Discontent in Syria as more neig

LCCC NEWS BULLETIN
JULY 27/2006

News from the Daily Star for July 27/06
UN aid touches down at crippled airport
Egypt rules out intervention in Lebanon
UN officers fume over Israeli air strike that killed 4 peacekeepers
Rome talk-fest wraps up without apparent progress on cease-fire
Rescuers: Many dead have yet to be counted
Israel under fire for killing UN monitors
Nassib Lahoud: 'We can't bear more attacks'
Mirza denies existence of plot to smuggle Hariri suspects out of prison
Threat of disease looms over Southern villages
Spotlight on Taif as key ingredient for cease-fire
Nasrallah: 'Beyond Haifa' starts soon
Banks and media have key roles to play in war - and its aftermath
Blockade deprives state of vital revenues from ports
'No one is coming here:' War costs Haifa businesses dearly
War sparks environmental crisis too as oil leaks into sea after attack on power plant
Maliki thanks Americans for help, asks for more
Desperately waiting for Nabih Berri. By Michael Young
News from miscellaneous sources for July 27/06
At Rome Talks, Foreign Force Is Backed for South Lebanon-New York Times
VATICAN: Lebanese to brief top officials-AKI - Rome,Italy
Iraq donates â‚¬28 million to Lebanon-Unison.ie - Bray,Ireland
Diplomats Back Troops, but Not Cease-fire, for Mideast-New York Times
Lebanon talks call for ceasefire-SABC News
Fighting rages in south Lebanon-Reuters.uk - UK
Syria expects gains from Israel's war in Lebanon-Reuters
We Don't Want to Reach the Point of No ReturnABC News
No agreement on Mideast cease-fire plan-AP
International leaders me eting in Rome failed to agree on a plan-Jewish Telegraphic Agency
The international conference on the Lebanese crisis en ded in Rome-DEBKA file
At Rome Talks, Foreign Force Is Backed f or South Lebanon-New York Times
Rome talks seek Lebanon solution-Guardian Unlimited
Rome crisis meeting on Lebanon faces formidable task-Financial Times
Q&A: Rome conference on Lebanon-CNN International
US envoy seeks solution-Calgary Sun
Iran, Syria conspiciously absent from Rome summit-AKI - Rome,Italy
Ceasefire aim of Lebanon talks-ANSA - Rome,Italy
Death toll rises to 390 in Lebanon-Moneycontrol.com
Fierce fighting rages in Lebanon-Mail & Guardian Online
Clashes rage as Israel presses south Lebanon advance-Middle East Times
Israel vows to secure south of Lebanon-Chicago Tribune
Enigmatic Syria walks a dangerous line-Globe and Mail
Olmert to Rice: Israel will work to ease Lebanon's humanitarian -Ha'aretz
France could play big role in Lebanon force-Chirac-Reuters
Blair Should Support Lebanon Ceasefire, Rights, Aid Groups Say-Bloomberg
WRAPUP 8-UN deaths add to pressure for Lebanon ceasefire-Reuters
Lebanon aid convoy updates-BBC News
Greece steps up Lebanon efforts-Kathimerini
Lebanon aid arrives after Israel agrees to safe passage-Euronews.net
Several Israeli Troops Reportedly Killed in Lebanon-Washington Post
TV: 12 Israeli Troops Killed in Lebanon-ABC News
UN aid convoy heads to south Lebanon-Guardian Unlimited
Olmert: Israel won't reoccupy south Lebanon-Ireland Online
Israel-Hezbollah conflict doubles airfare out of Syria-INQ7.net
War May Spark Aounist Resurgence: M. Griffis-Antiwar.com
Latest Lebanon-Israel developments-Houston Chronicle
Harper honeymoon in Quebec appears to be soured by Lebanese-570 News, Canada
The Lebanese Canadian Coordinating Council On The Rome Conference-Global Politician,
Lebanese Expatriates Condemn Syria, Iran; and Praise Israel-IsraPundit
Olmert: 'Deep regret' over peacekeepers-AP
SYRIA INCREASES ALERT OF WAR WITH ISRAEL-Middle East Newsline
A Way Forward-Washington Post
'They Know Everything'-ABC News
In Lebanon's Crisis, a Chance for US to Broaden the Stakes-Washington Pos
Israel widens control of southern Lebanon-AP
Hezbollah: Israeli onslaught a surprise-AP
EU to push for force in Lebanon-International Herald Tribune - France
US embassy plans last Lebanon evacuation-MSNBC - USA
Discontent in Syria as more neighbours drop in-The Age - Melbourne,Victoria,Australia
Israel 'to control Lebanon strip'-BBC News - UK
Aid agencies warn crisis looming in Lebanon-ABC News - USA
Israel bomb kills 4 UN observers in Lebanon-Reuters - USA
Inside Lebanon: why Hizbollah may be winning the battle for hearts-Financial Times
Remember the 1983 negotiations for a settlement to Lebanon crisis-Christian Science Monitor
How the US Hopes to End the Lebanon Crisis-TIME - USA
Fighting rages on in south Lebanon-United Press International - USA
Hizballah's Unlikely Rep at the Bargaining Table-TIME - USA
My Letter to Lebanon's Prime Minister Fouad Siniora-uruknet.info

No agreement on Mideast cease-fire plan
By VICTOR L. SIMPSON, Associated Press Writer
ROME - U.S., European and Arab officials holding crisis talks on Lebanon failed to agree Wednesday on an immediate plan to halt the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.
Although officials called for an end to the violence, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said there cannot be a return to a "status quo" of political uncertainty and instability in Lebanon. She said any cease-fire must be "sustainable."
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said the solution to the Mideast crisis should involve Iran and Syria. He also called for the formation of a multinational force to help Lebanon assert its authority and implement U.N. resolutions that would disarm Hezbollah.
After listening to a dramatic appeal from Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora for them to stop the killing, the officials said they had agreed on the need to deploy an international force under the aegis of the United Nations in southern Lebanon.
"An international force in Lebanon should urgently be authorized under a U.N. mandate to support the Lebanese armed forces in providing a secure environment," Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said — but there was no mention of who would take part or any other details.
"Participants expressed their determination to work immediately to reach, with utmost urgency, a cease-fire that puts an end to the current violence and hostilities. The cease-fire must be lasting, permanent and sustainable," D'Alema said.
He said many of the participants in the meeting appealed for an immediate and unconditional truce.
The United States and Britain opposed the push for a quick cease-fire, saying any truce should ensure that Hezbollah no longer is a threat to Israel and should ensure a durable peace.
Referring to the cease-fire, D'Alema said, "To obtain this objective, you must exercise pressure on all parties involved, directly and indirectly, on who can exercise influence on Hezbollah and on Israel."
The foreign ministers and other senior officials from the 15 nations, as well as Annan and representatives from the European Union and the World Bank, agreed on a declaration expressing "deep concern" for the many civilian casualties in Lebanon, where government officials say hundreds have been killed.
The officials called on Israel to exercise "utmost restraint" and deplored the destruction of infrastructure in the country.
A new multinational force for southern Lebanon would be far tougher than the existing, three-decade-old UNIFIL operation which has lacked a mandate to prevent hostilities.
"What we agreed upon is that there should be an international force under a U.N. mandate that will have a strong and robust capability to help bring about peace, to help provide the ability for humanitarian efforts to go forward and to bring an end to the violence," Rice told reporters.
There was no immediate response from Israel, which did not attend. Israeli officials have expressed support in principle for the deployment of an international force, recognizing that the weak Lebanese government could not likely subdue the Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah without assistance.
Rice said the force's mandate would be discussed "over the next ... several days." She added: "We also have asked that those meetings be held urgently so that force can be put together."
"We all committed to dedicated and urgent action to try to bring about an end to violence that would be sustainable" and leave the Lebanese government in full control of its territory, Rice told reporters. She also pointed the finger at Iran for stoking the violence.
The foreign ministers and other senior officials from 15 nations, as well as Annan and representatives from the European Union and the World Bank, agreed on a declaration that expressed "deep concern" for the high number of civilian casualties in Lebanon, where government officials say hundreds of people have been killed.
They called on Israel to exercise "utmost restraint," deplored the destruction of infrastructure in the country, and agreed on a donors' conference to provide humanitarian aid.
Saniora said the violence has brought his country — still rebuilding from its 1975-90 civil war — "to its knees."
He recognized that Israel's offensive had been sparked by Hezbollah's incursion across the "blue line" — the border recognized by the United Nations — two weeks ago when it killed eight soldiers and kidnapped two, but added that the resultant offensive was "disproportionate."
The Western-leaning moderate also appealed to Israel to enter a peace process with all of its Arab neighbors — striking a markedly different tone from many previous Lebanese leaders.
In Brussels, European Union officials said a meeting of foreign ministers would be held Aug. 1 to discuss the violence.

