LCCC ENGLISH NEWS BULLETIN
NOVEMBER 14/06
Biblical Reading For today
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 17,1-6.
He said to his disciples, "Things that cause sin will inevitably occur, but woe to the person through whom they occur.
It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.
And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, 'I am sorry,' you should forgive him." And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." The Lord replied, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to (this) mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.
Free Opinions & Studies
Hezbollah's offensive in Lebanon has begun. By: Dr. Walid Phares, 14.11.06
Divorce in Lebanon According to the Three Legitimacies-By: Zuheir Kseibati-Dar Al-Hayat 14.11.06
Where are you Arabs? By: Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban-Asharq Alawsat 14.11.06
General Michel Aoun: Fading Halos & Falling Masks-Canada Free Press - Canada
America has chance to help the region - and itself -Daily Star 14.11.06
Latest New from the Daily Star for November 14/06
Sfeir reprimands Christian politicians
Iran denies trying to block formation of court
Hizbullah: 'There will be demonstrations'
Cabinet shrugs off crisis, approves draft on Hariri tribunal
Israelis stop buzzing French troops in South
Non-profit group offers free de-mining machine
Shiite council calls failure of consultations 'national loss'
Does the UN need Lebanon's consent for Hariri court?Private sector fears Cabinet crisis will scuttle Paris III
Southerners voice many views on crisis in Beirut, but agree on need for restraintLatest New from miscellaneous sources for November 14/06
America Labels Iran, Hezbollah A Global Nexus of Terrorism'-New York Sun
Bush White House Says Hezbollah, Iran 'Global Nexus Of Terrorism"-All Headline News
Lebanese leader fears emboldened Hezbollah will provoke violence-WorldNetDaily
Hezbollah Admits Ongoing Iranian Financing-theTrumpet.com
Hezbollah's Next Big Gamble-Washington Post
Lebanon faces Hezbollah rallies to protest deadlock-Globe and Mail
Lebanese Government Oks Hariri Tribunal-Guardian Unlimited
Call to ban cluster munitions-The Good News UK
Al-Qaeda threatens to topple Lebanon gov't-Ynetnew
Effects of war in Lebanon remain devastating, Catholic agency says-Catholic OnlineChristian joins Shi'as in cabinet exodus-Independent Online
Hizballah Doubles Pre-War Missile Count in Lebanon-ThreatsWatch.Org
Environment Minister Becomes 6th Cabinet Member to Quit-NaharnetIran Rejects Hariri's Accusations Over International Tribunal-Naharnet
Howard backs Syria, Iran talks on Iraq-CNN - USA
Lebanese government loosing legitimacy-Arab Monitor - ItalyLebanon in crisis as Hizbollah demands more power-Telegraph.co.uk
Lebanon crisis as Hizbullah quits government-Guardian Unlimited
WJC report reveals increasing anti-Semitism since Lebanon war-Ynetnews
Lebanon's president says Cabinet lost legitimacy after ...International Herald Tribune
Blair to call for Syria, Iran to join in Mideast peace efforts-The News
Hizbullah protests parliament rejection-Jerusalem Post
Lebanese Government Falls Into Crisis-New York Sun
Moshe Arens: Failure in Lebanon Worse than Yom Kippur War-Arutz Sheva
Hezbollah's offensive in Lebanon has begunWalid Phares, Ph.D.
World Defense Review columnist
According to sources and contacts – as well as statements made in Lebanon over the past few weeks – all analysis indicates that Hezbollah is on the verge of an all out offensive in Lebanon to crumble the "March 14" Seniora Government and to seize strategic control in the country.
Following are few points deserving attention (a more comprehensive analysis will follow later):
1. As predicted since July 12, (and posted on the Counterterrorism Blog), the aim of Hezbollah's summer war with Israel, was to provoke a "strike-back" at the Lebanese Government and reshape the balance of power in Lebanon to the advantage of the Teheran-Damascus axis. Nasrallah and his allies across the sectarian divide aimed at shifting the issue of disarming Hezbollah and militias (according to UNSCR 1559) to crumbling the government, which is supposed to implement this disarming process.
2. By mid-October, Hezbollah and its pro-Syrian allies had begun a political counter offensive aiming at "enlarging" the Seniora cabinet, as a way to paralyzing it further from the inside. The political discussions took longer than anticipated by Hezbollah. Hence, a decision was made in Tehran (and subsequently in Damascus ) to move forward.
3. The perceived results of the midterm elections in the U.S. were read as positive by Tehran and its allies, in the sense that it froze vigorous reactions by the U.S. against any Iranian-Syrian move in Lebanon via Hezbollah. The feelings in Tehran and Damascus, have been that if in the next weeks and months a "thrust" takes place in Lebanon to the advantage of the pro-Syrian camp, Washington will be in no position to react or counter. Ahmedinijad and Assad believe (or have been advised to believe) that "lobbies" are moving in Washington and Brussels to restrain any strong deterrence by the U.S. against the "axis." The theory is that the Bush Administration is too busy "negotiating" with the new leadership in Congress to "dare" a mass move in the Middle East. The analysis also predicts that strong lobbies within the Democratic Party are now positioned to block any serious response to a change in geopolitics in Lebanon. It is believed that the window of opportunity won't be too long before the Administration and the upcoming Congress "understands" the Tehran-Damascus maneuver and create a unified response. Thus, the expectation is that Hezbollah and its allies were told to achieve their goals before the end of the year, and before the new Congress begin business on the Hill.
4. Hezbollah has mobilized its forces from all over the country to position them in the capital and eventually use them in moves in Beirut, the central and southern part of Mount Lebanon, where most government institutions are located. Nasrallah can also bring into "battle" the supporters of General Michel Aoun, the Syrian National-Socialists, the Baathists, and the pro-Syrian Sunni militias, the Islamic Fundamentalists paid by Syria, the Palestinian radicals and the security agencies still under the influence of Syria. This "huge" army can – technically – defeat the thin internal security forces of the government. The Lebanese Army is an unknown factor, with Hezbollah supporters in control of the military regions in the south, the Bekaa, southern suburbs and other positions. In short, the "axis army" is ready to engage in battle in Lebanon. The issue is when, how, and with what outcome.
5. The projected scenario is as follows: Hezbollah and Amal movement ministers will resign from the Government calling for the resignation of the Government. The next move is to have Hezbollah, Amal, and their allies in the Parliament also resign, thus creating "conditions" for what they will coin as new elections and a collapse of the cabinet. Most of these moves have already been accomplished or are on the eve of being implemented. The pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud will declare the Government and the Parliament as "illegitimate," and call for early legislative elections. The latter, if they take place will be under the smashing influence of Hezbollah's weapons (a show of force was performed in the summer) and of the cohorts of militias and security agencies. Result: a pro-Syrian-Iranian majority in parliament, followed by the formation of an "axis" government in Lebanon. The rest is easy to predict: A terrorism victory.
The question today is, how to stop this from happening? While it is very late in the process, the United States must respond in a strong bipartisan way, the Security Council should move immediately to chapter 7, and the Cedars Revolution to take the streets again. Short of these developments, the worse is to be feared on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean soon.
