LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
June 08/07
Bible Reading of the day
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 12,28-34. One of the
scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had
answered them, asked him, "Which is the first of all the commandments?"Jesus
replied, "The first is this: 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone!
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with
all your mind, and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love
your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
The scribe said to him, "Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, 'He is One
and there is no other than he.' And 'to love him with all your heart, with all
your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as
yourself' is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." And when Jesus
saw that (he) answered with understanding, he said to him, "You are not far from
the kingdom of God." And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
Free Opinion
In south Lebanon, resistance from
cradle to grave-By
Scott Peterson.Christian
Science Monitor June 8/07
Olmert's words won't matter without
Washington's genuine support-Daily Star- June 8/07
Winning over the Palestinian card-By
Michael Young-June 8/07
What Arizona can say about conducting the Iraq war.By
David Ignatius-June 8/07
Latest News Reports
From Miscellaneous Sources for June 08/06/07
Three vehicles with explosives found in Lebanon-China
Daily
Militants in north Lebanon camp vow to continue fighting-RIA
Novosti
Police confiscate weapons, make arrests in eastern Lebanon-Monsters
and Critics.com
Soldier Killed in Clashes With Militants in Lebanon-FOX
News
France, Saudi seek end to Lebanon's cabinet crisis-Reuters
Army Tanks, Helicopters Pound Militants at Nahr al-Bared-Naharnet
Security Forces Abort
Attempt to Blow up 3 Booby-trapped Cars-Naharnet
Absi's Brother: My
Mother Begged God on Deathbed for Son's Victory at Nahr al-Bared-Naharnet
U.S. Pledges $3.5
Million in Aid to Nahr al-Bared Refugees-Naharnet
Jailed Fatah al-Islam
Militants Face Terrorism Charges-Naharnet
Two-Point Plan to End
Fatah al-Islam's Network-Naharnet
Fatah al-Islam Leader
Faces Death Penalty in Jordan-Naharnet
Army piles pressure on militants in north Lebanon-ABC
Online
Top PLO official in Lebanon calls for setting up Palestinian
force ...International
Herald Tribune
Iran opens a window of opportunity on Lebanon-Middle
East Online
Report: Syria, Iran, Hizbullah preparing for war in North-Jerusalem
Post
US Cool to Israeli Dialogue With Syria-Voice
of America
PLO in Lebanon calls for Palestinian force there-Jerusalem
Post
Fears of war as Israel and Syria show army might-Scotsman
Authorities seize Hizbullah
weapons-Daily Star
US to
lift ban on private cargo fights to Lebanon-Daily
Star
Foreign powers weigh in on impasse in Beirut-Daily
Star
Lebanese Army claims 'less resistance' at Nahr al-Bared-Daily
Star
British Council to open new premises on June 8/--Daily
Star
US to
donate $3.5 million to Nahr al-Bared refugees-Daily
Star
Jordanian prosecutor calls for death sentence against Abssi-Daily
Star
Joint
Palestinian force deploys in Ain al-Hilweh-Daily
Star
Mokheiber: Parliamentary rules hamper efficiency-Daily
Star
Lebanese software pros draw interest of European recruiters-Daily
Star
Former
AUB dean dies of illness at 87-Daily
Star
Rescued medic recounts ordeal in Nahr al-Bared-Daily
Star
Chouf
reserve is still recovering from war-Daily
Star
In south
Lebanon, resistance from cradle to grave
One family's allegiance to Hizbullah reveals much about the group's support and
how it draws fighters.
By Scott Peterson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
On the leeward side of Ait al-Shaab, a village in south Lebanon, the war between
Hizbullah and Israel caused many sacrifices. Months later, both tears and
triumph are plentiful.
Even after the Shiite "Party of God" sparked a war that killed three of their
loved ones and battered most every house in the village, one family's steadfast
allegiance to Hizbullah reveals much about the group's bedrock support and how
it draws more fighters.
"You can't describe [the level of our commitment]," says the surviving mother of
13, dressed head to toe in layers of black. "After God, it is resistance."
Under their modest roof, nine children are boys, five of them fighting age. A
poster of Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah is taped inside the front
door of the cinder-block house, a minute's walk to tobacco fields and citrus
groves.
One son, a Hizbullah fighter, was pierced by shrapnel through the right hand.
The grandparents, too weak to flee the Israeli shelling, were killed in a direct
hit to their house.
