LCCC ENGLISH DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
March 31/2007

Bible Reading of the day
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 10,31-42. The Jews again picked up rocks to stone him. Jesus answered them, "I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of these are you trying to stone me?" The Jews answered him, "We are not stoning you for a good work but for blasphemy. You, a man, are making yourself God." Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"'? If it calls them gods to whom the word of God came, and scripture cannot be set aside, can you say that the one whom the Father has consecrated and sent into the world blasphemes because I said, 'I am the Son of God'? If I do not perform my Father's works, do not believe me; but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may realize (and understand) that the Father is in me and I am in the Father." (Then) they tried again to arrest him; but he escaped from their power. He went back across the Jordan to the place where John first baptized, and there he remained. Many came to him and said, "John performed no sign, but everything John said about this man was true."And many there began to believe in him.

Free Opinion
A Depressing Lebanese Scenario-Dar Al-Hayat-March 31/07
Lebanon can use bipolar electoral order -By Charles Rizk - March 31/07

Latest News Reports From The Daily Star March 31/07
Ban presses Lebanese to agree on Hariri court
Hizbullah: UN troops welcome in South
Supporters of Lebanese detainees submit list to Ban
Sunni, Shiite clerics urge humility among leaders
Berri and Hariri 'should resume talks'
US resumes acceptance of immigrant visa applications for nationals
Feltman holds talks with Berri, other Amal officials
Sarkis mediates among Gemmayzeh stakeholders
Fatah commander takes aim at Islamist group
Rizk asks Mitri for update on Qoleilat extradition
Tueni wants electoral law to give Orthodox sect a voice
US-based anti-Syrian group makes case to Washington
Olmert ignored pre-war advice from Mossad
US speaker to visit Beirut 'next week'
Interpol chief announces meeting with Brammertz to 'offer assistance'
Hariri says House will pass reforms 'at any cost'
Still no fixed date for launch of Orange TV, director says
ART GOLD focuses on helping youth get over war
Latest News Reports From Miscellaneous Sources for March 31/07
Saniora Corners Berri Over International Tribunal-Naharnet
In Lebanon, UN's Ban calls for full implementation of cease-fire ...Ha'aretz
U.S. House Speaker in Beirut Next Week-Naharnet
UN chief gets first taste of Lebanon rivalries-Reuters
UN chief arrives in Beirut, urges dialogue among rival Lebanese ...International Herald Tribune
Mossad chief warned: Home front isn't ready-Ha'aretz
Lebanese Cardinal Accuses Opposition of Trying to Get Syria Back-AINA
Israeli experts: Hezbollah most dangerous-Jewish Telegraphic Agency
US urges Syria to release 4 prisoners & respect political freedoms-Ya Libnan
Mossad Chief Calls Lebanon War National Catastrophe-Arutz Sheva
Belgium extends military mission in Lebanon-Jerusalem Post
Fatah al-Islam, Lebanon's new jihadists-Jane's - Coulsdon,Surrey,UK
Sfeir: Syria continues to impede Lebanese development-AsiaNews.it

Ethiopian Evangelist Beaten to Death by Militant Muslims
Militant Wahabbi Islamists Drag Christian Evangelist into Mosque and Beat Him to Death
You are free to disseminate the following news. We request that you reference ICC (International Christian Concern) and include our web address www.persecution.org. Contact Jeff King, President, 1-800-ICC (422)-5441, icc@persecution.org.
 (March 29, 2007) The Washington-DC based human rights group, International Christian Concern (ICC) www.persecution.org has just learned that an Ethiopian evangelist named Tedase was beaten to death by militant Muslims on Monday, March 26th, as he and two young women were on a street evangelism assignment in Jimma, Ethiopia. This marks the second time in six months that Christians residing in Southeast Ethiopia have been attacked and killed by extremist (Wahabbi) Muslims. 
On Monday afternoon Tedase and two female coworkers were conducting street evangelism on Merkato Street in Jimma, Southern Ethiopia. Merkato Street runs by a Wahabbi Mosque. As the team was walking by the Mosque, a group of Muslims exited the Mosque and began to run after them to confront them. Tedase’s female coworkers ran away from the mob but Tedase continued on. The Muslims caught up with Tedase, pulled him into the mosque, and savagely beat him to death. Sources from Jimma reported that Tedase was beaten with a calculated intention to kill him. This was no accident or case of mob frenzy getting out of control. His body was later taken to the hospital for an autopsy and he was buried Tuesday, March 27.
Our sources also reveal that Jimma Christians were conducting an evangelism campaign, and news of the outreach was spreading among Jimma residents as well as militant Muslim groups in the area. The Muslims that belonged to the Wahabbi sect purposefully beat Tedase to death as a message to Christians that they are ready to combat evangelism.
Aftershocks of the September 2006 Pogrom
This most recent incident in Ethiopia confirms ICC’s decision to include this country in its Hall of Shame list, which highlights nations where Christians are enduring the most severe persecution. It is important to note that the Muslims who attacked Tedase belonged to the Wahabbi brand of Islam, an extremist sect imported from Saudi Arabia. It is clear that the Christians in Ethiopia are feeling Saudi Arabia’s influence, particularly in Jimma, a Muslim dominated area where local authorities are almost exclusively Muslim. It was only six months ago, in September of 2006, that Muslim extremists burned down a number of churches and parishes, as well as Christian homes. As many as 2,000 Christians were displaced by the attack, an attempt to intimidate Christians with the hopes of converting them to Islam.

