Lebanon returns Syrian artifacts

LCCC NEWS BULLETIN
JUNE 27/2006

Below News From miscellaneous sources for 27/06/06
Assad ready to meet Hariri-Al-Bawaba
Assad: Aoun is no Longer Seeking Revenge but is Defending Syria-Naharnet
Qaida Militants Fleeing from Syria to Lebanon, Assad Says-Naharnet
Beirut Ranks 32nd Among World's Most Expensive Cities-Naharnet
LEBANON: Survey finds most lawyers cowed by bar association-Reuters
Sfeir: Lebanon Should not be Hostile to Foreign Countries Seeking Free Presidential Elections-Naharnet
Closed-Circuit Cameras Lead Detectives to the Man Behind the Bomb at Future TV-Naharnet
Lebanon returns Syrian artifacts to rightful owners-Daily Star
Patriarch preaches environmental responsibility-Daily Star
Salloukh awaits Romanian response on Lahoud snub-Daily Star
Geagea says army has to be lynchpin of security-Daily Star
Suspect in bomb planting arrested in Lebanon-People's Daily
Rizk counsels calm in spat over Francophone Summit-Daily Star
Assad's door is 'open' to Siniora, Hariri - and Aoun-Daily Star
Judiciary blocks payment of quarries compensation-Daily Star
Lebanon's March 14 Forces are letting their countrydown-Daily Star
Lebanese Development Ma rketplace reviews 2005 work-Daily Star
Constitutional Council slo w to meet on own fate-Daily Star
Lebanon returns Syrian artif acts to rightful owners-Daily Star
attack almost legitimate-Ynetnews - Israel
IDF Intel Chief Says Withdrawal Increased Existential Threats-Arutz Sheva
Lebanese Hezbollah Denies Ties To Iraq Insurgency-AINA
Common enemy: Syria, Iran bolster ties-Times of India
Sfeir: Lebanon Should not be Hostile to Foreign Countries- Naharnet
Islamic extremists hiding out in Lebanon: Assad-Washington Post
Qaida Militants Fleeing from Syria to Lebanon, Assad Says-Naharnet
Analysis: Split deepens between Hamas' political, military wings-Ha'aretz
Man's car-loan program a finalist for national prize-The Union Leader
Syria: Rejected asylum-seeker deported from UK Amnesty International

Assad contradicts minister: Damascus “doors open” to Siniora and Hariri
Cardinal Sfeir has indirectly lent his support to those calling for the replacement of the President of the Lebanese Republic.
Beirut (AsiaNews) – Ties between Beirut and Damascus, and between pro and anti-Syrians in Lebanon are becoming more complicated than ever. Today, President Assad contradicted his information minister and said he was ready to welcome the Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, and representatives of the anti-Syrian majority in Beirut’s parliament, like Saad Hariri. Yesterday the Maronite Patrirach Nasrallah Sfeir, endorsed the position of those calling for the election of a new president of the republic to replace the pro-Syrian Lahoud.
The Maronite patriarch made his point during a homily on the environment and pollution during Mass in Bkerke. Cardinal Sfeir turned to the controversy that erupted when the Lebanese President, Emile Lahoud, was not invited to a meeting of Francophone countries in Bucharest, which was dedicated to the same themes the patriarch covered in his homily. The patriarch talked openly about a “sterile polemic” towards countries whose stand “conforms to international resolutions” and which was caused by an incident that “cannot question the historic alliances we have in the world”. Cardinal Sfeir’s reference was to Resolution 1559 of the UN Security Council which, among other things, calls for free elections for the president of the republic, which Lahoud has opposed so far, and to the favourable attitude towards renewal expressed by the French President Jacques Chirac.
The election of the new head of state is one of the themes being discussed – so far in vain – by the 14 parties to the “inter-Lebanese dialogue”.
On the Syrian front, there was a “defensive” interview by the Syrian President, Bachar Al-Assad, given to the daily Al-Hayat, in which he said his country was prepared to welcome the Lebanese Prime Minister Siniora, “even without an agenda”. “But he didn't come”, he added. This was a reference to yet another controversy pitting Beirut and Damascus against each other, precisely because Siniora said he was ready to go to talk to Assad but was not invited to do so.
The Syrian President’s stand appears to be in stark contrast with what the Syrian Information Minister, Mohsin Bilal, said on Friday 23, to the effect that "we have to wait until internal Lebanese dialogue is concluded” (started in Beirut in March and going on intermittently since). “When you have finished your meetings, you will be welcome in Syria”.
Assad however said: “The doors "remain open” for Siniora, Saad Hariri and Michel Aoun. About the latter, who now stands accused of taking a pro-Syrian stand and who would candidate for the post of President of the Republic, Assad said that in the past “we used to have troubled relations... but now he doesn't attempt to attack Syria, and on some points he defends it”.
On another matter which is at the centre of controversy, namely diplomatic ties between Lebanon and Syria – desired by the UN but thus far “postponed” by Damascus – Assad is now saying he has been proposing the establishment of diplomatic relations “for a long time”.
Another point worthy of mention is that criticism has been leveled at the West because it has stopped pressuring the Syrian regime. From London, Ali Bayaouni, leader of the opposition that gathers secular and Kurdish groups, claimed western pressure had eased because of fears that the fall of the Damascus regime may lead to a replay in Syria of what is happening in Iraq.