The father, who refused to leave his parents alone, was struck with shrapnel and
lived. But he died later, the family says, when Israeli jets hit the ambulance
as it raced with him to the hospital. Israeli forces targeted ambulances and aid
convoys numerous times in the war.
"Naturally, we love the resistance," says one son. "We predicted there would be
a war, and always our salvation was Hizbullah. We count on them to save us;
since childhood it is in our minds."
But he didn't join the Hizbullah fighters like his other brothers. And he had a
hard time convincing his father – before his death – that he should avoid the
front and help with food and evacuating the women. The father wanted all five
sons to join the war.
One family's allegiance to Hizbullah reveals much about the group's support and
how it draws fighters.
The younger brother, 20, relished his first battle "One hundred percent it felt
very, very good." He was just 14 or 15 when he "first began to think about the
resistance, to understand it," he says. At 17, "the idea was complete in my
mind. I felt I must be there and join [Hizbullah]."
In the war, he didn't become a "martyr," like his friend, whose image can be
found on what locals call the "hero's wall."
Portraits of the village's nine most recent martyrs mark the wall in the
village's central square. "When I see those portraits, I wish I could be there,"
says the younger brother.
"As long as there is an enemy, the idea of martyrdom is there, like Imam
Hussein," says the older one.
That enemy has been Israel and the proxy South Lebanon Army (SLA) militia that
it created during its 18-year occupation of south Lebanon that ended in 2000.
One brother from this family and a cousin were forced to join the SLA. The
brother was taken away as a recruit in 1993 by the SLA directly from high school
where he was taking an exam to enter college. In less than a month he escaped:
angry and ready to join Hizbullah.
"They became Hizbullah in their blood," says one sister. "Every human loves
freedom, and the freedom has come through Hizbullah."Today, the families of martyrs receive their dead fighter's salary and $10,000
to pay rent while houses are rebuilt (often with money from Iran). That does not
make the cycle of war and rebirth less of an effort or less painful."What we
lived through and felt because of the war, felt like we were living in Karbala,"
says another daughter, referring to the city where Imam Hussein was killed by
the armies of a Sunni caliph.
The family matriarch laughs when asked if her aim has been to raise martyrs. But
her daughter replies, "Of course I would feel proud to marry and have children,
if they die for their village, their family, their beliefs; I would feel proud."
Army Tanks, Helicopters Pound
Militants at Nahr al-Bared
Lebanese army tanks and helicopters on Thursday pounded Fatah al-Islam militants
holed up inside the northern Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared after a
night of fierce gunbattles. Local media said heavy fighting took place between 6
p.m. and 10 p.m. Wednesday as the Lebanese army pounded Fatah al-Islam hiding
places inside the camp in retaliation for mortar and rocket-propelled grenade
attacks on military positions. Security sources said three soldiers were wounded
by a militant RPG in the overnight fighting. Military helicopters opened fire
with heavy weapons and tanks fired shells on the impoverished camp after a brief
two-hour lull in the fighting that has raged between the militants and the army
since May 20 in the deadliest peacetime clashes in Lebanon in decades. More than
100 people have been reported killed since then.On Wednesday, a military
prosecutor indicted 11 men from Fatah al-Islam for "acts of terrorism" -- a
charge that risks the death penalty -- bringing to 31 the total charged since
the gunbattles first erupted, most of them Lebanese.
The gunmen have been able to resist the army's superior fire power during the
19-day standoff, although the mainstream Palestinian Fatah faction reported that
the resolve of the militants was weakening and some were surrendering. Lebanese
security has also been shaken by a series of bomb blasts in and around Beirut
and on Thursday an unknown assailant tossed a concussion grenade near a school
in Beirut's Furn al-Shubbak neighborhood, causing material damage but no
casualties.
Fatah commander in Lebanon, Sultan Abul Ainayn said Fatah al-Islam militants
were "emitting the last breath, as its members are deserting its ranks."
He said three gunmen had surrendered and handed over their weapons and that 18
others said they had stopped fighting and were seeking guarantees to turn
themselves in, leaving only about 75 militiamen still fighting. There was no
confirmation from Fatah al-Islam, which has vowed to fight "until the last drop
of blood."
"We have information that there were some elements which gave themselves up, but
the army has not received any of them," an army spokesman said. "We have
information that some elements have also dropped their arms and left the fight,
as many of them are in poor spirits."