Sfeir blames divisions on foreign interference
By Maroun Khoury -Daily Star correspondent
Friday, March 30, 2007
BKIRKI: Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir said Thursday that the Lebanese were divided because foreign parties were interfering in the country's internal affairs. "Syria withdrew from Lebanon [in 2005] but its bodies are still in the country and it is still exerting pressure on those who abide by its positions," Sfeir said in an interview with Kuwait's Al-Rai newspaper to be published on Friday.
Sfeir said Syria was against the establishment of an international tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.
"Syria fears the tribunal because accusations are pointed mainly at it," Sfeir said. The prelate also lashed out unexpectedly at Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, saying the former army general had allied with Hizbullah "in a bid to gain support for the presidential post."
Asked about President Emile Lahoud, he said: "What is he doing? He spends the day responding to those who criticize him ... this harms the Christian presidential post."Sfeir had earlier met with Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea, who said that ongoing discussions over a new electoral law in Lebanon were aimed at distracting the Lebanese people's attention from the issue of presidency.

Geagea said the main issue that should be settled was that of the country's top post.
"A solution to the presidential post should be found as soon as possible to save the country further embarrassment," Geagea said.
He questioned Speaker Nabih Berri's timing in reviving the the electoral law issue now, adding that while the LF "is not against the qada-based electoral law, as such a law increases the number of LF MPs, other administrative divisions could be better than an electoral law based on small electoral districts."
"Negotiations are under way to reach consensus among all Lebanese parties over the best electoral law," he said.
Geagea dismissed claims that Lebanon might witness two presidents and two governments.
"This is untrue ... if a solution is not reached we will cling to this government," he said. "No one can doubt the current government's constitutionality."
March 14 Forces MP Butros Harb, who was also speaking from Bkirki, said Lebanon's future "is threatened if the current crisis continues."
"The ongoing crisis also threatens the Lebanese people's unity on political, cultural and social levels," he said.
According to Harb, resuming dialogue is the only "serious" solution to break the current deadlock.
"The resumption of talks between Speaker Nabih Berri and the parliamentary majority leader, MP Saad Hariri, can get the country out of its problems," he said. Harb also said that "as long as no solution is reached over the presidency, the crisis is likely to continue until a new president is elected."
"Unlike President Lahoud, the government has never said that there is no president in Lebanon, but rather that there was a disorder in extending his mandate," he said in reference to Lahoud's saying that the government "is absent."Sfeir also met with former MP Emile Emile Lahoud, who said that relations between Sfeir and his father were "very good, even if some parties are trying to sow discord between them."

UN chief arrives in Beirut, urges dialogue among rival Lebanese leaders
The Associated PressPublished: March 29, 2007
BEIRUT, Lebanon: The U.N. chief urged Lebanese leaders on Thursday to engage in a dialogue and to compromise to resolve the political crisis that has paralyzed their country for several months. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Beirut from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he attended an Arab summit. His tour of the Middle East has already taken him to Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian territories.
During his two days here, Ban will meet officials and inspect thousands of U.N. peacekeepers stationed in the south, near the border with Israel.
"We have seen how easily political tensions can spill into violence," Ban said. "I believe that dialogue and compromise are the only way to stability and national unity.""I have learned a great deal about this region and the challenges it is facing. I've realize these challenges are particularly serious in Lebanon," he added.
The U.S.-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora has been locked in a bitter dispute with the Hezbollah-led opposition seeking to topple it. The opposition is demanding a national unity government that would give it a veto-wielding share in Cabinet and has been holding protests and an open sit-in in downtown Beirut since Dec. 1 to pressure Saniora into resigning. Saniora has staunchly refused, accusing the opposition of staging a coup upon orders from Iran and Syria, Hezbollah's main patrons. Nine people have died in sectarian street violence which erupted on two occasions since December.
Ban was to talk with Saniora on Friday, as well as with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Saad Hariri, son of slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri who heads the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority in Lebanon.
He will also meet with a number of pro and anti-government leaders and representatives, including Hezbollah legislator Mohammed Fneish, who resigned from his cabinet post as electricity minister along with five other pro-Hezbollah ministers in November, setting off the crisis.
On Saturday, Ban is to travel to the south Lebanon border area, where some 12,000 U.N. troops are deployed as part of the U.N. peacekeeping force keeping the peace between Hezbollah guerrillas and Israel under an Aug. 14 cease-fore that ended 34 days of fighting.
Reflecting the fragility of the border situation, Israeli troops fired in the air and released flares for several minutes across from the southern Lebanese village of Aita al-Chaab late Thursday, apparently suspecting an infiltration, Lebanese security officials said. The officials, who spoke on customary condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information, said U.N. peacekeepers sent patrols to the area.
An incident earlier this year led to a shootout between the Lebanese army and the Israelis.