"Liste de diffusion du Mouvement SOLIDA" <liste@solida.org>
To: phoenicia-owner@yahoogroups.com
Subject: REMINDER: Sit-in at three on Wednesday / Message from SOLIDE
Date: Mon, 26 Jun 2006 13:47:52 +0200
A demonstration is going to be held on Wednesday 28 at 3 pm in front of the ESCWA building in Down Town Beirut to support and call for the release of Lebanese in Syrian jails. This demonstration is not backed by a political leader(s). It is a civic demand all Lebanese should respond to as those prisoners, who are numbered in hundreds, belong to all walks of life, faiths, genders and ages. Neither the Lebanese government nor the international community is taking a firm stance or actions
regarding this file, which has been open for decades. The only tool in the hands of the families backed by the S.O.L.I.D.E NGO is the media, which will undoubtedly increase pressure on the Lebanese government to take some actions. The more people show up the more media coverage the protest will have. Come as a Lebanese for the Lebanese and for a cause, which really unites us. For more information on Lebanese in Syrian prisons navigate this site. www.syrianprison.com
PLEASE FORWARD AND PARTICIPATE!!!!! (Even if you are not in the country
please forward to people you know who are in Lebanon)

Israeli makes threat over captured soldier
By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 24 minutes ago
JERUSALEM - Israel massed troops Monday along the Gaza Strip border in preparation for what Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said would be a "broad and ongoing" operation against Palestinian militants following the abduction of an Israeli soldier.
Olmert issued the threat as Israeli and Palestinian officials worked diplomatic channels to gain the release of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, a dual French-Israeli citizen who was seized in a cross-border raid Sunday.
Speaking to a tourism conference in Jerusalem, Olmert said Israel's patience was wearing thin and that he held the entire Palestinian leadership responsible for Shalit's safety.
"I gave the orders to our military commanders to prepare the army for a broad and ongoing military operation to strike the terrorist leaders and all those involved," he said. "It should be clear. There will be immunity for no one."
Olmert also told a closed parliamentary meeting that he would not negotiate with the captors.
Militants affiliated with the ruling Hamas party and tiny allied factions abducted Shalit early Sunday after tunneling into Israel and attacking a military post. Two other soldiers were killed, and three militants died in an ensuing shootout.
The attack was the first successful infiltration by militants since Israel withdrew from Gaza in September and threatened to plunge the region into a major flare-up of violence. While Israel has carried out numerous airstrikes against Gaza militants since the withdrawal, it has sent in ground troops just three times, all for brief operations.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was working intensely with Egyptian mediators, Arab and Western leaders to locate the soldier, officials said, while a spokesman for the rival Hamas-led Palestinian government said he had information Shalit was alive and urged his captors to keep him safe.
Abbas, joined by senior security advisers, was monitoring the situation from a special situation room, officials said.
It was not clear who was holding Shalit, where he was being held or what his captors wanted. In the past, seized soldiers have been used as bargaining chips for the release of Palestinian prisoners Israel holds.
Despite Abbas' ongoing efforts to pressure his Hamas rivals into moderation, Olmert said he blamed the entire Palestinian leadership, including the president, responsible for the spiraling violence.
"It should be clear that we see the Palestinian Authority on all its levels, from the chairman on downward, as the responsible element for this operation and all that happens from it," Olmert said, referring to Abbas.
Earlier Monday, Israel massed special units, tanks and infantry troops along the border with Gaza.
Palestinian lawmaker Saeb Erekat, a close aide to Abbas, called for restraint "at a time when President Abbas is exerting maximum efforts in order to acquire the release of the soldier, alive and unharmed."
The tensions have raised the possibility that Israel could renew its policy of assassinating Hamas political leaders, a practice Israel halted after a February 2005 cease-fire. Hamas lawmaker Mushir al-Masri warned Israel against any "stupid acts."
"This will blow up the area again," he said. "We also warn the Zionists against assassinating any leader because we believe the armed wings of the resistance groups will not remain silent."The kidnapping delivered a blow to Abbas' efforts to coax Hamas into accepting a plan that implicitly recognizes Israel. Abbas, elected separately last year, has endorsed the plan in the hope of lifting crippling economic sanctions against Hamas and opening the way for new peace talks. It also has exposed divisions within Hamas' ranks. The group maintains separate political and military wings, and political leaders based in Syria are more extreme than many of the leaders in the West Bank and Gaza.
Ghazi Hamad, spokesman for the Hamas government, said the political leadership was not warned ahead of time of the assault plans. However, he called talk of a split in Hamas "a big lie." He said Hamas was working with Abbas and Egypt to resolve the situation. "I think we are interested in avoiding any confrontation or bloodshed," he told The Associated Press. In an earlier radio interview, Hamad said he believed the soldier is still alive and appealed for his safe release. Hamad spoke to Israel's Army Radio station in Hebrew, which he learned in Israeli prison.
A high-ranking military intelligence official, Yossi Beidatz, told a parliamentary committee Monday that Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas was in close contact with Hamas' Syria-based leader, Khaled Mashaal, and Shalit's captors to secure his immediate release, said lawmaker Ran Cohen. At the same meeting, Olmert ruled out negotiations with the kidnappers, said Tzachi Hanegbi, another committee member. Shalit was the first Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants in 12 years, and the fate of the quiet, bespectacled teen gripped the country. Large pictures of Shalit's boyish face appeared on the front pages of local newspapers. "Bring Gilad Home," said the banner headline of Yediot Ahronot, the country's largest daily. Spokesmen for Hamas' military wing and the Popular Resistance Committees, which also took part in Sunday's attack, told the AP they had no information about the missing soldier. Military officials said members of elite brigades and armored forces, backed by tanks, were sent to the frontier, where thousands of soldiers are regularly deployed. Troops sent into Gaza after the attack blew up the tunnel used by the infiltrators, sending a huge pillar of black smoke into the air.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to press Abbas to secure Shalit's release.
Livni convened an urgent session of foreign ambassadors from U.N. Security Council member states to urge them to use any leverage with the Palestinian Authority to bring about the soldier's release, ministry spokesman Mark Regev said. "If our serviceman is released immediately, that will do much to de-escalate the crisis," he said. In Tel Aviv, the French Embassy confirmed the soldier holds French citizenship and said Paris was working to win his release. Shalit's family broke its silence Monday to plead with his captors to treat him humanely and to remember he has a loving family who misses him dearly.
Noam Shalit, in an interview with AP Television News, described his son as a quiet, helpful boy who followed his older brother into the military's armored corps. "The only thing we have left right now is hope, nothing more," he said.
In Gaza City, dozens of relatives of the 8,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons urged militants to hold Shalit until Israel agrees to a large-scale release of jailed Palestinians. "Kidnap a soldier and free 100 in return," the crowd said. "Twist the Zionists' hands. Hope they can learn."

