LCCC NEWS BULLETIN
MARCH 1/2006

Below news from miscellaneous sources for 1/03/06
Report from Office of EU MP Paulo Casaca press release addressing his visit to Lebanon-1.3.06
Lebanon talks seen doing little to end crisis-Reuters 1.2.06
Berri Says Presidency Will Be Discussed at National Dialogue Talks-Naharnet 1.3.06
Cabinet Convenes Wednesday at Temporary Location Amid Reports of Continued Boycott-Naharnet 1.3.06
Lahoud Hurls Stinging Accusations at March 14 Coalition-Naharnet 1.3.06
Franjieh, Mouawad Hold Talks to Ease Zghorta Tensions-Naharnet 1.3.06
Below News From the Daily Star for 1/03/06
FPM take over news at Sawt al-Ghad
Presidency on the agenda of national dialogue
Most of March 14 coalition to attend Cabinet
Syrian-American CNN anchor sacrifices personal life for career
Sidon coast at risk of heavy pollution following dump collapse
Opening of DNA laboratory ushers in era of new hope for security forces
Al-Qaeda leader killed in Saudi shootout
At least 45 killed in Iraq as premier vows unity bid will
Mofaz earmarks settlements Israel plans to retain
Chirac: Iran entitled to nuclear power if it respects NPT commitments
Third Force to request meeting with Lahoud
Harb briefs Sfeir on latest dialogue developments
French, Lebanese sources confirm Siddiq release
Gemayel joins call for Lahoud to go as petition movement spreads
In visit, European Parliament envoy throws support behind probe

FPM take over news at Sawt al-Ghad
By Hadi Tawil -Special to The Daily Star
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
BIERUT: The Free Patriotic Movement will take control of the news department at the "Sawt al-Ghad" radio station in a matter of days.According to news director Habib Younes, "The FPM will be in charge of the news branch of the station, which broadcasts at 97.1FM." Younes said the news will be prepared by an FPM team. When asked about the recruitment process, Younes said: "The only basic criteria for recruiting people are credibility and aptitude."
All news broadcasts will be funded by the FPM. As for marketing campaigns, Younes said they will be probably conducted by Sawt al-Ghad, as "it is an old and prestigious station." He explained former Minister Suleiman Franjieh, the station's majority shareholder, agreed to offer the news department to the FPM.
"There will be a political talk show on Sawt al-Ghad which will be hosted by the head of the guidance office and assistant professor at the Lebanese American University of Beirut, Elie Samia," Younes said.
Samia told The Daily Star that his talk show will be called "Kalimat Haq" and will host leaders from all factions every Saturday from 10-11:30 p.m." "The characteristic of this program is that it will be conducted in an open forum manner, with wrap-ups, situation analysis and a very rational, scientific and academic flavor," he added.
Samia said his program will start on March 11, and his first guest will be MP Michel Aoun.

Presidency on the agenda of national dialogue
By Adnan El-Ghoul -Daily Star staff
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
BEIRUT: The conference for national dialogue will kick off as scheduled on Thursday amid last-minute efforts to ensure its success, most notably strong regional and international endorsements of the effort to end Lebanon's political stalemate. Speaking at a meeting of Arab parliamentarians in Amman, Speaker Nabih Berri confirmed the presidency will be on the agenda. The March 14 Forces had refused to discuss the fate of President Emile Lahoud during the conference, insisting the post is vacant. "The conference will discuss UN Security Council Resolution 1559, which includes a clause concerning the presidential elections. Resolution 1559 will be discussed in its entirety," Berri said.
The dialogue may last up to 10 days. However, some issues dealing with representation and security measures around the venue still need to be addressed. Meanwhile, the March 14 Forces' follow-up committee met Tuesday to discuss their participation in the dialogue. In a statement, the group refused to abandon their campaign to oust Lahoud, regardless of whether the issue was discussed as part of Resolution 1559.
Following the meeting, Lebanese Forces MP Antoine Zahra said a national dialogue with the goal of building an independent, democratic and Arab state has always been the goal of the March 14 Forces.
"However," he added, "the March 14 Forces will not compromise on its decision regarding ousting Lahoud. If the conference does not approve ousting the president through discussing Resolution 1559, we will continue our campaign until we accomplish the goal outside the conference."