UN may 'pressure' Lebanese to reconcile - Ban
By Hani M. Bathish -Daily Star staff
Friday, March 30, 2007
BEIRUT: The UN Security Council has postponed consideration of the latest report on UN Security Council Resolution 1701 until April in order to hear Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's observations on his current Middle East tour. Ban arrived in Beirut late Thursday. He is expected to meet Friday with Speaker Nabih Berri at Ain al-Tineh before heading to the Grand Serail for talks with Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. Ban will later meet with Defense Minister Elias Murr, Interior Minister Hassan Sabaa and Army Commander Michel Suleiman.
The UN chief is also expected to receive parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun and resigned Energy and Water Minister Mohammed Fneish.
He will visit UN peacekeepers in the South on Saturday before leaving Lebanon. A UN statement issued on Wednesday said the world body was taking a wait-and-see approach to the region. "Much will depend on the outcome of the Arab League summit and on whether any of the current diplomatic initiatives will be successful in brokering a political agreement between the government and the opposition [in Lebanon]," it said.
If these initiatives fail and the crisis worsens, the statement warned, the Security Council "may decide to look for ways to pressure the factions, keeping within the spirit and language of Resolution 1701," which gives the council "a role in seeking long-term solutions."
The council is also expected to review Ban's report on the implementation of Resolution 1559 in April. Ban has called for dialogue to end Lebanon's most serious crisis since the end of the 1975-1990 Civil War. Talks with rival Lebanese leaders are expected to cover the political crisis, as well as plans for the creation of an international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Nicolas Michel, the UN undersecretary general for legal affairs and a co-author of the draft agreement on the tribunal, also arrived in Beirut late Thursday. He will hold talks with Lebanese officials on Friday.
A source close to Justice Minister Charles Rizk told The Daily Star that the minister will be meeting Ban and Michel, in the presence of magistrates Ralph Riachi and Chukri Sader, on Friday. Discussions will center on the proposed draft of the tribunal that Sader and Riachi helped to draft.
The source added that Rizk had prepared "a big file" on the tribunal to be discussed with the UN officials. Also to be discussed is what will happen in the event movement on the tribunal does not come about through Lebanon's constitutional institutions.
Fneish will meet with Ban at the secretary general's request as a representative of Hizbullah and the opposition, the Central News Agency said.
"We are waiting to see what [Ban] has for us. From our side we will raise the issue of Israel's daily violations of Lebanese air space, Israel's continued occupation of our land and our commitment to international resolutions compared to Israel's flaunting of these resolutions," the resigned minister said.
Fneish added that if internal Lebanese matters were raised during the meeting, he would convey Hizbullah's position on the tribunal, which he said is the position of the Lebanese opposition, in whose name Fneish said he speaks.
In comments made at the Arab League summit in Riyadh on Wednesday, Ban said that "the situation in Lebanon must be another of our priorities. I am pleased that the cessation of hos-tilities is holding," in reference to the end of the war with Israel on August 14, 2006 under 1701.
He warned that the crisis in Lebanon threatens "one of the region's most vibrant societies ... Lebanon continues to go through internal political turmoil. Differences should be resolved through dialogue and genuine efforts at national reconciliation and consensus."
Ban told the Arab leaders that Siniora had "displayed impressive leadership under difficult circumstances, and I urge you to support his democratically elected government," which triggered a grimace from President Emile Lahoud, according to media reports.

Arab leaders make no moves on Lebanon
By Nafez Qawas - Daily Star correspondent
Friday, March 30, 2007
RIYADH: The Arab League summit in Riyadh failed to initiate any sort of Arab initiative - Saudi or otherwise - to help Lebanon solve its four-month-old political deadlock. Most speeches from various Arab leaders during the second and final day of talks overlooked the Lebanese crisis, with only Kuwaiti Emir Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah urging Arab leaders to work on solving the deadlock and Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh warning that Lebanese divisions "could have negative repercussions on the country." However, in the summit's final statement, Arab leaders stressed their support for Lebanon "and its government" - veering from the agreed upon text for Lebanon by reinstating the word "government," which had been replaced with state. The statement called on various Lebanese groups to resort to dialogue in order to "resolve political conflicts and avoid potential ones."
"Dialogue ought to be launched from where it was interrupted in order to preserve past agreements and to avoid that any forces interfere in Lebanese domestic issues and work on inciting strife," it said. The Arab leaders expressed their support for Lebanon's political choices, "as long as they are practiced within constitutional institutions."
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia had said on Wednesday that he rejected "the act of turning common streets into hotels," referring to an ongoing opposition sit-in in Downtown Beirut. The summit also expressed support for the establishment of an international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri, "while insisting on having all Lebanese agree on the tribunal's final make-up, and while stressing that the tribunal not be used for any political or vengeance purposes."
The statement also saluted the efforts of the Lebanese Army "to exert its control over all Lebanese territory," and rejected the idea that resistance movements aiming at liberating Lebanese land "be labeled terrorist."The final statement conveyed the "strict refusal" of Arab leaders of any formula aiming at having Palestinian refugees settled in Lebanon, "because this will lead to drastic repercussions on both the Lebanese and the Palestinians."
At a news conference following the closing session, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said there was a "true" crisis in Lebanon, adding that no solutions would be reached "while each of the two opposing parties feels it is threatened."
President Emile Lahoud stressed in his speech to the summit that the crisis was due to "a deepening schism threatening the very foundation of the state."
"Lebanon is once again paying dearly for its nationalistic stances, and as such is targeted in its unity and security," he added.
He said the stalemate could be "readily solved" if disagreements over the tribunal and the formation of a national unity government were settled.
"Needless, to say," Lahoud added, "the tribunal ... is something that all Lebanese want so that perpetrators are punished."
"In addition, he said, "a government of national unity is something we all want, as the embodiment of a true partnership in the stewardship of the nation, where all segments of society have a share in national decision-making so that Lebanon's stability is preserved."
Lahoud called on Arab leaders to help Lebanon. "I am confident that through your brotherly support for Lebanon, you will promote a solution that is suitable to all Lebanese and a resolution of its endemic crises," he said.
Lahoud also called on the Lebanese to stand united. "Lebanon's epic stands against Israel's aggression and barbarism in July 2006 proved to the world that, when united, the Lebanese can withstand the intolerable.""Through their support of the national resistance, the Lebanese can smash the myth of an Israel perpetually capable of subduing Lebanese and Arab will," he added. "Lebanon is no longer weak. It is strong because its people are strong and are attached to their land and always willing to protect it."
Israel wanted to gut "the essence" of a 2002 Saudi initiative for peace in the Middle East and rob it of "its essence" by denying the Palestinians' right of return and promoting their settlement in host countries, most notably Lebanon, "whose very Constitution specifically states 'no partition and no settlement,'" Lahoud said. Separately, the head of a second Lebanese delegation to the summit, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, held a series of talks on Thursday with various Arab leaders and other political figures, including Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifah al-Thani and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Sultanov. Speaking after meeting with Sheikh Hamad, Siniora said he was satisfied with the outcome of the summit, "which revived the Arab peace initiative." Asked whether the changes to the summit's final statement concerning Lebanon signaled one Lebanese camp's victory over the other, Siniora said that the most important thing was that "Lebanon as a whole wins and prospers. One Lebanese party winning over another is a trivial matter."
"It is quite clear, from what we witnessed during the two-day meeting, that the Lebanese government gained the support of all Arab states," he added.