***— Walid Phares holds degrees in law and political science from Saint Joseph University and the Lebanese University in Beirut, a Masters in international law from the Universite de Lyons in France and a Ph.D. in international relations and strategic studies from the University of Miami. He has taught and lectured at numerous universities worldwide, practiced law in Beirut, and served as publisher of Sawt el-Mashreq and Mashrek International. He currently teaches Middle East political issues, ethnic and religious conflict, and comparative politics at Florida Atlantic University. Dr. Phares has written seven books on the Middle East and published hundreds of articles in newspapers and scholarly publications such as Global Affairs, Middle East Quarterly, and Journal of South Asian and Middle East Studies. He has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, NBC, CBS, ABC, PBS, and BBC as well as on radio broadcasts. Aside from serving on the boards of several national and international think tanks and human rights associations, Dr. Phares has testified before the US Senate Subcommittee on the Middle East and South East Asia and regularly conducts congressional and State Department briefings.
Dr. Phares is a visiting fellow with the European Foundation for Democracy in Brussels and a senior fellow with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington, D.C. His most recent book is Future Jihad, and he was the author of the memo that introduced UNSCR 1559 in 2004.
Visit Dr. Phares on the web at walidphares.com and defenddemocracy.org.© 2006 Walid Phares
America Labels Iran, Hezbollah A ‘Global Nexus of Terrorism'
By ALEX MASSIE-The Daily Telegraph
November 13, 2006
WASHINGTON — America kept up its verbal onslaught on Iran and Hezbollah over the weekend, describing the two as a "dangerous, global nexus of terrorism," but behind the scenes, the Bush administration is thought to be looking for ways to re-establish a relationship with Tehran.
President Bush meets the Iraq Study Group today during the first of three days of deliberations during which the panel will also hear from Vice President Cheney and, via videolink, Prime Minister Blair of Britain. Among the items on the agenda is the case for enlisting Iran and Syria to help corral the violence in Iraq. The ISG's chairman and the former secretary of state, James Baker, recently had a three-hour dinner with the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations to discuss ways in which Iran could help stabilize Iraq.
Though Mr. Baker was not speaking for the administration, the dinner indicates a new pragmatism in Washington that is prepared to question many of the principles that have underpinned the Bush administration's foreign policy since the September 11, 2001, attacks.
The White House said it would consider engaging Iran if that was what Mr. Bakers' commission recommended.
"Nobody can be happy with the situation in Iraq right now. Everybody's been working hard, but what we've been doing has not worked well enough or fast enough," the White House chief of Staff, Josh Bolten, told ABC News's "This Week." "So it's clearly time to put fresh eyes on the problem. The president has always been interested in tactical adjustments. But the ultimate goal remains the same, which is success in Iraq."
The Bush administration "has always been ready to make a course adjustment" if it proved necessary, he said. Mr. Bush's nominee to succeed Donald Rumsfeld as defense secretary, Robert Gates, also supports talking to Tehran. He argued in 2004 that: "Engagement could encourage Iran to adopt a more clear, positive attitude toward the new governments in Afghanistan and in Iraq, and it could also create opportunities for greater interaction between Iranians and the rest of the world." Mr. Gates also advocates a renewed emphasis upon the Middle East peace negotiation. A Council on Foreign Relations report he co-wrote two years ago, said, "These efforts will help marginalize the destabilizing forces that Iranian hard-liners continue to support."
Yesterday, Prime Minister Olmert of Israel arrived in Washington for a five-day visit with Tehran's nuclear program as one of the main issues on the agenda. In a statement issued on Saturday, the president's spokesman, Tony Snow, celebrated efforts by an Argentinian judge to arrest Iranian officials thought to have been involved in a 1994 terrorist attack on a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people.
Bush White House Says Hezbollah, Iran 'Global Nexus Of Terrorism"
November 13, 2006
Joseph S. Mayton - All Headline News Middle East Correspondent
Cairo, Egypt (AHN) - The Bush administration has called Iran and Hezbollah a "global nexus of terrorism" and applauded an Argentine court for seeking the arrest of Iranian officials linked to a 1994 bombing of a Jewish center. Iran has denied any involvement in the attack.
White House spokesman Tony Snow said the Islamic republic was responsible for the death of hundreds of innocent civilians as the world's "leading state sponsor of terrorism." The statement issued by Snow also said that Tehran's financial and military support for the Shiite group Hezbollah allowed the organization to "perpetuate violence throughout the world." "Hezbollah and Iran remain a dangerous, global nexus of terrorism," Snow said in the statement. He gave no specifics, however. Earlier in November, the White House accused Iran, Syria and Hezbollah of plotting to overthrow the Lebanese government, which the Bush administration holds up as an example of emerging democracy in the Middle East.
Sfeir reprimands Christian politicians
By Maroun Khoury -Daily Star correspondent
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
BKIRKI: Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir on Monday criticized the near-daily speeches made by political leaders, notably those delivered by Christians, as "far from what they should be." "If politicians were aware of the principles of Christian education, wouldn't they put an end to their challenges and insults of one another?" Sfeir asked."Wouldn't they throw out hatred and envy and other feelings that do not reflect their respect for each other?" he added. Sfeir's crticism came as the patriarch convened the 40th ordinary session of the Assembly of the Catholic Patriarchs and Bishops in Lebanon at Bkirki. "Lebanon does not and should not encompass enemies, but brothers," he said. "This is not how brothers treat each other."
The assembly's session was opened in the presence of Melchite Catholic Patriarch Gregorius III Lahham, Armenian Catholic Patriarch Nerses Bedros XIX, and the personal representative of the papal ambassador to Lebanon, Luigi Gatti, Monsignor Visvaldas Calpocas.
The participants met on the sidelines of the gathering to discuss the "dangerous" situation in Lebanon following the resignation of six Cabinet ministers over the weekend and Monday. They called on all Lebanese to face the political impasse with "responsibility and patience," and away from "challenges and demonstrations."They also urged officials to keep in mind the country's best interests and "provide citizens with a peaceful life."
A closed session of the assembly was also held Monday. A final statement will be issued Saturday, outlining the topics of discussion.
Hizbullah: 'There will be demonstrations'
By Leila Hatoum -Daily Star staff
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
BEIRUT: A Hizbullah spokesman announced on Monday that the group and its allies will take to the streets to press their demand for a national unity government, but that the timing of the action had not yet been decided. Hizbullah media officer Hajj Hussein Rahhal said the party "will not change its stand, and will utilize all the democratic and peaceful means allowed to express this stand.
"Of course there will be demonstrations and a move toward the streets, but we haven't yet decided when we will make this move. We also have to consult with our allies on the timing and the form of the move."
Hizbullah's main ally, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, dismissed any correlation between an international tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri and the resignation of six Cabinet members since Saturday.
Aoun told reporters that "any attempt to link the tribunal issue with the failure of the consultations and the resignation of the ministers is a lie."
"They say that we were demanding one third of the Cabinet's seats to have a veto power over decision-making in return for passing the draft of the tribunal," he said. "So [this proves] their claim that we will block the tribunal draft isn't true."The presidential hopeful said he had refused to accept an offer of four ministers to represent him in the Cabinet. "How do you want us to integrate four ministers into the Cabinet when five ministers left?" he asked. "This is unacceptable, especially as we are demanding the formation of a national unity government."
Resigned Labor Minister Trad Hamadeh said the resignations came after the March 14 Forces refused to share power.