Sfeir: Lebanon Should not be Hostile to Foreign Countries Seeking Free Presidential Elections
Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir has said that Lebanon should not be hostile to foreign powers which are taking positions compatible with international resolutions calling for free presidential elections in the country.
The prelate, speaking during his Sunday Sermon, was clearly referring to President Emile Lahoud's latest attack on his French counterpart Jacques Chirac whom he has accused of blocking his participation in a Francophone summit in Romania in Sept.
Sfeir declared his support for the 2004 U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559 which was drafted by France and the United States. Among other things, it calls for free and fair presidential elections in Lebanon without foreign intervention.
"Has this section of the resolution been implemented?" Sfeir wondered. "Do we have the right to be hostile to all countries if they are taking positions compatible with their decisions?" he added.
The patriarch warned against neglecting Lebanon's "historical friendships that we are in dire need of at this time."
Sfeir, who initially refused to join the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority's calls for removing Lahoud from power, later changed his position saying the president has linked his faith with Damascus and is not fit to lead the country anymore. However, he is still against any attempt to remove the president by force. Beirut, 26 Jun 06, 13:29

Closed-Circuit Cameras Lead Detectives to the Man Behind the Bomb at Future TV
Security forces have arrested a man they suspect planted a small bomb at the entrance of Future TV Saturday in a sweep that might offer additional clues into the wave of bombings and assassinations that has rocked Lebanon since October 2004.
An Nahar only gave the suspect's initials, A.K., and said closed-circuit cameras had taken film of the man as he abandoned the menacing device in front of Future TV's offices on Spears Street in the heart of Beirut. He is a native of the south and resides in Khandak al-Ghameek, a low-income neighborhood adjacent to the television's offices, it said.
During initial interrogation, the suspect claimed he had found the device, a mortar shell, abandoned near his home. He took it and hid in the attic, but then decided to get rid of it, he claimed, according to An Nahar. As there was no garbage disposal stop near his home, he decided to leave it outside Future TV, he claimed – an implausible tale, since there is no dump near the station, either.
The device was directed at the TV's entrance. However, it was not wired, a fact that reinforced belief it was a "political message" similar to ones found near the home of MP Bahiya Hariri in Majdalyoun, Sidon, MP Saad Hariri in Koraytem, Beirut, and on a Chouf road frequented by Druze leader Walid Jumblat.
Also, in 2003, two similar rockets were fired at Future TV's news studios in Rauche, inflicting damage, but no casualties.
Future TV is owned by the family of the slain ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and is the leading voice of the opposition led by his son and heir, Saad. It is heavily opposed to President Lahoud and the Syrian regime that backs him.
Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said the incident was a clear attempt to undermine Lebanon's free media and the democratic values it enjoys at large. But the conspirators, he said, will not succeed.
The television's management said in a statement Saturday the incident was linked to "the series of explosions that Lebanon has experienced since the start of a wave of terrorism" that began with the October 2004 attempt on Minister Marwan Hamadeh's life, followed by Hariri's assassination on February 14, 2005. In all there have been 15 bombings, with the last deadly one on Dec. 12, 2005, taking the life of Gebran Tueni, An Nahar's publisher and General Manager.(Photo shows a security officer picking up the bomb found at Future TV) Beirut, 25 Jun 06, 08:22

Qaida Militants Fleeing from Syria to Lebanon, Assad Says
Syrian President Bashar al Assad has said many al-Qaida militants have fled from Syria to Lebanon increasing their presence in the country. He told the London-based al Hayat newspaper in an interview published Monday that his government has information that the number of al-Qaida operatives has grown in Lebanon since Syria pulled out its forces in April, 2005.
"Some members of the groups we are chasing flee to Lebanon because it is close by and easy to reach," Assad said adding that the mountainous roads connecting the two countries provided a good escape route.
He said that the radical group already had followers in Lebanon when Syrian forces were stationed here "but in a limited way," referring to the 1998 armed insurrection by Islamic militants in northern Lebanon's Dinniyeh mountains.
More recently, al-Qaida in Iraq has claimed responsibility for a barrage of rockets from south Lebanon into Israel on Dec. 27.
The following month, Lebanese authorities arrested a ring of 13 militants allegedly belonging to the group. They were charged with planning to carry out terror acts in the country. In 2004, 35 alleged members of an al-Qaida-linked group were charged with plotting to bomb foreign targets in Lebanon, including the Italian and Ukrainian diplomatic missions, assassinate Western diplomats and attack Lebanese security facilities. Beirut, 26 Jun 06, 12:00

Assad ready to meet Hariri
Posted: 26-06-2006 ,
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said he is ready to meet Saad Hariri, the son of five-time Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri whose assassination has been widely blamed on Damascus. "We were asked whether if Saad Hariri came to Syria we would receive him. We said of course," Assad said in an interview published Monday by Al-Hayat newspaper.
"It was not a problem for us. In politics, there are no personal affairs, but public interests," he said.
Asked whether Hariri would be received if he became prime minister, Assad said: "We were asked this question five or six months ago, and we said the same thing -- yes, whatever his position is."
In the interview, Assad also praised Iran, saying it played an "important and necessary role" in maintaining regional stability.
© 2006 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com

