LCCC NEWS BULLETIN
January 1/2006

Below News from Naharnet for 1/01/06
Khaddam's Bombshell: Assad Wanted to 'Crush' Hariri
Khaddam: Assad Felt Washington Could Not Care Less About Lebanon
Viceroy Ghazaleh Pocketed $35 Million from Scandal-Ridden Al-Madina
Celebrity Syrian Spook Hussam Framed in Pictures at Hawi's Murder Scene
Gebran Tueni Immortalized in a Murder Scene Shrine
Ghassan Tueni Hesitant About Replacing His Son in Parliament
Army Preempts Rocket Attack on Israel, Peres Says Hizbullah is Like
Below News from miscellaneous sources for 1/01/06
Washington: From flames to embers.By NATHAN GUTTMAN- Jerusalem Post 1/01/06
Syrian ex-VP: Assad threatened Lebanese premier -AP 1/01/06
Syrian MPs demand exile's trial-BBC 1/01/06
Khaddam’s Bombshell Tightens Noose Around Syria: Experts-IOL 1/01/06
Syrian TV assails Khaddam for giving false testimony-KUNA 1/01/06
Israel rocket attack rocks Lebanon govt-Doha Time 1/01/06
The Ordeals of Mahmoud Abbas (and his colleagues)-Hazem Saghieh Al-Hayat  31/12/05

Washington: From flames to embers
By NATHAN GUTTMAN
Jerusalem Post 31/12/05: A month ago, the world's attention was focused on Damascus. German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis accused the Assad regime of obstructing the investigation into the assassination of Rafik Hariri 11 months ago; the UN Security Council was about to discuss sanctions against Syria; and the US administration raised the level of its verbal assaults to include threats, such as: "All options are on the table."
But Western diplomats dealing with Syrian issue say that the momentum has been lost.
Not only does the pressure on Syria seem to have dissipated, but Bashar Assad is back to business as usual: rockets are being fired at Israel from southern Lebanon by the Syrian-backed Hizbullah; new rules are being set for the continuation of the assassination investigation; and even a newspaper that published an interview with Mehlis in which he claims Syrian authorities were involved in Hariri's murder has been banned in Syria. Nor is there any change for the better on the Syrian-Iraqi border, from where, the US charges, Syria is allowing insurgents and terrorists to enter Iraq.
WHAT CAUSED the Syrian issue to collapse all at once?
The resignation of Mehlis - and the need not only to find him a replacement but to recruit a whole new team - has put the Hariri investigation on hold. The UN has named a possible candidate to head the investigation - Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz - but it will take weeks before the probe is back on track.
This time-out is beneficial for Assad, as it allows him to create a distraction, a well-known method used by the Syrians in times of trouble. Whenever the world focuses on a problem involving his regime, and begins to mount pressure, the regime ignites a fire on a different front. This week, the residents of northern Israel suffered from this tactic, when forced to spend the night in bomb-shelters after a Hizbullah rocket attack. But there are other fronts at Syria's disposal: internecine strife in Lebanon, for example, or in Iraq. If one issue or area becomes too hot to handle, Assad can always shift to another. What he gains from such tactics is some more room to maneuver.
So, while the international community is putting pressure on Syria to cooperate with the Hariri investigation - something that could endanger high-ranking officials in the regime - heating up the Israeli-Lebanese border puts Assad in a bargaining position. He can tell the world, in effect, "Ease the pressure and I'll restrain the Hizbullah."
US officials dealing with Syria have acknowledged that "things have slowed down" where pressure on Syria is concerned. But they are convinced this is only a temporary hiatus. Once the new investigation team is in place, they estimate, the world will resume pressure on Assad to make major changes. The model they have in mind is Libya. Once a rogue state that defied the will of the international community on almost every issue from terrorism to nuclear proliferation, Libya eventually reached the conclusion that it could no longer withstand the pressure and chose the path of cooperation and reform.
Some sources in Washington believe Syria will eventually follow suit. They think Assad will at some point make a cold calculation to accept the demands of the international community in order to stay in power.