"It was a wise decision which came after the ruling party refused the participation of others in governance and preferred to practice a monopoly over power," he said on Monday. On the other end of the political spectrum, prominent March 14 Forces member MP Walid Jumblatt accused Hizbullah and its allies of attempts to "create more tension that would lead the country into a dangerous vortex ... this complies with the interest of the Syrian-Iranian axis." Former President Amine Gemayel, also a leading member of the anti-Syrian coalition, urged Hizbullah and Amal not to take to the streets, a move he said would "destabilize the country."
Meanwhile, reactions to the ministers' resignation continued to snowball on Monday. Environment Minister Yaacoub Sarraf, considered close to President Emile Lahoud, resigned on Monday. The five Cabinet members representing Hizbullah and Amal withdrew on Saturday.
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said the resignations were "clearly to block the formation of the [Hariri] tribunal."
"The ministers could have easily convened to approve the tribunal's draft and resign afterward, that is if what they say is true that they resigned after their demands for a national unity government failed ... They just wanted to block the tribunal's project," he added.
Echoing Gemayel's concerns, Geagea said that demonstrations could easily be hijacked by "small groups that would take advantage of the situation and carry out orders from the Syrian intelligence apparatus to destabilize the situation in the country."
Shiite council calls failure of consultations 'national loss'
By Nafez Qawas -Daily Star correspondent
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
BEIRUT: The Higher Shiite Council said Monday that political leaders' failure to take advantage of consultation talks sponsored by Speaker Nabih Berri was a "national loss." The council added that the Cabinet's decision to convene despite the resignation of six ministers "contradicts the Lebanese Constitution and violates internal balance."Five ministers resigned on Saturday and another stepped down Monday.
In a statement issued after an extraordinary meeting on Monday, the council said that the decision of remaining ministers to meet on Monday "constituted a challenge and a violation of the Constitution, which calls for providing the Cabinet with a representation of all of the country's sects."
The Cabinet's five Shiite ministers quit the government Saturday after a fourth round of consultation talks failed to produce an agreement on the formation of an expanded national unity government. Environment Minister Yaacoub Sarraf resigned before the Cabinet session Monday.
The council also supported the decision made by Amal and Hizbullah to withdraw their ministers from the Cabinet, saying the decision "expresses a political right entrenched in our democratic system and corresponds with their clear and legal demands to establish a national unity government."
Southerners voice many views on crisis in Beirut, but agree on need for restraint
By Mohammed Zaatari -Daily Star staff
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
SIDON/NABATIYEH: Residents of South Lebanon voiced mixed reactions on Monday to recent political turmoil that has seen the resignation of six ministers and debate over the formation of a tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri. Although the mood in Sidon differs from that in Nabatiyeh, for example, residents in both places dismiss fears of another civil war and agree that more attention ought to be paid to daily economic and social concerns. Surrounded by portraits of Hizbullah's leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, and his Free Patriotic Movement counterpart, MP Michel Aoun, Shadi Abdallah of Nabatiyeh said the situation in the country would deteriorate in the next 10 days.
But he said the country has learned from past experiences. "The Lebanese have become more aware and much more mature than in the old days," he said. "The Sunnis, Christians, Shiites and Druze all belong to the same country and are not going to fight among themselves.
"The current government is under American hegemony," he added. "Let them spare us."
Abdel Monem Rihanne, 75, described the current political impasse as "perilous."
Rihanne said the ministers' resignation "was sheer maneuvering, because they don't want to get involved in the deliberations concerning the [tribunal]."
"I am sure that sooner or later those same ministers will withdraw their resignations," Rihanne said.
Hanane Fawwaz said the only solution was for the government to resign "so that the resistance could live." Fawwaz held the current Cabinet responsible for "providing fertile ground for civil war."
In the coastal city of Sidon to the north, Marwan Gharbi said the ministers' resignation was "a positive move because [Prime Minister Fouad] Siniora's government has proven to be impotent."
Bus driver Mohammad Ajami compared Lebanon to his bus, which people from all sects board to travel toward the same destination. Ajami said all Lebanese were against war."We want to live together, we don't want to slaughter each other," he said.
For his part, Elie Aoun saw the whole resignation affair as "one major comedy."
"I'm pretty sure that the ministers will go back on their resignations when their superiors give the order," he said.
Lebanese leader fears emboldened Hezbollah will provoke violence
Posted: November 13, 2006
By Aaron Klein- © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com
The Democrats' midterm election victories last week and the subsequent resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld sent a message of American weakness to Syria that will likely result in "instability and chaos" in Lebanon and other parts of the Middle East, Lebanon's Druze Leader Walid Jumblatt said in a WND interview today. Jumblatt is head of Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party and is widely considered the most prominent anti-Syrian Lebanese politician. He charged the Democrats' calls for a withdrawal from Iraq and for changes in U.S. Middle East policy in part emboldened the Syrian-backed Hezbollah militia to bolt the Lebanese parliament this past weekend and to threaten street protests that many say could easily turn violent.
Hezbollah's parliamentary departure threw into crisis the composure of the majority anti-Syrian Lebanese government, with some in parliament stating the government is no longer legitimate.
"The Syrians play this game where they have been waiting for the Americans to get weaker in Iraq," said Jumblatt. "Now with the Democrat's win paving the way for an American withdrawal and with Rumsfeld's resignation making a statement, the Syrians believe they have the upper hand in the region to retake Lebanon."
"The Syrians are trying to profit from the circumstances by creating havoc and by using Hezbollah to stage a coup d'etat to get rid of us (the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority)," Jumblatt said.
Yesterday, Lebanon's environment minister, Yacoub Sarraf, loyal to Syrian-backed President Emile Lahoud, resigned shortly before the country's cabinet met to approve U.N. statutes to try the killers of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.
Syria has been widely blamed for the February 2005 car bombing in which Hariri and 22 others were killed. Following the assassination, a general Lebanese uprising resulted in the removal of Syrian forces that were present in Lebanon for nearly 30 years.
On Saturday, five Shi'ite Muslim ministers from Hezbollah and its ally, the Amal movement, resigned over the collapse of talks on their demands for effective veto power in the Lebanese government. Hezbollah had demanded one third of the cabinet's 24 seats, prompting some ministers to accuse the militia of seeking veto rights to protect Syria from prosecution in the Hariri affair. If two more cabinet minister resign, the Lebanese government will fall.
Already, pro-Syrian President Lahoud said Hezbollah's departure has made the parliament irrelevant.
"The government has lost its legitimacy following the ministers' resignations, and any decision it makes will be considered unconstitutional," Lahoud said prior to yesterday's cabinet meeting on the Hariri tribunal.
Also yesterday Hezbollah ministers said they would stage "peaceful" street protests as part of a campaign to press demands for better representation in government for its allies, especially the Christian opposition leader, Michel Aoun. Lebanese leaders, including Jumblatt, fear Hezbollah protests could turn violent. The United States and Israel has accused Syria of arming Hezbollah with rockets and advanced weaponry.
"There is no question these protests can foment violence and instability," said Jumblatt, who accused Syria of orchestrating the Hezbollah ministers' resignations. "This could not have happened without Syria's backing," Jumblatt said. He said Syria was taking advantage of the "changes in attitude" in the U.S., where many see the Democrats' victory and Rumsfeld's resignation as setting the stage for an eventual withdrawal from Iraq.
Jumblatt said President Bush's decision to invade Iraq in 2003 was "the right thing to do," but stressed an early evacuation would send the wrong signals to Syria and Iran, and could result in regional instability.