Beirut Ranks 32nd Among World's Most Expensive Cities
A cost of living survey has ranked Beirut 32nd among the world's most expensive cities and gave first place to Moscow.
Mercer Human Resource Consulting examined 144 cities across six continents where it measured the comparative cost of over 200 items and services including housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment.
In the 2005 survey Beirut was ranked 52nd with a score of 84.6 while it had an index of 85.4 in the 2006 study. The surveys usually take New York as the base city with 100 points.
The company said in a press release that Moscow replaced Tokyo as the world's most expensive city with Seoul knocking Japan's leading city to third place. Joining them in the top five are Hong Kong and London.
Asuncion in Paraguay remained the least expensive city with an index of 43.5 while Moscow scored 123.9 and is nearly three times costlier than Asuncion. Beirut, 26 Jun 06, 12:00

LEBANON: Survey finds most lawyers cowed by bar association
26 Jun 2006 15:09:06 GMT
BEIRUT, 26 June (IRIN) - Most Lebanese lawyers fear their own bar association, according to the results of a recent survey conducted by Information International, an independent, Beirut-based research and consultancy firm.
The survey, commissioned by the Centre for Democracy and the Rule of Law and published on 20 June, indicated that 96 percent of lawyers "believe that one of the basic tasks of the bar association is to defend freedom of expression and other human rights". The report went on to note, however, that "a high percentage of lawyers polled are fearful that their exercise of this right may bring retaliation by their own bar association". The survey interviewed 729 lawyers at the Beirut Court of Justice and at six other major courthouses throughout the country.
Responding to the survey's findings, Beirut Bar Association (BBA) President Boutros Doumit denied that lawyers were subject to intimidation. "Freedom of speech is, and always will be, protected by law," said Doumit. "The BBA defends rights and freedoms, so talk of lawyers being terrified isn't true at all."
However, observers point to the case of prominent human rights attorney Dr Muhamad Mugraby, currently facing charges of slandering the Bar Association Council and its president in 2002 by criticising "the hastiness with which permission was granted for the prosecution of an attorney in a complaint brought by judges". Mugraby also faces charges of practicing the legal profession despite a disciplinary decision banning him from the practice.
Doumit staunchly defended the association, however, noting that the BBA was devoted to "defending lawyers against abuse by the judiciary branch or by anyone else". Doumit added that the BBA "doesn't allow the judiciary to prosecute lawyers unless the complaint passes through us first, thereby safeguarding the lawyer from any abusive acts beforehand".
Doumit conceded, though, that the association also forbids lawyers from exceeding acceptable limits when exercising their rights and freedoms. A lawyer, for example, "isn't allowed to talk freely about matters related to a secret investigation or an ongoing trial", Doumit pointed out.

Lebanon returns Syrian artifacts to rightful owners
By Mosbah Al-Ali -Daily Star correspondent
Monday, June 26, 2006- BAALBEK: Lebanon on Saturday returned to Syria 76 archeological artifacts that had been smuggled into Lebanon in 2001. Some of the items were confiscated in the Baalbek area of Telya, while the others were seized in the Kesrouan areas of Ghadir and Haret Sakhr after Lebanese and Syrian smugglers were apprehended.
The Lebanese Directorate-General of Antiquities and the Higher Lebanese-Syrian Council supervised the restitution of the artifacts, which were stored inside a warehouse belonging to the Baalbek citadel, to the Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums. According to the authorities, the collection of valuables from the Syrian area of Kharaeb Hama included sections of columns; Arab, Islamic, Ottoman and classic sculptures; small architectural pieces dating back to the 20th century; and sculpted pieces of marble. The initiative falls under a 1992 UNESCO agreement which prohibits the export or illegal transfer or ownership of cultural properties and calls for restoring confiscated items to their countries of origin.
Tania Zavan, Mohammad Dounai and Mohammad al-Awta made up the Lebanese delegation, while Ahmad Tarqaji, Ahmad Deeb and Ahmad Zeytoun represented Syria. The artifacts were transported by a Lebanese truck escorted by Lebanese security forces along the road linking Homs to Qassir, after the security agencies and customs bureaus of both countries were informed. Zavan said the valuables belonging to Reef Hama were returned according to the cultural agreement between Lebanon and Syria and in coordination with the Higher Lebanese-Syrian Council.
Tarqaji expressed gratitude to the Lebanese Directorate-General of Antiquities' initiative, saying he appreciated Lebanon's cooperation and swift action by informing Syria less than a month after the smuggling was discovered. He promised that if any Lebanese artifacts were found in Syria, the Syrian government would take the same initiative according to the laws and agreements in effect.

Patriarch preaches environmental responsibility
By Maroun Khoury -Daily Star correspondent
Monday, June 26, 2006
BKIRKI: Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir said Sunday that Lebanon is suffering from worsening environmental problems that are becoming "complicated" and need "drastic solutions." "Environmental pollution is plaguing many Lebanese areas, requiring modern techniques to eradicate it," the prelate said. Sfeir's Sunday sermon focused on the role of the family in sustainable development, calling on the Lebanese people to assume their responsibilities regarding the environment.
"We should deal with our land with responsibility so that we do not harm the present and future generations," the patriarch said.
The prelate argued that sustainable development is not just an economic concept, but also a humanitarian and social issue which aims at improving "life conditions" in undeveloped countries. "In order to have a true development, we need to identify environmental problems in a scientific way and find the appropriate solutions," Sfeir said. "We also have to find a remedy for the environment's diseases and put an end to poverty." After emphasizing the importance of environmental responsibility, Sfeir waxed political, addressing ongoing debate resulting from Romania's failure to invite President Emile Lahoud to the Francophone Summit in September. "There is another type of pollution that needs to be fought," He added. "The neglect of important issues in order to take part in a sterile debate ... [that does] not deserve snubbing our historical friendship with foreign countries, which we need the most at this time." The prelate also expressed support for UN Security Council Resolution 1559 - drafted by France and the US - saying the resolution supported "free future presidential elections in Lebanon, which should be held according to the Lebanese Constitution and without any foreign interference." "Do we have the right to be hostile to all countries if they take a position that is compatible with their decisions?" the prelate asked. In other developments, the Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir Social Foundation held its first annual dinner at Sin al-Fil's Habtoor Grand Hotel on Saturday in the presence of many political, religious, military and media figures.