In continued consultations with the Maronite Patriarch, Social Affairs Minister Nayla Mouawad met with Nasrallah Butros Sfeir Tuesday night to discuss the dialogue. The March 14 Forces want the conference to play an auxiliary role with respect to state institutions, particularly with regards to making crucial Constitutional decisions. According to Zahra, "The conference should not assume the function of the Parliament, which alone has the right to make the decisions regarding all disputed issues." The MP added that the parliamentary majority would focus on the implementation of the Taif Accord.
As Druze leader Walid Jumblatt is planning a trip to Washington, he will likely miss some of the dialogue sessions or not participate at all.
Zahra said the most contentious issue is the representation of the Greek Orthodox community in the dialogue. However, Amal MPs said the issue would be settled Tuesday night, once Berri returned from Jordan. The speaker had originally named Michel Murr to represent the sect.
Berri had also originally identified three items to be discussed in the talks. However, the Taif Accord did not appear among those items, which include the investigation into former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's murder, Lebanese-Syrian relations and Resolution 1559. In conformity with the follow-up committee's statement, Democratic Gathering parliamentary bloc member Akram Chehayeb said Monday that the March 14 Forces refuse to discuss two of Berri's items: the presidency and the Hariri investigation, which is closely linked to Lebanon's relations with Syria.
The majority's critics have long suspected the dialogue will be used to corner Hizbullah by focusing on one item, namely 1559's demand for the disbanding of "the Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias."
Berri believes "national dialogue" to be the only way out of the deadlock, but diplomats and analysts say vast differences of opinion among the country's parties may hamper its success.
"The talks can succeed only when each party realizes that it cannot settle the situation in its favor without offering compromises," one Arab diplomat said. "Until now it does not seem that they have come to this conclusion."Lebanon's As-Safir daily also doubted the dialogue would succeed, saying, "The question we should be asking is: What will be the likely scenario after the dialogue's failure? Seven or eight days of talks could end by reaching a calm or a truce, but saying it will offer cures to Lebanon's problems is an illusion."
However, Arab leaders remained hopeful the national dialogue would be instrumental in paving the way for an effective Arab initiative to break the impasse, even if the meeting failed to accomplish its declared goals.
In Amman, Berri said, "Until now there is no Arab initiative in the full sense. But the Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa backs the dialogue."Moussa told Berri that Arab states, particularly Saudi Arabia and Egypt, believe the dialogue "will facilitate reviving the Arab initiative to help solve the Lebanese crisis and normalize relations with Syria." Speaking at the Amman Parliamentarians conference, Moussa said he favors an "Arab security net," under which Lebanese-Syrian relations would be mended as opposed to Western interference. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who recently toured the Gulf, was reported to have discussed recent developments in Lebanon and Syria with French President Jacques Chirac during a telephone conversation. Although agreeing in principle to replace Lahoud, Arab leaders do not consider the issue a pressing priority, instead wishing to avoid any power vacuum.

Daily Star News in Briefs Published on 01/03/2006
Briefs
Hariri holds rounds of talks with officials
Future Movement leader MP Saad Hariri met Tuesday with MPs Elias Atallah and Samir Franjieh and former MP Fares Soueid to discuss developments in local politics. Hariri also met with a delegation from Tripoli's municipal council headed by Rashid Jamali.
Hariri held separate talks with a delegation from the Communist Party, in the presence of acting Interior Minister Ahmad Fatfat. Communist Party member Ghassan Rifai said the visit "is a new beginning of the party's participation in the movements of the March 14 Forces."
EU Parliamentary envoy admonishes Syria
Paulo Casaca, the head of the European Parliamentary delegation to NATO, concluded a three-day visit to Beirut on Tuesday by meeting with MP Butros Harb, in the presence of the International Committee for the Implementation of UN Resolution 1559. Discussions during the meeting focused on the political situation in Lebanon and the necessary steps for the achievement of Lebanon's sovereignty and independence.
In comments following the meeting, Casaca said: "I believe more pressure should be exerted on those who refuse the implementation of 1559 and the carrying on of the investigations into the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri."