Israel does not want peace with the Arabs; it wants the Arabs in pieces
By Hani M. Bathish -Daily Star staff
Friday, March 30, 2007
First Person Hani M. Bathish
My paternal grandmother used to say, "Israel's end will come at the hands of the white bear." She meant by that an alliance of Eastern Orthodox Russia and the Persian Empire. She also used to say, "communism will fall and Christian rule will return to Russia." My grandmother, Hanneh, a devout Christian of the Latin sect, left Haifa, Palestine, in 1948 and died in Lebanon in 1971, only days after I was born. I never got to meet her but by all accounts she was a kind, generous and softspoken woman who raised five boys and two girls, almost single-handedly. She also had time to devote to charitable endeavors, especially inside the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. Today's "liberated women" would do well to take a leaf out of her book. She passed on her life's philosophy to my father, who in turn passed it on to me: Life is all struggle and family always comes first.
My aunt often tells me stories about her, but recent events in the region and their impact on Lebanon prompted her to tell me about my grandmother's predictions. Remember, this was at a time before the Lebanese Civil War, a time when the Cold War was at its height and when the world was divided between East and West, evil empire and freedom-loving democracies, much as it is today divided between terrorist supporters and allies, infidels and true believers. When two nations, Iran and Israel, want war as badly as this, they usually get it.
Israel seems to have a need to prove itself in battle again in order to recover some of that shattered veneer of invincibility. Israel is weaker today than it has ever been, and the weak are more dangerous in that they are unpredictable and treacherous.
Meanwhile, Iran's power is growing; it's getting more audacious and baiting the United States, almost daring it to attack. US military exercises in the Gulf make the possibility of an all-consuming regional war more likely.
The only question of concern to the Lebanese is on which side will Lebanon bet? The real question, however, ought to be whether Lebanon should bet at all. Shouldn't Lebanon consider neutrality instead, seeing as how this is, after all, a "big boys' fight" and the Lebanese are split down the middle on so many issues? Neutrality, however, is never a matter for the country that desires it; it's a decision taken by all regional actors who agree to declare a country neutral, affirm that by treaty and protect that neutrality by force if need be. No one seems willing to do that for Lebanon.
Lebanon remains a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, but so are Egypt and India. None, however, are being asked to plunge their countries into a bottomless pit; Lebanon is. But in view of the fact that every nation today is, in one way or another, being asked by the US to declare their allegiances clearly and without ambiguity, then the possibility seems slim that Lebanon will escape being torn to pieces in the event of an all-out regional war.
Some Palestinians used to dream of a "red army" that would save the day and help liberate Palestine. I doubt today that they would quibble over the color, red bear or white, as long as the gaping wound that is Palestine is finally closed.
Israel does not want peace with the Arabs; it wants the Arabs in pieces. Every statement out of Israel, every Israeli politician, analyst or journalist, still talks as if they had just defeated the Arab armies and occupied parts of their territories, forgetting that these events took place decades ago.
A lot has changed. Today the Israeli Army appears as clumsy as some Arab armies did in 1967. Hizbullah proved militarily effective against an organized armed force. It proved capable of projecting its military power across borders, disciplined in its execution with a centralized command structure, and able to plan strategically.
Yes, a lot has changed. If the white bear is just waking up from hibernation, its claws and teeth are sharp and poised.
In Lebanon the job of breaking the Arabs is easier to accomplish than anywhere else. The hard shells of Arab dictatorships and benevolent monarchies are tougher to crack. Recognizing the danger of internecine strife, the Saudis are fully diplomatically mobilized to prevent a total Sunni-Shiite rift through rapprochement and dialogue with Iran - dialogue frowned on by the United States. Parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri is following the Saudi lead in Lebanon as Speaker Nabih Berri is following both the Saudi and Iranian leads. One only prays that cooler heads prevail in the end because the next war on Lebanese soil could be the spark that plunges the world into a third great war.
This time the "bad guy," the cowboy in the black hat, could be a neoconservative United States. I recall the words of one American, the late activist James Luther Adams, a social activist, author and divinity school professor: "Fascism will not return wearing swastikas and brown shirts. Its ideological inheritors will cloak themselves in the language of the Bible. They will come carrying crosses and chanting the Pledge of Allegiance."
Once again, as in 2002, the issue of the Palestinian right of return is being thrust to the fore with the convening of the Arab summit in Riyadh and a rejuvenated Saudi peace initiative that was rejected by Israel five years ago, and all but rejected today.
In fact, Israel might as well have rejected the Saudi plan this week, as they refuse to accept the most important parts of it. This summit, as with previous summits, concluded with statements and recommendations, promises and pledges that are so watered down and so reflect the indecision and lack of agreement among Arab heads of state that its convening was as useless as taking ice to Iceland.
"Don't worry; Israel does not have long," my aunt's reassuring voice soothes and comforts me for a while. Then my brain kicks in and the doubts creep back. "Seven days, seven weeks, seven months or seven years after Israel brings its seat [of government] to Jerusalem, Israel will fall," my aunt went on, reminding me of my grandmother's predictions. If only matters were really that simple.