'Vote Democrat'
Jumblatt's statements follow a series of WND exclusive interviews just prior to last week's midterm elections in which prominent Middle East terrorist leaders said they hoped Americans would sweep the Democrats into power because of the party's position on withdrawing from Iraq, a move, the terrorists explained, that would ensure victory for the worldwide Islamic resistance.
The terrorists told WND an electoral win for the Democrats would prove to them Americans are "tired." They rejected statements from some prominent Democrats in the U.S. that a withdrawal from Iraq would end the insurgency, explaining an evacuation would prove resistance works and would compel jihadists to continue fighting until America is destroyed.
They said a withdrawal would also embolden their own terror groups to enhance "resistance" against Israel.
"Of course Americans should vote Democrat," Jihad Jaara, a senior member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group and the infamous leader of the 2002 siege of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, told WND last month.
"This is why American Muslims will support the Democrats, because there is an atmosphere in America that encourages those who want to withdraw from Iraq. It is time that the American people support those who want to take them out of this Iraqi mud," said Jaara, speaking to WND from exile in Ireland, where he was sent as part of an internationally brokered deal that ended the church siege.
Jaara was the chief in Bethlehem of the Brigades, the declared "military wing" of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party.
Together with the Islamic Jihad terror group, the Brigades has taken responsibility for every suicide bombing inside Israel the past two years, including an attack in Tel Aviv in April that killed American teenager Daniel Wultz and nine Israelis.
Muhammad Saadi, a senior leader of Islamic Jihad in the northern West Bank town of Jenin, said the Democrats' talk of withdrawal from Iraq makes him feel "proud."
"As Arabs and Muslims we feel proud of this talk," he told WND. "Very proud from the great successes of the Iraqi resistance. This success that brought the big superpower of the world to discuss a possible withdrawal."
Abu Abdullah, a leader of Hamas' military wing in the Gaza Strip, said the policy of withdrawal "proves the strategy of the resistance is the right strategy against the occupation."
"We warned the Americans that this will be their end in Iraq," said Abu Abdullah, considered one of the most important operational members of Hamas' Izzedine al-Qassam Martyrs Brigades, Hamas' declared "resistance" department.
"They did not succeed in stealing Iraq's oil, at least not at a level that covers their huge expenses. They did not bring stability. Their agents in the [Iraqi] regime seem to have no chance to survive if the Americans withdraw."
Abu Ayman, an Islamic Jihad leader in Jenin, said he is "emboldened" by those in America who compare the war in Iraq to Vietnam.
"[The mujahedeen fighters] brought the Americans to speak for the first time seriously and sincerely that Iraq is becoming a new Vietnam and that they should fix a schedule for their withdrawal from Iraq," boasted Abu Ayman.
The terror leaders spoke as the debate regarding the future of America's war in Iraq became the central theme of last week's elections, with most Democrats urging a timetable for withdrawal and Republicans mostly advocating staying the course in Iraq.
Terrorist laughs at Pelosi's comments
Many Democratic politicians and some from the Republican Party have stated a withdrawal from Iraq would end the insurgency there.
In a recent interview with CBS's "60 Minutes," House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, stated, "The jihadists (are) in Iraq. But that doesn't mean we stay there. They'll stay there as long as we're there."
Pelosi would become House speaker if the Democrats win the majority of seats in next week's elections.
WND read Pelosi's remarks to the terror leaders, who unanimously rejected her contention an American withdrawal would end the insurgency.
Islamic Jihad's Saadi, laughing, stated, "There is no chance that the resistance will stop."
He said an American withdrawal from Iraq would "prove the resistance is the most important tool and that this tool works. The victory of the Iraqi revolution will mark an important step in the history of the region and in the attitude regarding the United States."
Jihad Jaara said an American withdrawal would "mark the beginning of the collapse of this tyrant empire (America)."
"Therefore, a victory in Iraq would be a greater defeat for America than in Vietnam."
Jaara said vacating Iraq would also "reinforce Palestinian resistance organizations, especially from the moral point of view. But we also learn from these (insurgency) movements militarily. We look and learn from them."
Hamas' Abu Abdullah argued a withdrawal from Iraq would "convince those among the Palestinians who still have doubts in the efficiency of the resistance." "The victory of the resistance in Iraq would prove once more that when the will and the faith are applied victory is not only a slogan. We saw that in Lebanon (during Israel's confrontation against Hezbollah there in July and August); we saw it in Gaza (after Israel withdrew from the territory last summer) and we will see it everywhere there is occupation," Abdullah said.
Hezbollah Admits Ongoing Iranian Financing
Monday, November 13, 2006
In the dusty aftermath of Israeli air strikes and limited ground incursions into southern Lebanon this summer, Beirut has literally tons of bridges to repair, homes to rebuild and infrastructure to reassemble. The Israeli Defense Forces’ effort to root out Hezbollah has put a whole lot of builders, bankers and garbage men to work at the expense of the Lebanese government.
Fortunately—or unfortunately—that government has not been without help.
In fact, the paramilitary terrorist organization that started the show by firing rockets into a sovereign nation in peacetime is stealing the spotlight of the Lebanese rebuilding process. Hundreds of Hezbollah terrorists have starred as hometown heroes, pushing wheelbarrows, driving nails and rebuilding buildings—not to mention smuggling infrastructure and rebuilding launch sites for the Katyusha rockets that started the war—to the delight of citizens across the country.
But to find the real wizard behind the curtain of Lebanese reconstruction, just follow the yellow brick road—because those bricks are made of gold. The bbc recently reported that a backdoor benefactor has been pouring substantial funds into Lebanon directly to Hezbollah.
In August, the New York Times revealed that a major reason for Hezbollah’s reconstruction superstardom was thanks to “a torrent of money from oil-rich Iran.” The article, “Hezbollah Leads Work to Rebuild, Gaining Stature,” reported that one member of parliament belonging to the anti-Syrian reform bloc had been told by Hezbollah officials that Iran was ready to present Hezbollah with an “unlimited budget” for reconstruction.
“Iran is officially providing assistance to Hezbollah, but the reconstruction is done by the government,” Lebanon’s Finance Minister Jihad Azour acknowledged in the bbc report. “Therefore, what Iran is giving is a direct transfer to a political party, not to Lebanon as a country, as a state, if you want.”
Azour told the bbc that Tehran had previously promised to channel funds through the Lebanese government, but that it has not kept that promise. His talks with Iranian officials to persuade them to wire the money through the proper government agencies continue.
Kassam Allaik, head of Jihad Construction, Hezbollah’s rebuilding operation, not only confirmed that Iranian officials are providing funds directly to his organization, but that Iran has its own operatives inside Lebanon performing some of the rebuilding.
With friends like an Iran-backed Hezbollah, Beirut doesn’t need enemies. Tensions between the ineffectual Lebanese government (which Washington has endeavored to promote as a beacon of democracy in the Middle East) and Hezbollah are growing. Not only is the Lebanese citizenry turning its back on what it views as a fat-cat government, but it is also crediting the grassroots reconstruction progress to the jihadists who started the devastation by lobbing missiles over the border.
In addition, the bbc reports that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has threatened to capitalize on Hezbollah’s popularity by unleashing protests in the streets later this month in an effort to increase his own influence on the national scene.
And on November 1, White House spokesman Tony Snow accused Hezbollah and Iran, along with Syria, of “preparing plans to topple Lebanon’s democratically elected government.”