On the other hand, the current standstill may indicate that Assad is much more difficult to deal with than with any other leader. Evidence of this lies in the fact that both the US and Europe have exhausted practically all their options with him. Military action is not feasible at the moment; nor are economic and diplomatic sanctions against Syria considered to be effective. The only thing left is isolating the country and hoping Assad really cares.
THOUGH SYRIA is considered by the US to be less of a problem than Iran, the international community seems to have much more potential leverage on Teheran than it does on Damascus. Iran is vulnerable to economic sanctions, for one thing. And regime-change in Iran - due to strong internal forces of opposition - is actually a possibility. Furthermore, Iran is seen as the region's most pressing threat right now. Such a lack of options where Assad is concerned is another reason for putting Syria on the back burner with the conflict-management approach: putting out fires when they erupt; applying a degree of constant pressure; and hoping for better days.

Syrian MPs demand exile's trial
BBC 31/12/05:Syrian MPs have demanded that treason charges be brought against an exiled top politician who implicated President Bashar al-Assad in a political murder. Former vice-president Abdul Halim Khaddam says Mr Assad threatened the then-Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri months before his murder in a bomb attack. His comments were repeatedly denounced by members of Syria's parliament before they voted for him to be put on trial.
A UN-led inquiry implicated Syria in the murder, but Damascus denies blame. We call on the justice minister to try Abdul Halim Khaddam for high treason and to take the necessary measures Mr Khaddam told al-Arabiya television: "Assad told me he had delivered some very, very harsh words to Hariri... something like 'I will crush anyone who tries to disobey us'."
In the interview, broadcast on Friday, Mr Khaddam also said the Syrian security services could not have taken a unilateral decision to kill Mr Hariri. But he insisted he did not want to accuse anyone of the murder, preferring to wait for the results of a UN probe into the assassination. Mr Khaddam's comments drew a furious response from Syrian MPs in a session of parliament on Saturday. "What has been proved beyond doubt is that he has given victory to the enemies of the nation and cut off allegiance to the homeland, and this is the very definition of the cowardly act of treason," said one, Joseph Suwayyd.
Another MP, Umeima Khudur, told the session: "I demand... that Khaddam is judged because he has attacked the dignity of Syria and humiliated millions of Syrians."
'Syria's Judas'
As the session ended, speaker Mahmoud al-Abrash told parliament: "We call on the justice minister to try Abdul Halim Khaddam for high treason and to take the necessary measures." Earlier, Syrian newspaper Ad-Diyar denounced Mr Khaddam as "Syria's Judas".
Rafik Hariri and 20 others were killed in a massive explosion
During the UN probe, witnesses told investigators that Mr Hariri was threatened by President Assad at a crunch meeting in August 2004. Mr Hariri himself, in a taped account cited by the UN report, described the meeting as the "worst day of his life". "When I finished my meeting with him, I swear to you, my bodyguard looked at me and asked why I was pale-faced," Mr Hariri recounted. President Assad has previously denied any personal involvement in the murder.
Overall, the UN report concluded that it was highly unlikely that the complex plot to kill Mr Hariri could have been conducted without the knowledge of Syrian security forces. Top Syrian officials are among the 19 suspects the report says have been identified. Mr Hariri and 20 other people were murdered in a huge bomb attack in Beirut last February. The attack sparked such public outrage that Syria was eventually forced to end its military presence in Lebanon.

Khaddam’s Bombshell Tightens Noose Around Syria: Experts
By Ahmed Fathy, IOL Staff
CAIRO , December 31, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) - The bombshell dropped by former Syrian vice-president Abdel Halim Khaddam on a possible Syrian role in the assassination of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri has sent seismic waves in Damascus and would tighten the noose around the Arab country, experts agreed on Saturday, December 31.
“Khaddam’s testimony at this critical juncture in Syrian history has, in effect, sent shock waves across the country’s political landscape and ushered in grave consequences,” Syrian opposition writer Akram Al-Beni told IslamOnline.net.
Speaking from Paris, where he has lived since resigning as vice-president in June, Khaddam said in an exclusive interview with Al-Arabiya news channel on Friday, December 30, that Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad threatened Hariri just months before his murder.