Magistrate questions Wahhab in slander case
Friday, March 30, 2007
Beirut Chief Investigative Magistrate Abdel-Rahim Hammoud interrogated former Minister Wiam Wahhab on Thursday in connection with libel and slander charges filed against him by parliamentary majority leader MP Saad Hariri in September, a judicial report said. The charges stem from a statement delivered by Wahhab at the time, in which he called the MP's father, late former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, "someone who looted the country." Wahhab's case was referred to Beirut Public Prosecution, the report said.

Sayyed's lawyer claims backing from magazine
Friday, March 30, 2007
The attorney representing Jamil Sayyed, the former head of the Surete Generale held on suspicion of involvement in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, urged Justice Minister Charles Rizk and "parties interested in Hariri's killing" on Thursday to read a report published in Le Monde Diplomatique magazine's April issue. In a statement Thursday, Akram Azoury said the report described Sayyed's detention as illegal. "According to the report, Sayyed was arrested because he rejected a call by German Prosecutor Detlev Mehlis' investigation committee to deliver a false testimony," Azoury said.

Aridi repeats call to silence Information Ministry
Daily Star staff
Friday, March 30, 2007
BEIRUT: Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said Thursday he hoped he would be the last information minister, stressing the need to eliminate the Information Ministry. "Since I became information minister in 2000, I said that the Information Ministry should be eliminated while focusing on a national media council totally different from the current one," Aridi said during a seminar held at the Le Meridien-Commodore Hotel in Beirut.
"But I am not the one to make such a decision, this is the responsibility of the Cabinet and Parliament," he added.
Entitled The Role of Media in Building a Culture of Peace, the two-day seminar was organized by the Maharat Association in collaboration with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES) institution in Lebanon. Aridi said a culture of peace could not be built between partners in one country, if "we cannot bear criticism or if we do not practice self-criticism." "We need more knowledge in tackling issues ... a knowledge that enables us to be aware of the main points of the crisis that we are witnessing, while benefiting from the other's viewpoint," he said.
"How can we build a culture of peace when we do not see a dialogue among different parties?" he asked. Aridi said that those who deliver speeches do not address the other, but their own supporters, families, villages and sects.
"I do not blame media outlets for transmitting violent political speeches because the politician who is delivering the speech should assume the responsibility of his words," the minister said.
"But we are interested in news bulletins, where some media outlets transform newscasts into political stands similar to those of political leaders who sometimes use unacceptable expressions," he added. "I don't think peace can ensue from a culture which cannot pave the way for one democratic political practice," he said. Aridi says one needs great powers on political, social, intellectual and financial levels to rehabilitate what has been destroyed on the cultural level between feudal parties in one country or between clashing countries.
Tackling the issue of building a culture of peace with an enemy, referring to Israel, Aridi asked: "How can we reach peace with an enemy that is not ready to reach peace on political and military levels?"Addressing reporters, Aridi rejected claims that he had interfered in the policies of media outlets during last summer's war with Israel. "I have never meddled with media outlets except as a colleague," he said. - The Daily Star

Army shoots down reports of arms smuggling
By Rym Ghazal -Daily Star staff
Friday, March 30, 2007
LEBANON-SYRIA BORDER: The Lebanese Army returned fire against its detractors on Thursday, saying it is fully capable of monitoring the country's borders and preventing arms smuggling of any kind. "This is a message to the world that the Lebanese Army is properly controlling its borders with Syria," the head of army operations, Brigadier General Francois Hajj, told reporters on Thursday.
The media was invited on a tour of the northeastern border area to see the security measures put in place by the army. The rare invite to the First Intervention Brigade in Raas Baalbek comes as UN chief Ban Ki-moon arrives in Lebanon.
In a recent report to the Security Council, Ban expressed his concern about "reports of arms smuggling into Lebanon from Syria."
Ban also noted "substantial" information from Israel concerning the issue in his report, information the Lebanese Army dismissed as false.
"There is no hard evidence of any kind that arms or terrorists or any prohibited items are being smuggled across the Lebanese-Syrian border, as we, along with the Internal Security Forces and Customs, have full control of the borders," Hajj repeatedly told reporters.
"No weapons are being transferred to Palestinian camps either," he added, responding
to separate reports that arms have been smuggled into the camps in the North, particularly Nahr al-Bared.
Nahr al-Bared has gained recent infamy as the home base of Fatah al-Islam, a Palestinian faction allegedly linked to deadly bus bombings in Ain Alaq on February 13.Asked about a recent claim by MP Walid Jumblatt that Army Intelligence had given "license" to the illegal transfer of arms, Hajj said, "Yes, certain individuals can get a license to ease the
transfer of arms, but they are searched and stopped like everyone else and are restricted."
"That procedure applies to the resistance's arms too," he added. "The army does not support any group or give any favors to anyone."
To prove the point, the army took the media on a two-hour tour of the border with Syria in Qaa-Hermal, where 8,000 troops are stationed at 140 fixed checkpoints and carry out patrols near the borders, in coordination with 250 police officers actually stationed at the border checkpoints.
"It was a military decision and not a political decision to station police officers at the borders, and to have the army patrol and focus on roads to and from the borders," said Brigadier General Mohammad Shebo, who served as a guide for the day.
Reporters were also shown newly laid sand berms across several connecting roads between Syria and Lebanon that were said to have reduced accessible areas of the border from 373 kilometers to 197.
"The four legal crossings between Syria and Lebanon are fully under control, and with the coordination with the Syrian Army," Shebo said.
The four legal crossings are located at Arida, Aboudyeh, Qaa and Masnaa. A fifth crossing, at Beqayeh, will be opened in the near future.
Shebo said 341 people had been stopped at checkpoints and "ambushes" between July 12, 2005, and March 29, 2007, and that the number one item for would-be smugglers was fuel oil.