Prime Minister Fouad Saniora has warned Fatah al-Islam to surrender or be wiped
out. Fears the unrest could spread through other refugee camps were fuelled when
fighting broke out on Sunday at the Ain al-Hilweh shantytown between the army
and members of another shadowy group known as Jund al-Sham, or Soldiers of
Damascus. But the situation remains calm around Ain al-Hilweh, on the outskirts
of the southern city of Sidon, after the battles that left two Islamists and two
soldiers dead. On Wednesday, a joint force of armed militiamen from various
factions of the PLO, pro-Syrian groups and Islamist movements deployed in the
northern sector of the camp where the clashes took place. "It is a joint force
entrusted to maintain order and prevent a resumption of the clashes which have
taken place," Mounir Maqdah, head of the powerful militia of the PLO's main
faction, the Fatah movement, told AFP.
The escalation of violence has prompted Washington to pledge more supplies to
the Lebanese army after Congress last month approved a seven-fold increase in
military assistance for 2007 to 280 million dollars. The United States has also
granted 3.5 million dollars to help Palestinian refugees caught up in the
fighting, Saniora's office said.(Naharnet-AFP) Beirut, 07 Jun 07, 08:04
Security Forces Abort Attempt
to Blow up 3 Booby-trapped Cars
Lebanese troops on Thursday discovered three vehicles rigged with explosives
during a raid on a hideout in east Lebanon's Bekaa valley, security officials
said.
The two cars and a van were discovered near the town of Bar Elias, a day after
security forces captured three foreign militants in the area, the officials
said.
It was not immediately known if the three belonged to Fatah al-Islam, which has
been fighting the Lebanese army since May 20 at the Palestinian refugee camp of
Nahr al-Bared near the northern city of Tripoli. The three, two Syrians and an
Iraqi, were arrested near Bar Elias about 10 kilometers from the main border
crossing to Syria, police said Wednesday. Security forces found weapons,
explosives, detailed maps of villages and cities and night-vision goggles in
their hideout.
The National News Agency said the three testified to rigging the un-registered
vehicles with explosives. Also Wednesday, the army arrested a man, disguised a
veiled woman wearing a black robe, as he walked through the town of Mina near
Tripoli, a local security official said.
The 20-year-old man, a Syrian, identified as Mohammed Abdul Samed Abdul Rahman
Abu Khaferin, was taken to a military barracks for questioning to determine
whether he belonged to Fatah al-Islam and was trying to flee the city. Four
explosions in Beirut and nearby areas have killed one person and wounded 40
others in the past few weeks. Early Thursday, a concussion hand grenade blew up
in Beirut's Furn al Shubbak district near a school, damaging several vehicles
and further rattling the security situation. A battery and a timing device were
found in a plastic bag at Aintoura school, north of Beirut, causing panic among
the students and staff, NNA said. The agency said that firecrackers at Notre
Dame University campus in Barsa, Koura province also caused panic.(AP-Naharnet)
Beirut, 07 Jun 07, 13:10
Two-Point Plan to End Fatah al-Islam's Network
Six major Palestinian factions operating in Lebanon agreed to form a joint
committee to coordinate affairs of the Palestinian refugees with the Beirut
government and settle the Fatah al-Islam issue. The committee is headed by
Palestine Liberation Organization diplomatic representative in Beirut Abbas Zaki,
Palestinian sources told Naharnet. They said the committee comprises
representatives of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' mainline Fatah, The
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), The Democratic Front for
the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front
for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC).Zaki is holding talks
with his PLO superiors in Jordan to obtain President Abbas' approval of the
committee, called the Higher Political Committee to Oversee Affairs of
Palestinians in Lebanon, the sources said One source said Zaki also wants
Abbas' approval of a blueprint for an "understanding" with Lebanon on settling
the issue of the so-called Fatah al-Islam terrorist network which has been
fighting the Lebanese army at the northern refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared for 18
days. The two-point understanding is based on the Lebanese government's
distinction between "two categories of Fatah al-Islam terrorists. Those who
killed the Lebanese Army, and those who fought the Lebanese Army," the source
said.
The first category includes "some 50-60 terrorists wanted for killing Lebanese
troops, security officers and Lebanese citizens," according to the source.
He said the second category covers "some 150 fighters who took part in the fight
against the army at Nahr al-Bared as of May 21," when the army launched its
counter offensive, one day after Fatah al-Islam terrorists killed a number of
its troops in a series of surprise raids. Lebanese Authorities want to refer all
Fatah al-Islam terrorists who fall under the first category to a military
tribunal on charges punishable by death. While others would be tried also by a
military tribunal and then extradited to their respective nations, except for
Lebanese citizens and Palestinian refugees residing originally in Lebanon who
will serve their sentences in Lebanon, the source explained.