Lebanon returns Syrian artifacts to rightful owners
By Mosbah Al-Ali -Daily Star correspondent
Monday, June 26, 2006
BAALBEK: Lebanon on Saturday returned to Syria 76 archeological artifacts that had been smuggled into Lebanon in 2001. Some of the items were confiscated in the Baalbek area of Telya, while the others were seized in the Kesrouan areas of Ghadir and Haret Sakhr after Lebanese and Syrian smugglers were apprehended. The Lebanese Directorate-General of Antiquities and the Higher Lebanese-Syrian Council supervised the restitution of the artifacts, which were stored inside a warehouse belonging to the Baalbek citadel, to the Syrian Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums.
According to the authorities, the collection of valuables from the Syrian area of Kharaeb Hama included sections of columns; Arab, Islamic, Ottoman and classic sculptures; small architectural pieces dating back to the 20th century; and sculpted pieces of marble. The initiative falls under a 1992 UNESCO agreement which prohibits the export or illegal transfer or ownership of cultural properties and calls for restoring confiscated items to their countries of origin.
Tania Zavan, Mohammad Dounai and Mohammad al-Awta made up the Lebanese delegation, while Ahmad Tarqaji, Ahmad Deeb and Ahmad Zeytoun represented Syria.
The artifacts were transported by a Lebanese truck escorted by Lebanese security forces along the road linking Homs to Qassir, after the security agencies and customs bureaus of both countries were informed.
Zavan said the valuables belonging to Reef Hama were returned according to the cultural agreement between Lebanon and Syria and in coordination with the Higher Lebanese-Syrian Council.
Tarqaji expressed gratitude to the Lebanese Directorate-General of Antiquities' initiative, saying he appreciated Lebanon's cooperation and swift action by informing Syria less than a month after the smuggling was discovered. He promised that if any Lebanese artifacts were found in Syria, the Syrian government would take the same initiative according to the laws and agreements in effect.

