration in the country.
The Shiites' position concerned the Constitution, the resistance, Lebanese-Syrian relations, and the Lebanese identity of the Shebaa Farms, and triggered mutual campaigns, particularly between Hizbullah and the Progressive Socialist Party.
Sources from the majority have acknowledged that just like Amal and Hizbullah, they needed an exit from the crisis because it was paralyzing the government's work, be it administrative, diplomatic or judicial, or the tackling of economic and reform challenges. These sources said the Shiite alliance in turn needed their grievances to be addressed in order to return.
Why? Because the Shiite ministers' seclusion started to make the public hold the Shiite alliance responsible for sectarian division in the country, something Shiite leaders do not wish to be accused of. In other words, the boycott had started to cause considerable damage to those who had launched it. The majority sources said they wondered whether settling the issue also provided a solution to the problems that prompted Shiite ministers to withdraw from Cabinet.
They said the ministers' return to Cabinet was a step backward, in which the leaders of the Shiite alliance relinquished their calls for acknowledging that "the resistance is not a militia."Speaker Nabih Berri voiced the Shiite alliance's need for a solution after he felt that damage had been caused by his insistence Siniora spell it out in Parliament.
Explaining the reasons behind his insistence on Siniora to find a solution, Berri was quoted as saying: "We should end this humiliation exacerbated by the exchange of draft texts for the solution; the situation should not remain frozen."
Siniora was responsive to Berri who informed the premier that Hizbullah MP Ali Ammar will raise the question of Israel's shooting of the Lebanese shepherd and the government's reaction to similar violations. But Siniora told Berri that he will not make the acknowledgement because the move will have consequences, but will announce "an important stand based on the ministerial state policy that does not affect Lebanon's relation with international community."
The majority sources added that the Shiite ministers' approval of Siniora's statement came after a statement made by Hizbullah secretary general's political assistance Hajj Hussein Khalil during a news conference held with Amal MP Ali Hassan Khalil to announce the end of the ministers' seclusion.
Khalil said: "The resistance never was a political cover and the text of the ministerial policy statement guarantees this."
This means that the crisis could have been weeks ago when Siniora announced that what was mentioned in the policy statement about the resistance is enough and when Jumblatt assert that in various statements.
Accepting the text of the policy statement after the Shiite's insistence proves, according to the sources, that the subject behind the ministerial crisis was not the resistance, but a reason pertaining to the original cause of the crisis, which is the Shiite reservation about the Cabinet's calls on the UN Security Council to approve a court of an "international character" to try the assassins of former Premier Rafik Hariri and to expand the probe to include other crimes.
In this context, the majority sources expressed concern about another crisis with the Shiite alliance.
According to the sources, after the international court issue has become a fact on the international level according to Resolution 1644 and after the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan dispatched Nicholas Michel to Beirut to discuss with the Lebanese authorities about the form of the court, the Shiite alliance, especially Hizbullah, prefers to return to the Cabinet to participate in setting the rules and regulations for the court.
Hizbullah's alliance with Syria is what prodded the party to object its formation seven weeks ago.
The requirements of this alliance is also what makes it important today to return to Cabinet to take a stand, so that the Cabinet does not approve a court enjoying an authority that does not serve Syria's interests.

Travel to Lebanon carries State Department, DOD warnings
By Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes
Stripes European Travel, Thursday, February 2, 2006
While Lebanon can be one of the most rewarding travel experiences you’ll have, it must be noted that the State Department continues to issue travel warnings for the country. The most recent, from November 2005, still applies. It reads, in part:
“The Department of State urges U.S. citizens to carefully weigh the necessity of their travel to Lebanon in light of the risks noted below. Recent events in Lebanon underscore the need for caution and sound personal security precautions. Since March, there have been 13 separate bombings in Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of nine people and injuries to more than 78 others.“Americans have been the targets of numerous terrorist attacks in Lebanon in the past. The perpetrators of many of these attacks are still present and retain the ability to act. American citizens should thus keep a low profile, varying times and routes for all required travel. Americans should also pay close attention to their personal security at locations where Westerners are generally known to congregate, and should avoid demonstrations and large gatherings.
“Unofficial travel to Lebanon by U.S. Government employees and their family members requires prior approval by the Department of State. U.S. citizens who travel to Lebanon despite this Travel Warning should exercise heightened caution when traveling in parts of the southern suburbs of Beirut, portions of the Bekaa Valley and South Lebanon, and the cities of Sidon and Tripoli. Hezbollah has not been disarmed and it maintains a strong presence in many of these areas. Travel by U.S. citizens to Palestinian camps should be avoided. “Dangers posed by land mines and unexploded ordnance throughout south Lebanon are significant and also exist in other areas where civil war fighting was intense.” Representatives of both the U.S. European Command and U.S. Army Europe say they follow the State Department’s advisories, although local commanders can issue additional restrictions or declare an area off-limits if they consider it justified. The USAREUR Web site has a link to the State Department travel warnings.