Whether that fear comes true tomorrow or in a later chapter of Iran’s game plan, the fact remains that Hezbollah and Iran are in an even stronger position than they were on July 11, before the conflict began. Hezbollah enjoys an unlimited budget for its Lebanese humanitarian reconstruction, as well as increasing sympathy from the Lebanese at large—while Beirut’s popularity shrivels. Iran benefits vicariously from Hezbollah’s success, and its power over the reconstruction cash flow allows it to discreetly call the shots in southern Lebanon. On top of all this, with Iranian construction teams freely penetrating the country, its fingers inch ever closer to Israel’s northern frontier.
The prospect of another war with Israel looms.
Lebanon faces Hezbollah rallies to protest deadlock
NADIM LADKI -Reuters News Agency
BEIRUT -- Hezbollah and its allies plan to stage peaceful street protests after the collapse of Lebanon's all-party talks on giving them more say in government, Hezbollah's deputy chief said yesterday. Five Shia Muslim ministers from Hezbollah and its ally, the Amal movement, resigned from the cabinet on Saturday, hours after the talks on the pro-Syrian camp's demand for effective veto power in government were deadlocked. "This was a first step. There will be other steps that we will discuss in detail with our allies and which we will announce gradually," said Hezbollah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Kassem. He added that the talks had failed because anti-Syrian majority leaders had refused to allow others effective participation in running the country.
Asked whether the government would face street protests, Mr. Kassem said: "I can say that this campaign will be varied and effective. Going down to the streets is one of the important steps that Hezbollah and its allies will take."Anti-Syrian leaders have pledged counterdemonstrations should Hezbollah take the political crisis to the streets, raising fears of confrontations and violence at a time of rising tension between Sunnis and Shiites.
"Our movement is completely peaceful. . . . It will not be a one-off [protest] but rather an action that would be effective on the political issue," Mr. Kassem said.The anti-Syrian majority coalition later accused Hezbollah of implementing a Syrian-Iranian plan to overthrow the government and foil United Nations efforts to set up a court to try the killers of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri.
"The hidden plot has been revealed. It's a Syrian-Iranian plot to launch a coup against the legitimacy, stop the establishment of an international tribunal and foil [UN] resolution 1701," it said in a statement, referring to the resolution that ended the month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah in mid-August.The statement, read by coalition leader Saad al-Hariri, son of the slain former prime minister, urged the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to adopt a UN-drafted statute for a special court to try the killers of the former prime minister. Mr. Siniora has called for an extraordinary session today to discuss the draft. Pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud said that any government meeting after the Shiites quit the cabinet would be unconstitutional.
The United States has already accused Iran, Syria and Hezbollah of plotting to topple the Lebanese government, which the U.S. administration has held up as an example of emerging democracy in the Middle East. Mr. Kassem denied that Hezbollah was trying to put hurdles in the way of establishing the Hariri court. He said that the group had already agreed to it but wanted to discuss the details. "The issue of the court has nothing to do [with the failure of the talks]. It was brought up so that the parliamentary majority would not bear the responsibility for the failure of the talks."
Government Approves Hariri Tribunal Despite Resignation of 6 Ministers
Naharnet: The Lebanese cabinet approved on Monday a U.N. draft text setting up an international tribunal to try former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's suspected assassins. "We unanimously approved the draft," Saniora told a news conference after the three-hour meeting.
"With this decision we tell the murderers that we will not give up our rights no matter what the difficulties and obstacles are," he said.
"Our only aim is to achieve justice and only justice. Without it and without knowing the truth, the Lebanese will not rest and we cannot protect our democratic system and political freedom now and in the future."
"Our brothers who could not join us in taking this decision were actually with us -- in our heart, our position and our decision," Saniora said, making an appeal for unity.Saniora convened the extraordinary session Monday despite President Emile Lahoud's objections and the resignation of six ministers, five of them from Hizbullah and Amal. Reacting to the government approval, Hizbullah MP Hussein Hajj Hassan accused the ruling majority of exercising a "hegemony and monopoly on decision-making". He told AFP that Hizbullah objected "at the way" the ruling majority had approved the U.N. document. Environment Minister Yaacub Sarraf, who is close to Lahoud, announced his resignation Monday, becoming the sixth government member to quit. Saniora rejected the resignations of the ministers and invited them in a letter to return to their "effective participation" in the cabinet.
Lahoud has stepped up the pressure by saying the cabinet was no longer legitimate. The president's position, however, does not carry legal weight because he is not empowered to dissolve the government.
All 18 remaining ministers attending the meeting approved the United Nations document, and they defended the cabinet's decision as legal.
"It is 100 percent constitutional," Information Minister Ghazi Aridi quoted Saniora as saying. With Sarraf's resignation, a quarter of the 24-member cabinet had quit. But legally it still has the necessary two-thirds quorum to meet and make decisions.
The direct challenge from the anti-Syrian March 14 Forces that dominate the cabinet and the parliament to convene the government Monday could deepen the political divide. The parliamentary majority has accused Hizbullah and the Amal movement, the main pro-Syrian and pro-Iranian Shiite groups, of doing Damascus's and Tehran's bidding and seeking to undermine the formation of the international tribunal.
Parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri directly accused Syria and Iran of seeking to scuttle the formation of the international court.
"This is a Syrian-Iranian plan to overthrow the legitimate authority and prevent the formation of the international tribunal," said Saad at the end of a meeting of the March 14 Forces Sunday.
Iran on Monday rejected Saad Hariri's accusations that Tehran was trying to block international efforts to try those behind his father's murder.
"Iran has not meddled and will not interfere in other countries' issues. These (accusations) are not true," government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham told reporters.
There was no immediate reaction from Syria but it has denied previous claims that it was trying to topple the Lebanese government.
The resignation of 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, a demand vehemently rejected by the ruling majority. Lahoud's opposition to the cabinet meeting solidifies the political divide in Lebanon between anti- and pro-Syrian forces, with Lahoud and Hizbullah tilting toward Syria and Saniora and his allies opposing their powerful neighbor's influence over their country.
Hizbullah, which gained increasing political clout for its fierce fight against Israel over the summer, recently threatened to call mass protests to begin Monday with the aim of bringing down the government unless it received greater cabinet representation.
But its senior political officer in south Lebanon Sheikh Hassan Ezzeddine told The Associated Press Sunday: "Before going to the street, there are other steps to be taken as a means to pressure the government to meet our demand to form a national unity government made up of all factions,". He did not elaborate.(Naharnet-AP-AFP) Beirut, 13 Nov 06, 15:32
Qaida Threatens to Topple Saniora's Government in Purported Statement
Al-Qaida has purportedly issued a statement threatening to topple Premier Fouad Saniora's "corrupt" Western-backed government, according to Al-Hayat newspaper Monday.
The London-based Arabic daily reported that al-Qaida issued the statement from the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared in northern Lebanon.
"The organization has arrived in Lebanon and we will work on destroying this corrupt government that receives orders from the American administration," Al-Hayat said, quoting the statement.
Although it was impossible to verify the authenticity of the message, Information Minister Ghazi Aridi cast doubt on its veracity Monday.
"There is nothing that proves that this statement was issued by al-Qaida," he told reporters Monday following a cabinet meeting in which the government approved a U.N. draft setting up an international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Aridi suggested the statement could be the work of local or regional groups that were opposed to the international tribunal in an attempt to intimidate the ministers ahead of the vote on Monday.
