Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Olmert 'wants Lebanon talks'
The Israeli prime minister has suggested that peace talks should be opened with Lebanon, following the resumption of negotiations with its neighbour Syria.
"Just as we started talks with Syria, I would hope it would be possible to start talks with Lebanon," an official quoted Ehud Olmert as saying in a cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
Israel and Syria announced last month that they had been holding indirect talks through Turkey.
Further meetings are expected for later this week, officials said.
However, a source, who spoke to the Reuters news agency on condition of anonymity, said that the prime minister "wasn't asking for talks with Lebanon" but was voicing his hope that conditions would emerge to enable negotiations. (Al Jazeera)
POLITICS-US: Pledging Allegiance to AIPAC
With the Iranian nuclear "threat" in the crosshairs, discussion of Palestinians or a Syrian-Israeli detente was virtually non-existent. But then again, one should not expect many overtures for peace when attending the annual policy conference for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
As more than 5,000 Jewish-American activists ascended Capitol Hill last week, the most common word circulating through panel discussions, daily briefings, and remarks made by high-level officials and presidential candidates was "security" -- more accurately, Israel's security.
And most of the tough talk, whether substantive or merely stylistic, was directed at a nuclear Iran and its presumed proxies -- Lebanese Hezbollah, Palestinian Hamas, and even Syria.
The policy prescriptions, outlined in a draft proposal of AIPAC's policy agenda, urge, among other things, that the U.S. "take all appropriate measures to halt Iran's pursuit of nuclear and 152 other weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them."
The language remains unsettling for many Democrats and war-weary U.S. citizens, who view it as a license for the President George W. Bush administration to launch a military attack on Iran. (IPS)
Labels: Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, U.S.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Syrian anthem played for Lebanese
Saudi Arabian football authorities are investigating an error that led to the Syrian national anthem being played before a match against Lebanon.
Several Lebanese players were visibly angry when the wrong anthem was played before Saturday's game, reports say.
Officials at the stadium quickly realised their mistake, and eventually played the correct national anthem before the World Cup qualifying clash.
Lebanon went on to lose the match in the Saudi capital Riyadh, 2-1.
Syrian influence in Lebanon remains one of the most divisive issues there. (BBC)
Labels: Lebanon, misc, Saudi Arabia, Syria
Army deployed after Bekaa clashes
Troops have been deployed in the Bekaa Valley, eastern Lebanon, after at least one person was injured in clashes between rival political factions.
Reports say fighting in the villages of Saadnayel and Taalabayeh was sparked by arguments among residents, which escalated into gun battles.
The army says it is looking for those involved in the weekend's violence.
Sporadic fighting has broken out in Lebanon despite May's peace deal which ended the 18-month political stalemate.
The army moved into the Bekaa Valley villages on Monday to quell fighting between pro-and anti-government supporters.
A local radio station reported that mortar rounds and rockets had been used but the army is said to have restored calm in both villages.
The army says it has also carried out raids in the mountain village of Majdelbanna, in the Aley region, and has detained several people suspected of involvement in clashes there over the weekend. (BBC)
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Robert Fisk: The West's weapon of self-delusion
So they are it again, the great and the good of American democracy, grovelling and fawning to the Israeli lobbyists of American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), repeatedly allying themselves to the cause of another country and one that is continuing to steal Arab land.
Will this ever end? Even Barack Obama – or "Mr Baracka" as an Irish friend of mine innocently and wonderfully described him – found time to tell his Jewish audience that Jerusalem is the one undivided capital of Israel, which is not the view of the rest of the world which continues to regard the annexation of Arab East Jerusalem as illegal. The security of Israel. Say it again a thousand times: the security of Israel – and threaten Iran, for good measure.
Yes, Israelis deserve security. But so do Palestinians. So do Iraqis and Lebanese and the people of the wider Muslim world. Now even Condoleezza Rice admits – and she was also talking to Aipac, of course – that there won't be a Palestinian state by the end of the year. That promise of George Bush – which no-one believed anyway – has gone. In Rice's pathetic words, "The goal itself will endure beyond the current US leadership."
Of course it will. And the siege of Gaza will endure beyond the current US leadership. And the Israeli wall. And the illegal Israeli settlement building. And deaths in Iraq will endure beyond "the current US leadership" – though "leadership" is pushing the definition of the word a bit when the gutless Bush is involved – and deaths in Afghanistan and, I fear, deaths in Lebanon too. (Independent)
Labels: Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, U.S.
Trial of militant group gets under way in Beirut
Lebanese military courts on Thursday began trying members of the "Net of 13," a group initially suspected of involvement in the February 2005 blast that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, for "plotting to commit terrorist acts on Lebanese soil." The group has been linked by judicial authorities to Al-Qaeda, although members have repeatedly denied any ties with the Islamist network.
