LCCC NEWS BULLETIN
JUNE 13/2006

Below News FromDaily Star for 13/06/06
Khaddam: Assad ordered Hariri killing
Done deal: Lebanon finally completes roster of Higher Judicial Council
Nasrallah shuns calls to topple government
Cable pirates thank Aridi for World Cup deal
Lebanon-Syria panel: Border berms are gone
Lebanese village mourns Palestinian guerrilla leader killed in Gaza Strip
Fatfat fires back at 'inaccurate' Pakradouni
UN report pleases Beirut - and Damascus, too
Palestinian factions hold joint protest against Gaza Strip beach massacre
Fourth report of the UN's official Hariri assassination probe
Faisal 'very content' with Iran's nuclear stance
Solidere to hand out $100 million in dividends
Confidence is higher, but vulnerabilities remain
Imposing stability from Tehran to Tel Aviv -By Geoffrey Aronson
Below News From miscellaneous sources for 13/06/06
INTERVIEW-Khaddam says UN Hariri inquiry will convict Syria-Reuters
Lebanon is deeply divided -AsiaNews.it
Getting Serious About Syria-Evening Bulletin
Lebanon claims Israeli spy ring exposed-Jerusalem Post
Lebanon: Israeli spying cell busted-Ynetnews
Minister: Iran, Syria security intertwined-UPI

Lebanon is deeply divided and those responsible worry only about own interests, says Card Sfeir
Maronite Synod ends with 41 bishops from around the world attending. Patriarch meets High Shiite Council deputy chairman.
Beirut (AsiaNews) - Lebanon is a deeply divided society and "those responsible worry only about their own interests and are indifferent to the suffering of the population," said Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir during the Synod of Maronite bishops just held in Bkerke. A mass concluded the assembly that saw some 41 bishops attending from all of Lebanon's dioceses, Syria's three dioceses, as well as those of Cyprus, Egypt, Sudan, the Americas, Africa, Europe and Australia.
Cardinal Sfeir warned against "aggressive views" that "can never be part of building a country faithful to its historic vocation". For this reason, he met Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan, deputy chairman of the High Shiite Council, who said, at the end of the meeting, that Christian and Muslin leaders had a shared duty "to renew the country and end tensions."
"As religious authorities," he added, "we must assume our responsibilities. If political leaders work with us, that would be in their own interest; if not, people will listen to and work with us." For the Muslim clergyman, the patriarch "has the power to keep Christian groups united, impose limits and show them what their rights and duties are."
Today the patriarch will inform the Maronite Church of the new directives formulated by the synod. Altogether 23 documents were approved and a statement released to the press. The papers, which concern the identity of the Maronite Church, its structures and relations to other domains (like politics, education, health, the earth, etc.), offer concrete proposals. Most significantly, the paper which received the largest number of proposals and recommendations during open discussion sessions was that about education.
The synod gave bishops, priests and Maronite Church elites the opportunity to understand how things have changed and new realities emerged like the transformation of Maronite emigrants into overseas Maronites.
In the final press statement, the bishops express their solidarity with their fellow Lebanese who are suffering. They call on all interested parties to continue the search for a just and dignified path that would perpetuate the noble history of the Lebanese people. They also reaffirm the need to respect and defend the country's historical, spiritual and Christian identity and make a plea against the violence that has beset the country in the last few months and years.
The bishops reiterated their faith in Allmighty God who will not abandon His people and indicated that conversion and forgiveness are the paths that can save the Land of the Cedar Tree.
Their final appeal is to all of the country's creative forces, asking them to make their own contribution so that the young remain in Lebanon. Church sources reported that two new bishops were elected following the resignation of Mgr Youssef Mahfouz, Maronite bishop of Brazil, and Mgr Raymond Eid, Maronite archbishop of Damascus. The name of the new prelates will be communicated to the Apostolic See which can accept the choice made or nominate someone else.

Getting Serious About Syria
By: Robert B. Sklaroff, M.D. and Robert R. Guzzardi, Special To The Evening Bulletin
06/12/2006
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On Wednesday, the United Nations Security Council is poised to discuss the fourth report it commissioned regarding Syrian complicity in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on Feb. 14, 2005.