He said the Syrian intelligence services could not have carried out such an operation without Assad being informed.
Khaddam also blamed Lebanese President Emile Lahoud and other Lebanese officials for “inciting” Assad against Hariri, who was once a staunch ally of Damascus but who backed a 2004 UN resolution that called for foreign troops to quit Lebanon .
The murder of Hariri, a billionaire businessman and five-time prime minister, plunged Lebanon into political turmoil and heightened international pressure on Syria to end its 29-year military presence in its smaller neighbor.
Regime Collapse
Beni said Khaddam’s bombshell will expedite the collapse of the regime in Syria . Beni said Khaddam’s bombshell will expedite the collapse of the regime in Syria as it was dropped by one of the old guards and a veteran member of the ruling Baath party. The Syrian analyst said the testimony will cast a harsh light on the “wrong-headed” policies of the Syrian regime in Lebanon and could pave the way for more revelations from senior Syrian officials in the days to come.
Ali Sadrudin Al-Bayouni, the head of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria , saw eye to eye with Beni that Khaddam’s stance could force a regime change in Syria and turn it into a democratic country. “Khaddam’s testimony will break up the power monopoly in Syria ,” he said.
On the international probe into the February 14 murder of Hariri, Beni said Khaddam’s testimony will definitely give impetus to the role of the UN investigation commission. “This testimony refutes previous ones, which discredited the interim report of former judge Detlev Mehlis and acquitted Syria from the killing,” he said. Beni was referring to Hosam Taher Hosam, a key Syrian witness in the report, who has recanted his testimony and accused Lebanese officials of threats, bribery and torture to induce him to testify falsely against Syria .
Lebanese opposition Druze leader Walid Jumblatt agreed.
“This testimony gives credit indeed to the UN probe into the grisly murder of Hariri,” Jumblatt told Lebanon ’s Al-Mostakbal newspaper on Saturday.
In his interview, Khaddam would not speculate on who had ordered Hariri's murder, saying “we must wait” for the final results of a UN investigation that has already implicated senior Syrian officials. In an October interim report, Mehlis implicated senior Syrian officials and their Lebanese allies in the plot to kill Hariri. After the report, the Security Council warned Syria it had to cooperate fully with the UN team or face further action that could lead to sanctions. Syria has denied the accusations and called the Mehlis report politically motivated.
Treason
Abrash said he had been bombarded with phone calls from Syrians demanding that Khaddam be arrested by Interpol.
Meanwhile, Syrian lawmakers called on Saturday for Khaddam to be tried for treason and corruption. “I ask the Syrian leadership to try him ... for humiliating 10 million Syrians when he said half of the Syrian people are eating from the garbage,” legislator Umeima Faddoul told an emergency session of Syria parliament.
“I tell him, those who eat from the garbage are traitors like you ... Treason is the darkest shade of black,” Reuters quoted her as saying. Legislator after legislator stood up in parliament to accuse Khaddam of corruption and treason. “His comments last night constitute a criminal offence that reaches the level of treason and we demand he be put to trial before the Syrian security high court,” said one lawmaker. Syria 's parliamentary speaker Mahmoud Al-Abrash said he had been bombarded with phone calls from Syrians demanding that Khaddam be arrested by Interpol.

Syrian TV assails Khaddam for giving "false testimony"
POL-SYRIA-KHADDAM 31/12/05
Syrian TV assails Khaddam for giving "false testimony"
DAMASCUS, Dec 31 (KUNA) -- The government-run Syrian Television on Saturday assailed the former vice president Abdel Halim Khaddam describing him as a witness with false testimony in the assassination of the former Lebanese premier Rafic Al-Hariri. Khaddam's description of the report by the head of the international commission investigating Al-Hariri's assassination as professional contradicted hundreds of reports and analyses by legal experts from various countries who affirmed that it was politicized, the Syrian Television said in a commentary.
The television was reacting to remarks made by Khaddam to Al-Arabia television network, broadcast on Friday.