The "Net of 13" counts six Lebanese, one Palestinian, one Saudi and five Syrians among its members, in addition to a man who has eluded capture for around one year. The Daily Star was unable to confirm the nationality of this member.
At the trial, which is open to the public, members of the organization retracted earlier confessions to the Hariri assassination and said their admissions of guilt had been extracted by "police brutality and torture."
One member said Hariri's assassination was not carried out by Ahmad Abu Adas, who ostensibly leads the "Victory and Jihad in Greater Syria" Islamist group - an outfit which initially claimed carrying out the Hariri killing and to which Net of 13 members had been accused of having ties - but by "specialized intelligence services." (AFP)
Labels: Lebanon
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Iran's Lebanese 'aircraft carrier'
Indirect negotiations between Israel and Syria over a possible return of the Golan Heights have major implications for the Lebanese political and militant organisation Hezbollah.
A peace deal with Israel is likely to be conditional on Syria severing its connections with Hezbollah, but it would also remove Syria as the bridge to the group's other state backer, Iran.
In Hezbollah's stronghold in southern Beirut, Alam Shourab, a young manager of a mobile phone shop, is very happy with the movement's dependence on Iran.
Here dozens of buildings and bridges that were bombed by Israel during the summer war in 2006 are are being rapidly and impressively rebuilt mostly with funding from Iran.
"I think this is a good thing," he told me, "Israel is supported by America, so there's nothing wrong with Hezbollah being supported by Iran."
The support is considerable. At the Carnegie Endowment independent think tank in Beirut, Paul Salem put it in a nutshell: "Hezbollah was set up, established, trained, armed, financed... wholly by Iran."
He says Hezbollah has about 50,000 salaried employees and "a large modern army" - most of whom are paid with money from Tehran. (BBC)
Labels: Hezbollah, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, Syria
Almost half of South now cleared of cluster bombs
Almost half the areas in South Lebanon contaminated with cluster bombs dropped by Israel in 2006 have been cleared, a UN official said on Wednesday. "Forty-three percent of the areas affected by cluster bombs dropped during the July 2006 war have been cleared," said Dalya Farran, spokeswoman for UN Mine Action Coordination Center for South Lebanon.
"Efforts are under way to clean 49 percent of the contaminated areas," she told AFP, adding that work had yet to begin in 8 percent of the affected areas.
She said 970 contaminated sites had been found in an area that spanned some 39 million square meters.
Since the war's end in August 2006, cluster bombs have caused "256 civilian casualties between deaths and injuries," added Farran.
She said that there have also been 51 casualties from the Lebanese Army and international forces in the area.
Farran added that Israel had to make known "the number of bombs that were dropped as well as their locations." (AFP)
Labels: Israel, Lebanon, U.N., Weapons Ban
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
EGYPT: Bond With U.S. Becomes a Chain
A deal brokered by Qatar last month succeeded in ending the longstanding political standoff in Lebanon -- at least for the time being. Some local analysts see Qatar's success as Cairo's failure, saying Egyptian diplomacy has been hamstrung by the ruling regime's closeness to Washington.
"Ever since Egypt moved into the American orbit, its diplomatic role in the region has eroded," Hamadeen Sabahi, opposition MP and publisher of opposition weekly al-Karama told IPS. "In the case of Lebanon, tiny Qatar succeeded where Egypt -- the most populous Arab country -- failed."
On May 21, representatives of Lebanon's two rival factions signed a power-sharing agreement ending two years of political deadlock and governmental paralysis. Signed in Doha, Qatar and brokered by the Qatari leadership, the deal staved off fears -- temporarily, at least -- of looming civil war between the U.S.-backed government and the political opposition led by resistance group Hezbollah.
The accord stipulates the formation of a national unity government in which the opposition enjoys veto power over decision-making -- which will allow Hezbollah and its allies to pre-empt legislation aimed at the resistance group's disarmament. The accord further stipulates the adoption of a new electoral law in advance of upcoming parliamentary elections.
On May 25, consensus candidate Michel Suleiman, a former army chief, was elected to the presidency after the post had lain vacant during six months of political wrangling. (IPS)
Labels: Egypt, Lebanon, Qatar, U.S.
UN Security Council extends mandate of Hariri probe
The UN Security Council on Monday voted unanimously to extend for another six months the mandate of the UN panel probing the 2005 murder of former Lebanese Premier Rafik Hariri. Resolution 1815, drafted by France, renewed the mandate, which extends from June 15, until December 31, 2008.
But the council also stated its readiness to terminate the mandate of the panel headed by Daniel Bellemare earlier "if the commission reports that it has completed the implementation of its mandate."
The resolution said it took note of a May letter by Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora urging the council to back Bellemare's request for a six-month extension of the mandate.