Israel takes casualties in Lebanon, Rome talks fail on ceasefire
BEIRUT (AFP) - Fighting on the Lebanon-Israeli border intensified after an Israeli air raid killed up to four UN observers and some 20 soldiers were wounded in fighting Hezbollah forces in the border town of Bint Jbeil.
In Rome on Wednesday, far from the region's smoke, bloodshed and rubble under which scores of civilians are reported to be buried or trapped, an international conference failed to agree on a call for an immediate ceasefire.
It vowed only to work immediately with "utmost urgency" towards one.
A declaration followed the US line, backed by Britain, that a ceasefire in the region "must be lasting, permanent and sustainable."
Arab countries had been calling for an immediate halt to hostilities.
Israel's two-week-old offensive in Lebanon has killed more than 400 people, mostly civilians, while its thrust into Palestinian territories has left 128 dead, including 12 killed on Wednesday.
In both cases the Jewish state is trying to recover a total of three soldiers captured by militants and halt rocket attacks on its territory.
In south Lebanon, the military met fierce resistance from the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which in turn is firing rockets on northern Israel.
"Around 20 soldiers were wounded in the fighting in Bint Jbeil," an Israeli spokeswoman said, referring to a key town in south Lebanon. Her statement followed a report on Israeli army radio that 13 soldiers were "hit" in heavy fighting there.
The Arabic news channel Al-Jazeera said 13 soldiers were killed and 12 wounded.
Countries at the 15-nation Rome meeting also agreed to hold multilateral talks soon on an international buffer force, an idea espoused by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
"The mandate of the security force will be discussed over the next several days," Rice told journalists in Rome. "We have asked for urgent meetings to take place so that a force can be put together."
The talks -- from which there had been scant hopes of a quick ceasefire emerging in light of US and British opposition -- was overshadowed by the deaths of the UN peacekeepers.
Governments around the world expressed shock and anger at the deaths in the Israeli raid on Tuesday which UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said appeared deliberately to target the observer post.
"I am shocked and deeply distressed by the apparently deliberate targeting by Israeli Defence Forces of a UN observer post in southern Lebanon that has killed two UN military observers, with two more feared dead," Annan said.
Israel's UN ambassador Dan Gillerman, apparently parroting Annan's initial phrase, told the BBC: "I was shocked and deeply distressed by the hasty statement by the secretary general insinuating that Israel has deliberately targeted the UN post at Khiam and surprised at these premature and erroneous assertions.
"The secretary general, while demanding an investigation, has already issued his conclusions."
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert however phoned Annan and expressed "deep regrets" over the killing and said he would order a comprehensive inquiry.
But Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar speaking on Wednesday after a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations had condemned Israeli aggression, said: "I think it is very easy to express deep regret after the event."
France, whose officers command the 28-year-old UN Interim Forces in Lebanon force, also protested, and China, one of whose nationals was among the dead, called in the Israeli ambassador in Beijing to demand a formal apology.
A Lebanese security source said the other three observers were an Austrian, a Canadian and a Finn. Finnish President Tarja Halonen also demanded an investigation: "Nothing can justify Israel's attack on a UN observer base."
The Lebanese source said three bodies had so far been recovered from the remains of the post in Khiam, once the site of an infamous Israeli jail but now a Hezbollah stronghold. Intense efforts were underway to recover the final body from beneath the rubble, the source added.
There was no sign of any let-up from Hezbollah, whose capture of two Israeli soldiers earlier in July sparked the Israeli onslaught of Lebanon.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah vowed to hit back with rocket attacks into the heart of Israel as he made a new television appearance early Wednesday following repeated attempts by Israel to kill him in bombing raids.
"We are entering a new phase in the confrontation, the phase of (striking) beyond Haifa," Nasrallah said, referring to Israel's main northern town, already pounded with deadly rocket fire by Hezbollah over the past two weeks.
Israel has repeatedly said it believes the Shiite militant group has longer-range rockets capable of reaching beyond Israel's third city, as far as the commercial capital Tel Aviv, or even the southern city of Beersheva.
Several rockets landed on Wednesday on Haifa, wounding at least six people.
In a flickering sign of some relief for Lebanese trapped by Israel's declared blockade of the whole country, a Jordanian military plane carrying UN humanitarian aid landed at Beirut airport.
The flight was the first to land after a two-week closure caused by Israel's bombardment of the airport at the start of its offensive.
It also came as the UN food body, the FAO, said Lebanon was heading for a "major food crisis".
Much of the country's infrastructure lies in ruins from Israeli bombing and food, fuel and medical supplies have been disrupted with an estimated 500,000 Lebanese displaced.
In the southern Lebanese town of Tyre, a rescue official told AFP that at least 55 people, mostly civilians and including many children, remained buried under rubble in the region after more than 10 days of intense Israeli raids.
Lebanese Civil Defence rescue coordinator Salam Daher said the figure was likely to be much higher as Israeli attacks on roads in the region made access by teams risky or impossible.
It was not immediately known how many of them were dead or still alive and waiting to be reached by rescue workers.
In one incident, 20 residents of the village of Srifa were still under the ruins of five houses completely destroyed in the heavy Israeli air and sea bombardment on July 19 when 25 civilians were reported killed, Daher said.
"Someone who escaped, wounded, managed to reach the neighbouring village of Tarifilsay and gave details on the families who were in their houses during the bombardment. There must be 20 more bodies underneath the rubble," he said.

VATICAN: LEBANESE PM TO BRIEF TOP OFFICIAL
Vatican City, 26 July (AKI) - Lebanese prime minister Fuad Siniora is meeting the powerful Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, to brief him on the crisis in his country and the inconclusive international conference in Rome on Wednesday, Vatican sources said. A Vatican delegation - led by the 'foreign minister' Monsignor Giovanni Lajolo - attended the conference as observers. The conference failed to achieve significant progress on a ceasefire because of differences between the US, Arab and many European nations.
In recent days, the Vatican has operated on two fronts: one strictly diplomatic and the other humanitarian.
As the humanitarian situation in Lebanon has deteriorated rapidly, the pontifical council Cor Unum which oversees the Vatican's solidarity efforts, launched an aid campaign for refugees through Caritas and other agencies operating in the area.
Caritas Internationalis has been active in getting aid supplies to the population especially to thousands of displaced people.
Regarding diplomatic efforts to halt the carnage, the Holy See has called firstly for a ceasefire for humanitarian regaons and then outllined three main principles for the start of negotiations.
"I seize the opportunity to reassert the right of the Lebanese people to the integrity and sovreignty of their country, the right of Israelis to live in peace in their state and the right of the Palestinian people to have a free and sovreign state" Pope Benedict XVI said last Sunday.
During the first phase of the crisis the apostolic nuncio in Jerusalem monsignor Antonio Franco had tried to initiative secret talks with Hamas for the release of the Israeli soldier seized at the end of June.
Secretary of state Angelo Sodano - the Vatcian's equivalent of a prime minister - has kept close links with the government in Lebanon in particular with the premier Siniora - a Sunni Muslim.
In Lebanon meanwhile the Maronite patriarch, cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, has applied diplomatic pressure on the White House and called for a ceasefire, only to clarify later that if the reaction of Israel appeared disproportionate the attacks of Hebollah are also to be condemned.

