LCCC ENGLISH
DAILY NEWS BULLETIN
October 18/07
Bible Reading of the day
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 11,42-46. Woe to you
Pharisees! You pay tithes of mint and of rue and of every garden herb, but you
pay no attention to judgment and to love for God. These you should have done,
without overlooking the others. Woe to you Pharisees! You love the seat of honor
in synagogues and greetings in marketplaces. Woe to you! You are like unseen
graves over which people unknowingly walk."Then one of the scholars of the law
said to him in reply, "Teacher, by saying this you are insulting us too." And he
said, "Woe also to you scholars of the law! You impose on people burdens hard to
carry, but you yourselves do not lift one finger to touch them.
Free Opinions & Special
Reports
Can the Democrats repair the damage that Bush
has done in the Middle East?
The Daily Star. October 17/07
FEATURE-Foreign powers sway Lebanon's quest for president.By:
Alistair Lyon. October 17/07
ANALYSIS: Hezbollah chief has sights set on making 'the big
deal'.By: Zvi Bar'el, HaaretzHa'aretz. October
17/07
Latest News Reports From
Miscellaneous Sources for October 17/07
Christian Opposition Rejects Names Proposed By
March 14 for Bkirki-Backed Meetings-Naharnet
Berri Accuses
Jumblat, Geagea of Seeking to Hinder Lebanon Settlement-Naharnet
Jumblat Supports
Consensus-Driven Solution-Naharnet
Nasrallah
Reveals "Progress" In Prisoner Swap Talks with Israel-Naharnet
Olmert Defends Deal With Hezbollah.New York Times
Lebanon's government by murder.Los Angeles Times
Lebanon urged to treat Palestinian refugees better.Reuters
Report: Syria confirms target of IAF raid was nuclear
facility.Ha'aretz
Cyprus on its own over Syria ferry dispute.Cyprus Mail
Arab nations invited to peace conference.USA Today
UN chief welcomes Hezbollah, Israel prisoners swap.Xinhua
Hezbollah: Progress made in talks to free Israeli
soldiers.People's Daily Online
Lebanese MPs meet for first official session in months-Daily
Star
Nasrallah reports progress on another prisoner swap-Daily
Star
Jumblatt in Washington for talks on election, Syrian
influence-Daily
Star
Hizbullah gave Israel information on airman missing
since 1986 - report-Daily
Star
Judge charges 10 suspects in plot to attack UNIFIL-Daily
Star
UN helps Beirut launch project for companies stricken
by war-Daily
Star
Government publishes budget figures for 1997-2006-Daily
Star
Some displaced families return to Nahr al-Bared with
one more mouth to feed-Daily
Star
Chouf grotto to open for public access-Daily
Star
Amnesty International calls on Lebanese government to
halt discrimination against Palestinian refugees-Daily
Star
Putin defends Tehran's nuclear program at summit.AFP
UNHCR urges Europe to take in Iraqi refugees.AFP
Assad visits Turkey, may push for help reviving talks
with Israel.-Daily
Star
Iran jails three students for insulting Islam.AFP
Jumblatt in Washington for
talks on election, Syrian influence
Druze leader seeks US support to help elect candidate from March 14 Forces to
presidency
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Democratic Gathering Bloc leader Walid Jumblatt arrived in Washington on Tuesday
for meetings with US administration officials that will focus on Lebanon's
presidential election and ways to curb Syria's influence over Lebanon.
Jumblatt's visit comes a week before Parliament is scheduled to convene to elect
a new president amid a widening gap between Lebanon's Western-backed majority
and the Hizbullah-led opposition.
The Druze leader hopes to rally US support during his trip to help his
coalition, the March 14 Forces, elect one of their own to the presidential post.
Hizbullah and its allies are calling for a consensus candidate.
On Monday, Jumblatt held a series of meetings in New York with UN officials
including UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Nicola
Michel that focused on ways to speed up the creation of the Special Tribunal for
Lebanon to try suspects in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik
Hariri in 2005.
Upon his arrival in Washington Jumblatt said the efforts exerted to create the
Special Tribunal were satisfactory. He also said the March 14 Forces does not
object to reaching a consensus over a president, but that "this president must
respect international resolutions including 1559 and 1701."
Both resolutions call for the disarmament of Hizbullah and other armed groups.
He also said the president "should be committed to the principles of the cedar
revolution, sovereignty, independence and free choice."
Jumblatt's visit to the United States follows a visit last month by Future
Movement leader MP Saad Hariri during which he met with President George W. Bush
and other top officials.
Jumblatt said on Tuesday that his relationship with ally Hariri "was very
strong. We are today working hand in hand for a sovereign, free and democratic
Lebanon."
On Monday, the US Congress condemned Syrian and Iranian interference in
Lebanon's internal affairs, proposing a draft resolution that holds Damascus and
Iran responsible "for the assassinations campaign" that targeted anti-Syrian
Lebanese officials, politicians, and journalists. The resolution also condemns
"Lebanese politicians who are blocking the constitutional election of a new
president." The resolution urges Bush to push the UN to adopt resolutions that
protect Lebanon's sovereignty and freedom and prevent foreign interference in
its affairs. In a related development, Telecommunications Minister Marwan
Hamadeh said Mount Lebanon Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Ali Jouzou has received death
threats from the Syrian regime. In Beirut, politicians remained focused on the
presidential election scheduled for next Tuesday and the Maronite Church's
efforts to ensure it which include attempts to create a committee that would
follow up on the two meetings the Church held separately last week with leaders
from the majority and the opposition. The committee has yet to see light with
local news reports suggesting there are difficulties facing its creation. Late
Tuesday, the March 14 Forces named two representatives for the committee.