This leaves no other option for Fatah al-Islam terrorists but surrender or face
death "in a final show down with the Lebanese Army." At least 108 people have
been killed since the confrontation first broke out in the northern city of
Tripoli on May 20. Beirut, 06 Jun 07, 19:37
Fatah al-Islam Leader Faces
Death Penalty in Jordan
A Jordanian prosecutor called Wednesday for the chief of an Islamist group
battling the Lebanese army to be sentenced to death in a case involving the
infiltration of armed fighters into Iraq. Palestinian-born Shaker Abssi, who
heads the so-called Fatah al-Islam, is among five fugitives being tried by
Jordan's military tribunal.
Another 12 defendants have been facing court since the trial started in March
and all have pleaded not guilty. Their lawyer urged the court on Wednesday to
acquit them, claiming they gave testimony under duress. The court adjourned to
deliberate its verdict but no date was set for the next session.
The defendants, most of whom are Jordanians, were indicted in February on seven
counts, including possession and sale of unlicensed weapons for which they can
face the death penalty, and for infiltrating Syria. Abssi is listed in the
charge sheet as one of the defendants but there are no details about his role in
the case, in which alleged Jordanian mastermind Mohannad Qassem Mohammad Shalabi
recruited fighters to join Iraq rebels. Several suspects entered Syria illegally
to receive military training while others were sent to Lebanon for that same
purpose, the charge sheet said.
One of the suspects, identified as Hamza Mohammad Saeed Saqr is said to have
told would-be recruits they would be joining militants of the Al-Qaida branch in
Iraq.
Abssi is wanted in Jordan where a military court sentenced him to death in
absentia in 2004 for his alleged involvement in the murder of American USAID
diplomat Laurence Foley in Amman in 2002. He served a three-year jail sentence
in Syria and was set free in 2006. He is allegedly linked to the former leader
of Al-Qaida in Iraq, the Jordanian-born extremist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who was
killed in a US air strike in 2006.
Shaker Abssi's brother, Abdelrazzaq, told Agence France Presse the family is
originally from the Ain Sultan camp, in the West Bank town of Jericho, and fled
to Jordan during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.(AFP-Naharnet) Beirut, 06 Jun 07,
16:53
Absi's Brother: My Mother
Begged God on Deathbed for Son's Victory at Nahr al-Bared
On her deathbed, the mother of Fatah al-Islam leader Shaker Youssef al-Absi
beseeched God to grant her son "victory" in his battle against the Lebanese
army, his brother said Wednesday. Fatima al-Zaatrah died of old age 10 days ago
in her home in Amman's Wehdat Palestinian refugee camp. She was 87.
But in her last days, al-Zaatrah was glued to her television set, watching the
fighting evolve between the Lebanese army and her son, al-Absi, holed up with
his Fatah al-Islam militants in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared
near the northern port city of Tripoli. "Her last words were mostly about
Shaker," said al-Absi's brother, Abdul-Razzaq, an Amman orthopedic surgeon. "She
said that she missed him a lot and had wished to see him before she dies."
"She besought God to protect Shaker and grant him long life and victory in his
cause," Abdul-Razzaq told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
The fighting which began May 20 has amounted to the worst internal violence in
Lebanon since the end of the 1975-90 civil war. Lebanese authorities have
demanded Fatah al-Islam surrender, but the militants have vowed to fight to
death. Al-Absi, a Palestinian, is high on Jordan's most-wanted terror list. A
military court sentenced him to death in absentia in July 2004, along with al-Qaida
in Iraq leader, Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, for their roles in the 2002
slaying of a U.S. aid official.
Al-Zarqawi died in a U.S. airstrike in Iraq a year ago. Jordanian prosecutors
say al-Absi, who is also known as Abu Youssef, sent money raised by al-Zarqawi
through intermediaries to the Jordanian cell that killed U.S. diplomat Laurence
Foley in Amman. Al-Absi also arranged to train militants in Syria on weapons and
explosives, according to Jordanian military court documents. Al-Absi was also
implicated in other planned terror plots in Jordan. Six months ago, Jordanian
police engaged in a gun battle with two militants in the northern city of Irbid,
killing one and arresting another. The arrested militant later confessed that
al-Absi had sent the pair to carry out terror attacks in Jordan.
