LCCC NEWS
BULLETIN
May 2/2006
Below news from miscellaneous sources for 2/05/06
Despite all Dialogue process to continue-Monday Morning,
Kuwaiti leadership supports Lebanon's reform process-KNA
Syria rejects UN Lebanon border call.Lebanese
Lobby
Israel's New War-FrontPage magazine.
Syrian monastery lies at the nexus of Islam, Christianity-Christian
Science Monitor
1 killed, 1 hurt in clashes in Lebanese Palestinian refugee camp-Ha'aretz
8 Islamist groups funded to strike US military, economic interests-WorldNetDaily
Experts: Split among radical Islamists widens-CNN International
Lebanon's Cardinal Blasts Political Parties-AINA
Syria: US-led invasion of Iraq increased terrorism-Ynetnews
Lebanon's Hizbollah sees Bush as top terrorist-Malaysia Star
Turkey, Israel plan undersea oil pipeline-TMCnet
Kuwaiti leadership
supports Lebanon''s reform process -- says Siniora
(With Al-Siniora series) KUWAIT, May 1 (KUNA) -- Visiting Lebanese Prime
Minister Fouad Al-Siniora underlined Monday that the Kuwaiti leadership supports
Lebanon's reform process, in particular taking the measures that end up in
putting its economy and financial affairs on the right track. Speaking before
departure after wrap up of a one-day official visit, he said "H.H. the Amir,
Crown Prince and Prime Minister overwhelmed us during our encounter today with
their amicability, passion and support," and thanked all for the hospitality
which he touched during his stay.
He said discussions during the visit touched on many issues of interest for both
states in addition to the current Lebanese developments.Al-Siniora was seen off
by H.H. the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, a number
of Kuwaiti officials as well as ambassador of Kuwait in Lebanon Ali Al-Saeed and
Lebanon's Ambassador here Jawdat Al-Hajjar. Earlier and during his meeting with
the Lebanese community here, Al-Siniora praised Kuwait's support for his country
when facing critical conditions. He singled out the assistance awarded by the
Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development (KFAED) to his country through
streamlining a number of development projects.
Despite all Dialogue
process to continue
Monday Morning 1/5/06: The fourteen dialoguers during their meeting last Friday.
Their next session is scheduled for May 16
President Emile Lahoud (opening a highway in the Metn region last week), who
again affirmed his determination to serve out his term of office
General Michel Aoun summed up the outcome of the dialogue conference’s session
last Friday in a single sentence: “We have agreed on the fact that we are
divided”. Divided, that is, on the question of the presidential dossier, on
which, sources close to the conference say, are very wide. During Friday’s
session, which lasted for three and a half hours, there was discussion on who
might succeed President Emile Lahoud, and four names were indicated: MP Michel
Aoun, MP Boutros Harb, Social Affairs Minister Nayla Mouawad and former MP
Nassib Lahoud. The four names had been disclosed earlier in the day by Lebanese
Forces leader Samir Geagea during a visit to Bkerki to meet with the Maronite
patriarch, Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir.
Following his meeting with the patriarch, Geagea said the March 14 forces would
continue their efforts to resolve the presidential issue even if the national
dialogue failed to reach any decision on the matter. And he said that Tourism
Minister Joe Sarkis, a member of the LF, would continue to boycott cabinet
meetings chaired by President Lahoud.
At his press conference after the session, Speaker Nabih Berri said the entire
meeting had been devoted to the presidential issue, which he said would be taken
up at the next meeting on May 16. And regardless of whether a decision was taken
on this issue then, the dialoguers would go on to discuss another contentious
matter, that of the weapons of Hezballah.
The speaker denied that there would be any further discussion of the delineation
of the Lebanese-Syrian frontier.
Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah had indicated earlier that the dialoguers had agreed to
demarcate the entire border except in the Shebaa Farms sector, which is still
occupied by Israel. MP Walid Jumblatt, however, has said that they agreed that
the whole line should be demarcated.
Berri told journalists that all the leaders at the dialogue table had confirmed
their commitment to the decisions reached at earlier dialogue sessions, and that
they had agreed to support Prime Minister Fuad Saniora in his efforts to have
them implemented.
Lahoud: ‘The truth has been made known’
For his part, Speaker Nabih Berri, initiator of the national dialogue
conference, declared that the dialogue would continue whatever the results might
be of the April 28 round of the conference.
Holding an exceptional meeting on April 26 to mark the first anniversary of the
withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon, the “forces of March 14” resolved to
continue their campaign cut short the (extended) term of President Emile Lahoud.
They urged him to respect the decisions and agreements reached by the
participants in the round table conference during the first five sessions of the
dialogue”.
In response, the president pledged to “tell all to the people, whom they are
trying to mislead.
“The masks have fallen and the truth has been made known about their alliances
and role in weakening national unity and providing services which benefit the
enemies of Lebanon”.
He called on those engaged in outbidding to abandon it in the interest of the
nation. “These voices will not be listened to by the Lebanese, who know
perfectly well what is going on in their country, despite the repeated attempts
to twist the truth”.
The president declared that he was acting in accord with the prerogatives given
him by the Constitution. “I am determined to work on the basis of these
prerogatives in all matters in order to safeguard the interest of Lebanon and to
prevent exploitation of the local political situation.