U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi flying in to Lebanon
Friday, 30 March, 2007
Beirut- U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi is expected to visit Beirut next week as part of a tour to the Middle East that includes Syria, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Pelosi - whose job as speaker places her "just two heartbeats away from the presidency," meaning that if both the president and vice president were to become incapacitated, she would become president - will head a congressional delegation .
The congressional delegation that accompanies the Speaker includes:
Congressman, Democrat Keith Ellison from Minnesota- US 's first Muslim congressman.
Congressman, Democrat Nick Rahall from West Virginia, is of Lebanese descent
Congressman , Democrat Tom Lantos from California who is Jewish is chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee
Congressman , Democrat Henry Waxman from California who is also Jewish
Congressman , Republican David Hobson from Ohio
Congressman Rahall was active last summer in trying to end the war between Hezbollah & Israel. He also came out against a bipartisan congressional resolution in July 2006 supporting Israel during the Second Lebanon War. During the war he wrote a letter to President George W. Bush calling on him to tell Prime Minister Ehud Olmert "that enough is enough. It is time for the disproportionate use of violence to end and for negotiations to begin."
The exact date of Pelosi arrival into Beirut has not been announced as of yet , most probably for security reasons .
Pelosi, who is a Democrat from the state of California, will meet with Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and other officials in the Lebanese government.
Pelosi's visit is aimed at becoming better acquainted with regional issues in addition to discussing U.S. aid programs in Lebanon and other countries.
According to some reports the White House tried to convince Pelosi to cancel her stopover in Syria. But when it failed to do so, it urged the delegation to send a "strong message" to the Assad regime about the human rights situation there and the country's interference in Lebanon's internal affairs.
The white house was told not to worry since Lantos, who has met several times with Syrian President Bashar Assad in the past, is known for his strong views against the Damascus regime.

UN chief meets rival Lebanese leaders
Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST
Mar. 30, 2007
The UN chief on Friday called for the full implementation of a UN Security Council resolution that ended last summer's war between Hizbullah and Israel. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also urged rival Lebanese leaders to engage in dialogue as the only way to end a deepening political crisis and approve an international court to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
He met separately with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a major figure in the opposition, and with Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, who is backed by the parliamentary majority.
"I raised the importance of the full implementation of that resolution," Ban told reporters after his talks with Berri, who is a close ally of Hizbullah. The UN chief arrived Thursday in Beirut from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he attended a summit of Arab leaders. His tour of the Middle East has already taken him to Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian territories.
The US-backed Saniora government has been locked in a bitter dispute with the Hizbullah-led opposition seeking to topple it. The opposition is demanding a national unity government that would give it a veto-wielding share in Cabinet and has been holding protests and an open sit-in in downtown Beirut since Dec. 1 to pressure Saniora into resigning.
Saniora has staunchly refused, accusing the opposition of staging a coup upon orders from Iran and Syria, Hizbullah's main patrons. Nine people have died in sectarian street violence which erupted on two occasions since December.
Ban encouraged Lebanese leaders to engage in a dialogue to end the political standoff.
"I believe, and everybody believes, that dialogue is the only way for Lebanon to achieve the stability and national unity it aspires for," Ban said. While stressing his commitment to the formation of the Hariri tribunal "as soon as possible," he said the Lebanese should reach consensus on this issue. "I urged the parties to find a quick solution to this issue while respecting Lebanon's constitutional procedures," he said.
Ban met later with legislator Saad Hariri, son of the slain leader, to discuss the formation of the international tribunal. Hariri, who heads the anti-Syrian majority in Parliament, said the tribunal was necessary to prevent further killings in Lebanon. "The failure to punish the criminals is tantamount to giving a killer a license to kill," Hariri told reporters after meeting Ban. "Therefore, the United Nations is seriously following up the issue of the international tribunal."

Al-Qaeda eyes options in Lebanon
By Alon Ben-David
Jane’s Defense Weekly
Hizbullah's exclusive dominance of southern Lebanon has been interrupted in recent weeks by what appears to be an attempt by Al-Qaeda to establish a foothold in the country.
On 13 January, Lebanese security forces arrested 13 alleged Al-Qaeda members - Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian, Jordanian and Saudi nationals - and charged them with plotting terrorist attacks. Although it is not yet clear whether the detainees had anything to do with Al-Qaeda, a senior Israeli intelligence officer told JDW that the arrests signal Hizbullah's growing discomfort with Al-Qaeda's "encroachment in their backyard".
Although Shiite Hizbullah has very good relations with Sunni organizations, such as the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, it perceives Al-Zarqawi's organization, which so far has killed hundreds of Shiites in Iraq, as a threat. "We do not have any relationship with that group. They are working toward tearing the Islamic Nation apart, dividing Muslims into numerous sects and mutilating the face of Islam," Afif Naboulsi, Hizbullah's director of media relations, told the Lebanese Daily Star.
"I can confidently say that terrorism is closing on us from all sides," Israel Defense Force Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Dan Halutz said at the Herzliya National Security Conference on 22 January. "The attacks of the recent 18 months point to it." Gen Halutz said that Israel now faces "Global Jihad, which doesn't have an address, but is a virtual union with a common ideological denomination".
Israeli intelligence reports suggest that 'Global Jihad' organizations have already set foot in the Gaza Strip, following Israel's August 2005 withdrawal. "It is a matter of time until we see an Al-Qaeda attack inside Israel," intelligence sources told JDW.