National Liberal Party head Dory Chamoun and National Bloc chief Carlos Edde
will attend the committee's meetings.
Al-Akhbar newspaper, citing sources from the March 14 Forces, said that Maronite
Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir was "worried" his efforts to find a consensus
candidate would fail. The sources added that the patriarch has said he will not
oppose an interim president for two years if his initiative fails.
On Monday, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea told Al-Jazeera news television
that he was not a consensus candidate. The foreign ministers of France, Italy
and Spain, in a mission supported by the Vatican, will arrive in Beirut Friday
"to push for a presidential election to prevent a constitutional void in the
presidency which would negatively affect the Christian role in Lebanon's
political life." Visitors to Lebanese Army commander General Michel Suleiman
quoted him as saying Tuesday that the army was ready to thwart any attempts to
create chaos in case of a presidential vacuum. "The army, regardless of
political developments, will continue to fulfill its national duties, and will
confront any attempt to mess with security and national peace and prevent the
country from falling into chaos." - Additional reporting by Maher Zeineddine
Christian Opposition Rejects Names Proposed By March 14 for Bkirki-Backed
Meetings
Lebanon's Christian opposition rejected names proposed by the majority March 14
alliance to take part in a quartet committee that would follow up on meetings
held by the Maronite Church in an effort to reach consensus on a presidential
candidate.
The daily An Nahar, citing Christian opposition sources, said the names
suggested by March 14 -- National Liberal Party leader Dory Chamoun and National
Bloc chief Carlos Edde -- were "not suitable" for such a mission. Lebanese
Forces leader Samir Geagea, in turn, said the proposed names were tasked to
speak for the ruling majority, stressing that they should not be dealt with on
personal grounds. Meanwhile, Al Akhbar newspaper said Maronite Patriarch
Nasrallah Sfeir welcomed a proposal by Free Patriotic Movement chief, Gen.
Michel Aoun, that called for assigning leaders from the feuding Christian sides
and not representatives. Aoun is proposing that the committee be made up of
himself as well as Geagea, former President Amin Gemayel and former cabinet
minister Suleiman Franjieh.
Geagea told Al-Jazeera television network that he was not a consensus candidate.
Al Akhbar said Sfeir was willing to attend the first meeting among the warring
Christian leaders. Al Akhbar on Monday said Sfeir was "worried" his attempts to
reach a consensus presidential candidate would fail. Citing sources from March
14, the paper said that Sfeir would not oppose an interim president for two
years if his initiative proved unsuccessful. Beirut, 17 Oct 07, 07:32
Berri Accuses Jumblat, Geagea
of Seeking to Hinder Lebanon Settlement
House Speaker Nabih Berri accused Druze leader Walid Jumblat and Lebanese Forces
leader Samir Geagea of seeking to hinder a solution to the Lebanon crisis.
Berri stressed that there is "a new chance" for a settlement if there were good
intentions in this regard. In an interview with the daily Sharq al-Awsat, the
speaker criticized recent statements by Jumblat and Geagea, saying "they don't
want a settlement.""They are aiming at hindering it (solution)," Berri said.
Nevertheless, Berri stressed he was still optimistic "despite this negative"
climate. The Hizbullah ally reiterated that he was still waiting for the return
of MP Saad Hariri to resume talks ahead of the Oct. 23 parliamentary session to
elect a new president. Berri denied he was going to postpone next week's
session, saying that only when a two-third quorum was not secured, he would
adjourn the vote. Beirut, 17 Oct 07, 11:57
Jumblat Supports Consensus-Driven Solution
Druze leader Walid Jumblat, who voiced support for a consensus-driven solution,
will hold a series of meetings with U.S. officials in Washington on Wednesday.
Jumblat, who arrived in New York on Monday, discussed with U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon
and other U.N. officials ways to speed up the establishment of the international
tribunal that would try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Premier
Rafik Hariri. Upon arrival in Washington, Jumblat said efforts to set up the
Special Tribunal for Lebanon were satisfactory. He said the majority March 14
alliance does not object to reaching consensus over a head of state, but
stressed that "this president must respect international resolutions, including
1559 and 1701," which call for the disarmament of Hizbullah and other armed
groups.
"The president should adhere to the principles of the Cedar Revolution,
sovereignty, independence and free choice," Jumblat added. Jumblat's visit,
during which he hopes to rally U.S. support for the Cedar Revolution, comes
ahead of a parliamentary session scheduled for Oct. 23 to elect a new president
for Lebanon. Jumblat stressed that his relationship with MP Saad Hariri "was
very strong." In Beirut, Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh said Mount
Lebanon Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Ali Jouzou has received death threats from the
Syrian regime. Beirut, 17 Oct 07, 09:30
Nasrallah Reveals "Progress"
In Prisoner Swap Talks with Israel
Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah said Tuesday that progress had been achieved in
negotiations on two Israeli soldiers captured by the Shiite Muslim group last
year, but did not confirm they are still alive. "For the first time, I can say
that we have advanced positively in the negotiations concerning the two Israeli
soldiers and (Lebanese) prisoners," Nasrallah said in a television address. He
was speaking a day after the first prisoner swap between Israel and Hizbullah in
nearly four years.