America must now muscle the initiation of sanctions against this rogue nation.
Consider the litany of additional Syrian misconduct during recent years.
It has refused to honor UN Security Council resolutions:
* Resolution 1559 called on foreign (read: "Syrian") troops to withdraw from Lebanon and for all militias (read: "Syrian-supported and Iranian-funded Hezbollah") to be disarmed. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said Friday that "there is no going back. There will be no giving in and no surrendering to oppressors, opportunists or criminals."
* Resolution 1680 called on Damascus to delineate its common border with Lebanon and to establish full diplomatic ties with Beirut. This has sparked a hunger-strike by over a dozen of Syria's highest-profile imprisoned activists, including ten arrested in the past three weeks for appealing to Syria to improve relations with Lebanon.
It has opposed the U.S. War against Reactionary Islamists:
* Syria is the major conduit of Al Qaida infiltration into Iraq's Anbar Province.
* Syria harbors Islamist terrorists at home and sponsors them abroad.
It routinely violates human rights:
* Syria engages in human trafficking, according to a U.S. Report issued last week.
* Syria recently arrested seven Ahwazis, six of whom had been recognized by the UN High Commissioner on Refugees as refugees under the 1951 Refugee Convention and one former refugee who had recently been naturalized by the Netherlands.
* Syria recently initiated a crackdown on domestic critics: it imprisoned writer Mohammed Ghanem on charges including insulting Syrian president Bashar Assad, and inciting sectarian divisions; it arrested Merhi Omran for trying to use his cellular 'phone to photograph his brother, who is being tried with members of a Muslim extremist Salafi group; and it barred writer Louay Hussein from traveling to Lebanon to take part in a talk show on the U.S.-financed Arab-language al-Hurra television.
It is engaging in international mischief:
* Syrians (100 workers and five intelligence officers) were arrested last week by Qatar because of complicity in a destabilization plot against the monarchy.
* Syrians are allowing Russia to set up naval bases in its ports of Tartus and Latakia.
* Syria has expressed solidarity with Iran and Cuba, and it hosts terrorist exiles and organizations including Islamic Jihad and Hamas.
As President Bashir Assad enters his seventh year of dictatorial rule, he scoffs at America's 2004 "Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act." Limited steps taken included prohibiting most U.S. exports to Syria, restricting diplomatic contacts, and blocking Syrian aircraft from the United States. More severe steps that remain unimplemented could affect existing U.S. oil investments, and Congress gave the president the power to waive-rather than to enforce-parts of the law for national security reasons.
Such reticence is shocking, for confronting a geographically-surrounded Syria constitutes a front against Iran, low-lying fruit that is vulnerable to regime change. In the wake of the targeted killing of al-Zarqawi, America must redouble its attack on those who harbor terrorists, consistent with the Bush Doctrine.
And we mustn't dawdle, for recent worldwide arrests of terrorist cells (from Canada to Switzerland) scream the desperation of Jihadists waging World War.
So, Time is Tight, as usual. The Allies yearn to withdraw troops from Iraq ASAP, both because they now can point to an endogenous government that can unite the citizenry, and because they want to mollify home-front critics (to buttress sagging political bases). To whatever degree they can influence events in the Middle East, Bush/Blair must remain proactive/positive, forceful/focused. In that regard, Syria requires immediate attention.
Instead, as foreign policy experts call for unspecified types of "change," inaction persists.
Why should two laypeople-a physician and a lawyer-highlight a foreign policy concern, even as "credentialed" thinkers endlessly debate this-'n'-that along too-familiar lines? Because we're "students" of...and feel invested in...the urgent need to "democratize." We recognize some restraint is needed to allow the liberated to gain a sufficient comfort-level with their newfound freedoms, but we feel maximizing opportunity via multi-front incrementalism (a strategy popularized by Neo-Cons) builds on ideological achievement.
The Challenge
Eisenhower observed that one must sometimes enlarge a conflict to win it. That's why Syria should not be given a "pass" as it hides behind Iran's bellicosity. Damascus continues to serve as our enemies' ideological/operational capital.