Rome talk-fest wraps up without apparent progress on cease-fire
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Thursday, July 27, 2006
A 15-nation crisis conference in Rome ended on Wednesday with no firm plan to stop the fighting between Israel and Hizbullah, disappointing Arab and UN hopes for an immediate cease-fire. In an unusual overture, Lebanon's prime minister urged Israel to seek a peace process with all its Arab neighbors while pleading for an immediate end to the offensive. But US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice maintained that any cease-fire must be "sustainable" and that there could be no return to the previous status quo.In Rome, US, EU and Arab leaders agreed on the need for an international military force with a UN mandate to secure the border between Lebanon and Israel. They vowed to work to reach a truce "with the utmost urgency" but, in language the US administration has used since the start of the Israeli offensive, said a cease-fire "must be lasting, permanent and sustainable."
The powers called on Israel to exercise "utmost restraint."In an emotional speech, Siniora called for an immediate and comprehensive cease-fire.
"Is the value of human rights in Lebanon less than that of citizens elsewhere? Are we children of a lesser God? Is an Israeli teardrop worth more than a drop of Lebanese blood?" he asked world diplomats. Speaking to reporters later, he said that Israel could only hope to live in peace and security through good relations with all of its neighbors. One way to achieve that, he said, would be to renew discussions over a small, disputed territory between the two nations known as the Shebaa Farms.
"We want to liberate what's left of the Lebanese territories of what's still occupied by Israel," Siniora said. "This will put the [peace] process on the right track." "It's high time for Israel to realize this is how to make peace in that region," Siniora said.
Until the Shebaa issue can be settled, Siniora appealed for the UN Security Council to grant access to the area for Lebanese property owners.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said, however, that there could be no discussion of the Shebaa Farms with Lebanon.
Siniora said there were dangers in delaying a cease-fire. "The more we delay the cease-fire, the more we are going to witness more being killed, more destruction and more aggression against the civilians in Lebanon, " Siniora said. Siniora said the violence has brought his country "to its knees." While he acknowledged that Israel's offensive was sparked by Hizbullah's incursion across the border two weeks ago, he said the resultant offensive was "disproportionate." Siniora demanded the withdrawal of Israeli forces to allow displaced Lebanese to return to their villages and demanded compensation from Israel. "Israel cannot go on indefinitely disregarding international law," he said.
Syria's UN ambassador complained Damascus was not invited to the meeting, which he said should have discussed "Israeli occupation" rather than a new force for Lebanon. "How come the fate of our area is decided 3,000 kilometers away from it?" Ambassador Bashar Jaafari told reporters. "I am talking about the conference of Rome where Syria was not there, where many other countries concerned were not there."
At the Rome conference, Rice and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan both referred to the influence of Syria and Iran in the conflict. Rice voiced "concern" at the Iranian role, and Annan said they must both be engaged for any peace deal to succeed.
Rice warned Syria and Iran that it was time for those countries to "make a choice" about their role in Middle East peace.
"We are all agreed that we want most urgently to end the violence on a basis that this time will be sustainable," she said. "We cannot return to the status quo ante.""We do have a way forward," she said, referring to UN Resolution 1559. She later said the leaders agreed on the need to replace the existing beleaguered UN force in Lebanon with "an international force under a UN mandate that will have a strong and robust capability to help bring about peace, to help provide the ability for humanitarian efforts to go forward and to bring an end to the violence."In an interview with Le Monde newspaper, French President Jacques Chirac said that NATO should not lead the proposed force in part because the alliance is seen in the region as "the armed wing of the West."He also said that Iran supplied arms and funds to Hizbullah and had a measure of responsibility in the conflict.
France has a three-pronged strategy to end the conflict, Chirac said: "a cease-fire, then a political commitment, and from then on, a multinational force on the ground." - Agencies

UN aid touches down at crippled airport
By Leila Hatoum -Daily Star staff
Thursday, July 27, 2006
BEIRUT: Humanitarian aid supplies sent by the United Nations arrived at Beirut's battered airport on Wednesday aboard three Jordanian military planes. Two planes arrived in the early morning loaded with a field hospital and medical aid to treat the thousands of Lebanese wounded during Israel's ongoing bombardment of Lebanon. A third plane arrived in the afternoon carrying more medical aid and a crew of military engineers sent to help repair the airport's runways. Lebanon's only civil aviation airport has been closed for the past two weeks as multiple Israeli air strikes and shelling targeted the airport's runways and fuel-storage tanks. Aid supplies also arrived by sea Wednesday aboard a Canadian ship that docked at the Port of Beirut.
Meanwhile, the European Commission in Lebanon said Wednesday it would donate 50 million euros ($63 million) in humanitarian aid to the war-torn country. Relief efforts ramped up in the South as well Wednesday, with a convoy of 10 trucks carrying 90 tons of flour, medicine and other supplies donated by the Lebanese government and UN aid agencies arriving in Tyre, according to the World Food Program (WFP).
It was the first UN aid convoy to have reached the South. "While thousands have fled Tyre, tens of thousands still remain stranded with no fuel for their cars, no money for skyrocketing taxi fares and dwindling supplies of food. They have no assurances that they can safely leave. We have to assist these people before their situation deteriorates even further," said Amer Daoudi, emergency WFP coordinator in Lebanon.
"We have been promised safe passage and we trust that all parties will abide by this pledge. This convoy is a crucial opening of a land corridor, with more convoys to follow in the coming days," Daoudi added. Several convoys of trucks carrying medical aid and food supplies had been targeted by Israeli warplanes before an agreement was reached for a humanitarian corridor. But despite the agreement, a truck carrying medical and food supplies donated by the United Arab Emirates was hit again Wednesday in a strike that killed a Syrian driver and wounded two others, according to security sources.
The truck was traveling through Anjar, a town a few kilometers from the Syrian border, when it was destroyed.
Amid the continued violence, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said 34 tons of ICRC emergency items had arrived in Beirut by ship late Tuesday. "This is the first ICRC aid to reach Lebanon by sea," said an ICRC statement. "Such deliveries are planned for the coming days as an ICRC ship is due to begin ferrying relief from Larnaca, Cyprus, on Friday."
Over the past three days, "aircraft chartered by the ICRC have delivered 90 tons of relief, including sleeping mats, blankets ... More flights are expected in the coming days," it added. An ICRC relief convoy from Amman was expected to reach Lebanon Thursday, while two ICRC trucks dispatched from Beirut arrived in Tyre Tuesday laden with 1,300 food rations. In other developments, physicians at the American University of Beirut Medical Center have formed a team of volunteers to look after the 5,000 refugees seeking shelter in Beirut's schools and universities after having fled intense Israeli attacks in the South.
Doctors Charbel Rameh, Maya Kahwaji, Said Saghieh, Nabil Fuleihan and Ghassan Hamadeh have joined forces with the university's public health department and several medical students to assist their displaced countrymen's medical needs. "We see 50 to 150 sick patients each day," said Kahwaji. Two teams of 20 doctors are sent out each day, she added.