Al-Hayat did not say how it obtained the message.
Although al-Qaida has rarely carried out attacks in Lebanon, it is believed to have sympathizers among extremist factions in Palestinian refugee camps.
Interior Minister Ahmed Fatfat has warned in recent months that al-Qaida was attempting to establish itself in Lebanon.
In December, al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for a rocket attack into northern Israel apparently carried out by a radical Palestinian group, and Fatfat has said Lebanese authorities had broken up four al-Qaida cells this year.(AP) (AFP photo shows a policeman securing area in downtown Beirut during the meeting of cabinet ministers to endorse the international tribunal) Beirut, 13 Nov 06, 16:31
Iran Rejects Hariri's Accusations Over International Tribunal
Naharnet: Iran on Monday rejected accusations by parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri that Tehran was trying to block international efforts to try those behind his father's assassination.
"Iran has not meddled and will not interfere in other countries' issues. These (accusations) are not true," government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham told reporters. "Domestic issues and the sovereign rights of countries have been always respected by the Islamic republic," he said, adding that "other issues brought up on the sidelines are propaganda to create conflicts in the region."
Hariri on Sunday accused Iran and Syria of "plotting to stop the creation of an international court" to deal with those eventually charged for the 2005 killing of former Premier Rafik Hariri. "This is a Syrian-Iranian plan to overthrow the legitimate authority and prevent the formation of the international tribunal," said Hariri at the end of a meeting of the March 14 Forces. His comment followed the resignation of five Shiite ministers from Hizbullah and Amal after Prime Minister Fouad Saniora called a cabinet meeting to discuss a U.N. document that would pave the way for the establishment of the tribunal.The Iranian reaction on Monday came as Speaker Nabih Berri held talks with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Tehran.(AFP-Naharnet) Beirut, 13 Nov 06, 14:15
Alliot-Marie: French Protest Stopped Mock Air Attacks on EU Troops
Israeli warplanes have stopped mock air attacks targeting European peacekeepers in Lebanon following a French government protest, French Defense Minister Michelle Alliot-Marie said Monday. "There is no more of that attitude -- that is, an openly hostile attitude -- like we had over a French vessel, a German vessel and the French ground forces, which caused a real danger of legitimate defense measures being taken," Alliot-Marie told reporters at an EU meeting in Brussels. Paris demanded that Israel stop the raids after French peacekeepers came within seconds of shooting down Israeli warplanes two weeks ago. Alliot-Marie said Israeli overflights of Lebanon were continuing in defiance of the United Nations, but said they were no longer taking a threatening approach to the peacekeepers. She repeated that French forces could have launched an "automatic defense reaction" after Israeli planes failed to identify themselves while flying mock bombing runs at peacekeepers.
The commander of the French-led U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon said last week that such a scenario was avoided only because of restraint by French forces. "I call on Israel to end them," General Alain Pellegrini said of the overflights. "I have a hard time understanding them ... This is dangerous."
The overflights "could give Hizbullah an occasion to react," Pellegrini was quoted as saying. Israeli officials said flights over Lebanon are needed to monitor Lebanese compliance with U.N. demands, and said they were working with the peacekeeping force to avoid misunderstandings.(AP-Naharnet) Beirut, 13 Nov 06, 17:25
March 14 Accuses Syria, Iran of Plotting to Block Hariri Court
The anti-Syrian March 14 coalition has launched a campaign to defend the ruling majority's authority, accusing Iran and Syria of plotting to scuttle the creation of an international tribunal to try the assassins of former Premier Rafik Hariri.
"This is a Syrian-Iranian plan to overthrow the legitimate authority and prevent the formation of the international tribunal," said parliamentary leader Saad Hariri at the end of a meeting of the March 14 Forces late Sunday. "The plot by Syria and Iran to stop the creation of an international court has been exposed," Hariri told reporters in a statement read out after the meeting at his Koreitem mansion in Beirut.
The conference came after five Hizbullah and Amal ministers resigned from the government 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, a demand vehemently rejected by the ruling majority. "This resignation was not a coincidence, but an attempt to foil the formation of the international court," Hariri said, stressing that the "crippling of the court and the protection of the criminals are the responsibility of a well-known murderous regime," in an indirect accusation to Syria. "We are here to declare a battle to defend the legitimacy," Hariri added.
The cabinet will convene Monday despite the resignations which have started a constitutional battle between Syrian protégé president Emile Lahoud and anti-Damascus Prime Minister Fouad Saniora. The statement also pointed a finger at Lahoud, saying that the president "wants to assassinate Rafik Hairi a second time."
On Monday, Environment Minister Yaacub Sarraf, a close ally to Syrian protégé President Emile Lahoud, also resigned, becoming the sixth government member to quit. There was no immediate reaction from Iran or Syria about Hariri's accusations but both have denied previous claims that they were trying to topple the Lebanese government.(Naharnet-AFP) Beirut, 13 Nov 06, 11:12
Lahoud: Saniora's Government Lost Legitimacy
President Emile Lahoud took sides Sunday in Lebanon's latest political dispute, claiming that the cabinet was no longer legitimate following the resignation of five Shiite ministers. On Monday, Environment Minister Yaacub Sarraf, who is close to Lahoud, announced his resignation too, becoming the sixth to quit the cabinet But the anti-Syrian majority in parliament responded, urging the government to meet despite the resignations to approve a U.N. draft document calling for an international tribunal in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.
Lahoud, in a letter sent to the prime minister, based his position on Article Five of the constitution that states "all sects should be justly represented in the Cabinet." "President Lahoud informed Premier Fouad Saniora that his government had lost its constitutional legitimacy and, as a result, any cabinet meeting is anti-constitutional and worthless," Lahoud said in his statement.
The declaration of the president solidifies the political divide in Lebanon between anti- and pro-Syrian forces, with Lahoud and Hizbullah tilting toward Syria and Saniora and his allies opposing their neighbor's influence over their country.
Saniora, in response, stressed that the cabinet meeting he called for Monday to discuss the international tribunal would go ahead and urged the president to attend. Saniora also came under criticism from fellow Sunni Muslim politicians. Three former prime ministers -- Salim Hoss, Najib Mikati and Omar Karami -- jointly appealed for Saniora to act "wisely." "The authority in Lebanon has reached a situation whereby it does not conform in the pact of (sectarian) coexistence," the three former premiers said, according to the official National News Agency.(AP-AFP-Naharnet) Beirut, 13 Nov 06, 10:25
Two French Peacekeepers Injured in Bulldozer Accident in the South
Two French soldiers serving with the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon were seriously injured on Sunday when their bulldozer rolled over, a spokesman for the U.N. force said. Milos Strugar said French troops were doing engineering and construction work when their bulldozer overturned at the French headquarters in the village of Bourj Qalawi near the southern port city of Tyre.
Two soldiers were seriously injured and flown by a U.N. helicopter to hospital in the southern port city of Sidon for treatment, Strugar said.
There are about 1,500 French soldiers serving with the reinforced U.N. peacekeeping force, which now numbers about 10,000 troops.(AP) Beirut, 13 Nov 06, 10:13
Rice: Syrian Territory Used for Accelerated Arming of Hizbullah
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
Sixth Lebanese cabinet member quits
Monday 13 November 2006,
Six ministers have quit since talks collapsed on Saturday
Lebanon's pro-Syrian environment minister, a close ally of president Emile Lahoud, has resigned from the government after all-party crisis talks failed.