"The countries that are not ready to cooperate with the investigations should know the international community is ready to increase its pressure by diplomatic and economic measures," he added.
"Syria should understand that when the majority of the Lebanese people voice their adherence to independence, the international community stands with the Lebanese," he said.
Qassem: Hamas 'will not take orders'
Hizbullah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem said the party "considers that there are no conditions for dialogue but will not take orders." In an interview with the Lebanese daily Ad-Diyar published on Wednesday, Qassem said: "If they are intending to assault President Emile Lahoud to elect a president, who meets their demands, they will be contradicting the national balance."
He added that the U.S. administration "has changed its position regarding the toppling of the Syrian regime, but some people in Lebanon found themselves unable to relinquish their positions." He added that he was not surprised by "Jumblatt's support for Resolution 1559."
Four Israeli jets violate airspace
The Lebanese Army command announced that at around 12:35 p.m. on Tuesday, four Israeli jets coming from the west of the southern area of Tyre violated Lebanese airspace.
According to a statement, two of the jets hovered above the areas of Bint Jbeil, Nabatieh, Marjayoun, Jezzine, Ghazieh and Damour before leaving at 13:10 p.m. while the two others hovered above the areas of Bint Jbeil and Damour before returning at 14:05 p.m. to their base in the occupied territories.
The army in South Lebanon fired anti-aircraft missiles at the jets that flew over Nabatieh.
Energy Ministry acts to reduce gas prices
The Ministry of Energy and Water announced on Tuesday that it has taken some measures to reduce the price of a gas cylinder by LL 2700. The ministry said that the decision to reduce the price was due to an amendment in the price list. The ministry has given companies that import gas a two-month period, after the decision is passed, to place a sticker on the cylinder that shows the name of the company where the gas was filled, its telephone number, and the telephone number of the Consumer Protection Department in case of any tampering with the quality and weight of the gas.

Most of March 14 coalition to attend Cabinet session
By Raed El Rafei - Daily Star staff
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
BEIRUT: While most March 14 ministers have decided to attend the Cabinet session on Wednesday, despite the presence of President Emile Lahoud, the Forces have now begun to openly discuss who the next president will be. These developments occurred as the League of Maronite Bishops is expected to deliver a strong statement regarding the presidency on Wednesday.
Following a meeting with Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, Democratic Renewal Movement leader and former MP Nassib Lahoud declared his willingness to run for the presidency, "if the March 14 Forces support my candidacy; otherwise I will support the candidate they choose."However, stressing that he had not put his name forward as a candidate, Lahoud said he had discussed reaching a consensus over the presidency with Geagea. Lahoud said that replacing the sitting president with a candidate who benefits from the people's trust and will carry out a reform movement would be a positive political step.
Earlier in the day, Geagea welcomed a reconciliatory statement from former Minister Suleiman Franjieh and called for a "Christian dialogue strategy."
Geagea further said that he would hold a dialogue with Franjieh, without giving details to whether this meeting would be orchestrated by Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir. However, the LF continued to refuse to attend any Cabinet sessions headed by President Lahoud, while the other members of the March 14 Forces said they would attend Wednesday's session, scheduled to be held at the Economic and Social Council in Downtown Beirut. Geagea said that his party was trying to convince its allies to boycott the session, as "the issue of the presidency has to be resolved."
Tourism Minister Joe Sarkis, the LF's only Cabinet member, said he would abide by his party's decision, should Lahoud decide to preside over the session.
In an interview with Voice of Lebanon radio, Sarkis said Lahoud's presence at the session would have a "negative effect on the Cabinet's performance."
However, Social Affairs Minister Nayla Mouawad told reporters that the March 14 ministers will be attending the Cabinet session because they felt the obligation to "guarantee the interests of the people and assume their responsibilities in the country."
Mouawad insisted that, based on the Constitution, Cabinet sessions should be held in a location proper to the Cabinet and not in Baabda. "We consider that the presidency seat in Baabda is vacant," she said, stressing that this was Sfeir's stance.
Democratic Gathering MP Wael Bou Faour announced on local television station LBC on Tuesday that his parliamentary bloc's ministers (Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamade and Information Minister Ghazi Aridi) will attend the Cabinet session, even if the president is going to be present.