UN officers fume over Israeli air strike that killed 4 peacekeepers
By Nicholas Blanford -Special to The Daily Star
Thursday, July 27, 2006
TYRE: The four United Nations observers never stood a chance. Even though UN peacekeepers in Naqoura "begged" the Israeli military for six hours to call off multiple air strikes that were falling perilously close to one of their positions, it was to no avail. The UN position, which had been located at the southern end of Khiam since the 1950s, was completely destroyed on Tuesday evening when at least two precision-guided missiles slammed into the three-story structure, killing all four unarmed UN observers. A "shocked and deeply distressed" Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, called the attacks an "apparently deliberate targeting" of a UN observer post. But by the evening, Annan had "accepted" Israel's apology, ensuring that UN objections would not soften Israel's determination to pursue its onslaught against Hizbullah. Bitter UN personnel said that the deadly bombing was the latest in a long history of Israeli attacks against UN peacekeepers and observers patrolling the volatile Lebanon-Israel border.
The four UN officers - from Austria, Canada, China and Finland - were members of the Observer Group-Lebanon, part of the UN Truce Supervision Organization, whose unarmed military officers deployed in 1948 to monitor the armistice that ended the first Arab-Israeli war. The OGL position, a white-washed building with "UN" painted in large black letters, is one of four lining the border. The area around Khiam has been heavily hit by Israeli artillery and air strikes since the war began two weeks ago. In the past three days, the UN observers reported frequent "firings close," the UN designation for rounds exploding within 300 meters of one of their positions.
Heavy shelling in the Khiam area on Tuesday forced the four UN observers into the post's bomb shelter. At around 1:20 p.m., an Israeli jet dropped a bomb just 300 meters from the building. The Israeli Air Force has dropped hundreds of similar weapons since the war began, each one turning three- or four-story building into rubble and killing anyone inside.
The OGL observers immediately contacted their operations room at the headquarters the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL, a separate force created in 1978 after Israel's first invasion of Lebanon) in Naqoura to alert them of the close impact. OGL then warned the Israeli military that their aircraft were dropping bombs dangerously close to a UN position. The Israelis responded to OGL that they would check the situation and make any necessary adjustments. Yet over the next six hours, Israeli jets dropped another 10 aerial bombs between 100 meters and 300 meters from the UN position, a UNIFIL officer said. Also, four 155mm artillery rounds exploded inside the UN position, causing extensive damage.
"The bombs were falling on the heads of our guys for six hours," the officer said. "We kept telling the Israelis that our men had been lucky so far but next time there was going to be a tragedy and could they please correct their targeting. We were begging them to stop."
The fatal air strike hit the UN post at around 7:20 p.m. "One direct hit completely destroyed the three-story building and at least one more bomb hit the position," said Milos Strugar, UNIFIL's senior adviser. On Wednesday, UNIFIL rescuers were still attempting to recover the bodies from the rubble.
"Three of the bodies can be described as beyond recognition," the UNIFIL officer said. UNIFIL peacekeepers could barely contain their anger in discussing the deadly air strike. "They used precision-guided missiles," said one senior UN officer, suggesting that the strike could not have been a mistake.
UNIFIL said it has no reports of Hizbullah launching rockets from the immediate vicinity of the OGL position, although the group has fired from close to UN positions during this war. UNIFIL has a long and grim history of being targeted by the Israeli military, dating back to the force's inception in 1978.
Several UNIFIL soldiers were killed and wounded in the 1980s and 1990s by Israeli tank fire, artillery shelling and air strikes against their positions and convoys. In the 1980s, UNIFIL troops also found themselves under fire from Palestinians and Lebanese militants who regarded the peacekeeping force as an obstacle to their resistance against Israel's occupation of the area. In April 1996, Israeli artillery shelled the headquarters of UNIFIL's Fijian battalion, killing over 100 civilians who were seeking shelter there during an earlier Israeli offensive against Hizbullah. In January 2004, a French OGL officer was killed by an Israeli tank shell.
"It's down to a total lack of discipline," said Timur Goksel, a university lecturer in Beirut who served with UNIFIL from 1978 to 2003.
Israel has long accused UNIFIL of failing to deter Hizbullah from attacking Israeli targets, which, Goksel said, breeds resentment among the Israeli military for the peacekeeping force. "It creates a mood that UNIFIL is expendable," he said. "[The Israelis] know that they won't be held accountable."
The UN has now suffered six fatalities during the current war: A Nigerian husband and wife on UNIFIL's civilian staff were killed when their home outside Tyre was destroyed in an Israeli air strike. Five UNIFIL soldiers and an OGL observer have also been wounded.
"For two weeks of conflict," said the UN officer, "that's a lot of casualties

Nasrallah: 'Beyond Haifa' starts soon
Hizbullah leader rejects 'humiliating' conditions for cease-fire
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Thursday, July 27, 2006
BEIRUT: Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Wednesday that his party's war with Israel would move "beyond Haifa," despite the Jewish state's continued retribution. In a taped appearance on Al-Jazeera aired on the eve of an international meeting in Rome designed to resolve the two-week-old conflict, Nasrallah said Hizbullah would not accept any "humiliating" conditions for a cease-fire or any deal that compromises the sovereignty of Lebanon.
"We cannot accept any condition that is humiliating to our country, our people or our resistance," Nasrallah said.
"In this new phase, our bombardment will not be limited to Haifa," he said. "If things develop, we will choose the time to move beyond Haifa and then beyond, beyond Haifa." A senior Israeli official acknowledged the threat of rockets being fired farther into his country, but said Israel was prepared for the eventuality. Israel has repeatedly said it believes Hizbullah has longer-range rockets capable of reaching beyond Israel's third city, as far as the commercial capital Tel Aviv, or even the southern city of Beersheva. "You have to prepare yourselves for Nasrallah's threats as if they're real even if they're lies," Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres told Israeli radio. Commenting on ongoing clashes along the border between Israeli troops and Hizbullah fighters, Nasrallah said: "Whatever the incursion, it will not stop rocket fire into Israel." Hizbullah would reclaim any land captured by Israel, he said.
Nasrallah also denied that the border town of Bint Jbeil had fallen to Israel. A UN spokesman said Tuesday that Israeli troops had entered the town, one of Hizbullah's stronghold. "They do not control Bint Jbeil. All the city of Bint Jbeil is still in the hands of the resistance," Nasrallah said.
Israel late Tuesday acknowledged that it continued to meet resistance in the town. Israeli radio said there had been "six casualties" among its soldiers in South Lebanon.
Nasrallah also accused Israel of conducting psychological warfare and exaggerating casualties among his fighters."We do not hide our martyrs. If any of our leaders or ranks were killed, we announce that and take pride in that," he said. Israel has said it plans to create a "security zone" in the South until international forces are established there. "Any advance of the Zionist army on our land will only increase our ability to damage its troops, officers and tanks," Nasrallah said. The resistance leader also accused Israel of using the abduction of two of its soldiers on July 12 to launch a long-planned war on Lebanon.
The United States wants to "wipe out" Hizbullah as part of its plan for a new Middle East, he added. "In the view of the Americans there are barriers to the new Middle East, meaning the area which the US administration controls," Nasrallah said. "The main barriers confronting the new Middle East are the resistance movements in Palestine and Lebanon, and at the governmental level in Syria and Iran," he added. Nasrallah dismissed diplomatic efforts to dissolve the crisis, saying that each foreign delegation that has come to Lebanon in the past weeks "only brought American-Zionist diktats ... they did not bring solutions or settlements.""We do not accept humiliating conditions but we are open to political discussions," he said.
During a visit to Israel Tuesday, Rice said it was "time for a new Middle East.""Our fate is to confront this plan ... We are waging a war for the liberation of the remaining occupied lands and the liberation of our detainees," Nasrallah said. In a separate development, the Iranian Embassy in Beirut denied local media reports that Nasrallah had taken refuge at the embassy. - With agencies

Spotlight on Taif as key ingredient for cease-fire
By Philip Abi akl -Daily Star
Thursday, July 27, 2006
The Lebanese Cabinet agreed in an extraordinary session held over the weekend to adhere to the Taif Accord when dealing with international negotiators. However, Energy Minister Mohammad Fneish argued that the ongoing military crisis had surpassed the Taif Accord and UN Security Council Resolution 1559, so the accord is no longer a document of national agreement. Iran's significant role in the region should not be ignored, he added.
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, said in Washington recently that the Lebanese government's "weakness" and its failure to implement the Taif Accord led to the current crisis.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, French President Jacques Chirac and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan have all stressed the need to implement the accord, as it is the "key to resolving the current crisis and promoting the government's authority."
The West seems determined to realize the creation of a "new Middle East" called for by Rice during her visit to the region Monday. Her proposal included disarming all armed militias in the relevant countries, promoting democracy and helping governments "face challenges."
Concerning Lebanon, the proposal included an immediate cease-fire and the deployment of an international force along the borders with Israel and Syria in order to help the government extend its authority over Lebanese territory and disarm Hizbullah and Palestinian groups.
At the least, any solution should promote the government's role and the creation of an international force to back the Lebanese Army and thereby allow it to use force if necessary to implement international resolutions. International delegates are discussing this point after Rice failed to reach an agreement with Speaker Nabih Berri over the priorities. While Berri suggested a two-stage solution including a cease-fire, prisoner exchange and the return of all displaced, Rice put forth a one-stage solution beginning with a cease-fire and ending with the implementation of resolutions 1559 and 1680 and the Taif Accord.
A political source said Rice knew her solution was "unacceptable" as it ignored a prisoner exchange and the liberation of the Shebaa Farms and the Kfar Shouba hills. With her departure from Beirut, diplomatic sources said the US had given Israel additional time to continue its attacks.
The crisis is awaiting a change in the balance of power, which can be seen in the resistance's continued efforts to defy the Israelis in a bid to prevent the enemy from moving into Lebanon. The Cabinet has reached a unified position demanding the liberation of the Shebaa Farms, the Kfar Shouba hills and all detainees, the receipt of Israeli maps showing all mines planted in Lebanon and a financial compensation package from Israel.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora is working to implement Taif through a decision supported by the West and the Arab world, believing no one can defy the international community.

