LCCC NEWS BULLETIN
JANUARY 2/2006

Below News From Miscellaneous Sources
Lebanese hostage released in Iraq-Xinhuanet 2.01.06
Peace award for murdered politician-IOL 2.01.06
Media frenzy over Hariri death allegations-BBC 2.1.05
Below is News reports from Naharnet for 2/01/06
Syria Accuses Khaddam of High Treason, Calls for His Trial
U.S. Considers U.N. Resolution to Condemn Hizbullah
Khaddam Urges Dialogue with Syrian Opposition
Geagea Accuses Hizbullah of Seeking a Veto-Wielding Position
Cypriot-Lebanese Hostage Freed in Iraq after a 5-Month Ordeal
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

Lebanese hostage released in Iraq
www.chinaview.cn 2006-01-02 03:43:08
BEIRUT, Jan. 1 (Xinhuanet) -- A Lebanese engineer abducted by gunmen in Iraq four days ago was released on Sunday, Lebanon's official news agency reported. Camille Nassif Tannus, who works with a Western engineering company and was snatched away by gunmen in Baghdad on Thursday, was released a few hours ago, said the report, adding that Tannus was in good health and now at his home in Baghdad. No further details were revealed. On Saturday, five Sudanese hostages and one Cypriot kidnapped by Iraqi gunmen several months ago were freed.unmen often abduct foreigners working in the violence-plagued Iraq for high ransoms.

Media frenzy over Hariri death allegations
BBC 1/12/05: The media in Lebanon and the Middle East has been quick to react to accusations by the exiled former Syrian vice-president Abdul Halim Khaddam implicating President Bashar al-Assad in the murder of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. In Lebanon, some commentators class him as a traitor to his country while a leading anti-Syrian politician says the allegations prove Damascus was lying about its role in Mr Hariri's death. A pan-Arab paper believes his allegations confirm a UN report by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis which implicates Syrian intelligence in the killing.
In neighbouring Israel, a longstanding enemy of Syria, commentators are split over the ramifications for Damascus.
In Syria itself, the official media has published numerous attacks against Mr Khaddam, many of which accuse him of dishonesty and malfeasance.
Comment in Lebanese newspaper Al-Diyar
Khaddam has been unmasked and has appeared in his true light as the Syrian Judas who betrayed his country.
Senior official quoted in Lebanon's Al-Nahar Khaddam's statement is an aftershock comparable to the earthquake of Syrian withdrawal after the assassination of Rafik Hariri. Druze leader Walid Junblatt quoted in Lebanon's Al-Mustaqbal
Khaddam unveils the lies of the Syrian regime. Khaddam's statement was a testimony which substantiates the UN investigation.
Comment in Lebanon's Al-Intiqad For years, anyone visiting Damascus was subjected to humiliation by Khaddam... Yesterday, Khaddam changed, as if he had turned into Mother Teresa and become a member of a charity working only for the wellbeing of Lebanon. Woman MP quoted by Syria's Sham Press
On behalf of the people I represent, I urge the Syrian leadership to try Khaddam because he went beyond his dignity and insulted 10m Syrians by accusing them of living from rubbish bins.
Comment in Syria's Sham Press:  This traitor should be executed a thousand times; for every crime he or his children committed in the past, when he was in power, in addition to the shameful end of his dark life.
Columnist in Pan-Arab Al-Sharq al-Awsat
Khaddam's interview is more powerful than all the reports and analyses. What he said is stronger than Mehlis's report. Everything the analysts and the Mehlis report have been saying has been confirmed by Khaddam.
Commentary in Israel's centre-right Maariv
A former Arab vice-president does not stand up and throw dirt at his president for no reason. He does not easily leave his homeland and declare the end of his political life after 58 years. He must have good reasons.
Commentary in Israel's top circulation daily Yediot Aharonot
What we have here is an old, sick politician who was pushed out of the circle of decision-makers in Syria, who finds it difficult to come to terms with this... Yet something bad is happening to Bashar and his regime. In September, his interior minister committed suicide. Now another pillar has fallen. Assad's regime is getting shakier and there are already those who are ready to bet that Bashar will not survive this year in the presidential palace.
Commentary in Israel's leftist Ha'aretz
The Syrian counter attack has begun with the revelation of details of his personal wealth.
As far as Bashar is concerned, what we have here is not the loss of a solid pillar of his regime but the removal of a rotten apple which indeed knew much information, but not so that it could bring about the collapse of his regime.
BBC Monitoring selects and translates news from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages. It is based in Caversham, UK, and has several bureaus abroad.

Old bomb explodes in Lebanon
Beirut, Jan. 1, (BNA) A bomb, left behind by the Israeli forces during their last invasion of the Lebanese Majdal Anjar area, exploded today, said Lebanese National News Agency (NNA). The NNA reported on a security source as saying that while a shepherd was grazing his sheep in Majdal Anjar Mounts, near a former military line, a rock rolled down from the top of the mountain and fell on the bomb causing it to detonate and creating a state of panic in the area. The NNA added that Lebanese force units, aided by military engineers and experts, rushed to the area, besieged the place and detonated two other bombs. It is noteworthy that the mentioned place was shelled by the Israelis during their 1982 invasion of Lebanon.