Al-Absi reportedly came to Lebanon last year from Syria, where he spent a number
of years, some of them in prison. In the Nahr al-Bared camp -- safe from
Lebanese authorities who cannot enter Palestinian refugee camps under a
40-year-old agreement -- he slowly built up his organization.(AP) (AP photo
shows Lebanese soldiers flashing the V-sign at Nahr al-Bared) Beirut, 07 Jun 07,
09:32
U.S. Pledges $3.5 Million in
Aid to Nahr al-Bared Refugees
The United States has pledged $3.5 million in aid for Palestinian refugees
caught up in the fighting between Lebanese troops and Fatah al-Islam militants
in the northern shantytown of Nahr al-Bared. U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Jeffrey
Feltman on Wednesday said the donation was in reference to the U.N. Relief and
Works Agency (UNRWA) Flash Appeal for $12.66 million to provide "urgently needed
humanitarian assistance to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon displaced by the
actions of the terrorist group, Fatah al-Islam," in Nahr al-Bared. "This is
nearly 28 percent of UNRWA's Flash Appeal for Palestinian refugees in North
Lebanon," he said.
"The United States backs fully the efforts by the Lebanese Armed Forces and the
Lebanese government in eliminating the threat posed by Fatah al-Islam," Feltman
told reporters. "At the same time, the United States also shares the deep
concern expressed by Prime Minister Saniora about the humanitarian needs of the
Palestinian refugee population of Nahr al-Bared displaced by the fighting," he
added. Beirut, 07 Jun 07, 10:48
U.S. Partially Lifts Ban on
Air Traffic to Lebanon
In a move aimed at "promoting peace and security in Lebanon," U.S. President
George Bush announced he was partially lifting a ban on air traffic to Lebanon
imposed since the 1985 hijacking of a TWA jetliner to Beirut. A memorandum
released by the White House on Wednesday said Bush permitted "U.S. air carriers
under contract to the United States Government to engage in foreign air
transportation to and from Lebanon of passengers, including U.S. and non-U.S.
citizens, and their accompanying baggage; of goods for humanitarian purposes;
and of any other cargo or material." A U.S. embassy spokesperson told The Daily
Star the U.S. "intends to maintain its very robust support to the Lebanese armed
forces as a pledge to the Lebanese to support their sovereignty and
independence."But the spokesperson would not comment on whether the prohibition
was relaxed to facilitate further deliveries of military assistance. U.S.
military cargo planes have recently delivered infantry supplies as well as
rifles and ammunition as part of a $280 million military aid to Lebanon. Beirut,
07 Jun 07, 07:27
Jailed Fatah al-Islam
Militants Face Terrorism Charges
A Lebanese military prosecutor on Wednesday laid terrorism charges against 11
militants from the Fatah al-Islam group locked in a deadly standoff with the
army at a Palestinian refugee camp. The proceedings brought to 31 the number of
Fatah al-Islam militants charged with committing "acts of terrorism" since
fighting first broke out on May 20.If convicted they could face the death
sentence. The accused, all in custody, include 28 Lebanese, one Lebanese-Syrian,
one Syrian and one Palestinian, judicial sources said. The military prosecutor
has also launched proceedings in absentia against a Lebanese national in custody
in Saudi Arabia on the same charges.
Some of the militants were detained while trying to flee the Nahr al-Bared
refugee camp in northern Lebanon where the Islamist group has been under army
siege since May 20. Fatah al-Islam militants have killed 44 Lebanese soldiers
since the clashes erupted at the camp and the nearby Mediterranean port city of
Tripoli.
The accused are charged with "forming armed groups to attack civilians, the
authority of the state and its civil and military institutions, and carrying out
terrorist actions which killed or injured military personnel and civilians,"
according to a judicial source.
Fatah al-Islam is a shadowy Sunni Muslim extremist group which first officially
appeared in Lebanon in November. It is not a Palestinian group, although it has
established its base in Nahr al-Bared. Most of its members are Islamists of
various Arab nationalities who are ideologically close to the Al-Qaida network
of Osama bin Laden. The government, pushing for a peaceful end to the standoff,
has insisted the group hand over fighters to stand trial over attacks against
its armed forces.
The group has vowed no surrender although the mainstream Palestinian faction
Fatah has said several members have turned in themselves and their
weapons.(AFP-Naharnet) Beirut, 06 Jun 07, 19:50