"(Lahoud) cannot take the Cabinet hostage," Bou Faour said, adding, "Things will be said in all honesty at the Cabinet."Asked why the LF was breaking formation with the March 14 Forces over Cabinet sessions, MP Antoine Zahra said, "Coordination was continuous among all the March 14 Forces, but we are not one party to adopt the same means of expression."
Meanwhile, presidential sources confirmed to The Daily Star that President Lahoud will be heading Wednesday's session. The sources added that the army, Internal Security Forces and the Presidential Guards will all be tasked with guaranteeing security for the meeting.
Ministerial sources said it was expected that majority ministers would blast Lahoud during the Cabinet session for his attack on the March 14 Forces in Lebanese French-language daily L'Orient le Jour and for his criticism of French President Jacques Chirac.The sources added that Wednesday's Cabinet session will focus on the parliamentary dialogue which will start on Thursday and, mainly, on the representation of the Orthodox community in that dialogue.
The March 14 Forces ministers had refused to attend a Cabinet session in Baabda Presidential Palace last week.

Apple farmers warn of dire consequences if remainder of crop fails to sell
By Maher Zeineddine -Daily Star correspondent
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
CHOUF: Apple farmers in Upper Metn, where around 500 families live off their produce, are complaining of no market in which to sell their fruit and calling on the government to help them sell the remaining 80,000 crates. The Daily Star toured several storage fridges in the area Tuesday. Speaking on behalf of the concerned farmers, Fawzi Moghrabi said this year there are at least at 80,000 cases of apples that haven't been sold "because some farmers were afraid that they wouldn't be able to market their apples outside Lebanon."
There are a total of six fridges in the Upper Metn, which can each store some 100,000 cases. Three fridges are located in Kfar Salwan, two in Juwar al-Houz and one in Khalwat-Falougha. According to Moghrabi, "only 20 percent of this year's yield of apples were marketed in Lebanon and a very small percentage was exported."
As for the remaining 80 percent of the fruit, Moghrabi warned that they could spoil if they are not marketed "within a month."He said the cost of a 20-kilo crate of apples is LL15,000, but that a crate "is sold in the markets at the same price or for less."
Compounding the plight of the farmers, he added, was the fact that brokers demand a 10 percent commission on each crate they sell in local markets, regardless of the selling price. According to Moghrabi, the agricultural sector in Lebanon is also to blame.
"It is an old problem that we have lived with through all the agriculture ministries because no one listens to farmers' problems," he said.
The farmers are asking the government for immediate help in finding a market for their produce. If they do not receive such help, they warn, they will suffer "unbearable losses."According to MP Ali Khreiss from the Agricultural Parliamentary Committee, "it is a problem that affects many kinds of agricultural products, not only apples." He said "the parliamentary committee is planning on holding a special session after the 'March 2 national dialogue' session is over to come out with the appropriate solutions for the farmers."

At least 45 killed in Iraq as premier vows unity bid will not be derailed
Turkey warns against escalation of sectarian strife in country
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Bombs killed at least 45 people in Iraq and wrecked the tomb of Saddam Hussein's father on Tuesday and the country's prime minister vowed that the violence will not derail efforts to form a government of national unity. Ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was in court for the first time Tuesday since days of sectarian violence pitched Iraq toward civil war.
Saddam's two lead defense counsels walked out within minutes of the trial, restarting after a two-week pause when requests for a further adjournment and the removal of the chief judge were rejected.
Twenty-three people lining up for fuel were killed when a bomb left at a gas station in eastern Baghdad exploded, police said. At least seven were killed in two other explosions, including an apparent car bomb in a busy street across the Tigris River from the trial in one of Saddam's former palaces. Police also said a car bomb blew up Tuesday evening outside a Shiite mosque in Baghdad's northeast neighborhood of Al-Hurriya killing 15 people and wounding 72 others, an Interior Ministry official said.
Some 115 people were wounded in all, police said, in the bloodiest onslaught in the capital in two months and among the most serious since an alleged Al-Qaeda bomb destroyed a Shiite shrine in Samarra Wednesday, sparking tit-for-tat reprisals.
The prime minister's office, in an unusual move, issued a statement putting the total death toll over six days at 379 "martyrs" and denied reports that it was well over 1,000.