"The doors that had been closed in this case have started to open," he said.
"There is hope and optimism, which did not exist before, on moving forward in
the negotiations." He added without giving details that the talks between
Hizbullah and the "Zionist enemy" were being handled by an international
mediator appointed by former U.N. secretary general Kofi Annan. The cross-border
raid by Hizbullah guerrillas in July 2006 that resulted in the soldiers' capture
sparked a 34-day war between Israel and the group that left Lebanon devastated.
On Monday, Israel handed over the bodies of two Hizbullah militants and a
prisoner in exchange for the remains of a drowned Israeli civilian, whose body
was washed up on the Lebanese coast, and information on a missing airman. An
Israeli official said the information related to Ron Arad, who has been missing
for more than 20 years after ejecting from a fighter jet over Lebanon. Meanwhile
German officials could meet for the first time with Arad's relatives after the
announcement of the imminent release of an Iranian official jailed in Germany
for killing Kurdish dissidents in 1992. But the German officials indicated there
would be no deal involving the planned release of convicted Iranian Kazem Darabi,
whose name figured in several rounds of talks on potential prisoner swaps
including German-brokered negotiations between Israel and the Iranian-backed
Hizbullah. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Tuesday welcomed Monday's
prisoner swap as a "bearable" price to pay towards the return of missing
soldiers.
"For years, our enemies have been trying to raise the price for the least
information, the return of kidnapped soldiers and civilians, or their bodies,"
he said in the southern city of Ashdod. "Sometimes we have no choice but to pay
a heavy price. I believe, however, that what happened yesterday was carried out
in a balanced way and at a bearable price." The Arabic-language newspaper Asharq
Al-Awsat reported on Sunday that the two captured Israeli soldiers had been
handed over to Iran and could be freed in a German-brokered swap. It quoted a
source it identified as a high-ranking official in the office of Iran's supreme
leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying the pair had been transferred to Iran's
elite Revolutionary Guards. A senior Israeli government official dismissed the
report as "nonsense," however, calling it an "attempt to disseminate
disinformation on this extremely sensitive issue." He said negotiations to
secure their release were being mediated by the United Nations and Germany. On
January 29, 2004, Israel freed nearly 450 prisoners, most of them Palestinians
and Arabs, in exchange for Israeli businessman Elhanan Tannenbaum and the bodies
of three soldiers.(AFP) Beirut, 15 Oct 07, 12:18
Nasrallah reports progress on
another prisoner swap
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Tuesday there is "positive
progress" in negotiations to swap two Israeli soldiers the group captured last
year for Lebanese detainees in Israeli prisons. "I can talk for the first time
of the existence of positive progress in these main negotiations, the ones
linked to the Israeli soldiers and the prisoners," Nasrallah said in a brief
televised speech on Hizbullah-affiliated Al-Manar television. On Monday, Israel
handed over the bodies of two Hizbullah militants and a prisoner in exchange for
the remains of an Israeli civilian who had drowned off the coast of Israel and
was washed up on the Lebanese coast. The swap at the Naqoura border crossing was
part of a deal brokered by German and United Nations mediators. Nasrallah said
the "limited and partial" exchange on Monday provided "an important incentive"
for a more "large-scale" prisoner swap in the future. Hizbullah's capture of two
Israeli soldiers, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, in July 2006, preceded the
34-day war in July 2006. "There is positive progress in the main negotiations
over the two soldiers and the prisoners," Nasrallah said.
Olmert Defends Deal With
Hezbollah
By STEVEN ERLANGER
Published: October 17, 2007
JERUSALEM, Oct. 16 — Defending the government’s decision to make a minor deal
with the Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of
Israel said Tuesday that Israel’s enemies were engaging in “an ugly and cynical
trade in emotions” and that the release of two captured Israeli soldiers was not
imminent.
Israel Returns Bodies in Swap With Militia (October 16, 2007) Speaking in
Ashdod, Mr. Olmert said the swap of a captured Hezbollah fighter and two dead
comrades for the body of an Israeli citizen who had drowned two years ago in a
swimming accident had been part of the United Nations-moderated talks to return
two Israeli soldiers captured at the start of the war last summer. “Last night
we passed a certain stage in the process,” Mr. Olmert said in a speech broadcast
on national radio. “Unfortunately, the road” to their release, he said, “is
still a long one.”For information and prisoners, he said, “sometimes we have no
choice but to pay painful prices, but I was told that the deal completed last
night was carried out fairly and for a price the state of Israel can pay.”
The fate of the two reservists, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, is unknown.
They were both believed to have been wounded in the July 2006 Hezbollah attack
in which they were captured, and Hezbollah has refused to say anything about
their health, or even if they are alive. An effort by the International
Committee of the Red Cross to see the two men or get information about them was
also rebuffed. A German intelligence official, Ernst Uhrlau, mediated the
exchange. The swap came four days after Germany said it was granting early
release to two convicts, a Lebanese and an Iranian, who were given life
sentences in 1992 for assassinating dissident Kurds at a Berlin restaurant.
Hezbollah has a tradition of asking a high price even for information about the
dead. Part of the trade on Monday was reported to be information — supposedly
some handwritten documents — from a missing Israeli airman, Ron Arad, whose
plane was shot down over Lebanon on Oct. 16, 1986, and who is believed to be
dead.