Ghassan Moukheiber: ‘Parliament, natural framework for a dialogue’
Salim Aoun: ‘A reunification of vision and ranks’
Ibrahim Kanaan: ‘General Aoun’s strategy turned out to be the right one’
February 03, 2006 mmorning
Ghassan Moukheiber: ‘Parliament, natural framework for a dialogue’
Metn MP Ghassan Moukheiber, believes that Parliament should be the natural framework for dialogue at the national scale, because all the parties are represented in it and none should be excluded. “Naturally”, he added, “it is important to invite the parties having a power of decision as well as a representative quality.
“From the point of view of representation, we know that the last legislative elections brought to Parliament elements which had made alliances. Some of these coalitions were not natural. This was due to the iniquitous election law of the year 2000, the Ghazi Kanaan law. Parties having a confessional color prevailed where their community was predominant, whereas others were excluded from Parliament. It is necessary to gather all the forces at a round table. Those which can influence the political forces, and not necessarily those in the legislature, must sit at this table so that can have a chance to support decisions or oppose them”.
Who must call for a dialogue?
In the present state of the institutions, and given the fact that the Presidency of the Republic is isolated, Parliament is entitled to take the initiative in setting up a round table and of drafting a list of the personalities who should take part, at the head of which is Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, secretary-general of Hezballah, in place of the head and members of the parliamentary Bloc of Loyalty to the Resistance.
Eliminating barriers
Is it possible to bring together Sayyed Nasrallah and MP Walid Jumblatt after the exchange of accusations between the two men?
In regard to the Bloc of Change and Reform, we’re in touch with the Democratic Gathering bloc [led by Jumblatt] and the Future Current [led by MP Saad Hariri], on the basis of our conviction that barriers of all kinds must be eliminated between the various political forces. We also need to end bilateral dialogues. The dialogue should be enlarged and include the widest range of representatives of public opinion.
In my opinion, a dialogue does not necessarily mean that we shall arrive at a national consensus on all matters in contention. Nevertheless, all sides should reach a common understanding, without which the country will continue to be bogged down in its present morass, which will give very little reassurance for the country’s future.
Salim Aoun: ‘A reunification of vision and ranks’
Salim Aoun, another member of the Aounist Bloc of Change and Reform, observed: “The electoral alliances concluded by certain politicians ahead of the legislative elections of last year had no clear or solid bases since each individual in the alliance was thinking only of how he could derive the maximum benefit for himself.
“That’s why it wasn’t long before these shaky alliances unraveled, as is proved by what happened to the ‘Quadripartite Alliance’ comprising Hezballah, the Amal Movement, the Future Current and the Progressive Socialist Party. This ‘quartet’ broke into two distinct fronts, each with its own vision of the principles and constants on the basis of which Lebanese-Syrian relations should be conducted. That’s why they’ve led the country to an impasse
“The national interest requires a calming of the political atmosphere so that matters in dispute can be discussed at a round table”.
What subjects should be on the agenda of the dialogue?
There are many. But we need to begin by unifying our vision on the way we manage public business, on the basis of the Taef Agreement. Then we need to start a serious and transparent debate on UN resolutions concerning Lebanon. And in regard to relations with Syria, it’s imperative to place at the top of our preoccupations Lebanon’s sovereignty and independence, making it clear that no interference in our internal affairs will be tolerated.
How does General Aoun conceive the dialogue? It’s said that he is proposing the participation of seven basic parties at the round table?
The general is proposing four fundamental parties: the Future Current and its allies; Amal; Hezballah; and the Bloc of Change and Reform.
But this proposal has not pleased certain people, who accuse him of marginalizing them. To the original list of participants he added the Zahlé Bloc, which had two ministers in the cabinet in the time of the Syrians, while it now has no representatives. But this bloc has six MPs representing the Greek Catholic community.
Is the Aounist movement playing any role in the relaunch of the dialogue?
It’s one of the moving forces, simply because it has good relations with all sides. We propose a frank and open dialogue with all the components of the political class on the basis of a clear program in order to save the nation and build the state on a sound and solid basis.
Ibrahim Kanaan: ‘General Aoun’s strategy turned out to be the right one’
Ibrahim Kanaan, an MP for the Bloc of Change and Reform, believes that the FPM position is in favor to dialogue, and prevents division in the country. It is, he says, based on the principle of preserving the independence and sovereignty of the nation. Everyone should agree on the new political system in order to elaborate a common strategy for any foreign interference. General Aoun’s strategy is to safeguard national unity”.
Why is the FPM calling for a truce to calm things down?
Anyone who is concerned for the country’s interest would work to calm things down. General Aoun appears to have adopted a purely Lebanese strategy that does not depend on regional or international forces. The FPM has established friendships with the countries supporting Lebanon, and no one is blaming him for this. He’s calling for dialogue to prevent the situation from spilling over into the street.
No to a policy of axes
Has Lebanon become caught up in a policy of axes?
We are opposed to the logic of axes. Those who have been in office have lost 10 months and are making us pay a high price for the policy they followed.
What about the FPM’s dialogue with Hezballah?
The dialogue should not be used for the purpose of obtaining office. The dialogue with Hezballah is aimed at preventing the problem from spilling into the street. Hezballah represents an important community and the FPM represents the majority of one important community. What we need to do is prevent any kind of disturbance. We have to deepen dialogue in such a way that this will not lead to a change in bilateral ties.