It lashed out at the former vice president for failing to take into consideration many popular protests that were held in Syria to protest the strong external pressure targeting Syria. The Syrian TV said that what Khaddam, whom it accused as "loyal to a Lebanese party that stands against Syria", announced is off the position which Syria committed itself regarding Lebanon and that hinges on national reconciliation and stability of the Arab country, in addition to support to all Lebanese forces, figures and blocs that work in this direction.
The TV held Khaddam responsible for deterioration of the situation in Lebanon due to the accumulated damages that were result of his repeated errors while dealing with the Lebanese brothers as well as his tough way in addressing the Lebanese parties, in addition to many other factors, foremost the international and Zionist interventions in Lebanon's affairs.
It added, Khaddam who elaborated on developments of the Lebanese crisis, which clearly included defending policies and stances taken by one Lebanese party, has forgotten that he was stopped from follow up of the developments in Lebanon in 1998 and during the rule of late President Hafez Al-Assad, due to the accumulated damages resulting from his repeated errors.
It underscored "what recently happened in Lebanon was result of continued practices that accumulated throughout the past years whereby Khaddam was following up the developments and events in Lebanon and as major partner in the decision making process".
The TV lashed out at the poverty of the Syrian people indicating that he uttered expressions that hurt feelings of the people from his luxurious palace which the TV "excluded that he bought from his limited income as a high ranking Syrian staff member". On considering Khaddam a preacher for reform and democracy the TV said "the mentality of Khaddam is the stumble block in the way of reform and democracy in the country. Getting rid of this mentality contributed to the recent push forward of the reform process ".

Israel rocket attack rocks Lebanon govt
Saturday, 31 December, 2005, 11:18 AM Doha Time
BEIRUT: A rocket attack on Israel from southern Lebanon, claimed by Al Qaeda but widely blamed on Hezbollah, has shunted Lebanon’s ruling coalition closer to possible collapse.
The fragile alliance of anti-Syrian politicians and a pro-Damascus Shia coalition has been shaken by Wednesday’s rocket attack to which Israel responded with an air strike on a Palestinian militia base south of Beirut.
While Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed the attack in an unverifiable statement, Israel and the US both insist it could not have taken place without the knowledge of Hezbollah, which has been boycotting the government amid calls for the disarming of its military wing. Five ministers from pro-Syrian Hezbollah and fellow Shia bloc Amal have refused to take part in cabinet meetings since December 12 in protest at calls for an international probe into a wave of attacks against Damascus critics.
A source close to Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said that talks aimed at ending the crisis had stumbled over the application of last year’s UN Security Council Resolution 1559 calling for the disarming of all militias in Lebanon.
Hezbollah militants were instrumental in bringing about the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon in 2000 and the group insists its forces must remain there to prevent a new Israeli occupation.
An Arab diplomatic source said Hezbollah and Amal were thinking of leaving once and for all the government it formed along with Christians, Sunni Muslims and Druze representing Lebanon’s fractious ethnic patchwork.
Anti-Syrian Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said Damascus was trying to implicate Al Qaeda in southern Lebanon to try to show that the area had become a “terrorist base” since Syrian troops quit in April after a 30-year presence.
The leader of Hezbollah’s bloc in parliament, Mohamed Raad, said Siniora’s refusal to sign a new agreement covering the presence of militias in the country was “unacceptable”.
“We are heading for a serious crisis and difficult decisions,” he said. Siniora himself dismissed the Al Qaeda claim for the rocket attacks on Israel as “a sort of fabrication and joke”, before implying the political crisis could be defused.
“We are condemned to agree with each other ... there will be no resignation, disagreement is forbidden,” he told journalists following talks with parliament speaker and Amal chief Nabih Berri. Shia MP Bassem Sabeh, part of the anti-Syrian majority, said however that the rocket attacks were aimed at discrediting Hezbollah by showing it did not actually control the south of the country. – AFP

The Ordeals of Mahmoud Abbas (and his colleagues)
Hazem Saghieh Al-Hayat - 31/12/05//
The miserable situation of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, which led some to anticipate his resignation, sums up the misery of both the political mind and integrity of this part of the world.