“Right”, the president stressed, “will prevail in the end. Dialogue among the
Lebanese is the sole means of resolving differences on vital questions involving
the nation’s future. Any attempt to impose a position or a viewpoint by force
cannot be a solution but will only make problems more complex”.
He warned against “the return of certain slogans” in a bid to return the country
to an atmosphere of war, “which is rejected by the overwhelming majority of the
Lebanese”.
The president underlined the necessity of subsidizing the needs of the citizens
in regard to medical care, education and daily life concerns. “We cannot deal
with problems by political means alone. It is urgently necessary to give social
and humanitarian matters the attention they deserve”.
Intense diplomatic activity
Last week was characterized by intense diplomatic activity ahead of the resumed
national dialogue. Jeffrey Feltman and Bernard Emié, ambassadors of the US and
France, had talks with Berri, Saniora and Saad Hariri, leader of the Future
Current and the parliamentary majority. They reiterated their firm support for
the dialogue conference and for the Saniora government, in the context of
criticism of the premier by Hezballah and its allies following his recent visit
to Washington and New York.
For his part, Ambassador Emié stated following his meeting with Saniora that the
discussion had focused essentially on economic matters of mutual interest. “I
reaffirmed the support of my country for the action of the Lebanese government
and in favor of all citizens, raising the perspectives of the international
conference to be held to assist Lebanon”.
Feltman informed his interlocutors of “the good work accomplished by the prime
minister during his visit to the United States, during which he informed those
with whom he met of the challenges confronting Lebanon. I informed Sheikh Saad
[Hariri] of the satisfaction of American officials following the information
provided by the prime minister, which has encouraged them to continue to help
Lebanon”.
Following his meeting with Berri, Feltman read out a written statement in which
he indicated the excellent welcome given to Saniora, “who represented Lebanon
and its people so well”. “The Lebanese”, he concluded, “can be sure that
following Premier Saniora’s visit to the United States, American officials have
reiterated their commitment to help Lebanon over the long term, American help
for this friendly country so that it may remain as strong as ever”.
And after an audience with the Maronite patriarch, Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir,
Feltman called indirectly for the departure of President Lahoud.
“I share with Patriarch Sfeir the hope for an end to the continuing Syrian
interference in Lebanon’s internal affairs so that the Lebanese can achieve
their dreams of freedom, independence and prosperity”, the diplomat said
following his discussion with the cardinal, during which he explained the
purpose of Saniora’s visit to Washington. “President Bush reaffirmed the strong
support for Lebanon, and the prime minister’s delegation, composed of Christian
and Muslim ministers, left an excellent impression on President Bush and others.
This delegation exemplified the richness of the Lebanese communities as well as
the commitment of Beirut to the Taef Agreement. I also told the patriarch that
my government looks forward to seeing again a president of the Lebanese Republic
who has been freely elected in conformity with the Constitution and who
represents the future, not the past”, the ambassador said in a clear reference
to the continuing presence of President Lahoud at Baabda Palace. “Mindful of the
importance of the national dialogue in addressing this issue, we hope that day
comes soon.
He added: “I noted to His Eminence that our meeting comes one day after the
anniversary of the departure of Syrian troops from Lebanon… I shared with him
our hope that lingering Syrian interference in Lebanon -- both direct and
through proxies will end, so that the Lebanese can truly realize their dreams of
freedom, independence, unity and prosperity”.
Feltman informed the patriarch of Bush’s initiatives “to support Lebanon,
notably his decision to freeze the assets of all those implicated in terrorist
acts in Lebanon since October 1, 2004”. Questioned on the reason for this
decision, the ambassador recalled that UN Security Council Resolution 1636 calls
on the international community to take steps against persons implicated in the
series of assassinations and attacks which have occurred in Lebanon since the
date in question. “We hope that those who so brutally killed and maimed too many
Lebanese patriots are brought to justice soon”.
In his executive order on the freeze of assets, Bush said that the freeze would
apply to the assets of all those “involved in planning, sponsoring, organizing,
or perpetrating the terrorist act in Beirut, Lebanon, on February 14, 2005, that
are related to Hariri’s assassination”.
Bush wrote that the freeze is intended to aid the government of Lebanon “in
identifying and holding accountable in accordance with applicable law” anyone
connected to the crime.
The communiqué did not mention any individuals by name, but cited a United
Nations report from October determining that there is “converging evidence”
pointing to “both Lebanese and Syrian involvement in terrorist acts”.
The president’s order further noted that individuals interviewed in the case had
tried to impede the investigation “by giving false or inaccurate statements”,
and said a “senior official of Syria” had given false statements to the UN
commission leading the probe.
Officials in Lebanon said there was no immediate reaction to Washington’s
action.
“The cabinet has not yet been informed of this decision and has not examined
it”, Lebanese Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said.
“It is a decision taken by the American Administration. We will discuss it among
ourselves and adopt a common cabinet position if necessary”.
Two reports by the UN commission of inquiry implicated senior Syrian officials
and their Lebanese allies in Hariri’s murder in a massive bomb blast on the
Beirut seafront on February 14 last year, which also killed another 22 victims.
Syria has denied all involvement in the attack, and Syrian officials have
accused the UN of bias.
An Administration official said in Washington that the US order, last week,
“allows the US to implement sanctions against any suspect identified by the UN
in its investigation of the Hariri assassination.