Hezbollah is eager to win the return of Samir Kuntar, a Lebanese man serving a
life sentence for murdering four Israelis, including a 4-year-old girl, during a
terrorist raid in Nahariya in 1979. Mr. Olmert said it would also take time to
secure the release of an Israeli soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was captured by
Hamas and other gunmen near Gaza in June 2006. Egypt has been trying to mediate
a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas, but the two sides have not been
able to agree on a prisoner list. On Monday, Mr. Olmert appeared to solve
another painful political issue by coming to an agreement with indigent
Holocaust survivors on increased state aid. He agreed to raise allowances and
services to poor elderly citizens, which would include thousands of survivors
who were not in concentration camps but who were forced to flee their homes as
the Nazis advanced. Early Tuesday, in the West Bank city of Nablus, Israeli
forces on an arrest raid killed Bassem Abu Saria, a local leader of Al Aksa
Martyrs Brigades of Fatah, and wounded two others. At least five other
Palestinians were arrested.
When troops called on residents to leave a house in the old city, a Palestinian
man, Abed al-Wazir, 72, was shot and died of his wounds. An Israeli Army
spokeswoman said that the man died “in the exchange of fire with Palestinian
gunmen” but that it was unclear whose bullet had killed him. The army called an
ambulance for him, she said, and regretted his subsequent death. His son, Shaked
Wazir, told The Associated Press that he believed that Israeli troops shot his
father and that the ambulance took 45 minutes to arrive. Later, a woman was also
shot, but the army spokeswoman said she was not wounded by Israeli fire.
Lebanon's government by
murder
By David Schenker
October 17, 2007
Forty Lebanese members of parliament belonging to the pro-Western, anti-Syria
March 14th majority bloc currently reside in Tower 3 at Beirut's Phoenicia
Intercontinental Hotel. With plush couches, stereos and flat-screen TVs, the
two-bedroom units at the Phoenicia are swank. But the lawmakers aren't guests;
they're prisoners. To get into the Phoenicia, you have to traverse no fewer than
three security checkpoints, pass through a metal detector and show ID. Armed
escorts from Lebanon's Internal Security Forces accompany guests to their rooms.
Inside, curtains are permanently drawn to discourage snipers from targeting the
MPs. One confined parliament member described the setup as "Abu Ghraib."
As the isolation of these legislators suggests, the March 14th bloc is taking
its security seriously, and with good reason. Since 2005, four members of
parliament affiliated with this bloc have been assassinated in Beirut. These
killings, the death by natural causes of one MP and the political defection of
yet another have sorely depleted the ranks of the majority. A government that
once had 72 out of 128 legislators now rules by a razor-thin margin of 68 of 127
seats.
The Bashar Assad regime in Syria is widely assumed to be behind the campaign of
assassination. Its goal is to weaken, supplant or intimidate the democratically
elected government in Beirut and thus end the international tribunal that will
almost certainly implicate Damascus in the 2005 murder of former Lebanese Prime
Minister Rafik Hariri.
Presidential elections -- which began on Sept. 25 and run through Nov. 25 --
have only increased the threat to the majority. The president in Lebanon is
elected by parliament, and the majority has made clear that although it would
prefer to choose by consensus, it will elect the chief executive by a simple
majority if no acceptable compromise candidate can be found.
The Hezbollah-led, Syrian-backed opposition says it will not recognize a
non-consensus president. For its part, Damascus has stipulated that the next
Lebanese president should be moqawam, i.e., a supporter of Hezbollah, and "of
Arab belonging," i.e., pro-Syrian. Should the Syrians and the opposition succeed
in either toppling the government by attrition or installing a crony like
outgoing President Emile Lahoud, the tribunal could be delayed if not derailed.
The tribunal, convened at the behest of the U.N. Security Council, appears to be
a train that has left the station. But election of a "compromise" president --
someone more sympathetic to Damascus -- could weaken Beirut's commitment to and
undermine international support for the tribunal. Syria could also scuttle the
tribunal by ending March 14th's control of the government.
The good news, if there is any, is that in the short run it will be difficult
for the Syrians to kill enough March 14th MPs to change the majority before the
end of presidential elections. This is because, unlike what occurred following
previous assassinations, Lebanon will not hold new elections to fill vacant
seats before Nov. 25. The simple, macabre math means that the Syrians would have
to kill eight more parliamentarians -- leaving March 14th, with 60 of 119 seats,
short of a half-plus-one majority -- in order to force new elections.
Of course, given Syrian persistence, the math is not reassuring. For Damascus,
the numbers game likely makes the Phoenicia a more appealing target. And even if
the majority survives the presidential elections intact, there is no indication
that the campaign of assassinations will stop.
Clearly, Lebanon cannot protect itself. Likewise, to date, the U.N. resolutions
censuring Syria for its role in Lebanon have not proved an effective deterrent
to Syrian misdeeds. Given the stakes -- a revitalized Syrian and Iranian
presence in Lebanon and the potential reorientation of Beirut away from the West
-- the preservation of the current Lebanese government is a must. For
Washington, the key will be to craft a policy to prevent Syria and its Lebanese
allies from subverting the government in Beirut. One possibility is to deploy,
at Lebanon's request, international forces -- under the auspices of
already-in-force U.N. Security Council resolutions -- to protect targeted
politicians. A more effective but politically difficult option would be to hold
Syria accountable for all future political murders in Lebanon.
