LCCC ENGLISH NEWS BULLETIN
NOVEMBER 13/06
Biblical Reading For today
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Mark 12,38-44.
In the course of his teaching he said, "Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes and accept greetings in the marketplaces, seats of honor in synagogues, and places of honor at banquets. They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext, recite lengthy prayers. They will receive a very severe condemnation." He sat down opposite the treasury and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents. Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them, "Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the other contributors to the treasury. For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth, but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had, her whole livelihood."
Free Opinions & Studies
Why won't Lebanon's politicians come clean with the public? Daily Star 13.11.06
Algebra, Language and the Broken Triangle-By: Abdullah Iskandar Al-Hayat .13/11/06
General Aoun: Fading Halos & Falling Masks-By: Elias Bejjani.World Forum. 13.11.06Expect little change in US foreign policy -By Marco Vicenzino 13.11.06
Hezbollah Militancy Impedes the Road Back to Normality. By: Manuela Paraipan 13.11.06Are we witnessing the end of secularism? -By Ralf Dahrendorf 13.11.06
Latest New from The Daily Star for November 13/06
Rice: Syria is a 'dangerous state behaving in a dangerous manner'
Crippled Cabinet will still discuss Hariri court
March 14 points finger at Tehran, Damascus
Israeli general in charge of troops at border resigns
Sfeir accuses opposition of rejecting international support
National humiliation
Sayyed's lawyers accuse UN team of falsifying evidence in Hariri probeCement producers threaten to abandon postwar price ceiling
Druze council elects officers, fills committees
Arab foreign ministers announce plans to hold Middle East peace conference
Egyptian Shiites feel heat at home with sect's regional resurgence
Iran vows 'destructive' response if Israel attacks nuclear sites
Latest New from miscellaneous sources for November 13/06Hizbullah Working to Consolidate Power in Lebanon-Arutz Sheva
Political crisis deepens in Lebanon-Sydney Morning Herald
'Al-Qaeda Lebanon' group says it will will destroy the government-Monsters and Critics.com
Southern Lebanon's deadly crop-International Herald Tribune
Lebanon Sinks Deeper into Political and Sectarian Turmoil-Naharnet
Political crisis worsens after quitting of Shiite ministers-Ya Libnan
Rice: Syrian Territory Used for Accelerated Arming of Hizbullah-Naharnet
Britain confirms Iran, Syria continue to arm Hizballah-Israel Today
Hizb'allah's missiles back in Lebanon - Sunday Times-Jerusalem Newswire
War's Deadly Legacy Continues to Kill-Naharnet
Intelligence: Nasrallah stronger than before war-Ynetnews
Hezbollah to stage protests after unity talks fail-Swissinfo
Rival Lebanese politicians deadlocked on key issues-Kuwait Times
Denis MacShane-Guardian Unlimited
Britain confirms Iran, Syria continue to arm Hizballah-Israel Today
Lebanon's Hariri probe at heart of Hezbollah walkout-Turkish Press
A second Israeli general quits over Lebanon war-Reuters
Reconstuction underway in battered Lebanon-Ekklesia
Israel wraps investigation into Hezbollah's kidnap -Kuwait News Agency
Northern farmers: We'll ask Lebanon for compensation-Ynetnews
Al-Qaeda Lebanon' group says it will will destroy the government
Nov 12, 2006, Beirut - A group identifying itself as 'Al-Qaeda Lebanon' issued a statement Sunday threatening 'to destroy the corrupt cabinet that takes orders from the US administration.' The typewritten statement by the previously unknown group was sent to the Christian Voice of Lebanon radio station
'We have reached Lebanon and we will work on destroying this government and all the other agents. Let them know that we are after them, with God's will,' the statement said. The statement came with the country in political crisis following the resignation of the five Shiite ministers.
All belong to the pro-Syrian Amal and Shiite Hezbollah groups. The government is headed Fouad Seniora, a member of the anti-Syrian majority in the country. © 2006 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Sfeir accuses opposition of rejecting international support
Qabalan urges siniora to meet ministers who quit
By Maroun Khoury and Maher Zeineddine
Daily Star correspondent --Monday, November 13, 2006
BEIRUT: The head of the Maronite Church said Sunday that certain parties "are rejecting" the international community's support for Lebanon. In his Sunday sermon, Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir indirectly criticized the resignations of five Shiite ministers on Saturday, saying some Lebanese were acting like "they want to reject international help."
"Civil society is afflicted by disorder, which we fear will expand," Sfeir said. "We fear that those who are seeking to help us will know that we cannot manage our own affairs and we are in constant need of someone to control us."
Sfeir's statements came one day after the resignation of five Shiite ministers from Premier Fouad Siniora's Cabinet.
In remarks following a meeting with the patriarch, Reform and Change parliamentary bloc MP Neamatallah Abi Nasr said his bloc supports the creation of an international tribunal that will prosecute former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassins.
Asked why MP Michel Aoun rejected the parliamentary majority's offer of four ministerial seats, he said that the bloc had yet to meet to discuss this matter. "You can pose this question to General Aoun," he added.
Abi Nasr repeated his calls for the creation of a national unity Cabinet that would face the socioeconomic and political challenges created by Israel's summer war against Lebanon. In an unprecedented statement, Abi Nasr added that Aoun's party and Hizbullah are not "allied," but only agreed on some specific points in their February 2006 memorandum of accord.
The Vice President of the Higher Shiite Council Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan praised on Sunday Siniora's rejection of the resignation of the ministers.