“It does not block property immediately”, he said, “meaning that the individuals
targeted in the assets freeze have yet to be determined”.
“But it allows the Administration to implement [UN] Resolution 1636, calling all
states to freeze the assets of those involved” in the killing.
“It’s an important tool in establishing the criteria for the Secretary of
Treasury to impose sanctions after consultation with the Secretary of State”,
the US official said.
At the United Nations, meanwhile, France said it was preparing a new UN Security
Council resolution on Syria’s relations with Lebanon.
France said that it was preparing the draft resolution, which would urge Syria
to respond to Lebanon’s call for establishment of formal diplomatic ties between
the two neighbors and for a demarcation of their common border.
France’s UN envoy, Jean-Marc de La Sablière, said he was consulting with other
members of the Security Council and hoped to have a text ready “at the beginning
of next [this] week”.
He noted that Saniora’s call to Syria, made in an address to the Security
Council during his recent stay in New York, was “very important for the
sovereignty and independence of Lebanon. It is important that Syria answers
these requests”.
He spoke after a briefing of the 15-member Security Council by Terje Roed-Larsen,
the UN envoy tasked with seeing to implementation of Resolution 1559.
Speaking earlier, US Ambassador John Bolton said: “We think another resolution
by the Security Council is warranted to highlight continued Syrian failure to
comply with the requirements of 1559”. It was in conformity with Resolution 1559
that Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon.
Roed-Larsen noted that a report by Annan stressed the need to disarm all
Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias in order to fulfill the requirements of 1559.
“We are encouraging Iran, Syria and also other countries and actors in the
region who have influence related to the full implementation of 1559 to be
helpful”, he said.
In Washington, the State Department said that “disarmament of militias and
extension of effective Lebanese sovereignty throughout the entire country remain
priorities.
“Syria must immediately end the flow of arms to militias within Lebanon and
cooperate with the Lebanese government on border security”, spokesman Adam Ereli
said.
A substantial part of the Lebanese population rejects the characterization of
Hezballah’s armed wing as a “militia”, regarding it as a national resistance
force.
New Egyptian-Saudi mediation?
In addition to the French and American envoys, the ambassadors of Saudi Arabia
and Egypt were also engaged in intensive contacts, in the framework of what was
presented as a “new Egyptian-Saudi mediation” to lighten the atmosphere after
the resumption of the dialogue conference. Observers spoke of contacts between
Lebanese, Saudi and Egyptian officials to neutralize the negative reactions
caused by Saniora’s visit to the US. The prime minister made telephone calls
with President Hosni Mubarak and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal
after his return from the US. He also received Abdelaziz Khoja and Hussein
Darrar, ambassadors of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, with whom he had long discussions
in the Serail. Cairo and Riyadh believe that Saniora’s statements in Washington
and New York, following his talks with Bush and Annan, should not have a
negative impact on the dialogue process, diplomatic sources say.
One purpose of Saniora’s attendance at the Security Council was to be informed
of the new report by Terje Roed-Larsen on the progress made so far in
implementing Resolution 1559. It was expected that the council would agree a
presidential statement at the end of its examination of the report.
Council of Ministers
Last week’s session of the cabinet, held at the headquarters of the Economic and
Social Council and chaired by President Lahoud, was one of exceptional calm, in
contrast to recent meetings. Ministers of the March 14 forces, observers say,
appear to have resigned themselves to cohabitation with the head of the state as
something essential if certain vital matters of state business are to be
addressed. (The one exception is Tourism Minister Joe Sarkis, of the Lebanese
Forces, who does not attend meetings chaired by the president.)
Information Minister Ghazi Aridi told reporters after the meeting that Premier
Saniora’s report on his visit to the US was the central item on the agenda.
Observers close to the cabinet indicated that it had been agreed that the
Council of Ministers should at its next meeting formulate a request to the UN
Security Council for an extension of the mandate of Serge Brammertz, the Belgian
judge who heads the international probe into the Hariri murder.
At the meeting Saniora resumed in two points the results of his Washington
visit: a request that Israel should be pressured to evacuate the Shebaa Farms;
and a request for weapons and equipment for the Army and the Internal Security
Forces.
The prime minister indicated that Washington officials listened to him
attentively but refused his first request. For the US, like the UN, the Shebaa
Farms are Syrian territory. On the second point, US officials reacted favorably,
and the matter would be discussed in Washington with the Lebanese interior and
defense ministers.
The US has also agreed to support the conference on financial help to Lebanon,
on condition that Beirut commits itself seriously to a plan of reform, Saniora
said.
In New York, the prime minister requested UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to
indicate under what conditions the world body would be ready to acknowledge
Lebanon’s sovereignty over the Shebaa Farms. Annan promised to consider the
matter.
Saniora also attended a meeting of the Security Council, where he underscored
that all the requests presented to the UN by Beirut were in conformity to the
consensus of the national dialogue conference.
The premier also noted that the representatives of Russia and Qatar, states that
traditionally stand on the side of Syria, had approved Lebanon’s request for the
establishment of diplomatic relations with Syria and for a delineation of the
frontier.
The next countries he expected to visit, Saniora said, were Kuwait and Britain.
In the first he would meet with the emir and officials of the Arab Fund and the
Kuwait Fund; in London, a week later, he would be received by Tony Blair.