Baghdad morgue alone said it received 309 bodies since Wednesday, most victims of violence. Morgue data showed this was double the average - it handled 10,080 bodies in 2005.
"The distressing incidents Iraq witnessed recently are deliberate terrorist activities, but they led to our people uniting as one," Jaafari said as he met his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.
"The incidents and terrorist activities in Iraq will never affect adversely efforts to set up a government and to ensure that the political process is successful," he added.
But admitting sectarian bloodshed had stalled efforts to cobble together a unity government more than two months after the December polls, National Security Adviser Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, a senior member of the ruling Shiite alliance, said: "If we are lucky it will take us at least two months."
Turkey has watched the sectarian violence in Iraq with concern, strongly condemning the incidents and warning of an "escalation to the point of threatening Iraq's integrity." Ankara fears that instability in Iraq may lead to the country's break-up and the secession of Kurds in the north which, in turn, may fuel unrest among its own restive Kurdish minority in adjoining southeastern Turkey.
"The latest incidents have increased concerns over ethnic and sectarian tensions in Iraq and the preservation of the country's territorial integrity," Erdogan said in a speech before receiving Jaafari.
He urged the international community to do its duty to help Iraq in its efforts to establish peace to prevent the turmoil from spreading.
"Everybody will suffer without exception if the fire of sectarian conflict is not put out on the spot. Without any precautions, the sparks can turn into a global problem," he warned in a weekly address to lawmakers from his Justice and Development Party (AKP).
A senior Turkish diplomat, who asked not to be identified, said Ankara would like to see Iraqi leaders end the violence and focus on setting up a national unity government that would work to resolve the country's problems through compromise.
"Once the government is formed, Iraqi leaders will work on amending the Constitution. What is needed there are amendments that would strengthen the central administration in the country," he added.
Accompanied by his deputy Ahmad Chalabi and two other ministers, Jaafari also met President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.
Jaafari told reporters upon his arrival that his visit was aimed at boosting bilateral ties and seeking Turkey's help in resolving water and power shortages in Iraq as well as transport problems, the Anatolia news agency reported.
But he came under harsh criticism from Iraqi President Jalal Talabani for undertaking an official visit to Ankara without referring the matter to other Cabinet members while talks are still under way to form the next government.
Jaafari, who is a caretaker premier, "has no right to enter into talks or discussions with other countries," Talabani's office said in a statement Tuesday. "Under these circumstances, the Iraqi government will not be obligated by any agreement Mr. Jaafari might reach with the Turkish Republic," it added. In other developments, two British soldiers were killed in southern Iraq and U.S. forces reported the death of an American soldier.Residents said a roadside bomb blasted a British Army patrol in the Shiite southern city of Amara Tuesday. A spokesman said two soldiers were killed. - Agencies

Lebanon talks seen doing little to end crisis
28 February 2006 BEIRUT - Lebanon’s political factions on Thursday launch the most high-profile talks since the end of the civil war, but hopes are slim that they can find a way out of the country’s worst political crisis in the last 15 years.
The talks are expected to tackle contentious issues that have threatened to paralyse the government and block much-needed reforms for the past year, including the fate of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud and that of Hizbollah guerrillas’ arms.
Both issues have come to the fore since last year’s killing of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Al Hariri, which led to Syrian forces leaving Lebanon after three decades and an anti-Syrian coalition sweeping to victory in general elections.
Most Lebanese leaders -- Christian and Muslim, pro- and anti-Syrian -- are to attend seven to 10 days of talks, the most high-profile meeting since the end of 1975-1990 civil war. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri says “national dialogue” was the only way out of the deadlock, but diplomats and analysts say wide differences among the parties may hamper its success.
“The talks can succeed only when each party realises that it cannot settle the situation to its favour without offering compromises,” one Arab diplomat told Reuters. “Until now it does not seem that they have come to this conclusion.”
The left-wing daily As-Safir was more negative.
“The question we should be asking is: What will be the likely scenario after the dialogue’s failure?” asked Joseph Samaha, the newspaper’s editor. “Seven or eight days of talks could end by reaching a calm or a truce, but saying it will offer cures to Lebanon’s problems is an illusion.”