"Our" denotes America, Israel, Western Civilization...the "goodies" preserving culture against the Reactionary Islamist "baddies" who profess (as did Hitler and Khrushchev) a desire to bury us. This is a "white-hat vs. "black-hat" conflict of "good vs. evil."
So, why not confront a renegade government that pursues a murderous strategy against Lebanese opponents - activist politicians and journalists - as per four UN Security Council reports?
The U.S. must marshal all its chits-including those that seemingly are emerging with France and the Gulf States-to help the UN demonstrate it has meaning, namely, to implement international sanctions again Syria, aggressively, now.
The Documentation
The Mehlis-Report, issued on Oct. 19, 2005, was formally entitled "Report of the International Independent Investigation Commission, Established Pursuant to Security Council Resolution 1595."
Supplemental Reports have not altered its stark conclusions.
It was prompted by "the terrorist attack which took place on Feb. 14, 2005 in Beirut that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and others...to help identify its perpetrators, sponsors, organizers and accomplices." Months earlier - after Hariri had self-financed much of Beirut's reconstruction (following the civil war of the 1980s) - Syria's President Bashir Assad had personally threatened him against doing what he later announced, namely, announcing his candidacy to reassume leadership.
The Mehlis Report concluded:
"It is the Commission's conclusion that, after having interviewed witnesses and suspects in the Syrian Arab Republic and establishing that many leads point directly towards Syrian security officials as being involved with the assassination, it is incumbent upon Syria to clarify a considerable part of the unresolved questions. While the Syrian authorities, after initial hesitation, have cooperated to a limited degree with the Commission, several interviewees tried to mislead the investigation by giving false or inaccurate statements. The letter addressed to the Commission by the Foreign Minister of the Syrian Arab Republic proved to contain false information. The full picture of the assassination can only be reached through an extensive and credible investigation that would be conducted in an open and transparent manner to the full satisfaction of international scrutiny."
The intrigue that preceded and that permeates this carefully-worded posture includes a staged-suicide of the Syrian who directed the failed Lebanese Occupation, and that which has subsequently occurred includes an expanded investigation to include assassinations of additional Lebanese critics of Syria. Assad blames them for election of a legislature one year ago (on four successive Sundays in April) that expunged 5000 troops from the Bekaa Valley, but not Syria's high-placed spies from Lebanese soil.
A finalized version of the Mehlis Report was inadvertently electronically transmitted before its most pungent phraseology had been expunged a few hours later, allegedly by Secretary General Kofi Annan...who said he wanted to downplay its political import.
The following had been included in its Executive Summary:
"It is the Commission's view that the assassination of 14 February 2005 was carried out by a group with an extensive organization and considerable resources and capabilities. The crime had been prepared over the course of several months. For this purpose, the timing and location of Mr. Rafik Hariri's movements had been monitored and the itineraries of his convoy recorded in detail...[T]here is converging evidence pointing at both Lebanese and Syrian involvement in this terrorist act.
"It is a well known fact that Syrian Military Intelligence had a pervasive presence in Lebanon at the least until the withdrawal of the Syrian forces pursuant to resolution 1559. The former senior security officials of Lebanon were their appointees. Given the infiltration of Lebanese institutions and society by the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services working in tandem, it would be difficult to envisage a scenario whereby such a complex assassination plot could have been carried out without their knowledge."
Security Council Inaction
Despite these data, the Security Council still hasn't implemented any formal sanctions. There is a certain irony that Syria is to serve as its president during the month of August. But the greater concern is that the most recently-adopted Syria-related resolution (#1680) is silent regarding Syria's overt campaign of political assassinations. That it was adopted by a 13-0 vote (with Russia and China abstaining) reinforces the hope that the world abhors Syria's brazen intent to alter internal Lebanese affairs, to a limited degree.
Adopted on May 17th, it focuses on the Syria-Lebanese relationship, in an effort "to fully restore the Lebanese government's control over all its territory." But it had no "enforcement" component. Thus, in reply, Hezballah and its supporters argued that it is a resistance organization-rather than a militia-and it therefore does not have to disarm. Meanwhile, Syria and Iran dismiss it, averring it represents interference in member states' bilateral affairs.