After the adoption, Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador to the UN who chairs the council this month, stressed the importance of concluding the probe.
"The Commission has a clear mandate. It is moving forward, it certainly has the support of the Security Council and our support, it's very important that there is accountability for what happened in Lebanon," he told reporters.
He stressed that this was "not only important for the sake of Lebanon, but also more broadly because political assassination is an instrument. It's a threat to international peace and security."(AFP)
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Remains 'were from five Israelis'
Israel's military says human remains handed over by Hezbollah were of five Israeli soldiers killed in the 2006 war with the Lebanese Shia movement.
Military sources said four had died when their helicopter was shot down two days before the conflict ended.
The fifth was killed by an anti-tank missile in a separate incident.
The remains were delivered on Sunday after Israel released a Lebanese-born man who had served six years in prison for spying for Hezbollah.
Correspondents say the exchange raised speculation that there had been progress in indirect talks between Israel and Hezbollah over a broader prisoner swap.
This could involve two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah in 2006 - an incident which prompted the 33-day war - and a number of Lebanese citizens held by Israel. (BBC)
Labels: Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanon
Lebanese Shiites don't want Iranian-style regime - Qabalan
The vice president of the Higher Shiite Council, Sheikh Abdel- Amir Qabalan, said on Monday that Lebanese Shiites were not in favor of Iran-style "rule of the jurisprudent."
"We don't want the rule of the jurisprudent in Lebanon," Qabalan said in a statement.
The concept of the rule of the jurisprudent was advanced by Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in a series of lectures in 1970 and now forms the basis of the constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran, whereby a fakih, or Islamic jurist, serves as the supreme leader of the government and looks into both religious and political issues.
"Shiites don't want to change the regime in Lebanon, and we also don't favor a rule of the jurisprudent in Lebanon," Qabalan said. "We hide nothing from the Lebanese, we love Iran, but the rule of the jurisprudent cannot be applied in Lebanon."
Meanwhile, Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani called for a "new start" in Lebanon, which can be achieved by "erasing the painful scars and failures of the past" (Daily Star)
Labels: Lebanon
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Israel deports freed Hezbollah spy to Lebanon
Israel freed and then deported to Lebanon on Sunday a convicted Hezbollah spy while the Shiite militant group handed over the remains of Israeli soldiers, sparking talk of a wider exchange.
Lebanese-born Nessim Nisr was released after more than six years in prison on charges of collaborating with Hezbollah. He was handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross at Rosh Hanikra crossing point on Israel's border with Lebanon.
Simultaneously Hezbollah handed over to the ICRC on the Lebanese side what it said were the remains of Israeli soldiers killed in the summer 2006 war.
A senior Israeli official confirmed that the army had received a coffin but said tests had to be carried out on the contents to confirm whether the remains were those of Israeli soldiers.
"A coffin apparently containing body parts of soldiers killed during the Second Lebanon War has been transferred by Hezbollah to the IDF (Israeli army) as a gesture for the ongoing negotiations on a prisoner exchange," the official said.
"The coffin will be examined and the body parts will be examined to determine whether they indeed belong to Israeli soldiers."
Israel and Hezbollah have been involved in indirect negotiations aimed at securing the release of two Israeli soldiers captured in July 2006 in a deadly cross-border raid that sparked the 34-day war that summer.
Germany is acting as mediator in negotiations between Hezbollah and Israel on a prisoner exchange. (AFP)
Labels: Germany, Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanon
Saturday, May 31, 2008
'Bomber' killed by Lebanon troops
A suspected suicide bomber has been shot dead by troops near Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp.
The man, carrying a grenade and thought to be wearing an explosive belt, had approached an army checkpoint just outside the southern city of Sidon.
Troops at the position outside the Ain el-Hilweh camp opened fire and killed the man instantly, the army said.
The incident came hours after an explosion killed a soldier near a refugee camp in the country's north.
The explosion occurred at an army intelligence post near the Nahr El-Barad refugee camp outside Tripoli.
The camp saw three months of bloody street battles last year between Islamic militants and the Lebanese army, in fighting that killed hundreds of people before troops brought the situation under control. (BBC)
Labels: Lebanon
Nasrallah earns rebuke from Iraqi president - but praise from Iranian speaker
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani called on Hizbullah's secretary general Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Friday not to interfere in Iraq's internal affairs. "Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah does not have the right to interfere in Iraq's internal affairs, as we have not interfered in Lebanon's affairs," Talabani said after a large-scale meeting with heads of Iraqi dailies and newspapers.
"Iraq is an independent country and is the cradle of civilization. All those preaching Jihad and patriotism have learned from us," he added.
"[The Shiite holy city of] Najaf has graduated militants and Shiite clerics, and it is not acceptable that students impose their opinions on their teachers," Talabani said, referring to the Hizbullah leader's speech on May 25 in which he tackled the issue of the resistance in Iraq.