He also disclosed a significant detail, namely that while in the United States,
he had contacted President Lahoud to inform him of the results of his
conversations, notably with Bush and Rice. It was a way of saying that the
constitutional rules were still functioning in his relations with the head of
the state. The premier also disclosed that his regular visits to Baabda Palace
might resume shortly.
Brammertz meets Assad
Serge Brammertz, head of the UN team investigating the Hariri murder, met with
Syrian President Bashar Assad for the first time last Tuesday.
“Two separate meetings took place -- one with President Bashar Assad and one
with Vice-President Farouk Shara”, a UN spokeswoman said after the talks in
Damascus.
Two reports by the UN commission of inquiry have criticized the Syrian
government for failing to cooperate more with the investigation and have long
sought interviews with top regime officials.
It was the first time that the UN investigators had met Assad, who confirmed
last month that he had agreed to receive them but insisted it would be a
“meeting, not an interrogation”.
Syria has strongly denied any involvement in the killing and accused the United
Nations of bias.
The Lebanese newspaper Al-Liwa said that Brammertz had met last Monday with Riad
Dawoudi, legal advisor to the Syrian government, at the UN commission’s
heavily-protected headquarters in the Monteverde region in mountains east of
Beirut.
The UN spokeswoman did not disclose more details on Tuesday’s meetings in
Damascus or whether Brammertz had returned to Lebanon, where the UN commission
of inquiry is based.
But Brammertz’s convoy was later seen crossing the frontier from Syria.
In his latest report to the UN Security Council in March, Brammertz cited
progress in his investigation into Hariri’s killing but stressed that Syrian
cooperation would be critical if it was to make further headway.
Brammertz, who last went to Damascus on February 23 to meet with Foreign
Minister Walid Mouallem, had announced in his March report that he would meet
both Assad and Shara in April.
But long discussions over the format of the meetings had delayed Brammertz’s
trip, after Assad insisted the investigation should respect Syria’s sovereignty.
Syria rejects UN Lebanon border call
Rouba Kabbara -Middle east times
BEIRUT -- Syria cannot draw its shared border with Lebanon because a key
southern zone remains occupied by Israel, a government official said in response
to a UN call to firm up its frontiers.
"Syria cannot delineate the border of the Shebaa [Farms area] because it is
occupied," foreign minister Walid Muallem said in an interview on Al Jazeera
television, excerpts of which were printed by Lebanese media on Thursday.
How could Syria carry out the task, Muallem asked, "by sending people in by
parachute to do it? ... Syria is prepared to demarcate its border with Lebanon
from the north down to Shebaa, which is occupied and whose border we cannot
draw."
UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen on Tuesday urged the two neighbors to agree on
demarcating the border in the area, a small mountainous territory at the
convergence of the Lebanese-Syrian-Israeli borders.
Israel captured the area from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war, and it is now
claimed by Lebanon with Damascus's consent.
Israeli troops have retained control of the area since their withdrawal from
south Lebanon in May 2000 after two decades of occupation. It remains the scene
of clashes between Israeli forces and the Hizbullah militia.
The United Nations regards Shebaa Farms as Syrian territory.
On the UN call for Syria and Lebanon to establish diplomatic contacts, Muallem
said: "If the two sides find that exchanging diplomats serves the interests of
the two peoples, then the question can be studied."
Lebanese leaders engaged in political roundtable talks that began in March in a
bid to dig the country out of political crisis have called on Prime Minister
Fuad Siniora to normalize relations with ex-powerbroker Syria.
On Siniora's plan to visit Damascus, Muallem said that he would be welcome and
expressed hope that the visit would succeed.
However, "we want to be able to discuss important matters during his visit, and
not begin with items that Syria and Lebanon cannot solve, such as Shebaa".
Roed-Larsen's comments came in a report on Tuesday to the UN Security Council,
which is to be discussed by the body on April 26.
The UN envoy is in charge of overseeing the application of UN Security Council
Resolution 1559 on the disarmament of militant groups in Lebanon.
The resolution, coupled with international and domestic uproar over the February
2005 assassination of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, led to the pullout of Syrian
troops last year after a 29-year presence.
"I communicated to Roed-Larsen ... that we were not in a position to deal with
other matters mentioned in Resolution 1559 because they belong to Lebanon and
are being dealt with in the framework of the dialogue," Muallem said.
A Syrian newspaper blasted Roed-Larsen for his "suspect role".
"Terje Roed-Larsen has renounced his role of UN envoy in which he is supposed to
be objective and neutral to take sides with parties in Lebanon at the expense of
others and to intervene in strictly Syrian-Lebanese affairs," Ath-Thawra said.
He is "flagrantly interfering in Syria's and Lebanon's internal affairs", it
said, adding that Resolution 1559 is an "essential element in Lebanese tension
... and solely benefits Israel". Lebanon "has no other choice but to maintain
the resistance [to Israeli occupation], to commit itself to getting back
occupied territory and to freeing its prisoners from Israeli jails". On
Wednesday the fundamentalist Lebanese Shia movement Hizbullah also criticized
Roed-Larsen's call saying that it "conforms to Israeli demands".