Three prominent American diplomats praised it.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice noted Lebanese are aware of their obligation to disarm militias, but she also preached patience during this "transitional period." UN Ambassador John Bolton was more blunt: "It clearly says to Syria that it needs to do more to stop the flow of weapons across the Syrian-Lebanese border." And Ambassador Henry Crumpton cited its importance while in Beirut to explain aspects of U.S. counterterrorism policy.
The Politics
As governments-in-exile have been formed (in London and in Washington), Assad has cracked-down on domestic dissidents...while professing to have "gotten (Islamic) religion"; such behavior traditionally mollifies some opponents. Meanwhile, the UN debate has shifted overtly to Iran, with world leadership seemingly reluctant to "connect the dots."
There is a certain fatalism that is ambient when one directly questions Americans, primarily predicted on the theory that Russia/China would predictably block anything that could serve tangible, useful purposes. The concept that "The devil you don't know may be worse than the devil you do know" devolves into a posture of "containment."
The kissin'-cousin of containment-appeasement-has been discredited. Neville Chamberlain's rationalizations permitting Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia are disdained, but people must be reminded that the most effective method available to weaken Iran is to isolate its client-state, Syria.
Some argue we risk the rise of the Moslem Brotherhood and/or Al Qaida influence if we actively "destabilize" Assad. But defeat of its Sunni-majority, Alawite-minority Ba'athists (secular remnants of the Nazis) would ameliorate intimidation of those who want to support our goals.
Indeed, the National Salvation Front, which met again last week in London, claims it has 75 prominent (exiled) supporters from across the political spectrum, including a representative of the banned Muslim Brotherhood. It is led by 74-year-old Abdel Halim Khaddam, who served as Vice-President for more than two decades and was once Damascus's pointman in Lebanon, when Syrian security forces effectively controlled the country. He sees Assad using repression to retain power, while citizens "go hungry and see wealth stolen by corrupt elite."
Indeed, since Mr Khaddam began speaking out against the Syrian regime, he has been branded a traitor. Legal proceedings have begun against him and 24 other members of his family, including his wife, his three sons and daughter, who were all summoned to appear in court last month.
America must start "making this case" stridently, promptly. Essentially, there is minimal downside risk...and the potential benefits could help us reach the tipping-point as we envision winding-down the need to nurture the thrice-elected Iraqi government. Establishing official Syrian/Lebanese borders is desirable, but challenging the Damascus government's legitimacy is vital.The Security Council is set to renew its probe into Syria's complicity in the Hariri assassination for another year. It must concomitantly implement sanctions based on facts it has already established.
Time Ticks.
**Dr. Sklaroff is an oncologist/hematologist. Mr. Guzzardi is a businessman/philanthropist.
©The Evening Bulletin 2006

Minister: Iran, Syria security intertwined
TEHRAN, June 12 (UPI) -- Iranian Defense Minister Gen. Mustafa Najjar stressed that Syria's security is part of Iran's security and that his country has a duty to defend Syria.
Najjar's remarks were quoted by the Iranian News Agency, IRNA, following his talks Monday with visiting Syrian counterpart Gen. Hassan Torkmani. Najjar said Iran will extend full support to Syria under present conditions "because Iran considers that Syria's security is part of its own security and national interests." "Relations between Iran and Syria are solid and fall within the framework of consolidating peace, stability and security in the region," he added. Torkmani, for his part, hailed Iran's stance on Syria, noting that he is carrying a letter of mutual solidarity and support. He stressed the need to reinforce the armed forces of the two countries to confront the common enemy which seeks to destabilize security and provoke tensions in the region.
He also reaffirmed Syria's support to Iran's right to profit from nuclear energy, stressing that "the only way to settle the crisis over Iran's (nuclear program) is to recognize officially this right." Both Torkmani and Najjar described the military and defense relations between the two countries as "strategic" and constitute "an example of regional cooperation."