He is urging the radical Palestinian organizations to stop the missile attacks on Israel, while the "Islamic Jihad" movement is rejecting the request beforehand, accusing the Hebrew state of escalating violence. He is surely defending "Hamas" participation in the upcoming legislative elections. The mission is getting more difficult due to the last two refusals of the European Union and the international "Quartet". As for Hamas, which is engaging in the elections for the first time, it seems to get ready to replace "Fateh", following the impetus stemming from the results of the municipal elections and the intense radical atmosphere thereto. Abbas and his staff are calling upon the Israelis to go back to the negotiation process and to politics, instead of resorting to the ongoing violent and escalatory solutions. But the Israelis launched two missiles on Gaza, a day after expressing their wish to create a buffer zone to shield them from the strikes of the armed Palestinians. Before long, Israeli airplanes threw down leaflets warning the Palestinians from entering this new buffer zone, knowing that it is populated and agricultural.
Abbas is attempting to bridge the gap within "Fateh" movement, safeguarding its unity, in order to reach the final settlement, as reflected by the merger of the two lists. However, many objective reasons, related to generations and experiences, and the transformation of the struggle tool into an authority tool, not to mention corruption and bias, make the mission impossible on the long haul. Following the demise of the founder Yasser Arafat, the "future" group, the past group, and the numerous present groups in between took the reins.
Abbas is working on consolidating security within his everlasting "partial" authority's reach, while some armed men from "Fateh" itself besiege the voting centers in Gaza, exchange gunfire with the police, and close the electoral centers in Khan Younes and Rafeh. They sometime seize the PA's buildings and premises as a way to protest against corruption, as claimed, and demand job opportunities.
The Palestinian President is striving to convey an image of the PA that presents to the world an image of assurance and confidence, an authority in control of its people's security. But three British individuals were kidnapped in Gaza, coming from Cairo, few days following the kidnapping and release of the Dutch and Australian professors in Beit Lahia. Who kidnapped them and why remains a mystery, as the mystery of the jungle.
In general, there are certainly several reasons behind Abbas' numerous ordeals, some of which stems from the cumulative past heritage, while some stems from the change "Fateh" underwent with its rise to the authority and to the nation. Moreover, sociological reasons always account for much, underlined by the issue of generations or the expression of "Tunization" or other issues. However, the chief issue is that the directly concerned parties in the struggle, i.e. Israel and the Jihad organizations, are not dealing seriously with politics. Moreover, they are not giving the economic situation of the Palestinians the necessary interest, making violence their absolute priority. Mahmoud Abbas is a politician. His attempt is dubbed "elections" and the aim is dubbed "negotiation". He is seeking to acquire a confidence that will not only spawn from the state, but also from aids and investments to render it viable. All these factors are prohibited for Abbas in Palestine, as they are prohibited for Fouad Siniora in Lebanon, or the Iraqis who seek to grant their country an opportunity to live, away from the enraged lethal sects.

Syrian ex-VP: Assad threatened Lebanese premier
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) -- Former Syrian Vice President Abdul-Halim Khaddam, a one-time stalwart of the ruling Baath Party, said on Friday that former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri was threatened by Syria months before he was assassinated.
Khaddam made the claim as he declared a formal break with President Bashar Assad in a television interview from Paris, citing corruption within the regime and its failure to reform. "Hariri was subjected to many threats from Syria," Khaddam said in the interview with Al-Arabiya, the pan-Arab satellite broadcaster, his first since he left Syria several months ago. "Dangerous things were said."He added that Hariri was once summoned to Damascus, the Syrian capital, "and spoken to in extremely harsh words by President Bashar Assad." A U.N. probe into Hariri's killing has implicated Syria, but Damascus has denied the allegations. (Read about the probe pointing to top officials) Khaddam became a Syrian vice president in 1984 and resigned in June. He was the nominal leader in Syria for a short period after Assad's father, Hafez Assad, died in June 2000.
In the interview, Khaddam was bitterly critical of the current Assad government, saying the ruling Baath Party and other popular organizations had been reduced to vindicating "decisions made by the president."