"We ask that the ministers be patient because we want this Cabinet to remain united and we ask Premier Siniora to hold a meeting with those who submitted their resignations," he said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Speaker Farid Makari voiced his surprise at the resignations, which he said coincided with the delivery of the draft of the international tribunal to the government.
In a statement issued on Saturday, Makari said the timing of the resignations "raises suspicions and questions, especially after both sides had agreed on the creation of the tribunal during the previous national talks.""What happened during Saturday's consultations confirmed that the March 14 Forces made the right choice by refusing to form a Cabinet with a vetoing third," Makari said, adding that if they had agreed to the opposition's demands, "there wouldn't be a Cabinet or an international tribunal."Democratic Gathering bloc MP Wael Bou Faour said that the ministers' withdrawal from Cabinet revealed the truth behind their positions, as they "had always wanted to derail the formation of the tribunal."
Speaking on Sunday, Bou Faour said that "now we know who supports Lebanon's sovereignty and who doesn't and who wants to protect [Syrian President] Bashar Assad."The MP added that he was not surprised by the refusal of President Emile Lahoud, whom he called the "Neron of Baabda," to hold a Cabinet session on Monday to discuss the tribunal's draft.
However, Amal MP Ali Bazzi defended his colleagues' decision to leave Cabinet, saying that "the resignation of the five ministers came in line with our political values and convictions."In remarks on Sunday, Bazzi accused the parliamentary majority of monopolizing the decision-making process.
Addressing the majority, Bazzi said: "If you want partnership, we are ready; otherwise, we will practice our political role from outside the government and try to preserve civil peace and stability."As for the creation of the international tribunal, Bazzi said that "we have the right to take our time to study any resolution because we are partners in this country."Former prime ministers Salim Hoss, Najib Mikati and Omar Karami issued a joint statement on Sunday, urging Siniora to suspend Cabinet sessions until an agreement is reached between all the parties.
Rice: Syria is a 'dangerous state behaving in a dangerous manner'
Compiled by Daily Star staff -Monday, November 13, 2006
The United States believes Syria is a dangerous state whose territory is being used for the accelerated rearming of Hizbullah, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday ahead of talks with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Rice's comments came as Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said Sunday that Damascus was ready to engage in "dialogue" with the United States in a bid to achieve stability in Iraq and the region.
But Rice described Syria as "a dangerous state that is behaving in a dangerous manner.
"The United States is concerned and is following closely the use of Syrian territory as a way-station for the accelerated arming of Hizbullah," she told Israeli newspaper Maariv."Syria is a way-station for Iranian arms that cross the Middle East. It is not a state that contributes to stability in the Middle East," Rice said."This is obvious to everyone, and we are watching this situation closely," she added. "We are working with additional international agencies in order to tell Syria that it must change this behavior pattern."
"We clarified that Syria must change its behavior as soon as possible," she said. But when asked after a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo whether Damascus was ready to engage in talks with Washington, Moallem said: "Yes, we are ready for dialogue to achieve stability and peace in the region. "We support the political process in Iraq and the Iraqi government and we are against a single of drop of Iraqi blood being shed," he added.
After last week's mid-term elections in the United States, Israel became concerned that US President George W. Bush would adopt a more lenient policy that would include opening talks with Iran and Syria as a way of prodding them to help restore stability in Iraq.
Iran said earlier this month it would be ready to examine a US request for talks over Iraq, which has been gripped by spiraling sectarian violence.
Olmert began a five-day trip to the US on Sunday, armed with an agenda focusing on the Iranian nuclear threat and Israel's relations with the Palestinians. On the flight to Washington, Olmert told reporters traveling with him that Iran needed to fear the consequences of not heeding international demands over its nuclear program. "If someone wants to reach a compromise with Iran he must understand that Iran won't be ready to do so unless it is afraid," Olmert said. "Israel has various options which I am not prepared to discuss."
On Iraq, Olmert warned the US, in an interview published Sunday, against a "premature pullout" from the country.
"If there is a premature pullout before Iraq has a robust government with a strong authority that can keep the country from collapsing into an internal civil war, America will have to think about the possible ramifications on neighboring Arab countries with moderate governments," Olmert told The Washington Post newspaper and Newsweek magazine. "How will it affect the stability of these countries against the radical forces that might flourish as a result of a premature pullout of America?" he asked. Israeli media said Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni had discussed ways for Israel to grab the diplomatic initiative in the stalled peace process. "The Palestinian issue is on the agenda. There is no way we can ignore it. We have to find the best partner," Olmert told Newsweek in an interview published on Sunday. Olmert said the recent inclusion of a far-right politician into his Cabinet would not alter his position toward the Palestinians."You can read my lips. I'm ready for territorial compromises, and I haven't changed my mind," Olmert said. - Agencies
Crippled Cabinet will still discuss Hariri court
By Nada Bakri -Daily Star staff
Monday, November 13, 2006
BEIRUT: Lebanon's Cabinet will convene Monday in an extraordinary session to study the final draft that outlines the international court to try the killers of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, despite the resignation of five of its ministers. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora decided to go ahead with his decision to hold the extraordinary session, despite statements by pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud that the government had "lost its constitutional legitimacy" following the five Shiites ministers' resignation. The ministers, belonging to Amal and Hizbullah, resigned hours after the week-long national consultations broke down over demands made by Hizbullah's allies for veto power in the Cabinet. The ruling majority had rejected the demands.