Desperately waiting for Nabih Berri
By Michael Young -Daily Star staff
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Hizbullah's secretary general, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, waited until the early hours of Wednesday morning to inform us that the phase of bombing "beyond Haifa" had begun, even as he justified Hizbullah's actions as part of a national Lebanese effort - unlike his earlier claim to be fighting on behalf of the Arab and Muslim umma. This came only hours after another party official, Mahmoud Komati, stated that Hizbullah had been surprised by Israel's reaction to the capture of two soldiers on July 12.
Komati's admission was troubling for four reasons. It was probably untrue, since Hizbullah almost certainly factored in what the Israelis might do when it planned the soldiers' abduction; the admission was designed to shift blame away from Hizbullah, since if it had known about the Israeli response, hundreds of thousands of displaced Lebanese would hold the party accountable for their fate; and if Komati was telling the truth and Hizbullah did not know, then the party is guilty of having provoked a national catastrophe based on deficient planning.
The fourth reason was more prosaic: It was contradicted by what Nasrallah later said. In his statement on Al-Manar, the secretary general declared that Hizbullah knew Israel intended to launch a major military operation in October. In that case it was surely aware that the Olmert government might engage in harsh retaliation before that deadline. And if that wasn't plain enough, the muscular Israeli response in May, after there was cross-border rocket fire from Lebanon, should have made it clear.
From Hizbullah's mood it is apparent that Nasrallah is pursuing an indefinite war for political survival. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice did not reassure him, nor was she expected to, by laying down a series of diktats during her visit to Beirut rather than flexible negotiating positions. The latter will have to wait until her return to the region, when real bargaining begins. And this will last a long time.
But how long can Nasrallah last? Much has been made of the secretary general's celebrated steadfastness and the fact that he has before him only two choices - victory or defeat. If that's his narrow reading, then he is heading toward heartbreak, because sooner or later the weight of the Lebanese sectarian system is likely to impose defeat on him if he refuses to make necessary concessions. The reason is simple: No Lebanese leader - not Amin Gemayel in 1982, Michel Aoun in 1989, or Emile Lahoud in 2004 - can indefinitely bend the country to the breaking point, or push it toward communal destabilization, without the old sectarian ways kicking in to impose a correction. And in the absence of concessions by maximalist leaders, the system has usually collapsed into war.
It has been obvious in the past year that for all its military prowess, Hizbullah has had no inkling about the subtleties of domestic sectarian politics. Perhaps that is because the Shiites were never truly afforded a way into the system before 1975, when the Civil War started. But it is also because the party spent 15 of the post-war years pampered by Syria - allowed to amass a huge military arsenal and pursue a war option while being guaranteed a bloc of seats in Lebanon's Parliament. There was little hard work involved and none of the Byzantine give and take that sectarian groups must engage in to build coalitions across religious lines.
Nasrallah is all soaring ambition, which is precisely why he never took to the pettiness and symmetry of sectarian haggling. And today, with Hizbullah fighting a war on behalf of, variously, the Arabs, Islam, Lebanon, and the Shiites (who can forget Nasrallah's initial cry after the Israeli onslaught that Israel would never defeat the children of Mohammad, Ali, Hassan, and Hussein), it might be his own domestic partners who have the final say in how Hizbullah behaves.
Nasrallah would now scoff at this. But as the conflict drags on, the weight of the refugees, the fact that their long dislocation will negatively affect Shiite power as a whole, that most Lebanese oppose an open-ended conflict, and the rising economic cost of the hostilities, will push the secretary general's adversaries, but perhaps also, and more importantly, his own Shiite comrades - notably Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri - to question the wisdom of further obstinacy. Nasrallah cannot declare war on all of Lebanese society. It seems far more rewarding for him to take a step back now and see what he can yet salvage.
Berri will play a pivotal role in the coming weeks. As the senior Shiite official in the country, he finds himself awkwardly caught between his community and the state. For the moment Nasrallah has only authorized the speaker to negotiate on his behalf in the matter of a prisoner exchange and a cease-fire. However, Berri is unlikely to relish the idea of permitting a Shiite Gotterdammerung, and Nasrallah's dilemma offers him a way back into the political game after years of erosion in his power. The parliamentary majority is hesitant to demand anything of Nasrallah without a Shiite partner, and their eye is firmly on Berri.
That's one reason why Berri's unfriendly meeting with Rice on Monday was a good thing. It enhanced the speaker's credibility with his coreligionists, showing he was no American patsy, even as the secretary of state acknowledged by meeting Berri that any international peace plan for Lebanon required his approval. However, it is still premature for Berri to risk his standing with Nasrallah, and with his own electorate, by asking him to be more malleable. If the speaker does jump ship, it won't be before many more weeks of fighting and a likely intensification of the violence. More cynically, Berri might be waiting to see if Hizbullah loses ground militarily before making any such move.
Nasrallah has declared a war beyond Haifa, while the Israelis are now engaged in a ground war beyond Bint Jbeil. But Hizbullah may soon be fighting on two fronts - against Israel in the South and, figuratively, inside Lebanon. Let us hope that Nasrallah does not carry his battle beyond Bint Jbeil as well, this time in the direction of Beirut and after Beirut.
**Michael Young is opinion editor of THE DAILY STAR.

Israeli Onslaught May Spark Aounist Resurgence
Even as the war in southern Lebanon heats up and a cease-fire looks increasingly distant, thoughts turn to what will happen in the aftermath. Since the 1960s, Lebanon’s many religious groups have had strained relations, but a unified Lebanon could be one of the few positive results of the current violence.
For most of the 20th century, Israel and Lebanese Christians considered each other allies, but with Christians finding themselves under Israeli air attacks, those days could be over.
Lebanon’s internal politics are not easy to follow; complicated political and religious alliances have existed for decades. In 1943, when their neighbors were gearing for war, Lebanese Christians and Muslims agreed to share political power and lived in mostly peaceful balance. Unfortunately, the violence that arose next door would eventually bleed through the border, mostly in the form of refugees.
Sectarian strife grew during the '60s and led directly to the Lebanese civil war in 1975. Adding to the problem, the Palestinian Liberation Organization had moved into southern Lebanon after being expelled from Jordan. Eventually the Syrians and the Israelis interjected themselves into the conflict as well. (And by driving out the PLO in 1982, the Israelis also unwittingly became a midwife to Hezbollah.) The war itself ended in 1990, but the Israelis didn’t leave until 2000 and the Syrians only last year.
Alleged Syrian complicity in the assassination of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri led to last year’s Cedar Revolution and the expulsion of Syrian troops; however, Syria allegedly continues to exert influence through the Shi’ite Hezbollah and President Émile Lahoud, who interestingly enough is a Maronite Christian. After Syria's official departure, Lebanon seemed to be heading toward more religious strife, especially between groups for and against Syrian intervention. Then Michel Aoun returned from exile.
Aoun, also a Maronite Christian, is one of Lebanon’s more interesting characters and likely to become an even more important player in postwar Lebanese politics. His long, colorful history, including stints as a brigadier general and transitional prime minister, has earned him the people’s respect even when they have doubted his methods. The cost of his attempt to free Lebanon from Syrian rule was a 14-year exile in France at then-President Francois Mitterand’s personal request.
Appearing this week on al-Jazeera, Aoun reiterated his stance that a united Lebanon must include Hezbollah members because they are "an integral part of the people." Now that the Syrian troops are gone, Aoun believes the country can reunite across religious backgrounds. As leader of the third largest political party, the Free Patriotic Movement, Aoun even came to an agreement of understanding with Hezbollah last winter.
"We want to create a secular culture with the people so that the population begins to demand it and [will] be able to confront religious authorities that refuse it, " reads a statement on the FPM leader’s Web site. Still, some are angered by the FPM’s alliance with Hezbollah and fear a Hezbollah win almost as much as an Israeli one.
However, with the war raging in the South, Aoun has joined a number of Christians who are accepting Shi’ite refugees into shelters and homes as fellow citizens in danger. Because the Christians are also not immune to Israeli attacks, the dream of secular unity seems increasingly possible under Aoun’s populist leadership.
Analysis by Margaret Griffis for Antiwar.com