Lebanon lurches into its next crisis
Jane's Information Group – March 30, 2007
Lebanon is in the midst of the latest political crisis to grip the country since the withdrawal of Syrian troops in April 2005. Following that major realignment of the power dynamics, Lebanon was rocked by a campaign of violence and assassinations targeting senior anti-Syrian political and media figures. Domestic tension was replaced by regional conflict in mid-2006 as Israel and Hizbullah fought a month-long war precipitated by Hizbullah's capture of two Israeli soldiers on the Israel-Lebanon border after an armed skirmish on 12 July.
The war failed to achieve either side's objectives, but it seriously weakened the Lebanese government and emboldened Hizbullah, who emerged stronger from the fighting. Drawing on this newfound confidence, Hizbullah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah has attempted to boost the level of Shia representation in the cabinet, a move opposed by the majority anti-Syrian government. Hizbullah's five ministers resigned from the cabinet in October in protest at the failure to increase the number of its ministers and its supporters have since taken to the streets aiming to force the government's hand. Tension increased further after the assassination of Pierre Gemayel, a prominent Christian leader, on 21 November.

In Lebanon, UN's Ban calls for full implementation of cease-fire resolution
The Associated Press - March 30, 2007
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Friday called for the full implementation of a United Nations Security Council resolution that ended the Second Lebanon War, during a visit to Lebanon.
He met separately Friday with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a major figure in the opposition, and with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, who is backed by the parliamentary majority.
"I raised the importance of the full implementation of that resolution," Ban told reporters after his talks with Berri, who is a close ally of Hezbollah.
The resolution calls for a halt in arms shipments to Hezbollah, and demands the unconditional release of two Israeli soldiers Hezbollah captured in a cross-border raid, triggering a 34-day war that ended with an August 14 cease-fire.
The resolution also provided for the deployment of a reinforced UN peacekeeping force, now numbering close to 13,000. The force patrols a weapons-free zone along the border with Israel alongside thousands of Lebanese troops.
During a stop in Israel last week, Defense Minister Amir Peretz told Ban that the UN-brokered cease-fire in southern Lebanon is endangered by Hezbollah militants. He accused the Iranian- and Syrian-backed militants of continuing to receive arms shipments from Syria, a claim the Lebanese defense minister has denied.
Ban has criticized both Israel and Lebanon for violating Resolution 1701, noting an increase of Israel Air Force overflights of its northern neighbor in February and early March. Israel says the overflights are necessary in order to gather intelligence on ongoing arms smuggling to Hezbollah.
The UN chief arrived Thursday in Beirut from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he attended a summit of Arab leaders. His tour of the Middle East has already taken him to Iraq, Jordan, Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
On Saturday, Ban is to travel to south Lebanon to visit with UN troops near the border with Israel.
Ban also urged rival Lebanese leaders to engage in dialogue as the only way to end a deepening political crisis and approve an international court to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The U.S.-backed Siniora government has been locked in a bitter dispute with the Hezbollah-led opposition seeking to topple it. The opposition is demanding a national unity government that would give it a veto-wielding share in cabinet and has been holding protests and an open sit-in in downtown Beirut since December 1 to pressure Siniora into resigning.
Siniora has staunchly refused, accusing the opposition of staging a coup upon orders from Iran and Syria, Hezbollah's main patrons. Nine people have died in sectarian street violence which erupted on two occasions since December.
Ban encouraged Lebanese leaders to engage in a dialogue to end the political standoff.
"I believe - and everybody believes - that dialogue is the only way for Lebanon to achieve the stability and national unity it aspires for," Ban said.
While stressing his commitment to the formation of the Hariri tribunal as soon as possible, he said the Lebanese should reach consensus on this issue.
"I urged the parties to find a quick solution to this issue while respecting Lebanon's constitutional procedures," he said.
Ban met later with legislator Saad Hariri, son of the slain leader, to discuss the formation of the international tribunal. Hariri, who heads the anti-Syrian majority in Parliament, said the tribunal was necessary to prevent further killings in Lebanon.
"The failure to punish the criminals is tantamount to giving a killer a license to kill," Hariri told reporters after meeting Ban. "Therefore, the United Nations is seriously following up the issue of the international tribunal."
Anti-Syrian politicians have blamed Syria for a massive truck bombing that killed Hariri and 22 other people in February 2005 and for a string of other bomb attacks that targeted anti-Syrian figures. Syria has denied involvement in Hariri's assassination and other attacks.
An agreement between Lebanon and the United Nations has yet to be ratified by Lebanon, stalled in parliament amid sharp differences between the government and the opposition. Ban's comments indicated that the U.N. does not intend for the time being to move to impose a tribunal.
Ban will also meet with a number of pro- and anti-government leaders and representatives, including Hezbollah legislator Mohammed Fneish, who resigned from his cabinet post as electricity minister along with five other pro-Hezbollah ministers in November, setting off the crisis.