In a statement late Sunday, Siniora's press office said the premier told his ministers on Thursday that he had scheduled an extraordinary Cabinet session for Monday. It added that Siniora later agreed to postpone the session after Lahoud said he needed more time to study the final draft of the court before discussing it in Cabinet for approval. Siniora said that he had requested a meeting with Lahoud on Sunday to discuss the latter's remarks on the draft law, but Lahoud did not respond. Early Sunday, Lahoud issued a statement to the media, saying that the government "has lost its legitimacy, following the ministers' resignation and any decision it makes will be considered unconstitutional."
"Any Cabinet meeting is anti-constitutional and worthless," Lahoud's press office said in a statement.
In light of these developments, Siniora decided to go ahead with the session but addressed Lahoud in a letter urging him to attend.
"Your Excellency, I hope that you would attend the Cabinet's extraordinary session that will be held on Monday to study the draft law of the international court," Siniora said in his letter. "It is self-evident that Cabinet will discuss the different points of view and remarks on the draft law before making a just and fair decision," he added. Lahoud's argument is based on a clause in the Constitution that stipulates "an authority that contradicts the national accord" and another that says "all sects should be fairly represented in Cabinet."
Siniora rejected the ministers' resignations, which came after the collapse of the talks aimed at creating a government of national unity.
Constitutionally, Siniora's government can function without the five Shiite ministers, since it commands a majority led by Hariri's son Saad in the 128-seat Parliament. But in a system based on sectarian consensus, the absence of representatives from the single biggest community could fatally weaken it.
The March 14 Forces say that according to the Constitution the Cabinet can convene and pass decisions despite of the resignation of the ministers.
"Cabinet's approval of the draft law would be valid and 100 percent constitutional," former President Amin Gemayel said on Sunday. - With agencies
March 14 points finger at Tehran, Damascus
Hariri says resignation of 5 shiite ministers 'was not a coincidence'
By Leila Hatoum -Daily Star staff
Monday, November 13, 2006
BEIRUT: The March 14 Forces accused Damascus and Tehran on Sunday of planning to topple the legitimate authorities in Lebanon and re-establish Syrian hegemony over the country. In response to the resignations of the five Shiite ministers from Premier Fouad Siniora's government, the coalition met late Sunday at the Qoreitem home of the parliamentary majority leader, MP Saad Hariri, to form a unified stance. Afterward, Hariri read out a statement in which he accused Syria and Iran of being behind the resignations and plotting to foil the international tribunal to try those accused of killing his father, former Premier Rafik Hariri. Hizbullah and Amal ministers resigned Saturday after accusing the March 14 Forces of "controlling the decision-making in the Cabinet" - and on the eve of a planned session to pass the final draft of the court.
The ministers who resigned are Labor Minister Trad Hamadeh, Agriculture Minister Talal Sahili, Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh, Health Minister Mohammed Jawad Khalifeh, and Energy and Water Minister Mohammed Fneish.
"This resignation ... was not a coincidence. The March 14 Forces lament this step and see in it an attempt to foil the formation of the international tribunal," Hariri said. "We agreed twice to Speaker Nabih Berri's call for dialogue and consultations to maintain stability ... but it turned out that some parties didn't want this and their hidden intentions became clear to us ... It is a Syrian-Iranian plot to topple legitimate rule in Lebanon, destroy the Paris III donor conference, annul the tribunal and place this country back under the former [Syrian] mandate."He added that "this plan was done by the Syrian regime and the [pro-Syrian] president [Emile Lahoud] ... who wants to assassinate Rafik Hariri a second time."
"Foiling this tribunal and protecting the criminals [bears the fingerprints] of a well-known murderous regime," he added, "which we will not allow to succeed."Hizbullah and Amal rejected linking the resignation of their ministers with the idea of an attempt to halt the tribunal.
"Our stance on the tribunal is clear," Amal MP Ali Hassan Khalil told The Daily Star on Sunday. "We have nothing to hide and we have said so in the dialogue and consultations. In principle we agree on the tribunal and we have made it clear in our statements."
However, when the tribunal was first discussed after anti-Syrian MP Gebran Tueni was assassinated in late 2005, the same Shiite ministers suspended their participation in the Cabinet."We are in direct contact with our allies to assess the situation," Khalil added. "All options are being considered, and our resignation was for political reasons as there is domination over power and decision-making. When these reasons are taken into consideration by the majority and we reach an agreement on that, then maybe we will return to the Cabinet."
As to whether the Amal and Hizbullah blocs would resign from Parliament, a prominent Hizbullah official told The Daily Star on condition of anonymity: "There are many means of pressure that we can use, but resigning from the Parliament isn't one of them."
Street protests are one option that hizbullah has stressed. Hizbullah's number two, Sheikh Naim Qassem, told Reuters on Sunday that the Cabinet resignation "was a first step. There will be other steps that we will discuss in detail with our allies and which we will announce gradually."
"Going ... to the streets is one of the important steps that Hizbullah and its allies will take," he added.
Also Sunday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abou al-Gheit argued that "efforts must be exerted to avoid, by all means, resorting to the street."
The resignation came as a surprise to many, despite the "electrified" nature of Saturday's consultation session.
A governmental source told The Daily Star that the session was tense and "electrified so it had to be postponed until Wednesday until Berri returns from his trip to Tehran."
Speaking from Iran after meeting Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki on the sidelines of a convention of Asian legislative leaders, Berri said the "situation ... has reached a divorce status, but this doesn't mean we have hit a dead end. Divorce can be revocable but this is in the hands of the majority."
He added that "I tried to find a remedy to the problem, but alas, we reached a point where divorce was inevitable."