Yacoub Sarraf is the sixth cabinet member to quit since negotiations on the pro-Syrian factions' demand for a cabinet reshuffle collapsed.
All five Shia Muslim members of the cabinet - from the Hezbollah and Amal parties - resigned from the cabinet on Saturday.
"I don't see myself belonging to any constitutional authority in which an entire sect is absent," Sarraf, a Christian, said in his letter of resignation, according to the National News Agency. Hezbollah has demanded greater representation in the government for itself and its Christian ally, the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM). In particular, the Hezbollah-Amal-FPM alliance wants a third of all cabinet seats, which would give it an effective veto on cabinet decisions.
Cabinet meeting
The minister handed in his resignation just hours before Fouad Siniora, the Lebanese prime minister, was to bring together the 24-member cabinet to discuss a UN-drafted statute for a special court to try the killers of Rafiq al-Hariri, the former prime minister.
"I don't see myself belonging to any constitutional authority in which an entire sect is absent."
Yacoub Sarraf, Lebanon's environment minister, in his resignation letter
Lahoud opposed holding a cabinet session on Monday, saying any government meeting after the resignations would be unconstitutional.
Siniora dismissed Lahoud's objections and said the meeting would go ahead as planned.
While the government can still assemble two-thirds of the cabinet required in order to meet and take decisions, approval of the international tribunal without the presence of the Shias could widen the political divide.The leader of the parliamentary majority on Sunday accused Syria and Iran - who support Hezbollah - of seeking to undermine the formation of the tribunal.
International tribunal
Rafiq al-Hariri's son, Saad, who leads the parliamentary majority, said: "This is a Syrian-Iranian plan to overthrow the legitimate authority and prevent the formation of the international tribunal." Four Lebanese generals, pro-Syrian security chiefs under Lahoud, have been under arrest for 14 months, accused of involvement in the murder.A UN investigation implicated Syrian officials, but Damascus has denied playing any part in the suicide truck bombing in February 2005. The killing caused huge anti-Syrian protests in Beirut and led to the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon after 29 years.
Elections held afterwards created an anti-Syrian majority in the parliament and cabinet.
Environment Minister Becomes 6th Cabinet Member to Quit
Environment Minister Yaacub Sarraf, who is close to Damascus-backed President Emile Lahoud, announced his resignation on Monday, becoming the sixth government member to quit. Sarraf, a Christian, joins five Shiite ministers who quit Saturday Premier Fouad Saniora's cabinet.
The National News Agency said Sarraf submitted his resignation in a letter to the Prime Minister. "I don't see myself belonging to any constitutional authority in which an entire sect is absent," Sarraf said in his letter of resignation, according to the agency. "So I am tendering my resignation from your government." The resignation came just before the cabinet planned to meet despite an announcement by Lahoud that the government lost its legitimacy after the resignations of the Hizbullah and Amal ministers. With Sarraf's resignation, a quarter of the 24-member cabinet had quit. Legally, the government still has the necessary two-thirds quorum to meet and make decisions, although doubts may be raised about the constitutionality of any actions it takes because it lacks Shiite members.
Sarraf is an independent but is allied with Lahoud and Hizbullah. He is Greek Orthodox -- Lebanon's second largest Christian sect after Maronite Catholics. Saniora swiftly rejected Sarraf's resignation as he did with the other five. However, on Monday, Hizbullah's two ministers made their resignations official by presenting them in writing to the cabinet secretary. The withdrawal by the five ministers Saturday left the Shiites, the largest single sect in Lebanon, out of the government. Sarraf's resignation strengthens the Shiites' bid for a larger presence in the cabinet.(AP-Naharnet) Beirut, 13 Nov 06, 11:34
Cabinet crisis threatens Lebanon tribunal
POSTED: 5:55 p.m. EST, November 12, 2006
BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- A constitutional crisis in Lebanon is threatening plans for an international tribunal to try those allegedly involved in the assassination of the country's former Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora indicated Sunday he would formally announce support for the tribunal at a cabinet meeting Monday.
But Lebanese President Emile Lahoud said Siniora's government lacks constitutional authority to make decisions because of Saturday's resignation of all five Shiite ministers from a 24-member cabinet.
Despite the resignations of the five Shiites -- two Hezbollah and three Amal ministers -- Siniora's cabinet still has 19 ministers, enough for the two-thirds majority required for the cabinet to act.
But because Lebanon's constitution requires all sects be represented in the cabinet, it is not yet clear whether their decisions would be legally valid.
Their withdrawal from the cabinet Saturday followed the collapse of negotiations that could have given Hezbollah more power in Lebanon's government.
Hezbollah had threatened to stage street demonstrations designed to topple Siniora's government unless a new "unity" administration was formed. That prompted several rounds of talks over the past week involving leaders of the major Lebanese political parties.
Hezbollah has been seeking to control at least a third of the cabinet, enough for veto power over the international tribunal.
Saad Hariri -- leader of the top Lebanese parliamentary bloc and son of the slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri -- said the ministers' resignations were part of a Syrian-Iranian plot to obstruct bringing his father's killers to justice.
"It's obvious that Iran and Syria has put huge amount of pressure on Hezbollah and Amal not to agree on this matter, and they tried to create a little bit of uncertainty in Lebanon," Hariri said about the Shiite parties.
"The Syrian regime is responsible for killing Rafik Hariri and all the others, so why protect those who kill Lebanese citizens, Lebanese people, leaders, religious leaders, journalists, members of parliament?" Hariri asked.
"I don't understand, and they (Syria) have to really wake up because the Lebanese people one day will not let them, will not excuse them for their actions."
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said last week there was mounting evidence that Syria was working with Hezbollah to topple the Lebanese government in order to prevent establishment of the tribunal.
Divorce in Lebanon According to the Three Authorities
Zuheir Kseibati Al-Hayat - 13/11/06//
The divorce between the majority and the minority in Lebanon has finally come to pass, after a tortuous and forced marriage. The final sorting out between the camps was also completed yesterday, with the conflict encompassing all the constitutional legitimacies in the country. After the presidency of the republic and the objection over President Emile Lahoud's mandate extension, we have the objection with regard to the popular representation that is embodied by Parliament. Protesters, like Michel Aoun, are among the 'knights' defending constitutional legitimacy. The latter did not deny that he is among those who were very much content with a seat in parliament. Then his role was marginalized under the pretext that he is the spawn of an electoral law that does not justly embody popular representation.
Following the resignation of the Hezbollah and Amal Shiite ministers from the Fouad Siniora government, the dispensation of the three legitimacies has continued in the trench war between the two camps that rages and then subsides, only to flair up again to the tune of the game of nations in the area. Thunderous sounds reverberate from these clashing axes: the Syrian-Iranian and the French-American. The first axis is vibrant because of the electoral storm in the US; it considers the election to be in its favor. It believes that it has won the game of playing for time and that its hopes on an Iraqi 'Vietnam' have been vindicated. With this, it believes it can worm its way out of the meshes of any decision that President George Bush has successfully passed in the Security Council. The second axis tumbles between the 'Democrats' storm in Congress and those counting the days that President Jacques Chirac will remain in the Elysée Palace. His departure will relieve them of the 'nightmares' in the area, and in Lebanon specifically, and from tremendous pressure to implement international decisions.