He claimed to have left his homeland on good terms with Assad.
"There are differences in opinions, but there was mutual respect," he said, adding that his family was with him in Paris where he was writing a memoir. He denied that he had been threatened and said he would return to Syria.
Nevertheless, he charged, the Syrian leadership had made many mistakes.
He quoted the Syrian president as telling Hariri, months before he was killed, that he would not allow him to bring a new president to Lebanon. "I will not allow that. I will crush whoever attempts to overturn our decision," he recalled Assad telling Hariri. Syria had dictated an extension of the presidential term of pro-Syrian Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, which Hariri opposed. The move provoked a political crisis in Syria's tiny Mediterranean neighbor. After the warning from Assad, Hariri left with "high blood pressure and his nose bleeding," Khaddam said. Khaddam, however, said he was not accusing Syria of complicity in Hariri's February 14 assassination in a massive truck bombing that killed 20 others on a Beirut street.
He said uncovering the guilty parties was a matter for the U.N. commission investigating the murder. Khaddam's comments reflected serious cracks within the Damascus regime. His claim was in direct contradiction to those made by Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa, who said at a Wednesday news conference that Hariri lied when he told Lebanese politicians he had been threatened by Assad during a meeting on August 26, 2004. Several anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians told the U.N. commission they had been told Assad threatened to "break Lebanon" over Hariri's head if he did not support Damascus' decision to extend the Lahoud presidency. Khaddam also launched a scathing attack against Syria's intelligence chief in Lebanon, Brig. Gen. Rustom Ghazale, whom he described as a corrupt officer who insulted Lebanese politicians, including Hariri, on a number of occasions. "Rustom Ghazale acted as if he's the absolute ruler of Lebanon," he said.
Under intense international pressure and after massive anti-Syrian demonstrations in Damascus, Syria pulled its troops out of Syria this summer after entering the country in 1976 as a stabilizing force early in the country's civil war.
Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

The Two Faces of Hezbollah
By KEVIN SITES
Yahoo! News
December 30, 2005
BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanon's militant political group Hezbollah (Party of God) has become a global brand name. But for Hezbollah - and those who must deal with the group - the overarching question is, "What's the brand?" The United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and the parliament of the European Union all designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, and not without some evidence.
The U.S. government blames Hezbollah for numerous acts that nearly defined Middle East terrorism in the mid-'80s, including: the Beirut truck bombings in October 1983 that killed 241 U.S. Marines; the April 1983 U.S. Embassy bombing in Beirut that killed 63 people and a second bombing of the U.S. Embassy that killed 22 people in September 1984; and the 1985 hijacking of Rome-to-Athens TWA Flight 847 in which a U.S. Navy diver was killed (the man convicted for the murder was just released by German authorities after serving 19 years in prison).
Hezbollah denies involvement in any of these attacks.
The United States also claims the group carried out a series of kidnappings of Westerners from 1982 to 1992, including the torture and killings of CIA station chief William Buckley and U.S. Army Colonel William Higgins; and the abductions of American journalist Terry Anderson and the Archbishop of Canterbury's special envoy, Terry Waite.
Most experts and observers agree that Hezbollah is a complex organization. In a 2003 report, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group wrote: "Fully penetrating Hezbollah's decision-making process is almost impossible. The movement enjoys a highly effective regimen of internal discipline and concealment."
In addition to its militia, Hezbollah has a full-scale multimedia operation including a media relations department (ironically, when I arrived there to conduct interviews, I was not allowed to videotape and managed only to take this photo).
Still, Hezbollah's media wing is savvy. It publishes a monthly magazine called Qubth Ut Alla, (The Fist of God) and runs television network Al-Manar (The Lighthouse) and radio station al-Nour (The Light).
Hezbollah also maintains an aggressive program of charitable work, including building schools and hospitals for the Shia community in Lebanon.
And though it defines itself through opposition to Israel and the U.S., it has also condemned the 9/11 attacks and spoken out against some of the beheadings by insurgents in Iraq.