Berri denied that street protests were imminent, saying: "No, no, we don't have any intention of that. It is in the hands of the majority, we have asked for participation, and the majority refused this, at that point we told them to rule on their own."
Hizbullah, Amal and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) have been calling for a unity Cabinet in which they would hold a third of the portfolios. But that number would give them a veto - something the majority has rejected for fear that the tribunal would not pass.
Siniora declined to accept the resignations, urging the Shiite ministers in a statement "to stick to their responsibilities and continue their work."
"We shall continue and will never stop and will not accept that anyone take this country to a place where the Lebanese don't want to go," he added. "Lebanon shall remain, shall remain, and shall remain."
He also delayed a trip this week to Seoul and Tokyo.
On Sunday, Siniora received phone calls from UN chief Kofi Annan, EU foreign policy representative Javier Solana, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah Bin Zayed al-Nahayyan.
Prominent March 14 Forces member Walid Jumblatt said Sunday that the resignations "will lead the country into a dangerous vortex."
He attacked Hizbullah's ally, FPM leader MP Michel Aoun, saying he was used "to dividing the Christians. This man only sees his personal ambitions to become a president."
Aoun responded in an interview with NBN television that a March 14 offer of four portfolios for the FPM was a "maneuver" and that "the resignation of the ministers was the most wondrous thing they did to prevent resorting to the streets."
Salloukh cut short a trip to Cairo, where he had been participating in an Arab League meeting called for by Lebanon to discuss the crisis in Gaza.
"This is a natural and democratic way of objection," he said. "I returned after I was told of the resignation." - With agencies
Egyptian Shiites feel heat at home with sect's regional resurgence
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Monday, November 13, 2006
Jailan Zayan - Agence France Presse
CAIRO: Iran's rising regional influence has emboldened Egyptian Shiites to demand more rights, but has also left them vulnerable under a government that questions their loyalty and treats all religious groups with suspicion. The post-Saddam Hussein rise of Iraq's Shiites, the popularity of Lebanon's Hizbullah movement and Iran's growing influence have all contributed to a spectacular regional Shiite revival and left many Sunni-ruled Arab countries feeling insecure."After Hizbullah's victory in the war, the regime started to turn its attention to Shiites [in Egypt]," said Ahmad Rasim al-Nafis, an Egyptian Shiite and professor of medicine at Mansoura University, referring to the recent Israeli war on Lebanon.
"There have been smear campaigns about us in the state press and in mosques, and our loyalty has been questioned," he told AFP from his home in the conservative northern city of Mansoura.
There are no reliable figures for Egypt's Shiite population. According to a US State Department report on religious freedom published in 2006, they account for less than one percent of the country's 73 million inhabitants.
Nafis, 54, was not born a Shiite. He grew up, like the vast majority of Egyptians, a Sunni.
His interest in Shiism was sparked by the Iranian revolution in 1979 when he was a fresh graduate. "It was an exciting time," he said. "The atmosphere was similar to now, and how people look up to Hizbullah and [the group's leader Sayyed Hassan] Nasrallah."
Nafis, who converted in 1985, explained that what attracted him to Shiism most was the sect's principle that the door of "ijtihad" - the process of interpretation - was never closed.
He said that Shiism paves the way for intellectual development, while Sunni Islam has been "hijacked by Wahhabi ideology." In 2004, Nafis demanded the recognition of Shiism as a legal sect in Egypt, but a police crackdown on the community that same year stalled the effort.
Al-Azhar - Sunni Islam's main seat of learning - acknowledges Shiism as a legitimate branch of Islam.
Egypt's Shiites are not a clandestine group: They speak openly in the press of their beliefs and pray freely in mosques.
But it is political Shiism and its links with Iran that makes President Hosni Mubarak's government uncomfortable.
In April Mubarak accused Arab Shiites of being "always loyal to Iran and not the countries where they live."
"The authorities did not waste much time after I converted. I was arrested in 1987 and charged with belonging to a Shiite organization," said Nafis, who was detained three times between 1987 and 1996.
"Whenever something happens in Iran or Iraq, it is reflected on Shiites" in Egypt, said Mohammad al-Dereini, head of the Higher Council of the Al al-Bait (The Family of the Prophet), a Shiite research centre based in Cairo.
Dereini voiced his desire in the press to apply to set up a Shiite political party, but dropped the initiative following his 15-month detention in 2004 for "belonging to an illegal organization and threatening national security."
At least 124 Egyptian Shiites have been arrested since 1988 in a series of crackdowns, according to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR).
"Egyptian security is always scared of religious groups, whatever their sectarian color," said Makram Mohammad Ahmad, editor-in-chief of the weekly current affairs magazine Al-Mossawar. "It is not that Shiites pose a particular threat in Egypt, or that Egypt is scared that this group would convert the rest," he said.
Britain confirms Iran, Syria continue to arm Hizballah
Israel Today: British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett revealed during a discussion in the British Parliament that Iran is continuing to transfer weapons, money, and manpower from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to Hizballah in Lebanon.
Beckett said that Syria is also involved in the transfer of weapons directly to Hizballah and as such is helping to transfer funds and weapons from Iran to Hizballah. According to Beckett, this support encourages extremism, endangers regional stability and the peace process. “Syria and Iran must stop the assistance to Hizballah and the intervention in the internal issues of Lebanon,” the secretary said.