Inside Hizballah's Hidden Bunkers
Time Magazine
Thursday, Mar. 29, 2007
By Nicholas Blanford/Alma Shaab, Lebanon
With the bunker's heavy metal lid dragged to one side, dank musty air rose up from the entrance, the forbidding gloom of the narrow steel-lined shaft below unbroken by the bright sunlight. It had taken seven months of searching to finally discover one of the underground bunkers that had enabled Hizballah to fire thousands of rockets into northern Israel last summer even under the pounding of Israeli air and ground operations. But any sense of exhilaration at the achievement was dampened by the nagging anxiety of claustrophobia.
"If we have to crawl when we're down there, I can't do it," said my colleague Ghaith Abdul Ahad.
The elaborate network of bunkers and fortified firing positions built over a six-year period in sealed-off valleys and hilltops throughout south Lebanon was key to Hizballah's ability to survive Israel's onslaught during last summer's month-long war. Israeli soldiers spoke of Hizballah fighters bursting out of the ground to loose off a rocket-propelled grenade before disappearing into the earth again. Israeli air crews hunted, often in vain, for the sources of Katyusha rocket fire, sometimes emanating from within a few hundred yards of the border. One bunker complex discovered and dynamited by Israeli troops a week after the cease-fire reportedly covered more than a square mile and was fitted with hot and cold running water and air conditioning.
After the war, Hizballah had yielded security control of the area to a reinforced 12,000-strong U.N. peacekeeping force, but its bunkers remained elusive. They were hidden, their entrances well camouflaged, in the dense undergrowth of remote valleys often littered with unexploded Israeli ordnance. After several unsuccessful attempts to find one, last week I received map coordinates for two bunkers in a valley near the Christian border village of Alma Shaab. With the coordinates logged into a GPS device, Ghaith and I walked carefully along a track winding through blossom-scented orange orchards at the bottom of a steep-sided brush-covered valley. Snakes and lizards basking in the hot sun slithered from beneath our feet. But we kept our eyes open for cluster bombs, which have since August caused 224 casualties among Lebanese civilians and mine-clearing crews, which had used red spray paint to mark the location of each bomblet.
We almost missed the manhole cover beneath its layer of dirt, dead leaves and twigs. Using metal footholds, I climbed down into the gloom below and saw with some relief that the tunnel at the bottom was larger than we had feared. We would have to crouch, but not crawl. It was still a tight squeeze as we inched cautiously along the dank silent passageway, which ran for about 20 feet before turning left and descending in a gradual slant. The rock sides of the tunnel were lined with a mesh of steel bars and girders. Huge brown spiders clinging to the walls watched the human intruders impassively.
A side tunnel was shielded with white steel plates and girders, which led into a small steel-walled chamber. The room, which was bare apart from two empty five-gallon water containers, must have been at least 100 feet underground, and could probably have withstood a direct hit by a heavy bomb. A power cable along the walls linked several bare bulbs, while a black plastic bag hanging from a hook contained the remnants of what last summer could have been fresh oranges or apples.
A few hundred yards away we found two rocket firing positions, one of them located in a 15-foot deep pit with reinforced concrete walls. A tunnel at the rear wall doglegged after a few feet into a small chamber lined with panels from wooden ammunition boxes where the rockets would have been stored. The second post consisted of a foot-thick reinforced concrete frame smothered with sandbags and camouflage netting and bolstered by Hesco blast protection walls. Even from a few yards up the hill, the position was all but invisible. And during the war, Hizballah gunners had tossed fire-retardant blankets over the launchers immediately after unleashing their rockets to hide the lingering heat signature from prowling Israeli aircraft.
The effort that went into building the fortifications in this valley alone had been extraordinary, and these were just three of dozens, possibly hundreds, scattered throughout southern Lebanon. The steel plates and girders, as well as the digging tools, sandbags and other equipment had to be carried by hand up the steep slope from the valley floor and welded into place in the cramped claustrophobic tunnels. And Hizballah's engineers had managed to work undetected, despite near daily reconnaissance flights by Israeli jets and drones.
Both Hizballah and the Israeli military are still absorbing the lessons learned during last summer's conflict. But with continued speculation here over a possible "round two" between the militant Shi'ite group and Israel, it remains to be seen what fresh tricks Hizballah may still have up its sleeve.

Saniora Corners Berri Over International Tribunal
Naharnet: Prime Minister Fouad Saniora announced Friday that he referred a bill creating the international tribunal to the office of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri but "no officials were available to officially receive the document."
A statement released by Saniora's office said Education Minister Khaled Qabbani personally carried the bill text to Parliament in an effort to officially post it with the speaker's office, pending setting a date for deliberating it by the house.
However, the statement added, "no employees were available to receive the bill."
Saniora's office again tried to refer the document by official Courier, but "the messenger was not allowed into Parliament building," the statement added.
The effort reflected the mounting differences between Saniora's majority government and the Hizbullah-led opposition over the creation of an international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri and related crimes.
Berri also heads the AMAL movement which is part of the Hizbullah-led opposition that has been trying since Dec. 1 to topple the Saniora government.
Saniora's office had published the international tribunal bill in the official gazette on Dec. 12.
Berri refuses to receive any documents referred to Parliament by the Saniora government which he terms illegitimate after the resignation of six pro-Syrian ministers late last year. The pro-Syrian ministers resigned after the cabinet approved the international tribunal bill.
The March 14 majority, which backs the Saniora government, blames the Hariri killing and related crimes on Syria, which denies the charge.
The latest move by Saniora opens the door for an escalation of the political confrontation between the majority and opposition.
It came one day after Arab heads of state concluded a two-day summit conference at the Saudi Capital of Riyadh, which, among other things, declared support for the Saniora government. Beirut, 30 Mar 07, 18:03