Hezbollah, made up of Shia Muslims, also says it has no connection to Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda (dominated by Wahabist Sunnis who consider Shias heretics).
In an interview at their businesslike media relations office in west Beirut, Director of Foreign Media Hussein Naboulsi tries to clarify for me some of the enigma that is Hezbollah.
"Hezbollah is Hezbollah," he says, "there's no change in its definition. It's a political, religious party created as a reaction to Israel's invasion [of Lebanon] in 1982. Politically it's represented in both cabinet and parliament, and considered by all to be a legitimate party. But if you're against Israel, the U.S. administration labels you as they want."
Israel is uncompromising on its view of Hezbollah. Reached for comment on Hezbollah's emergence as a political force in Lebanon, Jeremy Issacharoff, deputy chief of the Israeli embassy to the U.S., said, "Israel's position regarding the blatant terroristic nature of Hezbollah is well known and needs no further elaboration."
Despite the terrorist allegations, many in Lebanon, especially among the majority Shia community (an estimated 40 percent of the population) consider Hezbollah a resistance movement. Some even regard Hezbollah as liberators that forced Israel to retreat from southern Lebanon in 2000.
"This organization should be considered the most patriotic in Lebanon," says Naboulsi. "We fought the Israelis and forced them to leave. Hezbollah sacrificed 1,800 martyrs and thousands of wounded soldiers for the sake of this country -for the sake of dignity and honor of this country."
Because of that perception, Hezbollah is the only faction in the country allowed to keep weapons, ostensibly as a buffer against Israeli incursions. Naboulsi says the militia has earned the right to be armed.
"Fighting the Israelis is not a picnic; it's blood spilled. It's not a reward in a festival," he says, his voice rising with emphasis. "No one can take that mission unless he has faith - extreme faith and loyalty to this country."
Now Hezbollah is deep into several phases of another mission: that of becoming a credible and viable political entity in the fractious sphere of Lebanese politics.
The first time it got involved in the political process was in 1992, winning 12 seats in the 128-seat parliament. But in an alliance with the Shia Amal party, it nearly doubled those numbers in the 2005 general election by taking 23 seats.
Hezbollah was also given cabinet posts when it cast its lot with the current alliance of parties forming the Lebanese government.
"There's a great ambition," says Naboulsi, "We want to see real reform in Lebanon. But that reform should begin with a just electoral law - not based on sectarian factors, but proportional representation. In proportional representation, I win and you win. Everybody has a seat in the parliament. It's good for all Lebanese."
But not all Lebanese agree. The current Lebanese democracy is based on a decades-old practice of what's called "consensus politics," a complicated formula in which Lebanon's different ethnic and religious factions are apportioned specific government slots, regardless of their makeup in the total population. Christian groups, particularly, are concerned that changes in the electoral law could lead to dominance by a Shia or Muslim alliance.
Theocracy Hezbollah has said in the past that it would like to see Lebanon become a theocratic state in the model of one of its primary funders and supporters: Iran. But it has quietly backed off a bit from those statements recently, perhaps in hopes of appearing more conciliatory.
And it may need to be, to offset what may end up being a costly political position for these days: that of providing full support to its other primary financial supporter, Syria.
Hezbollah actively opposed what was dubbed "Cedar Revolution," the democratic outcry following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Along with international pressure, the events led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops after nearly 30 years in Lebanon.
"The Syrians played a key role in the stability of Lebanon, putting an end to the civil war," says Naboulsi. "And Syria really supported the resistance which ended up forcing the Israeli enemy out of Lebanon."
But being that outspoken has a price. Some Christian parties want to see Hezbollah disarmed (something already called for by United Nations resolution 1559) and may have used that threat, some say, to push Hezbollah and the Amal party to support an expanded U.N. investigation into the Hariri killing - something that they both initially opposed.
The government is still in a deadlock, near collapse. But Hezbollah is rumored to be a key player in an unlikely alliance with a longtime foe: former Lebanese general Michel Aoun, a staunch anti-Syrian who recently returned from 15 years of exile in France, following the Syrian troop withdrawal.