Regardless of how Washington proceeds, immediate action is required. The ongoing
thinning of the majority raises the very real specter that the results of the
2005 parliamentary elections in Lebanon will be reversed by terrorism. Should
this trend of assassinations continue unchallenged, the pro-Syrian opposition,
led by the Iranian-sponsored Shiite terrorist organization Hezbollah, waits in
the wings. ***David Schenker is a senior fellow in Arab politics at the
Washington Institute. From 2002 to 2006, he served in the office of the
secretary of Defense as country director for Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and the
Palestinian territories.
Syria denies it confirmed target of IAF strike was nuclear facility
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service
Syria denied Wednesday its representatives to the United Nations had confirmed
that an Israel Air Force strike last month targeted nuclear facility, and added
that such facilities do not exist in Syria, state-run news agency said.
The Syrian Arab News Agency, SANA, quoting a foreign ministry source, said that
Syria had made it clear in the past that there are no such facilities in Syria.
On Tuesday, a UN press release sent after a meeting of the First Committee,
Disarmament and International Security, in New York paraphrased Syria's UN
ambassador, Bashar al-Jaafari, as saying that a nuclear facility was hit.
"Israel was the fourth largest exporter of weapons of mass destruction and a
violator of other nations' airspace, and it had taken action against nuclear
facilities, including the 6 July attack in Syria," the release paraphrased al-Jaafari
as saying, in an apparent error as to the date of the September 6 air strike.
Syria has confirmed that the target of an IAF raid deep within its borders last
month was a nuclear facility, Israeli Foreign Ministry officials said Wednesday.
The comments were first reported to Israel by Foreign Ministry Deputy Director
General for Strategic Affairs Miriam Ziv, who took part in the UN meeting.
In an official response, the Foreign Ministry confirmed the content of Ziv's
report, but declined further comment. The comments follow a Saturday New York
Times account, which said that the attack targeted a partially built nuclear
reactor that was years away from completion. Israeli officials have been largely
silent about the affair. The military only recently relaxed censorship to allow
Israel-based journalists to report that Israeli aircraft attacked a military
target deep inside Syria. Syrian President Bashar Assad has maintained that
Israel bombed an "unused military building" in the raid. The Times said the
nuclear reactor was modeled on one North Korea had used to create its stockpile
of nuclear weapons fuel. North Korea has denied involvement in any such
activities in Syria.
Arab nations invited to peace
conference
By Matthew Lee, Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday that key Arab
nations, including Syria, would be invited to President Bush's planned Mideast
peace conference this fall and expressed hope they would attend. Formal
invitations haven't been issued yet but Rice said it "would be natural" for
Syria, Saudi Arabia and 10 other Arab League members looking at a broad peace
deal with Israel to participate despite their hostility to the Jewish state. "It
is very important that the regional players of the international community
mobilize to support them," she said, referring to the Israelis and the
Palestinians.
But, she said their attendance would have to reflect acceptance of international
efforts to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and support for the ultimate
goal of a two-state solution and comprehensive regional peace agreement. "We
would hope that the invitations would include the members of the Arab follow-up
committee," Rice told a news conference here after a meeting of the
international diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East -- the United States, United
Nations, European Union and Russia. Only two of the countries, Egypt and Jordan,
have peace deals with Israel and some, notably Syria, remain technically at war
with the Jewish state. Earlier this month, Israel is alleged to have launched an
airstrike on what some reports have said was a North Korean nuclear facility in
Syria.
The United States has long been concerned about Syrian development of weapons of
mass destruction and has harshly criticized Syria for its consistent anti-Israel
stance, support for Palestinian militants and its role in Lebanon where Damascus
is accused of interference.
Rice did not speak to the appropriateness of inviting Syria to the as-yet
unscheduled conference that Bush announced plans for in July and is expected to
be held in Washington in November. She said that attendance "has to be a
commitment to supporting a two-state solution" and agreement that the chance to
end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one that "we should not miss."
Many Arab states have said they see no use for Bush's conference unless it has
clear goals and a realistic chance of meeting them. A senior U.S. official said
Rice thought she could allay those fears in her talks on Sunday. Still, there
was no immediate reaction from Syria. And, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud
al-Faisal was noncommittal about attending the conference after seeing Rice at
her hotel before the Quartet meeting. The Palestinians want the conference to
produce an outline for a peace deal; the Israelis want more vague declarations.