Paying others’ bills
The anti-Syrian coalition raised the stakes this month when it launched a campaign to remove Lahoud who, backed by Syria, has vowed to stay in office till his terms ends in 2007. Analysts say a key reason for pessimism over the talks is that Lebanon has become a front in the ongoing dispute between Western powers on the one hand and Syria and Iran on the other.
The United States and France co-sponsored a 2004 U.N. Security Council resolution, which demanded the disarmament of militias, including Hizbollah which is backed by Syria and Iran. Syria still wields strong influence in Lebanon.
Washington also accuses Syria and Iran of interfering in Iraq and backing Palestinian militants against Israel.
The West is also at odds with Tehran over its nuclear programme, fearing it may be developing an atomic bomb.
“We live in a region witnessing major conflicts, from Palestine to Iraq to Iran and Syria, without reasonable settlements in the horizon,” said Samaha. “All these conflicts meet in Lebanon to a certain extent. It’s the Syrian-Iranian axis against the US-French one.”Former President Amin Gemayel, a member of the anti-Syrian coalition, ruled out reaching an agreement with Hizbollah over its weapons without consulting the U.N. Security Council.
Hizbollah has repeatedly rejected disarming and also opposes Lahoud’s impeachment. Its deputy leader has urged the government to resign. Berri, also a close ally of Damascus, told Reuters last week no one had presented him with a constitutional route to impeach Lahoud. He said the talks would also tackle Lebanon’s relations with Syria and the U.N. inquiry into Hariri’s murder. The ongoing U.N. inquiry has already implicated Syrian officials and their Lebanese allies, including four generals loyal to Lahoud, in the murder. They have all denied any role.

China sets up peace-keeping battalion for Lebanon mission
www.chinaview.cn 2006-02-28 17:38:04
KUNMING, Feb. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- China will send an engineering battalion on a peace-keeping mission to Lebanon, at the request of the United Nations, according to military sources.
The battalion is formed by an engineering regiment under the Chengdu Area Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA),based in Yunnan province, southwest China.
The Chinese battalion, which comprises a mine-sweeping company, an engineering company, a logistics company and an in-field hospital, is expected to leave for Lebanon in the UN's chartered planes in mid March. It is the fourth PLA unit sent to carry out overseas peace-keeping missions so far. In the past, the regiment has sent its men to clean up landmines in foreign countries on three occasions, and 21 of them have participated in such missions. The members of the battalion have been trained in foreign languages and other knowledge relating to peace-keeping missions.

Rafic Hariri International Airports records high results
28/2/2006
Rafic Hariri International airport in Beirut recorded high results during January 2006, whereby passenger traffic increased by 3.4% to reach 313.3 thousand passengers compared to January 2005. Arrivals to the airport increased with 5% to reach 145.3 thousand passengers, while departure passengers reached 160.6 thousand passenger with a 2.7% increase relative to January 2005. Transit passenger increased by 12.5% to reach 7,362 passenger cargo movement increased by 4.3% during January 2006 relative to January 2005. Middle East airlines recorded the highest share of airlines to the airport with a 39.3% by transporting 123.14 thousand passenger.

ZOA: Syria Continues To Arm Hezbollah While Lebanon Does Nothing
February 27, 2006 Contact: (212-481-1500) New York - The ZOA has called for international pressure on Lebanon to take steps to disarm the Islamist terrorist movement, Hezbollah, which it is obliged to do under UN Security Council Resolution (UNSC) 1559, not allow it to receive arms from Syria, as occurred last month. Hezbollah is dedicated to Israel's destruction and has directed its missiles only at Israel. Since the September 2000 Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, Hezbollah has increased its deployment of missiles aimed at Israel from a few thousand to over 10,000. The Lebanese government has admitted for the first time since last year's departure of Syrian forces from the country that it permitted a convoy of weaponry from Syria to Hezbollah, which is on the State Department list of terrorist organizations. According to Lebanese sources, Lebanese soldiers halted a convoy of arms-laden trucks from Syria at an army checkpoint in the Lebanon Valley on January 31. However, the Lebanese Defense Ministry ordered the soldiers to allow the convoy to proceed.