Syria Party Demands Trial for Ex-Official
Staff and agencies- 01 January, 2006
DAMASCUS, Syria - Syria ‘s ruling Baath Party stripped former Vice President Abdul-Halim Khaddam of membership and joined parliament in demanding his trial on a charge of high treason, the official news agency SANA reported Sunday.
Khaddam told the Al-Arabiya satellite channel that Assad warned Hariri in August 2004 that the Syrian leader would "crush whoever attempts to overturn our decision" to extend the term of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud.
"Khaddam has joined the band of enemies who are targeting the country and its attitudes," the Baath Party statement said.
Syria‘s push for the three-year extension of Lahoud‘s presidency in September 2004 — which Hariri opposed — was considered responsible for the crisis in Lebanese-Syrian relations that preceded Hariri‘s assassination last Feb. 14.
A United Nations probe has since implicated top Syrian security officials in the bombing that killed Hariri and 20 other people in central Beirut. Assad‘s government has denied being involved. The decision to strip Khaddam of party membership was announced in a statement issued by the Baath Party‘s National Leadership, the country‘s highest decision-making authority, which is headed by Assad. Khaddam made his comments as he declared a formal break with Assad, citing corruption and the president‘s failure to institute reforms.

Peace award for murdered politician
01/01/2006 - 14:19:17 -IOL
Lebanon’s former prime minister, the late Rafic Hariri, was named today as the 2005 Tipperary International Peace Award winner.Mr Hariri was assassinated in February in a Beirut explosion that also killed bodyguards and bystanders.
The Tipperary Peace Convention, which has awarded the prestigious prize since 1984, said Mr Hariri’s political career touched many aspects of Lebanese life as he was a courageous man of peace within the Arab world.
“The Tipperary Peace Convention is pleased to announce on World Day of Peace that Rafic Hariri is the recipient of the 2005 Award and in doing so, recognises the close relationship that Ireland has had with the Lebanon through the many years of peacekeeping duties there by members of the Irish Defence Forces,” said Convention spokesman Martin Quinn.
“A leader who showed love and commitment for the wellbeing of all his people, Hariri made many sacrifices in order to promote a culture of peace and prosperity for all and to bring a torn society together again following the devastation of war.
“Mr Hariri paid the ultimate price for his convictions as he died defending the spirit that united the Lebanese people,” he said.
A Sunni Muslim, Mr Hariri was instrumental in the implementation of a road map towards peace in Lebanon, culminating in the signing of the Taef Peace Accord.
The Taef Accord and the ratification of a new Constitution brought an end to years of war and division and was the start of a new journey to rebuild the country.
“Hariri invested in peace, political resolution and development and provided outstanding leadership in rebuilding and rehabilitating a country that had suffered years of physical and human devastation,” added Mr Quinn.
The Convention said the reconstruction of the country following the 1975-1990 War has been compared to Europe’s reconstruction after World War II and is a tribute to Hariri’s outstanding and visionary leadership.
Speaking a short time before his death, Mr Hariri said: “We are a people who deeply believe in peace, tolerance and justice, and we would love to live in peace with our children and grandchildren.”
Mr Hariri was prime minister of Lebanon from 1992-1998 and from 2000-2004.
During his political career he received many decorations from kings, princes and heads of state and was the recipient of the UN-HABITAT Scroll of Honour in 2004.
The Tipperary International Peace Award will be presented at a ceremony in Tipperary in April.
Previous award winners include former South African president Nelson Mandela, the late Senator Gordon Wilson, founder of GOAL John O’Shea, peace brokers Mona Juul and Terje Larsen, Senator George Mitchell, Live Aid Organiser Bob Geldof, former US president Bill Clinton and murdered Iraqi aid worker Margaret Hassan last year.
© Thomas Crosbie Media, 2006.

French premier lauds Lebanon''s freedom, independence
BEIRUT, Dec 31 (KUNA) -- Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Al-Siniora received on Saturday a letter from his French counterpart Dominique De Villepin, in which the French premier lauded Lebanon's keenness on its freedom and independence through democracy.
A statement issued by the Lebanese Ministerial Council said that De Villepin noted that Lebanon has overcome all the lures and sustained sovereignty through free elections, which resulted in a legitimate representational government.
De Villepin stressed in his letter that the truth behind the recent crimes against a number of Lebanese figures would be revealed soon. He lauded Beirut's government for taking the necessary procedures to restore security in Lebanon.
The French Premier also underscored French support for Lebanon's security and urged the Lebanese government to demonstrate to the world its economic reform projects during the conference to support Lebanon, which will be held in 2006. .