Lebanon's Cardinal Blasts Political Parties for Trying
to 'Monopolize Authority'
5-1-2006 -Beirut -- Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir addressed the
political stalemate crippling the national dialogue on Sunday during his Mass
sermon in Bkirki, saying: "We are disputing over this country instead of keeping
it prosperous for our children who are leaving their land to strangers and
seeking work in foreign countries to earn a living."
He added: "Each party wants to monopolize authority and employment for the
resulting financial and moral benefits."
Although Sfeir criticized the short-sightedness of the parties, he stopped short
of offering an endorsement of either side.
"The Church does not propose practical solutions for the world's problems and
dilemmas - they should be treated by specialists," the prelate said.
After the service, Sfeir met with a delegation from Democratic Christian Union
presided over by MP Neamatallah Abi Nasr to discuss the problem.
Following the meeting, Sfeir urged the Lebanese parties to "put their hands
together and rescue the country from the crisis it is plunging into."It will not
be difficult if they look for public national interests instead of personal
interests," he added.
The prelate also met with vice-president of Lebanese Forces executive committee
MP George Adwan to discuss developments in the dialogue and the Lebanese Forces'
role in it.
Adwan, after the meeting, said he informed the prelate of all political stances
taken by the parties at the dialogue.
"We focused on the fact that Lebanese people's fate depends on the dialogue,"
Adwan said, echoing Sfeir's warning against allowing sectarian politics to take
precedence over national interest.
Adwan also asked whether it was acceptable that the authorities have not yet
appointed a judge to investigate Gebran Tueni's assassination.© 2006, Assyrian
International News Agency. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use.
Syria: U.S.-led invasion of Iraq increased terrorism
In response to U.S. State Department report naming Syria, five other countries
as state sponsors of terrorism, top official in Damascus says ‘America’s
occupation of Iraq, hegemonic policy increased popular anger’
Associated Press
Branded by the U.S. as a state sponsor of terrorism, Syria lashed back Sunday,
blaming the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq for an increase in terror attacks
worldwide.
The war in Iraq has “Created fertile ground for the escalation of terrorism and
its expansion,” the official SANA news agency quoted a Foreign Ministry official
as saying. America’s occupation of Iraq, its hegemonic policy and its schemes in
the region have increased popular anger,” the official said, adding
that the U.S. War on terror has failed to achieve positive results.
A U.S. State Department report on Friday named Syria and five other countries as
state sponsors of terrorism. But in an unusual acknowledgment of cooperation by
Syria, the report said Damascus has attempted to prevent terrorists from
crossing into Iraq, saying it has upgraded security along its border.
The U.S. has long accused Syria of allowing foreign fighters to enter Iraq
through its territory. Damascus said Sunday that it has “Taken all possible
measure to guarantee the security of its border with Iraq.”
The State Department report counted some 11,000 terror attacks around the world
last year - nearly four times the number of attacks in 2004 - though officials
attribute the jump largely to new methods of tallying incidents. The 2005
attacks resulted in more than 14,600 deaths.
Lebanon's Hizbollah sees Bush as top terrorist
BEIRUT (Reuters) April 30, 2006
- Lebanon's Hizbollah guerrilla group said U.S. President George W. Bush should
be named the world's top terrorist, responding to a U.S. official report that
did not remove the group from a list of terrorist organisations.
The State Department's 2005 Country Reports on Terrorism, released on Friday,
also kept Syria and Iran, Hizbollah's main backers, on its list of state
sponsors of terrorism. The report said Iran provided Hizbollah with extensive
funding and weapons.
"The person who deserves to be on top of the terrorists' list is the U.S.
President George W. Bush and his aides who filled the world with prisons,"
Hizbollah said in a statement.
Iran's secret plan if attacked codenamed 'Judgment Day'
8 Islamist groups funded to strike U.S. military, economic interests
Posted: April 29, 2006
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
Tehran has recruited and funded eight Islamic fundamentalist organizations to
undertake retaliatory strikes against U.S. and British military and economic
interests across the Middle East – and perhaps in the U.S. and Europe – in the
event Iran's nuclear facilities are attacked, reports a London Arab daily,
Asharq Al-Awsat.
The plan, which has been heavily funded and was created by a number of experts
in guerilla warfare and terrorist operations, includes suicide attacks against
U.S. and British targets in the region as well as their allies. According to
information gleaned from a senior source in the Iranian armed forces' joint
chief of staff, logistical support for the groups that would participate in the
plan comes from Brigadier General Qassim Suleimani of the of the Revolutionary
Guards' al Quds Brigades.
"Most of Iran's visitors in the last four months, including the leaders of
revolutionary groups in Iraq, Palestine and Lebanon, as well as the heads of
Hezbollah cells in the Persian Gulf and Europe and North America were asked,
when they met with the Iranian intelligence minister Gholamhossein Mohseni Ezhei
and his aides: 'Are you ready to defend the Islamic revolution and vilayat e
faqih (rule of the clergy)?'" the source said. "'If you agree to take part in
the great jihad, what would you need to be ready for the great fight?'"
The leader of one of the Iraq groups that is part of the "Judgment Day" plan
told the Iranians his men would turn Iraq into hell for Americans in the event
of an attack on Iran. The Revolutionary Guards' military training camps have
been made available to Moqtada al Sadr's Mahdi Army. Al Sadr has received more
than $20 million from the Iranians.
Street-fighting training has been given in Isfahan, Iran, to members of the
Palestinian Islamic Jihad, as well as large sums of money and large quantities
of arms.