Q&A: Rome conference on Lebanon
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
| What Is This? ROME, Italy (CNN) -- Leaders and representatives of countries around the world are meeting in Rome to discuss how to bring an end to the conflict in Lebanon and ease the humanitarian crisis. Pressure is on to achieve a swift cease-fire, but disagreements are expected as the U.S. pushes for a longer term solution to conflict in the Middle East.
CNN looks at the scope of the Rome conference and examines its likely outcome.
Q: Who is attending the meeting?
A: The conference gathers members of the "Lebanon Core Group," which consists of nations and organizations that want to help with the Middle East country's reconstruction and economic, political and social reforms.
Its members include Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the World Bank, the European Union, Egypt, France, Russia, Britain, the United States, the United Nations and Italy. Spain, Germany and Turkey were also to attend.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. Israel is not represented.
The meeting is jointly chaired by Rice and Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema.
Q: What is on the agenda?
A: Discussions will focus on how to end the current hostilities between Lebanon and Israel and finding a solution to the conflict. The humanitarian situation in the Lebanon will also be discussed alongside the situation in Cyprus, which is struggling to cope with the influx of evacuees. The death of four U.N. military observers in an Israeli attack is also likely to be on the agenda.
Q: What solutions are being offered?
A: Arab and some European leaders are expected to push for an immediate cease-fire followed by the deployment of an international force. Pressure for a swift halt to hostilities has increased following the deadly bombing by Israel of a U.N. observation post.
Q: Who would provide troops for an international force?
A: According to The Associated Press, EU foreign and security affairs chief Javier Solana is expected to propose that a rapid reaction force be established, ideally be built around French, German and Spanish troops, supplemented by forces from Turkey, the Netherlands, Canada and Arab states such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Q: Is this likely to be agreed?
A: Although Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair has been drumming up support for an international force since early on in the 15-day conflict, nations expected to contribute have shown reluctance to commit troops without a cease-fire in place.
The failure of the 2,000-strong UNIFIL -- the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon -- deployed in the region since 1978 to halt the violence is expected to provide further discouragement.
Meanwhile, NATO has said it would be difficult to assemble the troops needed to secure the cease-fire it would require before dispatching a larger force, AP reported.
Washington has already ruled out participation in a multinational force, since its presence would likely attract attacks from a broader field of militants.
Rice has also reiterated a position that a cessation of hostilities in Lebanon must come with conditions linked to a longer-term solution to problems in the Middle East, saying there is "no desire" on the part of U.S. officials to come back in weeks or months after terrorists find another way to disrupt any potential cease-fire. The U.N., however, is leading support for an immediate short-term halt to the conflict, saying the broader issues can be left to a later date.

Lebanese Expatriates Condemn Syria, Iran; and Praise Israel
00:26 Jul 26, '06 / 1 Av 5766
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
Many Lebanese expatriate groups have roundly condemned the Hizbullah, Iran and Syria. Some of them are also calling for Israel to press ahead in its military campaign.
The Lebanese Canadian Coordinating Council (LCCC), a coalition of organizations in Canada, has released a statement laying out its vision of what measures should be endorsed by the world community at an international conference on the ongoing warfare in Lebanon. The conference is to be held in Rome on Wednesday, pursuant to a recommendation issued by the United Nations Security Council on July 21, 2006.
Among the measures the LCCC is recommending are the dispatch of international combat forces to Lebanon, armed with the full authority and sufficient firepower to implement all clauses of UN resolution 1559. This would include the to mission to "disarm the Hizbullah group and the Palestinian organizations, and prevent and intercept the transfer of weapons to them from Iran and Syria."
Another agenda item the LCCC called for is "a resolution by the United Nations condemning Syria and Iran, holding them responsible for the escalation leading to the catastrophe that has befallen Lebanon, and making them liable for the damages incurred by the Lebanese people and the costs of reconstruction...." LCCC also seeks to establish an international commission of inquiry "mandated with the task of determining Hizbullah's legal responsibility for the events leading to the cycle of violence inflicted on Lebanon today...."
The LCCC also warned all Lebanese against "the deceitful calls aiming at surrendering to the will of the fundamentalist Hizbullah group and the dictates of its financiers and sponsors in Damascus and Tehran.... To remain silent over their crimes or to turn a blind eye to their practices, violations and threats is itself an act of treason to the nation and an unforgivable crime."
In addition to the LCCC, the press release was endorsed by eleven Lebanese groups from the USA, Europe and Lebanon itself. The LCCC represents the Canadian Lebanese Human Rights Federation, the Canadian Lebanese Free Patriotic Movement (FPM-Canada), the Phoenician Club of Mississauga (PCOM), the Canadian Phoenician Community Services Club (CPCSC), the Canadian Lebanese Christian Heritage Club (CLCHC), the World Lebanese Cultural Union-Canadian Chapter.
The Lebanese Foundation for Peace (LFP), an international organization of Lebanese Christians, issued a press release last week that called upon Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "to hit them hard and destroy their terror infrastructure. It is not [only] Israel who is fed up with this situation, but the majority of the silent Lebanese in Lebanon who are fed up with Hizbullah and are powerless to do anything out of fear of terror retaliation." The LFP also said that "thousands of volunteers in the Diaspora" are "willing to bear arms and liberate their homeland from [Islamic] fundamentalism," with the logistical support of Israel.
In an interview with Israel National Radio's Tovia Singer, former South Lebanese Army officer, and leader of the Guardians of the Cedars militia, Etienne Sakr ("Abu Arz") called on Israel to press ahead until victory in its offensive against the Hizbullah. He said that, while Lebanon can be rebuilt, Israel must not allow the Islamist elements in the country to survive the war. To do so, he said, would repeat the mistake of the 2000 IDF withdrawal from Southern Lebanon. At the time, speaking before the Knesset, Sakr charged that Israel had "made heroes out of Hizbullah."
Another well-known expatriate Lebanese individual calling for Israel to win the war in Lebanon is Brigitte Gabriel, founder of the American Congress for Truth, a non-profit organization dedicated to combating radical Islamic fundamentalism in the West. She compared the current destruction in Lebanon to a painful operation aimed at removing a cancerous growth, which will hopefully release Lebanon from the "hijackers" - Iran and Syria. To that end, Gabriel said, the roots of the Islamist movement in Lebanon must be completely destroyed.
In an interview with Canadian Christianity.com, LCCC head Elias Bejjani, a Maronite Catholic, said that Israel "had no choice but to act, if you understand their situation and point of view." Furthermore, he said, "I'm not sure Israel is targeting civilians. Hizbullah moves from one neighbourhood to another. According to reports we have heard from Christian villages in south Lebanon, Hizbullah come into the villages and fire their rockets; then they run away. And these villages pay the price."
Published: 23:56 July 25, 2006
Last Update: 00:26 July 26, 2006