Geagea says army has to be lynchpin of security
If leader thanks hizbullah for a job well done - with emphasis on 'done'
By Mayssam Zaaroura -Daily Star staff
Monday, June 26, 2006
BEIRUT: Days before he sits with the leader of Hizbullah at a dialogue table, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea has thanked the resistance for its role but asked that its military wing now be dissolved so its fighters can "go home." "Hizbullah's weapons are now a huge weakness," Geagea told The Daily Star in an interview at his remote Cedars home. "In the 1990s the group was our strong point, our force. It is now a security gap. We have to swiftly close this breach, which is being used to create an unstable security situation in Lebanon." After consensus on disarming Palestinian militias outside the camps, agreeing to disagree on President Emile Lahoud's situation and calling for Syria to exchange embassies and demarcate the border, the last sticking point in the dialogue boils down to Hizbullah's weapons. Geagea said the mere fact that the issue is on the table was "a huge step forward." "We have accomplished a huge step forward," he said. "In politics there is the subtle part, which should not be taken for granted, and the concretization."
Geagea said that during a visit to Egypt, Arab League boss Amr Moussa told the LF's man in Cabinet, Tourism Minister Joe Sarkis, that "'whatever decisions have unanimously been agreed on at the dialogue table will be implemented, sooner or later ... You can be sure of that.'"
"Anything that is agreed upon at that table becomes almost like a national principle ... And all the participants in the dialogue are there with this in mind. A few months later, one can't just get up and say, 'I change my mind about that.' It's akin to political suicide."Hizbullah's secretary general, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, has said the group's weapons are a defense against Israel and necessary until the disputed Shebaa Farms are no longer occupied.
"Hizbullah's belief is that its weapons are the only things that can protect Lebanon," said Geagea. "We presented a defense strategy that states the opposite. The continued presence of Hizbullah's weapons is a security threat ... It places Lebanon in a very vulnerable place." Referring to the recent border clashes with Israel and the crackdown on a Mossad-linked terror network, Geagea said they were a "trial period - a testing ground for both defense strategies."
"Hizbullah's strategy on the ground - practically what does it entail?" he asked "If we take a look at the events of May 26, 27, 28 - the Israeli terrorist network killed the Majzoub brothers, in retaliation resistance groups fired rockets into Israel, and Israeli forces bombed Naameh and the situation along the Southern border escalated. This is a sample of their defense strategy, a rehearsal." As to the March 14 Forces strategy, "when the killing happened, the Lebanese Army investigated quietly ... They followed evidence and captured the network and now they are in jail. The difference is obvious. If we proceed with the first strategy we will be in a constant state of upheaval and war with Israel ... We will be weak in front of the international community because we are using what they consider terrorist actions."
According to Geagea, the most important element in the defense strategy is the Lebanese Army: "I speak out of experience and knowledge of the army. The special units in the army are more capable than any party or group in Lebanon.
"We are proposing a new way of dealing with things," he said. "The units will not be spread out in barracks along the Southern border like in the past. That would not be effective. They will be spread in an operational manner that complies with the strategies of a guerrilla war in the South. In the same manner that Hizbullah's fighters are spread in the South ... But the difference is that they will be legitimate, internally and internationally."
He argued that this legitimacy, would make the Israelis think "twice, thrice, 200 times before they plan to strike ... or violate Lebanon's sovereignty."
"Now, Israel considers it beneficial, to itself and to the West, to hit Hizbullah bases and fighters," he said. "Why? Because of the West's opinions and views on armed militias in Lebanon, and the region. At the moment, the opposite is the case. The Lebanese are not united in supporting Hizbullah. It does not have international legitimacy and the United Nations considers that there is no raison d'etre for the group because Resolution 425 has been implemented in the eyes of the UN. To them, Shebaa is Syrian and Lebanon does not have any occupied territory."
Geagea said the March 14 strategy envisions a different role for Hizbullah.
"Hizbullah's fighters who are now in charge of Southern security ... will return home. However, they will remain as backup forces, under the army's command when needed, as they already have the military training and know-how. They will not be part of the army. I have to stress this. We are not calling for the integration of Hizbullah's military wing into the army. As I said, they would return home.As to whether the resistance would accept, he said: "Whether they will accept or not is their own political decision and that has its own consequences."
Despite questions of conflicting loyalties, Geagea believes that giving the army a chance is the only way to go.
"In the past, what was the army's problem? A divided political decision," he said. "Some people wanted the army to fight the Palestinians in 1975, others didn't. Some wanted the army to fight in the South, others didn't ... The important thing is to agree that this is the institution that will bear this responsibility. Not Hizbullah, not the Lebanese Forces, not the Progressive Socialist Party. The army." On relations with Lahoud and the Francophone Summit crisis, Geagea was unbending.
"There is absolutely no change at all when it comes to relations with the president," he said. "Our position on the presidency remains as it has always been. As long as Lahoud remains in Baabda, we are going to have similar issues ... This is not the first time we have a situation like this. [US President] George W. Bush invited Siniora, not Lahoud, and he stayed in the White House for two hours at a time when the Chinese president only stayed one.
"After the visit," Geagea added, "Bush gave a very clear statement: 'We hope there will soon be a new president in Lebanon whom we can receive at any time in the White House.'
"Condoleezza Rice came to Lebanon and visited the leadership, but didn't visit Lahoud. Between those two occasions, Terje Roed-Larsen came and visited many figures here. He's from the United Nations, he still didn't visit Lahoud. The point is the international community and the Lebanese don't recognize him. So the only thing that is decreasing the value of the post is Lahoud himself - the only solution is for him to leave Baabda."
With regard to MP Michel Aoun and his Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), Geagea said that despite "fighting the same battle for 15 years because of the same principles ... the strategy the FPM is using now, in our view, does not benefit these principles. On the contrary." "There are some areas we agree on - such as the electoral law," he said. "On others, such as allies, general path for the country, Lahoud remaining in power - no, we don't agree on those."
One problem in LF-FPM ties is the fact that Aoun has allied himself with some of Geagea's most implacable foes, including former Prime Minister Omar Karami. After what many saw as a show trial, the LF leader was jailed for 11 years in the 1987 assassination of Karami's brother Rashid, who was then premier. Last year, he was released under a new amnesty law.
Now Karami and his ally, former Minister Suleiman Franjieh have formed a new political party called the National Front - and Karami has called for Geagea to face a new trial.
But the LF leader is unfazed.
"This party is neither new, nor national, nor a front," he joked. "There is no personal problem with Premier Karami. There are political differences. To us, Tripoli is Beirut. It's not Tripoli, Damascus.
"And I am absolutely with the suggestion of re-opening all the files of the war," he said. "But we cannot be selective. They want us to talk about what happened in the war? I am the first to be ready. Because we were accused of so much more than what we did ... I wish they would, it would be in our benefit. We can talk about what everyone did and we would come out the undisputed winners and others would come out the losers."
Geagea said he was more concerned about postwar corruption, but that an investigation of the issue would touch virtually every party in the country - except the LF. "Tell me who wasn't involved," he said. "Hizbullah wasn't? Amal wasn't? ... Lahoud doesn't have anything to do with the ongoing corruption? If you are going to open these files, who will remain? ... I can tell you everyone knows the LF won't [be implicated], but what about everyone else? What do we do then?"
On demarcating borders and other steps to be taken with Syria, Geagea counseled patience. "These issues do not happen overnight," he said. "Sadly, there are 30-odd years of a bitter experience for Lebanon at the hands of our Syrian brothers. Unfortunately, they are continuing to add to these wounds. After 30 years, it is up to the Syrians to re-examine what they did in Lebanon, at least among themselves. We are not asking for apologies or something out of the ordinary."
Syrian Vice President Walid Moallem said last week it was not possible to establish diplomatic relations in the current atmosphere, an interpretation with which Geagea took issue. "I believe the opposite is true," he said. "There is no way the situation ... will improve as long as there is no diplomatic representation, as long there are so many issues hanging between the two - especially after Syria's actions in Lebanon for the past 30 years. But they do not want Lebanon to become a real sovereign state, which is why our 'battle' is long. We will not accept anything less."
Asked if he saw a pattern in which Sunni premiers were assassinated every time they reached out to the Maronites, Geagea said it might continue: "This is because this rapprochement is what will build a real state and there are some who do not want Lebanon to become a state so that they can continue their hold on it ... Premier Fouad Siniora is in very real danger, he is targeted." On his time in prison, Geagea said if given the choice of going back and taking up offers and deals, he wouldn't change a thing: "I was blamed for many crimes I did not commit. There were many offers to leave Lebanon and go back on my principles. Every person deals with life in a different way. I couldn't picture myself changing what I believed in. I couldn't picture myself walking along the Champs Elysee."
He also said that he benefited from incarceration: "My experience was fantastic ... They closed off this dimension of life, and opened up a whole new dimension to me ... A human cannot reach his full potential or truly know himself until excessive pressure and they were trying to break me ... and I found myself completely. I had to access all my inner strength. And once you tap into it, it never ends."On the subject of Palestinian refugees Geagea said many changes were in order.
"If Lebanon wants to be a real state," he said, "we have to recognize that the Palestinian refugees, their social rights and living conditions are our responsibility and we have to take care of them. We don't have the money to do so, so we should raise our voices ... to get them aid. ... The conditions they are in are unacceptable."
Palestinian weapons, he said, are a very different matter. "It is unacceptable ... for weapons to remain with the Palestinian citizens outside the camps. These are Syrian-Iranian weapons in Palestinian hands. The battle for the Palestinian cause is being fought in Gaza and the West Bank. It is not being fought in Naameh or in Sultan Yaacoub."