Lebanon: Israeli spying cell busted
Assafir newspaper reports Lebanese authorities caught members of Lebanese nationals spying for Israel; says cell member reportedly admitted to role in assassination of two senior Islamic Jihad members in Sidon
Roee Nahmias. The Lebanese intelligence services uncovered "one of the most prominent Israeli cells operating in Lebanon since 1990," the Beirut-based daily Assafir reported Monday.The report comes two days after authorities said they arrested a man believed to have masterminded the assassination of a senior Islamic Jihad commander and with links to Israeli intelligence.
Assassination  Lebanon: Car bomb kills Islamic Jihad leader / Reuters
Car bomb in Sidon critically injures senior group leader Mahmoud Majzoub, who later dies of wounds, kills his brother. Jihad blames Israel for assassination The newspaper said Lebanese intelligence launched operation Surprise at Dawn soon after the assassination of Mahmoud Majzoub and his brother Nidal on May 26 in Sidon.
The operation focused on identifying the owner of a Mercedes car used in the assassination.
Mohammad Rafeh, 59, of the southern Lebanese town of Hassbaya, was under surveillance for ten days after the assassination.  Authorities confiscated Rafeh's computer which they believe contains information that could link Rafeh to Israeli elements.A senior intelligence official told Assafir that Rafeh admitted he had planned and carried out the assassination of the Majzoub brothers and to other operations targeting Hizbullah officials. Rafeh admitted to having taken part in the assassination of senior Hizbullah official, Ali Hussein Saleh, in 2003. The official refused to tell the newspaper whether Rafeh was involved in the assassination of Jihad Jibril, son of Ahmed Jibril, the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The newspaper said seven hours after Rafeh's arrest another suspect was arrested in Hassbaya.

Lebanon says Israeli spy cell exposed
By JPOST.COM STAFF
Lebanese security forces have uncovered what they claimed was a "prominent" Israeli spy ring that had been active in Lebanon since 1990, the Lebanese As-Safir newspaper reported on Monday. The newspaper stated that several days ago Lebanese security forces arrested Mahmoud Kassam Rafa from the town of Hazbaya in southern Lebanon. The spy network allegedly included Rafa and members of his family. During his interrogation, according to the report, Rafa not only confessed to his involvement in the assassination of senior Islamic Jihad operative Mahmoud Majzoub in Beirut last month, but also to the assassination of Hizbollah member Ali Salah and to other alleged terror attacks in the Lebanese capital and the south of the country.
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Lebanese officials had linked the hit to Israel. They claimed that Rafa was only one of several Lebanese and Palestinian agents operating in Lebanon for Israel. They added that an inspection of Rafa's home - including his personal computer, documents and apparently Israeli-made electronic equipment - further strengthened their argument that the findings were connected to Israel. A surveillance tail was put on Rafa after it became evident that his car had been used in the Majzoub hit.
Rafa, a 59-year old retired policeman, had become considerably wealthier following the blast last month.
One Lebanese official told Reuters on Saturday that the suspect's ties with Israel had been "100 percent confirmed."
"Documents and equipment linked with the crime were seized with him, and he has links to the intelligence of the Israeli enemy," the official said. The allegations that Israel was responsible for the blast were adamantly rejected by Israeli officials.
The blast that killed the Majzoub brothers was followed two days later by armed guerillas in Lebanon launching several Katyusha rockets into Israel, precipitating the most severe exchange of fire between the two countries since Israel retreated its forces out of Lebanon in May, 2000.

INTERVIEW-Khaddam says UN Hariri inquiry will convict Syria
12 Jun 2006 By Alaa Shahine
BEIRUT, June 12 (Reuters) - Syria's former vice president Abdel-Halim Khaddam has said he was confident the U.N. inquiry into the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri would convict senior Syrian officials.
"I am as sure of this as I am that the sun will continue to rise from the East," he said late on Sunday in a telephone interview from Paris, where he has been living since breaking away from President Bashar al-Assad last year.
"The Syrian regime knows what it did ... and how the crime was committed. The day of truth will come."
Khaddam, a veteran aide to late President Hafez al-Assad, said he did not have hard evidence to back his claim, but he was partly basing his prediction on a conversation he had with Assad several months before Hariri's February 2005 killing.