Main current Israeli targets in Lebanon
By Walid Phares
From an analysis of the observation of Israel's air campaign in Lebanon and its limited incursions in the south at this stage, and based on reporting from Lebanon's military and security sources and analysts, it appears that the strategic targets of Israel's action are as follows:
1. Shelling and bombarding Hezbollah's positions and infrastructures in southern Beirut, the south and the Bekaa, so that the entire Hezbollah-land in Lebanon would be under pressure and no area of re-gathering or stability can serve as a strategic depth. (See map, zones in orange)
2. Concentrating on the Dahiya, Beirut's southern suburb aim at dismantling the so-called murabba'a amni (security square) which comprises the main headquarters, communications systems, bunkers and tunnels of Hezbollah. If the Israeli air strikes continue with no cease fire to interrupt them, the "square" will be non-operational for Hezbollah's leadership, which would lead to one of the following options: 1) moving the Hezbollah's leadership structure deeper in greater Beirut or into the Lebanese army perimeter. Which would lead to engage the Army in the conflict. or 2) moving the leadership to the Bekaa, knowing that the south of the country is insecure for such resettlement. According to experts in Lebanon, the Bekaa option seems to be the most logical for Hezbollah, but according to other analysts, Hezbollah cannot afford leaving Beirut for political reasons.
3. Hence, Nasrallah's organization may recourse to dramatic measures to deter Israeli air raids over Beirut's so that the southern suburb remains a basis for the group. The nature of the "new" measures is unknown: Nasrallah has promised "surprises" a week ago.
4. This Israeli process will shape up the essence of Syro-Iranian, Arab, international and even Lebanese responses to the solution. The location of Hezbollah's leadership and infrastructure will be one of the influential elements in the outcome of negotiations There is a difference as to where is this leadership, inside or outside the capital. Both Israel and Hezbollah knows it.July 25, 2006 MSNBC MAP

In Lebanon's Crisis, a Chance for U.S. to Broaden the Stakes
By Robin Wright-Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 26, 2006; Page A12
ROME, July 25 -- In trying to negotiate an end to the latest Middle East conflict, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appears to see the solution through a broader prism that redefines its stakes. The real issues, U.S. officials say, are not simply the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah but the far wider questions of Lebanon's sovereignty and what the administration sees as the existential battle between forces aligned for and against democracy in the region.
And in that sense, say diplomats traveling with Rice, the administration sees opportunity in the turmoil.
"If this Lebanon emerges stronger from this crisis, then the enemies of peace and stability in the area will be dealt a big defeat. In many ways, for the region, Lebanon is a polyglot country that represents the hopes of many," C. David Welch, assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, told reporters traveling with Rice from Jerusalem to Rome.
"The new Middle East is not going to be built every single day with a big victory in one place or another," he added. "It's got to be done with a steady effort. This is an opportunity now in the midst of this crisis to see freedom strengthened in Lebanon. And I expect that that can occur if we get the responsible voices prevailing over the irresponsible ones."
The Rice delegation also hinted that it was exploring actions against outside governments subverting Lebanon's sovereignty, Welch said. The United States strongly believes that Iran in particular facilitated and encouraged the July 12 Hezbollah cross-border raid that seized two Israeli soldiers and sparked the crisis. The administration also holds Syria responsible for abetting the radical Shiite Muslim group.
"There are also other measures that also might be taken that could deal with those countries who don't have the same sense of responsibility about the future of Lebanon," Welch said.
Officials traveling with Rice say their broader perspective is the basis for the framework the secretary of state is now trying to broker with Lebanon, Israel, the Arab world and other players.
The administration is using these loftier causes to try to shift the focus from Israel's punishing and controversial bombardment of Lebanon to the question of freedom for the region. "It is time for a new Middle East," Rice said in Jerusalem.
In Rome, Rice huddled with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and European Union foreign affairs chief Javier Solana ahead of an international conference on Lebanon Wednesday.
A broad agreement about regional democracy may be a long way off, U.S. officials say. "We go out there, and we have some ideas about how to work this," Welch told reporters. "In some cases we want to put those ideas forward, in others we want to test them. In some cases we're trying others' ideas and vice versa."Despite the obstacles in forming an international force more effective than the U.N. observers deployed in southern Lebanon since 1978, U.S. officials say it will happen.
"You will hear about the impossibility of deploying an international force almost until the day it is deployed," said a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity. U.S. officials say the biggest issue may be whether the new force would deploy before or after the disarming of Hezbollah, which has vowed not to give up its weapons. The force is "not going to shoot their way in," the official said.

Harper honeymoon in Quebec appears to be soured by Lebanese conflict
July 26, 2006 - 0:08
By: JOAN BRYDEN
OTTAWA (CP) - Is Stephen Harper's honeymoon in Quebec over?
Polls suggest Quebecers overwhelmingly disapprove of the prime minister's unequivocal support for Israel's bombardment of Lebanon. But it's less clear whether the falling-out over the Middle East crisis is enough to scupper Harper's chances for an electoral breakthrough in the province, upon which Conservatives have pinned their hopes for winning a majority in the next election.
"Federalist Quebecers are ready to support Harper. . . but he has to take care," says Independent Senator Jean-Claude Rivest, who was a senior political adviser to onetime Quebec premier Robert Bourassa.
While Harper's pro-Israel stance has won plaudits from a majority of Canadians elsewhere, it's potential dynamite in Quebec, where public opinion has traditionally been more pacifist in general and more pro-Arab when it comes to the Middle East in particular.
Quebecers' views have been hardened in the current conflict by the fact that Montreal is home to a large Lebanese community, including an entire family wiped out by Israeli bombs during a visit to Lebanon earlier this month.
Mohamed Boudjenane, executive director of the Candian Arab Federation, predicts Harper will "pay a dear price, especially in Quebec," for his unwavering support of Israel's right to defend itself against Lebanese-based Hezbollah guerrillas.
He maintains that Arab and Muslim Canadians are "pissed at this government, big time" for abandoning Canada's traditional "balanced" approach to the Middle East and becoming "the lackey of American foreign policy and George Bush."
"(Harper) is so scared and so afraid of the pro-Zionist, Israeli lobby in Canada that he's willing to take the risk of losing any chance of forming a majority government," Boudjenane said. He contends that that Arab and Muslim communities have enough votes to influence the election outcome in 55 ridings across the country, including seven in Montreal.
But Shimon Fogel, head of the Canada-Israel Committee, doubts that Harper stands to lose many Arab/Muslim votes, in large part because those communities have never voted en masse for the Tories in any event.
Moreover, Fogel suggests Harper could more than make up for any lost Arab or Muslim votes by making big gains among Canada's Jews, who traditionally tend to favour the Liberals.
"This isn't just an isolated UN vote. The pro-Israel community really does see this as an existential issue," he says.
The fact that Harper is "the one guy" to unequivocally back Israel is "resonating unusually strongly with the Jewish community," Fogel says, predicting that "the Liberals are going to have to work really hard" to win back Jewish support.
Although the Lebanese community is divided over Harper's statement, the majority Christian wing will strongly back Harper's strong denounciation of Hezbollah, said Elias Bejjani, head of the Lebanese-Canadian Co-ordinating Council.
"I believe the Lebanese community in general is very appreciative and supports Mr. Harper and I'm under the strong impression that the Conservatives in any coming election will get more and more (votes)."
Not so, says Rasha Kudsy, who has watched from Gatineau, Que., as four family members were killed by Israeli bombings in Tyre.
"My whole family votes for the Liberals and this is the way it's going to be for the rest of our lives here in Canada," she said at Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport as she awaited the return of her mother from Lebanon.
"I'm never going to support Harper."
Beyond the cultural or religious communities in Quebec, whose votes may well be determined by Harper's stand on the current crisis, Rivest says Harper risks losing support among Quebecers as a whole if he's perceived to be simply following President Bush's lead on foreign policy.
"The anti-Bush sentiment in Quebec is deeper than in other parts of the country."
Still, Rivest doubts the fate of Harper's Tories in the province will be decided by the Lebanese issue alone. Much more important could be Harper's handling of the so-called fiscal imbalance file.
Rivest says expectations are so high on that issue in Quebec that there will be "a big backlash" if Harper fails to deliver on his promise to fix the imbalance.
Equally critical to the long-term viability of Harper's party in Quebec is whether the Liberals manage to pick themselves up off the mat in the province.
Rivest predicts Quebecers wouldn't warm to Liberal leadership frontrunner Michael Ignatieff, perceived as an aloof "Toronto intellectual." But he said they could be enticed back to the Grit fold if Bob Rae, a former Ontario NDP premier, is chosen as leader.
Conservative insider and lobbyist Tim Powers agrees that other factors, including the Liberal leadership race, will have more bearing on Harper's electoral chances in Quebec than the Lebanese crisis.
"I don't think (the next election) will be a referendum against the government's decisions on the Middle East conflict," he says.
Moreover, Powers predicts voters will respect Harper for taking a clear stand, whether or not they agree with it. And they'll respect him all the more when they contrast Harper's decisiveness with the Liberals, whose leadership candidates have been all over the map on the issue.
"He doesn't dither, he doesn't dather. In this case, he made a choice. It may not be liked by all people but I think people respect the fact that he can make a tough choice when the facts are clear."