Assad's door is 'open' to Siniora, Hariri - and Aoun
By Leila Hatoum -Daily Star staff- Monday, June 26, 2006
BEIRUT: Syrian President Bashar Assad said Sunday that Damascus' doors "remain open for Premier Fouad Siniora, MP Saad Hariri and MP Michel Aoun." In an interview with pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat to be published Monday, Assad said: "Syria has welcomed Siniora's visit but he didn't come ... We don't have any personal problems ... with Hariri, and Damascus' doors are open for Aoun."Hariri is the son of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was assassinated last year. Many Lebanese politicians, including the Saad Hariri, have accused Syria of having carried out the assassination.
"We used to have troubled relations with Aoun ... but now he doesn't attempt to attack Syria, and on some points he defends it," Assad said. Then-General Aoun launched a "War of Liberation" against the Syrian military presence in Lebanon in 1990, which he eventually lost, forcing him into exile in France.
Assad added that Syria had proposed establishing diplomatic ties with Lebanon "a long time ago.""But we refuse to bow to pressure," he said. Meanwhile, Siniora flew to Switzerland with Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh to hold talks with officials there and hopefully earn Lebanon more international support. Also Sunday, acting Interior Minister Ahmed Fatfat accused Aoun of "breaching the Code of Honor" agreed at the national dialogue, which forbids personal attacks among politicians.
"I wish Aoun would respect his word, which he gave during the national dialogue," Fatfat told The Daily Star. "It is his right as an opposition figure to criticize the government; but it is not his right to direct foul language at others."
Fatfat was responding to Aoun's comments Saturday in which he accused the March 14 Forces and Hariri's Future Movement of "acting as a militia ... giving out false promises ... and dealing with the country as if it were a company."
Aoun, who heads the Free Patriotic Movement, said March 14 "lamented that they didn't control the security system in the past so they criticized it," but now they control it.
"The same people who have carried the void promises since 1992 have brought us to the deteriorating situation today," he said. "We cannot continue in a corrupt economic system which has eliminated the middle class, and pushed over 100,000 Lebanese citizens to immigrate annually." He also ridiculed the situation at the Interior Ministry, where "we have two ministers at the same time," referring to the Cabinet's failure to arrive at a decision regarding the resignation of Hassan Sabaa. Sabaa resigned after the outbreak of violent riots in February, but his but his resignation has not been officially accepted.
"I am not pleased with the situation continuing like that," Fatfat said. "I was the first to demand its solving."
Fatfat also replied to Aoun's criticism of authority figures "traveling from one country's capital to another, with nothing at hand but empty promises and void talks." "All I can say is that we are doing our job in accordance with the nation's best interest," said Fatfat, who flew to Washington earlier this week to hold talks with senior US officials.
A Future Movement source close to March 14 told The Daily Star that Aoun was "avoiding fundamental issues and questions raised by his followers and the public by placing the blame on the Future Movement." The source said that some of these questions include Aoun's "severe defense" of [pro-Syrian] President Emile Lahoud, his relations with Hizbullah and his stand on Syria. "Instead of casting accusations, let him answer these questions. We chose to ignore Aoun's comments."
Aoun had said Saturday: "We repeatedly said since 1990 that when the country is liberated from the Syrian presence, we will build good relations with Syria as two equal countries. The [majority] used to bow before the Syrians ... Why should we have negative relations with Syria, when it constitutes our only overland access to the Arab world?"

Islamic extremists hiding out in Lebanon: Assad
Monday, June 26, 2006; 6:55 AM
DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Extremist Islamic groups with an ideology similar to al Qaeda have found shelter in Lebanon after escaping Syrian security forces hunting them, President Bashar al-Assad said in remarks published on Monday.
"We are chasing a lot of groups and a number of them have escaped from Syria to Lebanon because it's closest and easiest through mountainous roads," Assad said in an interview with the pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat.
Syria's Baathist government, which is avowedly secular, says it has stepped up operations to contain armed militant groups and foiled attacks on undisclosed targets inside the country.
Earlier this month security forces killed four youths the government said were part of an Islamist militant group that had obtained weapons from a neighboring country to conduct sabotage attacks on Syrian installations.
Assad said the militant groups, emboldened by the U.S. occupation of Iraq, were not directly linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network but shared its "takfiri" ideology, which brands some Muslims as infidels and allows their killing.
"Most of them are trying to obtain financing for their operations, because they think they are fighting for Islam." Assad said. "They are only linked amongst each other by takfiri thought, which is influenced by what is happening in Iraq."
Syria says it has tightened its desert border with Iraq, which Washington says is a transit route for foreign fighters bent on attacking U.S. forces. The United States has been piling pressure on Damascus to change its policy toward Iraq and Lebanon, from where Syrian troops were forced to withdraw following last year's assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al Hariri. Although Syria's military is gone, Damascus still retains some influence on Lebanese politics and foreign affairs.
Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed a missile attack on Israel from Lebanon in December as part of a "new attack" on the Jewish state. It appeared to be the group's first claim from Lebanon.
Lebanon also charged 13 suspected al Qaeda members in January with planning to launch terrorist attacks and scores of young Lebanese and Palestinian refugees in the country have been recruited to fight in Iraq.