In answer to a question posed by Shadow Foreign Secretary of the Conservative Party, Beckett said that Prime Minister Blair has spoken with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and discussed the subject of disarming the armed militias in Lebanon. Beckett also said that Britain is committed to fully implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701. At the same time, Britain has recently allowed two top Hamas officials to visit London recently despite Hamas being on the EU terror list, but did not meet with any government officials
The two officials, Ahmad Yousef, an advisor to the Palestinian Prime Minister, and Sid Abu Masamkh, a Hamas parliament representative, were invited by a non-governmental organization to speak in London. During the visit, the two promoted the image of Hamas and portrayed it as a moderate, peace-loving movement and also tried to persuade Britain to withdraw the international sanctions against Hamas.
During the visit, Ahmad Yousef gave an interview to the Guardian newspaper and published a column in the New York Times where he suggested a 10-year ceasefire (hudna) with Israel where each side will completely refrain from aggression or provocation against each other. The ceasefire will be given in return for a complete end to the occupation where both sides could live in peace and negotiate important issues such as the right of return for refugees and the release of prisoners. According to Yousef, if this negotiation will fail to achieve a viable agreement, the next generation will be the one to decide if to renew the ceasefire and the efforts to negotiate for peace.
Hizb'allah's missiles back in Lebanon - Sunday Times
Source: The Sunday Times-November 12, 2006
"Four months after Israel launched its onslaught against Hizb'allah, the Lebanese guerrillas are back in south Lebanon stronger than ever and armed with more rockets than they had before the conflict, according to Israeli intelligence."So reports the British newspaper, The Sunday Times Sunday, quoting an Israeli intellilgence official."Since the ceasefire, additional rockets, weapons and military equipment have reached Hizb'allah. We assume they now have about 20,000 rockets of all ranges — a bit more than they had before July 12."In a recent interview with on Hizb'allah's television station al-Manar, Hizb'allah chief Hassan Nasrallah crowed that the group had rearmed itself and now has a total 30,000 rockets in its possession.
Lebanon Sinks Deeper into Political and Sectarian Turmoil
Naharnet: Lebanon's political crisis has taken a sharp turn for the worse following the resignation of the five Shiite cabinet members over demands for a Hizbullah veto power in the executive authority, which were vehemently rejected by the ruling majority. The resignation of the pro-Syria Hizbullah and Amal ministers came Saturday just after the country's top leaders failed to reach agreement on the formation of a "national unity" government in which Hizbullah and its affiliates would have a third-plus-one veto power. "We have resigned because the majority insists on a unilateral exercising of power," said Mohammed Raad, head of Hizbullah's parliamentary bloc. He was referring to the anti-Syria majority that has resisted a unity cabinet unless President Emile Lahoud stepped down and the opposition signed to an international court for trying the suspected murderers of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri. "We don't want ministers who blindly follow the majority," Raad said. "This is a warning to the majority." Hizbullah and Gen. Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement have been repeatedly calling for the formation of a national unity government. The Shiite group has also threatened street protests if its share in cabinet portfolios is not increased.
Hizbullah's deputy leader Sheikh Naim Kassem said that the group would examine the latest developments before deciding on the next move, which would be "diverse and effective." Premier Fouad Saniora immediately issued a statement saying he would not accept the resignations.
"Mr. Saniora rejects the resignation of Hizbullah and Amal ministers, even if they officially hand in their resignation, and insist that they take part in government," the statement said. "This government respects the constitution and principles based on dialogue and consensus, and it insists on cooperating with all parties in order to find solutions which preserve the interests of Lebanon," it added.
The resignations also came after Saniora called for an extraordinary cabinet meeting Monday to endorse the U.N. draft text of the international tribunal to try Hariri's killers. The president opposed the meeting, saying he needed more time to study the draft. But An Nahar said Sunday that despite Lahoud's boycott, the anti-Syrian majority in cabinet will meet to "take the right stance." Former President Amine Gemayel said from the seat of the Maronite Patriarchate in Bkirki that such a move was expected and "we are preparing ourselves for all possibilities."
While legislator Boutros Harb, who was among Christian politicians who held talks with Patriarch Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir after Saturday's crisis, said the submission of resignations targets Monday's cabinet session. Hizbullah has two portfolios in the 24-minister government which is dominated by anti-Syrian politicians. Speaker Nabih Berri's Amal movement has also two ministers including Foreign Minister Fawzi Sallukh.
The unfolding drama threw the government into a deadlock, with the ministers technically remaining part of the cabinet but not participating in meetings.
Last year, Shiite ministers boycotted cabinet meetings for several months in a dispute with the majority. But it appeared that Saturday's move by Hizbullah and Amal was not final and aimed instead at shaking the political stalemate to force the majority to accept Shiite demands.
An Nahar quoted sources close to Berri as saying that the speaker himself took the decision for the ministers to resign after holding talks with the Amal leadership and coordinating with Hizbullah before leaving to Tehran. Saturday's roundtable talks in parliament were the fourth in this month's effort to bridge the widening gap between Hariri's political heirs and pro-Syrian rivals apparently bent on blocking the international tribunal that could implicate influential Lebanese and Syrian politicians in the murder.(Outside An Nahar photo shows Saad Hariri laying a copy of the draft document setting up an international tribunal at his father's grave and inside AFP photo shows the ministers who submitted their resignations) Beirut, 12 Nov 06, 09:37
Sallukh Scraps Plan to Attend Cairo Meeting
Naharnet: Foreign Minister Fawzi Sallukh has decided not to travel to Egypt for an emergency Arab League meeting following the deepening of political schism in Lebanon. Sallukh, who resigned from the government on Saturday, had been due to attend a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo on Sunday to examine Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, including a raid that killed 19 Palestinians, mainly women and children, in Beit Hanoun on Wednesday. A government source in Beirut said Sallukh would not be going, even though the meeting had been called for by Lebanon.