The Lebanese eventually admitted that this had occurred and that the arms were destined for Hezbollah after the UN's special envoy to the Middle East, Terje Roed Larsen, ordered an investigation following a report of the incident. According to a statement published by the UN on February 13, the UN forces in Lebanon were initially unaware of the convoy's passage, though reports of the incident reached them later. The UN then published a statement condemning the Lebanese government for having blatantly violated UNSC 1559. Hezbollah has never been disarmed. Larsen's office is responsible for overseeing implementation of this resolution, which was passed in September 2004.
Arms smuggling from Syria into Lebanon has been the rule for years, with huge quantities of arms from Iran and Syria reaching Hezbollah, especially large numbers of katyushas and other rockets that are stationed in batteries in southern Lebanon and aimed at Israel. The convoy's passage was apparently approved by the office of Defense Minister Elias Murr, in coordination with the office of Lebanon's pro-Syrian president, Emile Lahoud (Ha'aretz, February 26).
The Zionist Organization of America, founded in 1897, is the oldest pro-Israel organization in the United States. The ZOA works to strengthen U.S.-Israel relations, educates the American public and Congress about the dangers that Israel faces, and combats anti-Israel bias in the media and on college campuses. Its past presidents have included Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis and Rabbi Dr. Abba Hillel Silver.

Subject : Office of EU MP Paulo Casaca press release
Paulo Casaca -: February 28, 2006
Member of the European Parliament
Paulo Casaca, Portuguese socialist MEP, ended today, the 27 February, a 3 day mission to Lebanon in the scope of an initiative by "The International Lebanese Committee for United Nations Security Council Resolution 1559" (Committee 1559).
On the 25th in the morning, Paulo Casaca was first received by the Prime-Minister of Lebanon, Mr. Fouad Sniora and afterwards by the leader of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) and member of the Lebanese Parliament, Walid Jumblatt. The PSP is member of the Socialist International.
On the afternoon of the 25th, the Portuguese MEP accompanied a Lebanese security forces patrol on south of Lebanon, namely in the Jezzine Region and by the Shebaa Farms.
After this patrol, Casaca was received by Abot Hanna Slim in the Monastery of Saint Peter and Saint Paul and later on was homage at the Convent of Saint Antony.
On Sunday the 26th Paulo Casaca accompanied another Lebanese security forces patrol mission on the border with Syria.
Later, in Anjar, nearby a former centre of the Syrian Army and a mosque, the Committee visited the site were very recently human remains of dozens of people were found.
On Monday, MEP Casaca was received by his eminency Nasrallah Sfeir, Maronite's Patriarch, and by the Lebanese Army Commander in-Chief General Michel Sleiman.
During the various meetings Paulo Casaca, President of the European Parliament Delegation for the Relations with the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, took the opportunity to stress is total commitment to the implementation of Resolution 1559 on the withdrawal from Lebanon of all occupying foreign forces and the disarmament of the militias.
Paulo Casaca presented his condolences to Saad El Hariri, soon of Prime-Minister Rafik Hariri, murdered on the 14 February 2005. Saad El Hariri is member of the Lebanese Parliament and leader of the political movement "Current for the Future", the main faction of the Rafik Hariri Martyr List that won the legislative elections of May-June last year.
The Portuguese socialist presented also condolences to the family of Gebran Tueni, Lebanese Parliamentarian and journalist, and his companion in "Committee 1559" that was murdered last 12 December, in the latest of several terrorist attacks aimed at personalities of the Lebanese political and media that stood out on the fight for Lebanese national independence and democracy.
During these meetings Paulo Casaca addressed to both families an invitation to participate in a posthumous homage to the two victims of the foreign sponsored fanatic terrorism which will take place in Portugal in April.
The European parliamentarian also held working meetings with several Lebanese MPs, officials, and members of Committee 1559 and Cedars Revolution organisation Leaders.
During the visit the several interlocutors of Casaca unanimously stressed the need for the International Hariri Court to conclude its proceedings and that the truth is found being those responsible for the several political assassinations identified and punished. It is only having truth as a basis that reconciliation and democracy can be attained.
We recall that in November 2005 Paulo Casaca was invited by Committee 1559 to attend a hearing in the US Congress for the discussion of Lebanon's sovereignty and the democratic process in the Middle-East.