"I heard personally from Assad that he delivered very strong threats to Hariri. After the meeting, Hariri's blood pressure rose and he was bleeding from his nose," Khaddam said, repeating remarks he first made in December.
The U.N. inquiry's latest report, prepared by Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz, said on Saturday "considerable progress" had been made in the investigation into the killing, but gave no indication the commission knew who was behind it.
Syrian cooperation with the commission, which investigators had previously faulted, was "generally satisfactory," the report said, although continued cooperation "remains crucial."
Syria had accused Brammertz's predecessor, German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, of leading a politically-motivated inquiry after he implicated senior Syrian officials and their Lebanese allies in the murder. Syria denies any role.
Damascus, the dominant force in Lebanon until it ended its 29-year military presence in the aftermath of the murder, has yet to react to Saturday's report.
State-run media had previously compared Brammertz favourably to his predecessor, a position Khaddam said stemmed from a false hope the inquiry would eventually clear Syrian officials.
"Their comfort is similar to that of a cancer patient who has been given an extra two months to live," said Khaddam, who was branded a "traitor" in Syria for his attacks on Assad.
"The latest report is highly professional...and I think Brammertz is smart for not mentioning names to avoid being accused of running a political inquiry." Brammertz interviewed Assad and his Vice President Farouq al-Shara in April. His report said both men provided answers useful to the investigation.
Khaddam, who has formed an opposition front in exile to bring about a regime change in Syria, said he gave a lengthy testimony to the Brammertz commission. He did not elaborate.

They Are All Nasrallahs
11/06/2006
Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, General Secretary of Hezbollah, has denied playing a part in the demonstrations that took place in Christian areas of Beirut, during which individuals and landmarks were targeted in protest of a television show that mocked Nasrallah. However, Nasrallah's actions were much worse than those of the demonstrators, as he warned that he would not accept being ridiculed in this way. His position on the matter reminded me of a friend, Mahmoud Kaheel, who spent most of his life drawing caricatures. He said, "You could never imagine how difficult it is for an Arab caricaturist to do his job in comparison to other cartoonists throughout the world. We are requested to present satirical cartoons of what is around us without actually mocking anything or anyone." I would like to add that the majority of caricatures in the Arab world target American President George Bush, former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the current Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert.
Nasrallah's reaction to the television program that aims to mock politicians was similar to the response of other Arab leaders who only call for freedom when their opponents are being mocked. I heard numerous comments made by many Arab intellectuals who were "shocked by Nasrallah's reaction." Their surprise was due to the fact that Nasrallah is a "modern" religious leader as well as a conventional Lebanese politician, and that political satire has always existed in Lebanon even throughout the wars, the Taif Accords and international investigations.
Nasrallah has entered a battle that is more than a simple dispute with a television show. He has freely provided clear evidence that a religious figure does not suit politics as long as he mixes sanctity with his post and seeks to deprive people of their right to criticize politicians.
Some may seek to justify Nasrallah's position on the pretext that our region is bleeding so there is no room for humor. This would explain the numerous caricatures that fill our newspapers that are more like Edvard Munch's 'The Scream' rather than a satirical cartoon. Recently in Iran, protests against the publishing of a cartoon that depicted children running away from a cockroach that spoke Azeri resulted in the death of four people and injuries sustained by forty people. It is true to say the cartoon is extremely offensive to Iranian Azeris; however, the problem is not solely related to the cartoon as the hearts of demonstrators were filled with anger before any cartoons were drawn. The Azeris consider themselves a despised part of Iranian society as they are forbidden to use their own language and enjoy their own culture.
Caricaturists are usually the easiest targets for angry people, as most people can understand the meaning behind the cartoons however vague they may be. During the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi ambassador to France was fully aware of the connotations behind a cartoon that was on display at the opening of a gallery attended by the ambassador. The cartoon depicted a military leader in uniform who did not physically resemble Saddam but obviously shared the same principles. The cartoon showed the leader filling the plates of hungry people on crutches with medals and badges of honor. The ambassador complained and left the gallery with a warning despite no one realizing that the caricature was actually Saddam Hussein.