WHY IS ISRAEL DESTROYING LEBANON?
Patrick Seale Al-Hayat - 21/07/06//

Israel is waging a war of extermination in Lebanon. Without regard to the civilian population, it is seeking to destroy Hizballah, much as it has attempted over the past six months to destroy Hamas in the occupied Palestinian territories. It wants to root out these movements altogether.
Its strategy in Lebanon seems to be to empty the south of its population, driving the Shi'ites out of their traditional homeland, where they have lived for centuries, in much the same way as it continues its pitiless onslaught on Gaza. In Lebanon, some 600,000 people have already been displaced, while the entire country is being brutalized and strangled.
Why this Israeli savagery? By their cross-border raids and the capture of three Israeli soldiers, Hizballah and Hamas humiliated the Israeli army and dented its deterrent capability. In Israeli eyes, this cannot go unpunished. It is determined to bring home to the Arabs the tremendous cost of daring to attack Israel.
The Israeli army has a score to settle with Hizballah which, by guerrilla harassment, drove it out of Lebanon in 2000, ending its 22-year occupation of the south. With this success, Hizballah demonstrated to the whole Arab world - and to the Palestinians in particular -- that Israel was not invincible. Now Israel is trying to set the record straight.
No doubt some Israeli hawks, like chief of staff Dan Halutz, regret the 'unfinished business' of Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon when, having killed 17,000 Lebanese and Palestinians, it failed to secure the political reward of bringing a submissive Lebanon into its orbit.
This time, too, Israel may find that its war aim of destroying Hizballah and Hamas is unattainable. These are popular movements enjoying mass support. If crushed in the short-term, they will eventually spring back to life and seek revenge. To 'win', Israel would have to kill, not just hundreds, but hundreds of thousands, of people.
Hizballah's leader, Shaikh Hassan Nasrallah -- Israel's 'Enemy Number One' -- has repeatedly warned Israel to expect 'surprises'. The missile attacks on Haifa, Israel's third largest city, and the disabling of one of Israel's most advanced warships, were certainly painful surprises. They carried the war into Israel's home territory, posing a severe challenge to Israel's strategic doctrine, which has always been to fight its wars on Arab territory.
The greatest 'surprise' Hizballah's might still have up its sleeve would be to survive the present crisis, bloody but unbowed. The longer Hizballah holds out, the greater Israel's problems with the international community, and the greater the pressure of Arab opinion on those Arab regimes that have so far stood shiftily on the sidelines.
Israel has always relied on brute force to ensure its security. Since its creation in 1948, it has sought to dominate the region by military means. This doctrine rests on the belief that the Arabs will never be strong enough, or capable enough, to challenge it. This is a fundamentally racist attitude.
But beneath the bluster and the muscle-flexing lies a deep-seated paranoia and insecurity, reflected in the conviction, shared by many of Israel's citizens, that the Arabs want to kill them and that they face a permanent existential threat. The choice, they seem to believe, is between killing or being killed. This dark view of their environment - something of a self-fulfilling prophecy -- goes some way to explaining the extravagantly disproportionate nature of Israel's attacks and its blatant disregard for international legality and any semblance of morality.
Israel is able to behave in this way because it has been given extraordinary immunity by the United States. A striking aspect of the crisis is, indeed, America's total political, diplomatic and strategic support for Israel -- even to the point of rushing to give it $300 million of aviation fuel with which to continue smashing Lebanon!
America's gross bias has paralysed the Security Council, the G8 and the European Union. So great is American pressure that none of these bodies has been able to insist on an immediate end to the Israeli onslaught. Britain dutifully followed its American Big Brother in repeating the mantra that 'Israel has the right to defend itself', while even France, Lebanon's traditional protector, has tended to put the blame on Hizballah, rather than Israel, for the massive destruction and loss of life.
Terrorism is usually defined as the indiscriminate killing of civilians in pursuit of political goals. Is this not what Israel is doing in both Lebanon and Gaza? It is killing large numbers of Lebanese and Palestinian civilians in pursuit of its political aim of annihilating Hizballah and Hamas. By any objective standard, Israel is guilty of state terrorism.
But killing Arabs in this wanton manner and smashing their countries must inevitably have negative consequences for Israel's own security. Israel's terrorist behaviour legitimizes the terrorism of its enemies. And America's uncritical support for Israel legitimises terrorism against the United States itself. That is what 9/11 was all about, although to this day the United States has not faced up to why it was attacked. The United States and Israel are sowing the wind and will reap the whirlwind.
Washington's unconditional backing for Israel highlights the fact that this is not simply a war between Israel and Hizballah. By seeking to bomb Lebanon into submission, Israel intends to strike a blow at the Iran-Syria-Hizballah axis, which has challenged US-Israeli dominance in the region. The key issue is whose will is to prevail in this vital part of the world.
If the conflict had been a purely local one, Israel might have agreed to an exchange of prisoners, as both Hizballah and Hamas demanded, and as has taken place a number of times in the past. Some 10,000 Palestinian prisoners still languish in Israeli jails. To secure their release is a major Palestinian objective.
But the war has a wider dimension. The United States has given Israel a free rein because it is confronted with the probability of two highly disagreeable developments: a nuclear-armed Iran and a humiliating defeat in Iraq. It urgently needs to regain the initiative in the wider Middle East and has persuaded itself - or been persuaded by Israel's friends inside and outside the Administration -- that Israel can help it do so. The pro-Israeli neocons in the U.S have been trumpeting that a victory for Israel in Lebanon will be a victory for the United States, and a defeat for Israel will be a defeat for the United States.
This is the essential background to Israel's war, which had clearly been long planned in concert with the United States, and with the encouragement of some Christian Lebanese extremists, not unhappy to see Israel 'do the dirty work' for them in 'breaking' Hizballah.
The situation is complicated by a further layer of conflict. The Arab oil producers in the Gulf dread an upset in the regional power balance. They want to continue enjoying their great wealth under the umbrella of American protection. These Gulf regimes fear a dominant Iran and an assertive Shi'ism. This may explain their astonishing passivity in the face of Israel's aggression. But by failing forcefully to condemn Israel's brutality or spring to the defence of beleaguered Lebanon and Gaza, they expose themselves to the anger of the Arab public.
The explosive impact on Arab opinion of the war in Lebanon and the martyrdom of the Palestinians should not be under-estimated, particularly in view of the graphic media coverage of Israeli atrocities, provided by Al-Jazeera and Hizballah's satellite channel, Al-Manar,
Israel's indifference to Arab life risks convincing many young Arabs that long-term coexistence with Israel is not possible. Arab intellectuals are increasingly expressing the view that Israel is a colonial state, which must eventually disappear, as Europe's colonial empires did in their time.
At their summit meeting in Beirut in March 2002, all the Arab states declared their readiness to establish normal peaceful relations with Israel within its 1967 borders. But Israel, intent on expanding its borders, rejected the offer. It must surely be time for Israel to think again. The offer may still be on the table.
Only by withdrawing from Palestinian territories, respecting Lebanon's sovereignty and returning the Golan to Syria will Israel live in peace. End