Setting aside a detailed appreciation of the realism of such calculations and the approach of the Democrats and their historical connection to the 'defensive' security interests of Israel, it seems that the struggle Lebanon has stumbled into will ignite a war between the three legitimacies. The most blatant manifestation of the counter-attack on the policies of the French-American axis is the project that laid the path to making Lebanon a theater of war between Israel and Iran. In other words, it is the collapse of all the efforts exerted to keep Lebanon out of regional conflicts.
It has become clear that the international tribunal, which will be assigned with the task of trying those implicated in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. This was the main reason the marriage contract between the majority and the bilateral alliance of Hezbollah and Amal was revoked. Likewise, the collapse of the government's legitimacy may be, in the minds of some of the minority camp, a prelude to evading the obligations of Resolution 1701. The reason is that this government had embraced the negotiations that facilitated its creation, notwithstanding the fact that all the political parties had signed the agreement, especially Hezbollah and Amal. Repudiation will only allow Israel to prepare for what it has called the 'next war' in the summer of 2007.
Until the summer, the winter 'winds' in the region, which conform with the 'wars for legitimacy', augur for the Lebanese nothing more than that they will pay the price; especially now that all the elements in the crime scene have been gathered: independence is forbidden; your Lebanon is a mere arena, or trenches, or a playground where people cheer, a centripetal force; it is like arenas where screams and swearing are heard, or pulpits where accusations of treason are made so that people will renounce their country. One must envy Nabih Berry, the parliamentary speaker, who is also head of the dialogue and consultation and leader of the Amal movement. He is outspoken in describing the condition of the this small country, whose diversity used to be a source of wealth and blessing, but that now is the main cause for its vulnerability - or this is what some wanted it to be.
The leader of Amal has never shut the doors of hope in the face of the Lebanese; a people who have not yet overcome the disasters of the Israeli war, and who now must contend with the shock of the 'divorce' between the majority and minority camps. He believes that the divorce can be retracted, and does not talk of the three constitutional legitimacies being on two fronts, or that there are two fronts in the cabinet. He does not predict that there would be confrontations in the streets, whereas Hezbollah categorizes the streets as a means of democratic expression.
What most citizens do not realize is that the dialogue leader's excuse that there are 'tens of candidates' to fill the vacant independent ministerial posts is a claim made when no one will dare go over the top of the trenches. As for the government, its 'legitimacy' has in effect been contested according to Lahoud's reading of the Constitution. For his part, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has more than once drunk the bitter cup of doubts cast about his intentions and the reason for his patience in the face of accusations of treason. Both he and the government are like an executive authority that treats the country as a scapegoat for 'stability', if and when hidden hands stab peaceful demonstrations.
If divorce is to be constructive, the opposition in Parliament may need to be incited to rebel against Parliament and, therefore, their own legitimacy with intent to rescue! What is certain is that some of the politicians in Lebanon know how easy it is to destroy, and yet they continue to do so. The tragedy is greater than that of the ruin of authorities. It places the country in the hands of Satan
Where are you Arabs?
13/11/2006
Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban
Dr. Bouthaina Shaaban is Minister of Expatriates in Syria, and writer and professor at Damascus University since 1985. Before assuming her current ministerial position, Dr. Shaaban was Director of the Press Office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Syria. She received her Ph.D. in English Literature from Warwick University in England in 1982, and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an advisor in 1988. Since then, she has represented Syria as a spokeswomen on an international level. In 2005 Dr. Shaaban was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and in the same year, was presented with "the Most Distinguished Woman in a Governmental Position" award by the Arab League. Dr. Shaaban has published four books, and contributed to numerous others.
"Where are you Arabs?" was the scream of a woman who crept among others to release the Palestinian youths detained by Israeli oppression machine. Those women succeeded to release the detained youths before the Israeli troops demolish the mosque. Observing those women, one could not help wondering: how facing such a racist occupation, which is waging a war of genocide against an original people, was left for those women? Ironically, the United States, who wages another war of genocide against Iraqi people, refused to admit that the Israeli actions against Palestinians are acts of genocide, as if US has the moral authority to pass judgments, especially if the criminals were Israeli and the victims were Arabs.
Reproach, criticism and expressing anxiety never restrained Israel from displacing millions of Palestinians from their lands. Would, then, the world continue to feel easy about a claimed good-will gesture here or cover-up of facts in media there until the original Arab inhabitants of Palestine become part of the Israeli folklore like the aborigines in Australia? It seems that only then, when Palestinians stop to be a source of danger to the new settlers, they will be acknowledged as the original owners of the land?!
A woman who was thrown out of her house with her children at 3 am, says: "They dragged some of us out almost naked, and then they decided to destroy our house for no reason. May God help us!" Everyone who watches such a scene would realize that Israel has a calculated plan of displacing Palestinians by targeting all the Palestinian people and destroying their houses, dear belongings and memories. The ultimate goal of this policy is to expel Palestinians from the southern east parts of the West Bank. However, what really surprises is that some Arab media call the Israeli crimes against Palestinian Civilians as "Israeli operations" or as "targeting of Palestinian activists and militants".
The last Israeli atrocities coincided with the statement of President Bush who admitted that what matters for him in the Middle East is to keep control of the oil resources and to keep siding with Israel and "some other allies". How could an Arab be an ally of the US who unlimitedly supports Israel in its aggression? How could this Arab ignore the screams of Arab mothers and children in Iraq and Palestine and most recently in Lebanon who were victims of the Israeli and American crimes and schemes which incite sectarian strife and make people of the same country destroy each others by proxy of Israel? Maybe for this reason we find some Lebanese parties play down what was reported in a British study about using the depleted Uranium by Israel in South Lebanon in a total negligence of the dangers threatening the safety of their own citizens. They turn a deaf ear to what human rights organizations said about the war crimes committed by Israel when it attacked civilians in Lebanon, they, instead, blame those who resisted Israel and defeated it.
Most Western Countries are concerned today only with finding a secure outlet for their troops in the Middle East, sustaining the cheap flow of Arab oil to western consumers and, above all, protecting Israel and covering up its murderous behavior against Arabs, a behavior that defies UN resolutions and violate all human laws, norms and morals. In the face of this reality, where are Arab rulers? What are their standards of shame at what is happening to their people? What are their standards of friendship to those who commit all these crimes against their people?
The reply to these questions and to the scream of that woman is that the main concern to some Arabs has become how to pledge allegiance to the forces that unquestionably declared that the priorities of their agenda in the region are the continuous control of Arabs' oil and the prosperity and dominance of Israel as a superpower in the region. Of course, the standard of keeping those rulers in power is their abidance to the declared agenda. Nonetheless, all other justifications fabricated to cover up the crimes committed against Arabs do not delude any Arab who believes that the life and dignity of civilians in Beit Hanoun, in Iraqi cities and in Beirut and the villages of south Lebanon represents the life and dignity of every Arab.
We have the right to wonder: how the rulers who are responsible to safeguard a nation become allies to those who violate the sanctity of its land and threaten the integrity of its people? Is not this a terrible indicator of how weak those rulers have become? Isn't it, then, understandable for Palestinian women to scream: "where are you Arabs?" The Israeli crimes in Gaza and West Bank could not be called except a war of genocide that started in Palestine but targets all Arabs and spare none of them. What would those Arabs do then? What would they do?