Rice was in the Middle East last week and plans to return to the region soon to
continue the planning for the conference. Her visit coincided with Israel's
decision to declare the Gaza Strip, which the radical Hamas movement seized in
June, as "hostile territory." That designation dealt a potential blow to efforts
to bolster moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who now runs only the
West Bank. She conceded Sunday that "the road ahead is one that is very
difficult." But she added: "There is a lot of commitment and hopefully this time
we'll succeed." In addition to the Israelis, Palestinians and the Arab League
committee, those to be invited to the U.S.-hosted conference will include the
Quartet members and other major international players and donors, possibly
including Japan, officials said. The Quartet's special representative, former
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, gave his backing to the conference, saying it
would be a crucial element in taking advantage of what he said was growing
momentum in the peace process.As a group the Quartet representatives -- Rice,
Blair, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov,
Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado, E.U. foreign policy chief Javier Solana
and E.U. foreign affairs commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner -- echoed that
sentiment. "The Quartet will work for a successful international meeting and for
the implementation of its conclusions," they said in a statement. Sunday's
meeting set the stage for meetings Bush will have in New York on Monday with
Blair, Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. Copyright 2007 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Government publishes budget
figures for 1997-2006
Siniora touts 'crucial source of reference' that will be placed on finance
ministry's web site
By Osama Habib
Daily Star staff
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
BEIRUT: The Lebanese government reiterated on Tuesday that the cost of propping
up the troubled electricity sector is draining the resources of the Treasury as
it launched a detailed report on budgets from 1997 to 2006, with some figures
going back to 1993. Describing it as "a crucial source of reference," Prime
Minister Fouad Siniora said that comprehensive 1997-2006 budget figures have
been put at the disposals of all those interested in detailed financial
statements of the successive governments. Siniora also said that the issue of
electricity represents one third of the public debt. He added that the
skyrocketing prices of oil in the international markets have added financial
burdens on Electricite du Liban (EDL). "We used to buy ... oil between $25 and
$30 per barrel two years ago but now we are paying $85 for a barrel," he said.
He also underlined the need to give the private sector a bigger role in running
EDL.
"They used to say give the bread to the baker but now we should add that make
sure that the baker does not eat half of the bread," Siniora said jokingly,
alluding to the chaotic conditions at EDL. He added that the government will
also make sure that the energy sector does not turn from a public monopoly to a
private monopoly.
For his part, Finance Minister Jihad Azour, who played a large role in compiling
the budget information with the help of staff, said that this is the first time
a Lebanese government made such a step.
"All this data will be placed on the Web site of the Finance Ministry as well as
on CDs," the minister said.
Responding to a question, Azour said that the 2008 budget has been completed by
the Finance Ministry and will be sent to the Cabinet soon for deliberation and
approval. Commenting on the budgets, Azour stressed that the Finance Ministry
had requested Deloitte & Touche to audit all of the financial statements of the
governments. According to the report, government spending rose from LL3.162
trillion in 1993 to LL11.625 trillion in 2006.
The cost of debt servicing represented close to 40 percent of the entire budgets
while the salaries of public employees represented 24 percent.
It is estimated that more than 190,000 army and security personnel and civil
servants are on the government payroll.
He added that in the past five years, the Finance Ministry has tried to reduce
spending. On revenues, Azour said that the governments' income from taxes and
nontaxes rose from LL1.855 trillion in 1993 to LL7.315 trillion in 2006. The
introduction of the value added tax in 2001 was credited for the surge in the
government's revenues over the past few years. The public debt in 1993 stood at
LL5.4 trillion ($3.6 billion) while by 2006 the debt had jumped to $39.5
billion, or 174 percent of Lebanon's GDP.The government hopes to reduce debt to
GDP in the next five years to less than 130 percent of GDP provided all the
necessary reform measures are implemented on time.
Iran jails three students for insulting Islam
By Agence France Presse (AFP)
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
TEHRAN: Iran on Tuesday handed down jail sentences of at least two years each to
three students imprisoned since May on charges of insulting Islam, the Mehr news
agency reported.The three students from Tehran's Amir Kabir University - Ehsan
Mansouri, Majid Tavakoli and Ahmad Ghassaban - were among eight arrested on
suspicion of publishing anti-Islamic images in four student reformist
newspapers. "The verdicts for the accused Amir Kabir students were issued
today," their lawyer Mohammad Ali Dadkhah said, according to the Mehr news
agency. "Ehsan Mansouri has been sentenced to two years in prison, Majid
Tavakoli to three years and Ahmad Ghassaban to two-and-a-half years," he said.
Dadkhah,who is a member of Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi's group of
human rights defenders, said that it was not clear whether the sentences issued
by Tehran's revolutionary court meant prison or suspended terms. The other five
arrested have since been released, but this trio has been detained since May
with the authorities saying they have not been freed because of the gravity of
the charges against them. Dadkhah vowed to appeal against the verdicts. In
August, Mansouri's mother publicly accused the authorities of torturing the
young men at Tehran's Evin prison in an effort to obtain confessions. The
judiciary insists that torture is not used in Iran. **Amir Kabir University has
long been a hotbed of student activism, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was
the target of heckling in a stormy address to the university last year. - AFP
FEATURE-Foreign powers sway
Lebanon's quest for president
Tue Oct 16, 2007
powered by SphereBy Alistair Lyon, Special Correspondent
QUSAYA, Lebanon, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Outside powers cast long shadows over
Lebanon's struggle for a deal between rival camps before next week's
parliamentary session to elect a successor to outgoing President Emile Lahoud, a
close Syrian ally. Hemmed in by Syria and Israel, Lebanon is also buffeted by a
U.S. struggle to counter Iranian and Syrian adversaries. Such regional rivalries
have long tempted Lebanese leaders, who jostle for power within a complex system
that shares key posts among 17 Muslim and Christian sects, to seek alliances
with foreigners -- whose influence can be hard to shake off.
Syria kept troops in Lebanon for 29 years until forced to withdraw them in 2005
after ex-Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri was assassinated. It still flexes its
muscles in its former client state via an array of Lebanese and Palestinian
allies.