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Public Statement
AI Index: MDE 24/046/2006 (Public)
News Service No: 164
26 June 2006
Syria: Rejected asylum-seeker deported from UK sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment after unfair trial
Amnesty International is calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Muhammad Osama Sayes who was sentenced to a 12-year prison term in Syria on 25 June 2006 after being convicted of belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood (MB). The MB is banned in Syria; the maximum penalty for membership is death. He was tried before the Supreme State Security Court (SSSC), whose trials fall far short of international standards for fair trials.
Muhammad Osama Sayes, now 30 years old, was arrested on arrival at Damascus airport in May 2005, following his deportation from the United Kingdom (UK) via Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport. His asylum claim in the UK had been rejected despite his known membership of the MB and the known risks of persecution in Syria of MB members or people suspected of having links to the organisation. Muhammad Osama Sayes was reportedly held in incommunicado detention, without access to visits from his family or a lawyer and at higher risk of torture and ill-treatment, until January 2006. It is thought that he is now held in Sednaya prison, near the capital, Damascus.
Amnesty International considers Muhammad Osama Sayes to be a prisoner of conscience, held solely for his non-violent beliefs. Amnesty International is also calling for the release of all other prisoners of conscience in Syria.
Background
Affiliation to the Muslim Brotherhood is punishable by the death penalty under Syria’s Law 49 of July 1980, although the sentence is usually commuted to a 12 year prison term. Many Muslim Brotherhood supporters and sympathisers, and their families, fled Syria following armed clashes with government forces which began in the late 1970s, and the introduction of Law 49 in 1980. The MB formally renounced violence in 1984.
Scores of Syrian returnees over the last few years, including several juveniles, have been arrested, held in prolonged incommunicado detention and unfairly tried. Many have reportedly been tortured. In the past four years, at least 10 returnees appear to have “disappeared” and several have died, apparently as a result of torture or ill-treatment. Particularly at risk appear to be those with present, past or familial connections with the unauthorised MB. (See AI Public Statement: Syria: Ongoing risks for returnees (AI index MDE 24/025/2005, 13 May 2005; AI Appeal Case: Deported to where? Incommunicado detention and torture of forcibly returned Syrians, MDE 24/085/2005, 19 September 2005; and Update, MDE 24/017/2006, 14 February 2006).
Trials before the SSSC, created under Syrian emergency laws in 1968, are notorious for their failure to respect international standards for fair trial. Over the years, Amnesty International has documented evidence showing how SSSC trials are grossly unfair. Verdicts are not subject to appeal, defendants have restricted access to lawyers, judges are granted wide discretionary powers, and confessions allegedly extracted under torture are accepted as evidence. The UN Human Rights Committee has stated that the SSSC’s procedures are incompatible with the provisions of the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Syria is a state party; even so, the SSSC continues to sit and to hand out heavy sentences.

Analysis: Split deepens between Hamas' political, military wings
By Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent
Sunday's raid, much like other operations carried out by Hamas' military wing, Iz a-Din al-Qassam Brigades, was not coordinated with the Hamas-led Palestinian government. In recent weeks, all signs are increasingly pointing to a deepening split within Hamas between government officials based in Gaza and the West Bank and the Hamas leadership which sits in Damascus, which holds authority over the group's military wing. When the military wing resolved to resume attacks in the wake of the Beit Lahiya beach explosion in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh requested from Ahmed al Ja'abri, one of the leaders of the military wing, that the group cease firing Qassams into Israel.
Ja'abri responded to the request by upbraiding Haniyeh, adding that he was not willing to accept orders from the prime minister.Senior Fatah officials, including close aides to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, explicitly laid the blame at the feet of Hamas' political bureau chief, Khaled Meshal, accusing him of orchestrating Sunday's raid as part of his efforts to thwart an imminent, historic agreement between Fatah and Hamas centering around the prisoners' document.
Those same officials say Meshal, who is primarily influenced by Iran and Damascus, is not interested in preserving calm between Israel and the Palestinians nor does he have interest in an agreement on the prisoners' document.
The officials accuse Meshal of choosing to time the attack and kidnapping to coincide with media reports that the prisoners' document agreement would be consummated within a matter of hours. At least for the time being, it appears that raid achieved its goal and succeeded in delaying the signing of the Hamas-Fatah deal.
Should the Hamas operation sabotage a deal on the prisoners' document while concurrently provoking a harsh military response from Israel - perhaps a ground invasion of Gaza or the closure of border crossings - the Palestinian public will hold Hamas responsible for the deterioration. It is for this reason that a Hamas government spokesman, Razi Hamad, was quick to beseech Israel to refrain from actions which would escalate the situation.
Hamad, like his colleagues in the Hamas government, fears that he would be a convenient target for an Israeli assassination. Hamad's request, which was transmitted in three languages, including Hebrew, highlights the gap between Hamas' military wing and its political leadership in the territories. Hamas' military wing views Hezbollah as a source of inspiration and the similarity between the two movements' modus operandi is in plain sight. However, it appears that Hamas has yet to internalize the fact that south Lebanon is not Israel, and that continued operations into Israel proper similar to Sunday's raid are likely to bring about an especially fierce Israeli response.Such a response would harm the Palestinian public, which in turn would rise against Hamas.

Lebanese Hezbollah Denies Ties To Iraq Insurgency
Posted GMT 6-22-2006
Beirut (AKI) -- Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah denied Thursday through its chief spokesman claims by a top United States official that it is involved in the insurgency in Iraq. "We are not responsible for the crimes being committed in Iraq, and we don't operate in any country other than Lebanon," the spokesman Husayn Nabulsi, told Adnkronos International (AKI).
In an interview published in the London-based Arabic daily al-Hayat, David Satterfeld, US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice's top aide on Iraq, said Hezbollah "takes active part in the violence in Iraq, causing the death of many Iraqis, Americans, Britons and other soldiers of the multinational coalition."
"The American claims don't come as a surprise to us," said Nabulsi, adding that "it is instead the United States that doesn't know how to deal with the chaos in Iraq and are trying to blame us for the crimes they themselves are committing."
In the interview Satterfield also accused Iran - which supports Hezbollah - of being involved in the violence in Iraq, especially in the "supply of sophisticated explosive material." He also accused another of Hezbollah's backers, Syria, of providing the "main corridor through which suicide bombers enter into Iraq."
Instead Nabulsi told AKI that he believes that the United States has "fanned the flames of extremism in the region and aims to divide Iraq on the basis of ethnicity and religious faith, just like its (the US's) ally Israel."
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