Recently (1 and 2 February) Paulo Casaca was one of the hosts in the European Parliament in Brussels of the "Interparliamentary Dialogues on Lebanon" where Members of the Lebanese and European Parliaments, representatives of Committee 1559, of the Cedars Revolution Council, journalist, diplomats and officials of the several European institutions had the opportunity of discussing the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559.
Paulo Casaca's mission ended with a press conference in the Alnahar Building.
Casaca thanked the high security measures by the Lebanese Army, which provided for a military force that accompanied him at all times.
Paulo Casaca ended this tour optimist on the possibilities of the full implementation of Resolution 1559, necessary basis for the full reestablishment of Lebanon's sovereignty and democracy.
Brussels, 27 February 2006
 

Newspaper: Rice Asks Lebanon To Return Utah Marine
SALT LAKE CITY During her visit to Lebanon last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sought extradition of five men–one of them missing Utah Marine Wassef Ali Hassoun, a Lebanese newspaper reported.
The Daily Star said in a story posted on its Web site Monday that the Lebanese government has refused persistent U.S. requests to hand over the five Lebanese citizens. However, it quoted an unidentified Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying the refusal was not final, and the request was currently under study by officials. "We have no official final comment at this point,'' the spokesman told the newspaper. A State Department spokeswoman was unable to confirm the report, The Salt Lake Tribune said. Cpl. Hassoun was facing desertion charges from an earlier disappearance when he failed to arrive at his base in Camp Lejeune, N.C., by Jan. 5, 2005, and was declared a deserter for a second time.
Hassoun, an Arabic translator, first disappeared from Camp Fallujah in June 2004. Al-Jazeera Television showed video of Hassoun blindfolded, with a sword above his head. He surfaced a month later in Lebanon, claiming he had been kidnapped.
A five-month investigation by the Navy concluded that Hassoun had stolen a Humvee and fled his camp near Fallujah.
After his second disappearance, family members in both Utah and Lebanon called on Hassoun, a Muslim with citizenship in both the United States and Lebanon, to surrender. A Naval Criminal Investigative Service official told The Tribune that the agency has reason to believe Hassoun, who was sought for alleged desertion from his unit in Iraq, has been in Lebanon since he disappeared. But the spokesman said the NCIS has closed its investigation on Hassoun, whose name and photograph recently were removed from the NCIS's Web listing of "most wanted fugitives.''
"The decision was made that the charge going forward is desertion, and that's not an NCIS matter,'' said spokesman Ed Buice.
The NCIS has handed its Hassoun file back to the Marine Corps, Buice said. Hassoun's unit, the 4th Marine Expeditionary Force, was recently dissolved, according to Maj. Cliff Gilmore, public affairs officer for Camp Lejeune, N.C. From this point forward, the case will be handled by the Pentagon, he told The Tribune.
Hassoun's family does not believe he has done anything wrong, other than failing to return to his unit in Camp Lejeune after returning to Utah on leave. A woman contacted at the Tripoli, Lebanon, home of Hassoun's parents and who identified herself as Hassoun's cousin said she was aware of the extradition request but denied he was there with family, The Tribune said.
"We haven't talked to him,'' she said. "The last time we heard he was in America. He vanished and we don't know where he is.'' The Star said the others sought for extradition were Imad Mugniyah, Hassan Izzeddine, Ali Atwa and Mohammad Ali Hammadi. It said a spokesman from Premier Fouad Siniora's office said, "Three of those wanted by the U.S. have been pardoned under the General Amnesty Law, and one of them has already served his sentence. So it is not clear why the issue is still being raised.'' The General Amnesty Law of 1991 granted an amnesty for Mugniyah, Izzeddine and Atwa, as all crimes committed by militias and armed groups during the 15-year Civil War, which ended in 1990, were pardoned, he newspaper said. The three men remain on the FBI's "Most Wanted Terrorists'' for their role and participation in the June 14, 1985 hijacking of a commercial airliner the slaying of a Navy diver, the paper said.
Hammadi returned to Lebanon in December after serving 19 years in a German jail. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by a German court in 1987 for his role in the hijacking of the TWA airliner and the slaying of Navy diver Robert Dean Stethem.