In the hills above the Christian village of Qusaya, pro-Syrian Palestinian
guerrillas train and fire their weapons daily in a military base straddling the
Syrian-Lebanese border. "This is the last checkpoint, up there are the camps,"
said a Lebanese army soldier halting visitors at a steel gate across a rough
road that climbs into the mountainous frontier zone. In the past year, the army
has tried to seal off guerrilla bases dotting the border, but has not tackled
the Palestinian factions entrenched there for two decades or more. "They haven't
harmed us," said Huda Abdou, dark-haired wife of the mayor of Qusaya. "But the
Palestinians are sitting on our land up there. Certainly we want them to leave."
In June a U.N. inquiry called the bases a major obstacle to securing the border
and halting arms smuggling.
Syria has long funnelled weapons to Hezbollah, including many supplied by Iran,
the main patron of the Lebanese Shi'ite guerrilla group that battled Israel for
34 days last year. Damascus naturally supports Hezbollah and its allies in the
tussle over the presidency, reserved for a Maronite Christian.
SAUDI FINANCIAL MUSCLE
Saudi Arabia, on icy terms with Syria, backs the majority Sunni-Druze-Christian
bloc led by Hariri's son Saad -- and keeps $1 billion in the Central Bank to
stabilise the Lebanese pound.
"The Syrians don't want a president who is anti-Syrian, or one who is going to
pursue vigorously border security issues in ways that don't suit them," argued
Paul Salem, director of the Beirut branch of the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace. He said the Syrians also wanted a president who would not
put his weight behind a U.N. tribunal due to try the killers of Hariri and a
string of other anti-Syrian figures.
"They could find ways to benefit from a constitutional vacuum where we have no
president, or two presidents, and a breakdown of order in Lebanon," Salem added.
In contrast, sectarian chaos would not suit Iran, which fears Hezbollah would
lose pan-Arab credibility as a symbol of resistance to America and Israel if it
fought as a Shi'ite militia. "Iran's concern is to keep Hezbollah alive and well
for any future confrontation with Israel or the U.S.," Salem said.
Apart from arming, training and funding Hezbollah since it emerged in the early
1980s, the Islamic Republic has fostered ties with its co-religionists in
Lebanon's Shi'ite community. Iran unleashed a reconstruction drive in mainly
Shi'ite areas of Lebanon after Hezbollah's 2006 war with Israel.
In the Bekaa Valley, bulldozers churn clouds of dust from a highway north of
Baalbek bombed by the Israelis. Now the Iranians are rebuilding and widening a
24-km (15-mile) stretch. "We are in the service of the Lebanese people, before
the war or after the war," an Iranian site engineer, who introduced himself as
Brother Murad, told Reuters via a translator.
IRAN WINS GRATITUDE
Shi'ite residents in the nearby village of Tawfiqiyeh welcomed the Iranian
project, complaining of Lebanese state neglect of their water, power and
infrastructure needs.
"We wish the government would help us as much as the Iranians do," sighed Ali
Bazzal, a 35-year-old butcher.
In Beirut, Hussam Khoshnevis, 45, a trimly bearded engineer charged by Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to lead the reconstruction effort, refused to
divulge how much Tehran was spending on what he said were 1,481 projects in
Lebanon.
"It's more important to focus on getting the work done than to talk about
money," he said, signing cheques in his office.
Iran's effort is highly visible compared to U.S. assistance, which is mostly
military aid to the Lebanese army.
In May, Washington rushed ammunition to troops battling Islamist militants at a
Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon. It has provided $321 million in
military aid in the past two years, as well as $60 million for the police. But
Lebanon's long-neglected army has no fixed-wing planes, air defences or modern
equipment. Its weakness suits Israel and Syria and bolsters Hezbollah's argument
that it is the only force capable of resisting or deterring Israeli military
might.
"We are waiting for the Americans to fufill their promises and for the Europeans
to help us," said Nizar Abdel Kader, a retired Lebanese general who advocates
building a strong army. The United States, a staunch ally of Israel, has many
other concerns in the region, such as the Iraq war, the nuclear row with Iran
and efforts to revive Middle East peacemaking, and would probably want to know
who will be Lebanon's next president before deciding whether to pour in more
military aid.
While lacking strategic value, Lebanon is seen as a rare Middle East policy
success by Washington, which hopes parliament will consolidate that gain by
electing an anti-Syrian president. Carnegie's Salem said the Americans did not
want to "lose the country" to civil war or collapse, but were also wary of
making any concessions to Syria or Iran in Lebanon."The situation is quite
worrisome," he concluded.
ANALYSIS: Hezbollah chief has sights set on making 'the big deal'
By Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz Correspondent
Hassan Nasrallah has accustomed us to regard his statements as a complete
package: body language, intonation, emphases, order of ideas each of these
elements has significance. This is his strength as a rhetorician. Nasrallah on
Monday chose the role of "official spokesman" who reports on developments as if
he is not involved. While reading portions of a document, Nasrallah explained
that intensive, non-stop negotiations are underway that there is progress and
efforts are being made to achieve what he calls "the big deal." The significant
novelty in his statement is that for the first time he is referring to great
optimism that the deal will occur, and he even specifies that the deal includes
the two kidnapped Israelis and that there is a commitment to return all the
Lebanese prisoners and dead. Advertisement What he did not mention was the link
to the missing navigator, Ron Arad, or the MIAs from the battle at Sultan Yaakub
in 1982. Has Nasrallah given up on his earlier demands for the release of Arab
and Palestinian prisoners, in addition to the Lebanese? Although nothing in
detail was heard from him, it is possible to conclude that he has received a
solid Israeli commitment that prisoners will be released. Without such a
commitment, Nasrallah had no reason to radiate such optimism. The question is
the extent of the Israeli offer: Will it be payment only in Lebanese "currency"
or a combination that involves another deal for the release of Palestinian
prisoners, whose release Nasrallah will claim credit for later?