According to An Nahar newspaper Sunday, the Arab League was "very upset" at the minister's decision.
Sallukh is among five other Shiite ministers who resigned from Premier Fouad Saniora's government after the country's top leaders failed to reach agreement on the formation of a "national unity" government. Beirut, 12 Nov 06, 10:08
Rice: Syrian Territory Used for Accelerated Arming of Hizbullah
Naharnet: The United States believes Syria is a dangerous state whose territory is being used for the accelerated arming of Hizbullah, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in an interview with an Israeli daily Sunday.
"This is a dangerous state that is behaving in a dangerous manner," Rice told Israel's second largest daily, Maariv. "The United States is concerned and is following closely the use of Syrian territory as a way-station for the accelerated arming of Hizbullah," the Hebrew-language newspaper quoted her as saying. Israel has long maintained that Hizbullah, with which it fought a 34-day war this summer, receives its weapons from Iran via Syria -- a charge both these countries deny. "Syria is a way-station for Iranian arms that cross the Middle East. It is not a state that contributes to stability in the Middle East," Rice said. "This is obvious to everyone, and we are watching this situation closely. We are working with additional international agencies in order to tell Syria that it must change this behavior pattern.""We clarified that Syria must change its behavior as soon as possible," she added.
Lebanese foreign minister Fawzi Sallukh, who submitted his resignation on Saturday, has repeatedly denied that arms were being transferred to Hizbullah via Syria. "The Lebanese army has deployed on the Lebanese-Syrian border since August 17 with about 8,500 troops, with forces also on the maritime borders and in territorial waters," the minister said last week. "Since that date no arms shipments have been seized on the land or maritime borders, and we know that the measures we have adopted are so tight that it is impossible for any shipment to enter without being seized," he added.(AFP-Naharnet) Beirut, 12 Nov 06, 09:55
Olmert Acknowledges 'Many Mistakes' but Says Israel Stopped Hizbullah Threats
Naharnet: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said the Jewish State was able to prevent Hizbullah from threatening northern Israel but acknowledged it made "many mistakes" during its offensive on Lebanon. "There were many mistakes committed but the overall picture is very significant," Olmert said in an interview published on Newsweek magazine's website on Saturday. "The main objective of Israel was to create the necessary conditions for the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south of Lebanon and to stop Hizbullah from threatening the northern part of Israel, and I think that we have achieved these objectives," he added. The Israel-Hizbullah war ended on August 14 with a U.N. brokered ceasefire that called for the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south with the help of U.N. peacekeepers. Israel started its offensive on Lebanon on July 12 following a deadly cross border raid by Hizbullah and the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers. "We still have to work hard in order to bring back the two abducted Israeli soldiers," Olmert said. He also said he would negotiate with Syria if it stopped backing Hizbullah. "I would be happy to negotiate with (Syrian President) Bashar Assad if he stopped his support of terror and of Hizbullah. Bashar Assad doesn't show any sign that he's ready to do this," Olmert told Newsweek. "Bashar Assad has not reached the point where he can qualify as a legitimate partner. You can't say we will not negotiate with terrorists and negotiate with someone who is a great supporter of terrorists," he said. "I don't believe Assad wants to be separated from Iran. What he wants is to recover the (Israeli occupied) Golan Heights, and I don't see any signs that he understands that he needs to pay for it," Olmert added. Olmert's interview with Newsweek came on the eve of his visit to the United States where he will meet with U.S. President George Bush. A high-ranking U.S. administration official said that Bush and Olmert will likely talk about Lebanon, as well as Iran on Monday. It will be the first White House meeting for both leaders since Israel's war against Hizbullah in Lebanon, in which the United States lent its unfailing political support to its ally. Beirut, 12 Nov 06, 11:28
Shiite Schools Teach 'Resistance' to Children
Naharnet: Kindergarten teacher Zeinab Asfur stands in front of her class in the Shiite-dominated southern suburbs of Beirut. "Who are your heroes?" she asks. "The men of the resistance!" the children shout back in unison. As early as four years old, pupils across the suburbs are taught about the "heroic resistance" of Hizbullah in Israel's summer war which completely devastated large parts of the area. Their return to school this year has been overshadowed by the deaths of more than 1,200 people -- one third of them children -- during the 34-day Israeli onslaught which also destroyed roads, homes and schools.
Dozens of schools were flattened in the predominantly Shiite suburbs of the capital and in the south of the country, where Hizbullah fighters fought against Israeli troops during the war. Private schools run by Hizbullah or other pro-Iranian Shiite groups in Beirut's suburbs or across eastern and southern Lebanon offer Islamic studies to their pupils, and this year they are marked by more militant teachings.
As public schools across the country provide general courses about religion, many private schools -- whether run by Christian or by Muslim institutions -- offer more enforced religious studies in their curriculum. During her Islamic class at the private al-Mujtaba school in the teeming slums of Hay al-Sullom, Asfur teaches her kindergarten children about the holy Koran, Islam and the anti-Israeli "resistance.
She belongs to the Al-Koran al-Karim Association, which supplies instructors to teach the Koran in schools. "Teaching small kids is part of the al-Hajja Umm Muslim program for children aged between four and five to learn the holy Koran and stories of Islam," Asfer said. "I teach them every Monday for 20 minutes, and then their teachers will follow up during the week. The aim is to raise the children with a solid Islamic background based on the Koran," she added. In a nearby classroom, Ramzia is teaching students the art of reciting verses from the Koran.