Naboulsi says Hezbollah reached out to Aoun first.
"Even when Michel Aoun was in Paris and no one dared to speak to him," he says. "We were the first to begin the open dialogue. You can't make other sects your enemy."
If Aoun's supporters and Hezbollah make a deal to get the government running again, it could provide Hezbollah with more credibility. It would also seem to demonstrate a commitment beyond its own interests and that of Syria's, to a unified Lebanon.
"Hezbollah is an essential part of Lebanon which no one can ignore," says Naboulsi. "It's the biggest party of the biggest sector of the population and because of consensus democracy, no one can form a government without our contribution."
And for its own political base, Hezbollah's anti-Israeli, anti-American rhetoric is part of the appeal. Hezbollah has called for the destruction of Israel and even offered to open up a second front against the Israelis during the Palestinian intifada.
As for the U.S. designating Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, Naboulsi is matter-of-fact: Any future dialogue is doubtful.
"The American government has labeled us as terrorists," he says. "They say they don't negotiate with terrorists - and neither do we."
Note: Kevin plans to report from Israel and the Palestinian territories in late January.
Find more reporting from "Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone" at http://hotzone.yahoo.com
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(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.shns.com)

Coalition Against Terrorist Media Removes Hezbollah's Al-Manar Television from Satellite Broadcasting into North and South America
12/30/2005 11:26:00 AM
To: National Desk
Contact: Bill McCarthy of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, 202-207-0183 or 703-402-2886 (cell),
Web: http://www.defenddemocracy.org
WASHINGTON, Dec. 29 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Coalition Against Terrorist Media (CATM) today praised satellite company Hispamar for removing the terrorist group Hezbollah's al-Manar television station from broadcast into North and South America. This marks the second time that CATM has taken al-Manar off the airwaves in the United States and throughout the Americas.
"Al-Manar runs graphic videos encouraging viewers, even children, to become suicide bombers and calls for acts of terrorism against civilians," said Mark Dubowitz, COO of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, which organized CATM. "Al-Manar is an operational weapon in the hands of one of the world's most dangerous terrorist organizations."
"We applaud Hispamar for quickly ending al-Manar broadcasts over its Amazonas satellite after we alerted them to its incitement to violence and support for terrorism," Dubowitz continued. "By removing al-Manar, Hispamar is ending a very real threat. Hezbollah is known to have terror cells in more than 14 major American cities. It conducts illegal operations, including drug smuggling, throughout the Americas. And it demonstrated its ability and willingness to strike on this side of the Atlantic when its terrorists killed more than 100 innocent civilians in two bombings in Argentina."
With Hispamar's decision, CATM and its allies have now been instrumental in removing al-Manar from eight satellites around the world, including two other satellites broadcasting into the United States and Latin America.
In December 2004, at CATM's urging, the U.S. State Department designated al-Manar as a terrorist organization. The same day, the Intelsat satellite company dropped al-Manar from broadcast in the United States and Canada.
On June 23, 2005, following intensive consultations with CATM and its allies, the government of Spain issued a press release denouncing al-Manar's terrorist messages and removed al-Manar from broadcast over Hispasat, which reached all of Latin America.
Hispamar is a Brazilian company and branch of Hispasat. Its Amazonas satellite had broadcast al-Manar until being alerted by CATM about the station's support for terrorism.
Al-Manar is still broadcast to the Middle East, Europe and North Africa by Nilesat, whose major shareholder is the government of Egypt, and Arabsat, which is owned in part by the government of Saudi Arabia. Al-Manar's broadcasts include commercials glorifying suicide bombers and encouraging others to join their ranks; viciously anti-American and anti-Semitic material, including the infamous and false "blood libel" depicting Jews killing a child to make Passover Matzah; and music videos calling for suicide bombers to attack coalition soldiers in Iraq.
CATM is a project of the non-partisan Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (http://www.defenddemocracy.org), a policy institute that focuses on defeating terrorism and promoting democracy.
For more information on al-Manar and CATM's efforts to remove it from worldwide broadcast, please visit http://www.stopterroristmedia.org.
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