It is possible that public pressure on Nasrallah in Lebanon has also led him to
disassociate the Lebanese prisoners from the Palestinian ones. On the other
hand, has Israel decided to give up on its coupling of the release of Samir
Kuntar with its demand for information on Ron Arad, making do with the latest
information Hezbollah offered? According to Nasrallah, it is possible that in
the very near future, more details on the deal will be released, and then we
will have answers to these questions. In any case, Nasrallah's statements
yesterday are meant in part to present Hezbollah as an organization that is not
sparing any effort to close a deal, passing the ball back onto Israel's court.
Nasrallah was keen to stress that despite all the significance he attributes to
the release of the Lebanese prisoners, Monday's exchange was no more than a
humanitarian gesture that resulted from the initiative of the German mediator,
and which he claims is not part of a broader deal. But according to sources in
Lebanon, Monday's deal is the result of a breakthrough on the way to a major
deal and would not have taken place unless it was part of a "down payment.
No free
ride
By Moshe Arens
Last update - 11:00 17/10/2007
Haaretz
As is well known, there is no such thing as a free lunch. And unlike what some
people might believe, there are also no free rides. Yet Olmert, Livni and Barak
are about to take Israel for a ride, which will end up costing Israel a great
deal - a ride to Annapolis. Not far from Annapolis, at Camp David seven years
ago, Ehud Barak took Israel for a ride, which turned out not to be free. We have
not yet finished paying for the egregious offers made by Barak to Yasser Arafat
at Camp David, nor the price we paid for his unilateral withdrawal from the
south Lebanon security zone and the betrayal of the South Lebanon Army. So here
comes another extravaganza, from the people who gave us the forced uprooting of
the settlements in Gush Katif, and the debacle of the Second Lebanon War - an
imaginary peace settlement with Mahmoud Abbas.
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We will agree in principle to withdraw to the 1949 armistice lines, and he
supposedly will agree in principle to make peace with Israel at some future
date.
Those whose senses have not been dulled by the unending stream of "spins" being
produced by the Prime Minister's Office, will remember that the foolish
disengagement idea was based on the assumption that there was no partner for
peace, and therefore Israel had to unilaterally determine its own borders. Does
anybody remember who was the "president" of the Palestinian Authority at the
time? Of course, it was Mahmoud Abbas. The very same. How has Mahmoud Abbas
suddenly become a "partner for peace?" The answer is, we made him into a partner
for peace. The withdrawal from Gush Katif brought Hamas to power, turned the
Gaza Strip into a hotbed of terrorism, and left Abbas without a mandate to
conduct Palestinian affairs. Now that Hamas has rid itself of Abbas - or in
Olmert's upside-down world, Abbas has rid himself of Hamas - here comes the
partner for peace. None other than Mahmoud Abbas. Here is the law of unintended
consequences, at least for those who cannot see beyond their own nose. By
unilaterally uprooting the settlers in Gush Katif because "there is no partner
for peace," the Olmert government has with its own hands created a partner for
peace.
So let us see who this partner for peace is. The man who received a Ph.D. at
Moscow University some years ago for a thesis that proved that there had been no
Holocaust. Ahmadinejad must have studied this masterpiece. Not long ago, Abbas
reached an agreement with Hamas to form a national unity government, an
agreement Hamas not only did not respect, but it then went ahead and threw Abbas
and his people out of Gaza. Abbas, who knows Hamas only too well, still seeks an
agreement with them.
Considering the striking Hamas victory in the Gaza Strip, it seems far from
impossible that they will in time give Abbas the same treatment in Judea and
Samaria. So is this the partner to whom we should offer an Israeli withdrawal to
the 1949 armistice lines, including control of the Temple Mount? The implied
answer by Olmert and his people is that it is worth a try - what do we have to
lose? If Abbas is brought down, or if he cannot meet the commitments he will
undertake at Annapolis, we have lost nothing. It will be a free ride. But there
are no free rides. The Israeli government's readiness to make these concessions
will be firmly set in the court of public opinion. It is not going to be easy
retracting those concessions. Of course, our foreign minister, Tzipi Livni,
believes that these concessions are for our own good. It seems that we have hard
this song before. Remember Gush Katif? That was also supposed to be for our own
good. Let's stop for a moment and ask ourselves whether the concessions being
offered to Abbas make any sense - if we were even to assume that he has the
authority to make commitments and meet them in return for Israeli concessions.
After years of a terror campaign that the Palestinians, Fatah and Hamas waged
against Israeli civilians, a campaign that caused thousands of casualties and
that was finally suppressed by the IDF and the Israeli security services, should
the Palestinians now be rewarded by turning over to them Judea and Samaria and
much of Jerusalem? Are they not likely to conclude that it is their terror
campaign that has produced this result? Remember Gush Katif!