As reported by WorldNetDaily, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has recruited
Imad Mugniyah, the Lebanese commander of Hezbollah's overseas operations, to
oversee retaliation against Western targets following any U.S. strike on Iran's
nuclear facilities.
Officers sent to southern Lebanon last month are in command of more than 10
thousand rockets aimed at Israel's cities. It is believed they've been given
control of Hezbollah's missiles to attack Israel if Iran's nuclear sites are
hit. U.S. officials and Israel intelligence sources believe Mugniyah is in
charge of these operations.
"When and if the Iranians decide to hit the West in its soft belly, Imad will be
the one to act," a Western intelligence source said. Approximately 80 members of
Hezbollah received training last year in ultralight aircraft and undersea
operations in order to carry out suicide attacks. Implementation of the plan is
set to begin immediately following a strike on Iran's nuclear facilities and
would progress in six stages:
U.S. bases in Iraq and the Persian Gulf region to be struck by Iranian missiles.
Suicide attacks in a number of Muslim countries against U.S. embassies, military
bases, economic and oil-related facilities tied to U.S. and British firms, and
targets in countries allied with the U.S.
Attacks by Revolutionary Guards and Iraqi insurgents loyal to Iran against U.S.
and British forces in Iraq.
Hundreds of rockets launched by Hezbollah against pre-selected targets in
Israel.
If U.S. military attacks continue, more than 50 Shehab-3 missiles will be
launched against Israel and 50 terrorist cells in the U.S., Canada and Europe
will be given approval to launch attacks against civil and industrial targets in
those countries.
Maximize civilian casualties with germ agents and "dirty bombs."
Experts: Split among radical Islamists widens
Saturday, April 29, 2006
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- When a new wave of terrorists blew themselves up in Egypt's
Sinai Peninsula this week, the radical Palestinian Muslim group Hamas quickly
joined Arab governments and Western leaders in condemning a "criminal attack
which is against all human values."Egypt's banned Muslim Brotherhood said the
bombings were "aggression on human souls created by God."The denunciations were
unexpectedly harsh from such Islamic fundamentalist groups -- Hamas which has
killed hundreds of Israeli civilians in suicide bombings, and the Brotherhood
which is determined to impose an Islamic government in Egypt. But experts
largely agree that radical Muslim organizations want to distance themselves from
Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorists. The fast widening rift is not reflected,
however, among Western powers, who have tended to lump all Islamic radicals in
one basket. The U.S. list of "Foreign Terrorist Organizations," for example,
puts al Qaeda together with Hamas and the Lebanese-based Hezbollah.
Scholars of Islamic movements and some Western policy-makers, however, say
distinctions now must be made to accommodate what they see as the growing split
between such hard-line Islamist organizations and "holy warrior" groups such as
al Qaeda. "There is a fundamental difference between Islamic groups: most are
sociopolitical reformists, others are religious extremists," said Dia'a Rashwan,
an Egyptian expert on radical groups, whose views are widely quoted in Arab
media.
Hamas and Hezbollah, for example, have national agendas, he said. They want to
reorganize society according to the Sharia, or Muslim law. Extremist religious
movements -- al Qaeda and other global Salafist movements -- are international
revolutionaries, Rashwan said. Salafists excoriate not only non-Muslims, but
also co-religionists who fail to follow their extremist views. They all are
waging Jihad, or holy war, to spread their views among Muslims and to repel any
"infidel invasion" of Islamic lands. "Branding these two branches of radicalism
the same way, as terrorist organizations, reflects a complete misunderstanding
of the issue," he said.
Rashwan said the confusion was a "fatal mistake" of the Bush administration in
its war on terror. He said that to fight an enemy, one had to know and define it
correctly. "America doesn't, and this is why it is losing the war on terrorism."
U.S. policy makers and the State Department did not respond to repeated requests
for comment. Bearded and turbaned leaders from both branches of radical Islam
frequently join voices in a call to destroy Israel and form an Islamic super
state, a caliphate of all Muslim countries. But the similarities are mostly
rhetorical, said Jon Alterman, director of the Middle East program at the Center
for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank.
"The rift is widening, partly because most governments have become more open to
engaging in a dialogue with hard-line Islamic voices if they give up violence,"
he said in a telephone interview. And in most Muslim countries, the population
has proved much more willing to engage with national radicals than with
"millennial" movements -- that view Israel and the West as apocalyptic enemies
-- he said, pointing to Lebanon where al Qaeda-style extremist groups had little
support while Hezbollah had become the leading political force among Shiite
Muslims.
"I talk to senior officials in the U.S. government about this all the time," he
said. By cracking down on al Qaeda but allowing more freedom to groups like the
Muslim Brotherhood -- the forebear of political Islam and a rising force in
Egypt with over 80 lawmakers in Parliament -- Arab states were in effect
"creating more daylight" between revolutionary and reformist radicals, he said.
"Realistically, part of the U.S. policy is influenced by the attitude of host
countries," he said, explaining that the U.S. was more willing to engage with a
group if local authorities already had. In Morocco, for instance, the government
opened talks with the Justice and Development Party but rejected other hardline
groups. Alterman said the U.S. had largely followed the same line. The relative
shift away from violence by the likes of Hamas, which won Palestinian
legislative elections and formed a new government last month, however, left a
vacuum that is being filled by more radical groups such as Islamic Jihad, a
competing Palestinian group.