On the walls are pinned colorful cardboard cards bearing the words "martyrs," "resistance" and "the evils of Israeli racism and terrorism" in French -- the remnants of a previous language lesson in the classroom. In addition to Arabic, Islamic studies and the other usual subjects, the 1,200 students at al-Mujtaba school, run by the al-Mabarat Charity Association of Shiite cleric Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, also learn French and English.
Al-Mabarat runs many schools and orphanages across Lebanon, many of which were destroyed or partly damaged by Israeli raids during the war.
At al-Imam al-Rida school, a portrait of bearded Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah hangs above the door of a third-grade classroom.
"The Islamic Resistance is as proud as Lebanon's mountains," says a slogan on a poster at the entrance to another classroom, also boasting of Hizbullah's "divine victory" against Israel in the summer war. Haitham Amhaz, principal of al-Imam al-Rida school, said that teaching the Koran to the pupils has been welcomed by "all families, even those who do not abide by the rules of Islam."
"For many families, Islamic studies are the best protection for their children in a society full of temptation," he added.
Hajj Abdel al-Khalil, a senior official of the Al-Koran al-Karim Association, said "teaching Islam and the Koran is the only guarantee to protect our society."Khalil complained about "bad influences" being spread through the Internet and on satellite television channels, mostly from the West, and denounced "a campaign to distort the image of Islam by portraying Muslims as terrorists.""Islam is a religion of tolerance and forgiveness," he said. "Many people commit acts in the name of Islam and this is wrong." Khalil said that his institution also sends teachers to non-Islamic schools where they have been allowed to teach the Koran to Muslim students."We have teachers in many non-Islamic schools in Lebanon, such as the Saint Antonios, the Frere and the Lycee De La Finnesse. We simply asked them if we could teach the Koran in their classes and they agreed," he said.(AFP)
Beirut, 12 Nov 06, 08:39
War's Deadly Legacy Continues to Kill
Naharnet: Three months after a U.N.-brokered ceasefire ended the 34-day Israeli offensive, the fields and olive groves of southern Lebanon remain sewn with a deadly crop -- unexploded cluster bombs. On Friday, a farmer became the latest victim of the summer war. Police said he was killed and a companion was wounded as they gathered olives in the village of Kfar Roumman, near Nabatiyeh. Since August 14 when hostilities ended, 23 people have been killed and another 136 injured by cluster munitions, according to an AFP count. The Israelis fired the bomblets into south Lebanon during the month-long conflict, but according to the U.N., clearing them has been made more difficult by Israel not revealing the precise areas they targeted.
It is thought that up to 40 percent of the bombs did not explode when they hit the ground, becoming deadly traps for the unwary since they remain active and can detonate at the slightest movement.
Eight hundred locations have been identified provisionally and 58,000 bomblets have so far been neutralized. But not one of those 800 bomb-strewn sites has been fully cleared yet, says Dalya Farran, spokeswoman for the Mine Action Coordination Centre (MACC), a United Nations program working in the country with the cooperation of the Beirut government. Since October 31, 47 foreign-led teams operating under a program financed by the United Arab Emirates and the U.N. has been working to clear south Lebanon completely of deadly unexploded munitions by the end of 2007.
The UAE has an unlimited budget to clear an area of 583 square kilometers in the Nabatiyeh-Hasbaya-Jezzine area, home to 250,000 people. Two British organizations have been sub-contracted to do some of the work, the UAE's Rashed al-Aryani told AFP. Financing to clear other areas of south Lebanon has been secured until next June, according to the MACC. "If the Israelis let us know the areas they targeted, the work could speed up," said Farran. "At the moment, we pinpoint the locations only when alerted by the local population or military."
She added that the cluster munitions used in Lebanon were both Israeli- and U.S.-made. Israel has not responded to U.N. requests to identify the areas targeted, nor has it said how many bombs of this kind were launched on Lebanon. It says it did not use prohibited weaponry during the conflict.
Jan Egeland, the U.N.'s undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs, on Tuesday called "on all states to implement an immediate freeze on the use of cluster munitions."His appeal came at the beginning of a review conference in Geneva on the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, a global arms treaty restricting some types of conventional munitions that has been ratified by about 100 countries.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) made a similar appeal, also calling for stocks of cluster munitions to be destroyed.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan stopped short of Egeland's outright call for a moratorium, instead urging measures to reduce the harm caused to civilians. He suggested a freeze on their use near civilian areas and on trade in cluster bombs "that are known to be inaccurate and unreliable."
Frenchman Frederic Gras, who supervises five mine-clearing teams working in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia, said that in Lebanon cluster munitions were used mainly in urban areas rather than in open countryside. "Everywhere I went in urban parts of south Lebanon I found cluster bomblets," he said, adding that clearing such weapons is more difficult in built-up areas. Cluster munitions use large containers that open to spread dozens of bomblets over a wide area. According to the war victims aid group Handicap International, 98 percent of cluster bomb victims are civilians. It said that of 11,044 cases recorded in 23 countries, just 125 were military and another 59 were deminers themselves.(AFP) (AFP photo shows a bomb expert inspecting a cluster bomb before neutralizing) Beirut, 12 Nov 06, 08:20
Algebra, Language and the Broken Triangle
Abdullah Iskandar Al-Hayat - 12/11/06//
Between the first, last Monday, and the fourth yesterday, things were improving. And between the negative fourth and the fifth that is waiting for the return of Speaker Nabih Berry, head of Lebanon's consultations, from Tehran, there is still no agreement or mutual understanding.
During the week, people have talked about an improvement in the sessions of the Lebanese consultations between the ruling majority and the minority. Part of the minority is in the government and the rest is striving to enter it. This improvement is related to two endeavors. The first was made by MP Murr in order to repair the broken 'third side of the triangle'. The other has been carried on the wings of rumor that the third side of the triangle is being bartered in exchange for the International Tribunal.
Now for the details. MP Murr has strived to convince Hezbollah and its allies that 8.6 equals 9 on the one hand, and to convince the March 14 Forces that 8.6 makes just 8 on the other. In inventing this new algebraic rule, Murr relied on the geometry theory devised by Speaker Berry, which is based on the idea of making angles round, while keeping them angles, and turning circles into squares, while keeping them circles.
Nevertheless, the language of algebra and geometry has remained the strongest. No one, either among Hezbollah or the majority, is convinced that he will gain anything from these new mathematical and geometry rules. Everyone is trying to clinch a clear and undisputed result for themselves: 'we are the majority, and we want to maintain the highest number'; or, 'we want the government and an influential number in our program.'
The barter project has failed, and the causes are to be looked for in the fact that the minority has tried to sell its merchandise to the majority; in other words submitting to a previous government decision, so that other decisions would follow: 'we give you the International Tribunal without unveiling the details, and, in return, you give us the right to modify these details in order to make the assassination of PM Hariri really a criminal, even an individual, act!'
In both cases, algebra and playing on words have failed to offer a way for making the two parallel lines meet. These two lines have existed since the last elections, which established the March 8 concept. That is, to stick to the previous relations with Syria and Iran, to keep the Southern front open, and to make the State serve these two goals. At the same time, the elections also promoted the March 14 concept; that is, confining regional relations to bilateral ties, and closing the Southern front, so that the Lebanese State can stand on its feet. These two concepts first appeared in popular demonstrations. According to the first, the objective was to respond to the Syrian military withdrawal, and to announce their loyalty to the Syrian policy in Lebanon. This was followed by other demonstrations, which broke out immediately after the murder of PM Hariri. The demonstrators demanded to know the truth and called for the prosecution of those responsible for the crime. According to the second, popular demonstrations broke out in response to the March 8. In this case, the demonstrators said that the path of 'independence' is better paved and wider than the path of 'loyalty'.
The July war did not change the government's internal equation. The next demand was for national unity. However, the paradox is that those who demand it more vigorously than anyone else are some hard-line government representatives. They have adopted a hard-line stance because they want their ally, Michel Aoun, to join the government. The majority says it is ready to agree to this, provided it remains a majority. Nevertheless, Hezbollah has refused this condition because it wants to turn the majority into a minority. Now, here is a return to the play on words. Hezbollah wants the broken third side of the triangle in the government, but the impertinence of the slogan 'disrupting government work' has made it call this third side a surety. Speaker Berry has alleviated the intensity of the meaning of this word, because everyone is demanding guarantees. Therefore, he decided to call it the 'participating third side', while there are hardly any common denominators.
Mathematics, geometry and playing on words are no longer useful. The extended deadline set by Hezbollah has expired. Since there is a will to put an end to this situation, while time is running out and pressing, Hezbollah and Amal ministers have resigned from the government. It had been decided that these resignations were to be handed in yesterday while Berry was supposed to be on his way to Tehran to push the country into a strength test, the intensity of which the head of the consultations could have eased. This happened before the Council of Ministers discussed the International Tribunal system on Monday. The announcement by the two Shiite organizations that they will reveal what they are not convinced of has confirmed the majority's suspicions about the goals behind the demands for the broken third side of the triangle.
National humiliation
Monday, November 13, 2006
First person Joseph el-Khoury
Along with many Lebanese abroad I have been feeling a deep sense of national humiliation over the past few days. I have been skeptical from the start, if not completely opposed to the idea of a national dialogue. This is understandable, as I still harbor distant memories of conferences held in fancy European resorts and Arab capitals. At the time it proved a very effective way to learn geography but none of these attempts at dialogue led to long-lasting and satisfactory resolutions. Ironically many of these so-called first-rank politicians who were part of the Lausanne and Geneva set are still debating our future 20 years later.
Once again our politicians have failed to behave responsibly. By agreeing to a national dialogue outside the normal framework of the institutions they have re-established a primitive process reminiscent of the days of the omnipotent militia leader. This tribal round-table is of course not suitable to any democratic process, let alone in a fragile society with ever-widening fault lines.
Out of the latest parliamentary elections and due to the complex nature of shifting alliances came a majority and a significant minority. While the Hizbullah-Aoun alliance deliberately refuses to behave as an opposition in what appears a tactical move to undermine the government, the behavior of the March 14 Forces is less clear. On one hand they insist on their popular and electoral mandate to govern the country and on the other they adopt the same posturing as their opponents. I might be unaware of some secret US-inspired recipe to win the standoff but I get the feeling that they are more comfortable in the roles of sectarian and feudal chiefs than in that of elected representatives.
I am not sure what would relieve my sense of humiliation. It is clearly not the lunches held by Samir Geagea and Michel Aoun or the sarcastic humor of Nabih Berri. I wish they chose to have this circus elsewhere than the not-so-vibrant heart of Beirut, where their security ring is guaranteed to keep every shopper, businessman or tourist at bay. May I suggest another fancy European capital next time!
Dr. Joseph El-Khoury
A Lebanese citizen in voluntary exile
London, UK