It has claimed responsibility for eight suicide attacks against Israel since a
cease-fire declaration last year.
Israeli media have also reported mounting signs that al Qaeda had designs on the
Jewish state as a next battleground. Israeli officials said recently that
Palestinians have established contacts with followers of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi,
the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq. The officials also said al-Zarqawi had
established footholds in neighboring countries -- Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and
Jordan. Many Mideast watchers are, however, skeptical and see a political
motive.
"Quite a few observers believe Israel tends to overstate al Qaeda links to
Palestinian terrorism because they want to be seen as equal victims of a global
movement against the West," Jeremy Binnie, of Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency
Center in London, said by telephone. Hugh Roberts, Egypt director of the
International Crisis Group think tank, said the nationalist groups did not want
to see their more militant members joining the international jihadists.
"Palestinian groups are already highly organized and well rooted organizations,
they are very well placed to prevent al Qaeda from getting a solid foothold,"
Roberts said.
Al Qaeda's murky structure also has misled, experts also say.
Some attacks first blamed on al Qaeda, such as the March 2004 train bombings in
Madrid, have since been linked to local groups with only nominal links to the
umbrella terrorist organization.
Still, the recent blasts in Egypt show that al Qaeda-type influences continue to
spread in the Muslim world. Though Egyptian authorities blamed last week's five
bombings -- three on a Sinai resort and two targeting international peacekeepers
and police -- on the semi-nomadic Bedouin tribesmen who populate the Sinai
Peninsula, most experts say international jihadists likely played a role."It's
hard to think that a homegrown group of Bedouins could have, on its own,
operated such complex and synchronized bombings," even with know-how gathered on
the Internet, Binnie said.
Roberts said, "the level of organization these attacks" demonstrated several al
Qaeda trademarks.
Twenty-one people died in the blasts, most of them Muslims.
Since last November's attacks on a Jordanian hotel that killed more than 60, al
Qaeda has been increasingly criticized for killing civilians. And when bin Laden
issued an audiotape earlier this month, many observers said his new call to
support Palestinians against "Zionists" and "crusaders" was a move to boost
declining popularity in the Muslim world.
Are audiences ready?
U.S. President George W. Bush rubs his eyes during the
White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in Washington,
April 29, 2006. (REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang)
"Hizbollah considers being on the U.S. terrorism list as a medal for its
fighters and a confirmation that its stance and policies against the Zionist
aggression and American hegemony are correct," said the statement, received late
on Saturday.
Hizbollah, whose attacks were vital in ending Israel's 22-year occupation of
south Lebanon in 2000, has been under international pressure to relinquish its
weapons after a 2004 U.N. Security Council resolution demand it disarm.
Lebanon's Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh said on Sunday: "Hizbollah is an
honourable liberation movement that has ... the biggest role and credit in
liberating Lebanese lands occupied by Israel in 1978".
Copyright © 2005 Reuters
Turkey, Israel plan undersea oil pipeline
[April 30, 2006] (UPI Top Stories Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)Israel and Turkey
plan four underwater pipelines to transport Russian oil and natural gas, with
lines to Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and Lebanon. The joint
Turkish-Israeli development plan holds the promise of accelerating economic
growth in the Middle East, The Washington Times reported. A $50 million
feasibility study was financed by the Luxembourg-based European Investment Bank,
say Turkish and Israeli officials. Turkey gets most of its natural gas from
Russia, said Gabriel Levy, a senior official at the Israeli Ministry of
Infrastructure. Israel would be a major beneficiary of a pipeline network, Levy
said. He predicted that by 2010, 40 percent of Israel's energy needs will be
filled by imported natural gas. The Turkish Embassy's deputy chief of mission,
Mehmet Kemal Bozay, stressed the ecological advantages of using pipelines rather
than tankers to transfer crude oil from country to country.
We don't want any more tankers sailing through the Bosphorus (Strait), Bozay
said.
A Syrian monastery lies at the nexus of Islam, Christianity
By James Brandon | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
DEIR MAR MUSA, SYRIA – It is late afternoon at the monastery of Deir Mar Musa on
the edge of the Syrian desert and the only sounds are the call of desert birds
and the whisper of the breeze over time-worn stones.
Until, that is, a group of Muslim schoolgirls arrive from a nearby town to fill
the monastery's valley with laughter and joyful chattering.
"Keep the noise down. This is a monastery," bellows the Rev. Paolo Dall'Oglio,
the monastery's Italian Jesuit founder, looking stern for a moment before
breaking into a broad, proud smile.
The monastery of Deir Mar Musa was first built by Greek monks in the sixth
century as a remote retreat from the material and political world. Abandoned in
the 19th century, it once again houses a small religious community. But now,
under its second founder, Father Dall'Oglio, it is on the forefront of politics
with a fresh approach to bridge-building with the Islamic world.
"When I arrived here 25 years ago, Syria was [a] center of the struggle between
communism and capitalism," says Dall'Oglio, dressed in a worn gray pullover.
"And today it is the crossroads between Islam and Christianity."
"For us, dialogue really starts from being curious about others," he says,
explaining that instead of proselytizing, the Catholic Church now advocates
building bridges with Islam.
Through day-to-day interaction, bridge-building is what the Deir Mar Musa's six
monks and nuns and several lay assistants are working toward. Traveling to local
Muslim communities they work with Muslim leaders to improve opportunities for
young people, promote ecological awareness, and arrange theological discussions
between religious leaders.
"It's really just a simple, evangelical life," he says, stroking silvery beard.
"I accept pluralism as a gift from God."
In 1977, Dell'oglio began studying Arabic in Damascus, where he soon heard about
a ruined Byzantine monastery 50 miles away on the edge of the Syrian desert.
Five years later he made his first visit. After leaving the main road and
trekking into barren hills, he arrived at a crumbling building. Clambering
through the ruins, he found himself in a roofless church staring at medieval
frescos slowly dissolving beneath the sun, wind, and rain.
"I came here for 10 days of prayer and meditation," he says. When he returned to
Damascus, he began laying plans for nearly a decade to restore the ruins and
make it the home for a new sort of monastery.
FATHER PAOLO DALL'OGLIO runs a restored sixth-century monastery in Syria that
hosts many local visitors.
JAMES BRANDON
Now on one typical April day, the restored monastery is visited by a busload of
noisy Muslim schoolgirls on a field trip, two Syrian Christian soldiers in
camouflage uniforms, and a stream of foreign backpackers and tourists.
"Sometimes on Fridays thousands of people come," says Dell'oglio. "For Muslims,
a Christian monastery is a holy place. And Muslims know that monasteries like
this were protected by the prophet Muhammad himself."
The monastery also combines medieval monasticism with Arab traditions of
hospitality by extending free accommodation to all travelers - provided they
help with cleaning, washing the dishes, and collecting litter from the
surrounding hills.
"Our hospitality is really a political program," he says. "I would say to the
[American] people 'come to Syria and discover the human values of these people -
Muslims and Christians.' "
"Yes, we have problems [in the region] but let us consider the problems of the
Middle East as a problem within one family and not as the problems of an enemy.
Let us look for another logic beyond the logic of military aggression and
occupation and see that we are one humanity. Peace is something that you build
with your enemies."
Ironically the monastery's very success at attracting visitors means that the
monks now have little time for meditation or study. Recently they have
refurbished another old monastery 30 miles further north as well as ancient
caves throughout the surrounding stony hillsides.
"We consider ourselves at home when we are surrounded by guests," says
Dell'oglio. "But obviously sometimes we get tired and so we have caves where
people can go for some quiet."
Not surprisingly, many visitors find it difficult to leave. One young French
woman is coming to the end of nearly two years of living in the monastery and
working with local people as an agricultural engineer.
"This place is like something wonderful," she says. "Every day I wake up here
and think that I just want to live here for always and always."
But Dell'oglio rubs his eyes tiredly when asked about the future of the region,
and particularly of Syria's 1 million native Christians. He says if relations
with the West worsen, it will get more difficult for Christians to stay in
Syria.
His concerns are shared in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
"The Christians in Syria are very worried about the future," says Ayman Abdul
Nour, a Syrian reform leader in Damascus. He notes that a disproportionate
number of visa seekers at North American embassies are Christians.
But while Dell'oglio is concerned about Syrian Christians, he's also thinking
globally.
"The big issue is whether there can even be a future without religious harmony,"
says Paolo. "To build religious harmony is to build a future for humanity. It's
not going to be easy but I say let's do it. Bring it on."
1 killed, 1 hurt in clashes in Lebanese Palestinian
refugee camp
By The Associated Press - 01/05/2006
A Palestinian man was killed and another seriously wounded Monday in clashes in
Lebanon's largest refugee camp, officials said. Mainstream Fatah guerrillas
battled members of Jund al-Sham, a small, radical Islamic group in the Ein el-Hilweh
refugee camp near the southern port city of Sidon, Palestinian officials said.
It was not clear what triggered the fighting, in which heavy machine guns were
used. A Fatah official in the camp, speaking on condition of anonymity because
he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the fighting began when Jund
al-Sham gunmen tried to assassinate Mahmoud Abdul-Hamid Issa, a Fatah military
official, as he walked with his bodyguards. One of the bodyguards, Abu Omra al-Aswad,
was seriously wounded, the official said.
A bystander, Mohammed Tayssir Awad, 20, was hit by a stray bullet and died
instantly, other Palestinian officials in the camp said, speaking on condition
of anonymity because they were not allowed to talk to the media.
Jund al-Sham, which means Soldiers of Syria, is a Sunni Muslim group of Syrian,
Palestinian and Jordanian militants with links to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head
of al-Qaida in Iraq. The group was founded in Afghanistan and emerged in Ein el-Hilweh
in 2004. Its estimated 50 members, who brand Christians and Shiite Muslims as
"infidels," have had tense relations with Fatah guerrillas who control the camp,
and have clashed with them in the past.
Ein el-Hilweh, home to about 75,000 Palestinian refugees, has been the scene of
frequent bombings, assassinations and shootings among rival Palestinian
factions. The camp is also believed to house many fugitives wanted by Lebanese
authorities. The Lebanese army mans checkpoints outside the camp, but its troops
do not enter.
Ein el-Hilweh is the largest of 12 refugee camps in Lebanon, which together
house about 350,000 Palestinians and their descendants, who were displaced by
war with Israel in 1948.