Nasrallah said in a speech to mark Liberation Day on Monday that the resistance in Lebanon has served as an example to other resistance movements in the Arab world.
"There is a strategy for liberation and removing the occupation, and a strategy of defending the homeland and people in the face of aggression, threats and invasion ... This is our message today to Lebanon and the Arab and Islamic worlds; it's a joint message by the resistance in Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq to the whole nation," he added. (Daily Star)
Labels: Hezbollah, Iraq, Lebanon
US supplies Lebanese Army with ammunition
The United States supplied over 1,356,000 rounds of ammunition of various calibers to the Lebanese Army last week, a US Embassy statement said on Friday. The delivery, totaling over 376 tons, is part of the multi-year US Security Assistance program to Lebanon, the statement added. The assistance program includes modern weapons, vehicles, communications, and advanced training. The statement pledged that "US assistance to the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) is continuous and robust." According to the statement, five days after the 2007 Nahr al-Bared battle began, the US delivered over 10 million rounds of all types of ammunition. The United States has delivered a total of over 12 million rounds to the LAF. "In response to the LAF's request to improve its transport capability, the United States has delivered 285 all terrain vehicles [humvees] to the LAF since 2006, and 300 more will arrive over the next year," the statement added. The LAF has also received 200 cargo transport trucks. In addition, the US has provided repair parts for all vehicles and critical repair parts for the LAF's helicopters. The statement added that US assistance to the LAF has also supplied the same front-line weapons that the US military troops are currently using, including assault rifles, automatic grenade launchers, advanced sniper weapon systems, anti-tank weapons, and the most modern urban warfare bunker weapons. Also included in the ongoing US support to the LAF is an advanced mobile communication system to secure Lebanon's borders. Coastal patrol craft will also be delivered to the Lebanese Navy and Air Force helicopters will be refurbished, according to the embassy statement. (Daily Star)
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Lebanon president asks Siniora to form new cabinet
Lebanon's president appointed Prime Minister Fouad Siniora on Wednesday to head a national unity government agreed under a deal ending 18 months of political conflict.
President Michel Suleiman asked Siniora, who has enjoyed strong U.S. backing, to form the cabinet that is set to govern until a parliamentary election in 2009.
The Hezbollah-led opposition is guaranteed effective veto power in the new government under the Qatari-mediated deal that ended a crisis which pushed Lebanon to the brink of civil war.
"I call on everyone to take part in treating the wounds and moving beyond the divisions ... and violence we have known," Siniora said after meeting Suleiman.
The constitution requires the president, who was elected by parliament on Sunday, to appoint the candidate backed by the largest number of lawmakers. MPs informed Suleiman of their preferences earlier on Wednesday.
The U.S.-backed parliamentary majority bloc had already declared its support for Siniora, determining the outcome in advance. The post must be filled by a Sunni according to Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system. (Reuters)
Labels: Lebanon
Some analysts see Doha agreement as stopgap solution to Lebanon's crisis
While the election in Lebanon of President Michel Suleiman may have ended a prolonged political crisis, the underlying issues remain unresolved, analysts said on Monday.
The long-running deadlock between the government, backed by the West and most Arab states, and the Iran- and Syria-backed opposition was widely seen as an extension of the standoff between the United States and Iran.
Suleiman's election by Parliament on Sunday followed an accord struck in Doha last week aimed at bridging the divide and ending an increasingly dangerous internal conflict that threatened to take the country into a new civil war.
"This [US-Iran] conflict will be fought by other means. There could still be fire under the ashes ... This is a gamble," said legal expert Ziad Baroud.
"In the days and months to come we will not see an end to internal conflict and the divergent political opinions that accompany it," he said.
"The most striking feature of the Doha accord was the will to support civil peace. Conflicts are acceptable, but what is not acceptable is to risk the civil peace in Lebanon. That's a red line," he added.
Some saw the deal between rival Lebanese leaders as a defeat for the United States. (AFP)
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Lebanon daily: Israel waived demand for details on missing airman Ron Arad
The Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported on Tuesday that Israel conceded its demand to receive substantive information about missing Israel Air Force navigator Ron Arad in exchange for the release of Samir Kuntar.
According to the report, Hezbollah notified a German United Nations mediator that it is not willing to accept Israel's demand to release only Lebanse prisoners, and stressed that there will be no swap without Kuntar's release.
The newspaper also mentioned that Hezbollah showed it made multiple efforts to search for Arad.
Contrary to reports in Israel, Hezbollah's "inside sources" claimed that the organization rejects Israel's demand that only Lebanese prisoners, and no Palestinians, be freed in the deal.
Israeli sources on Monday said that Israel and Hezbollah had struck a deal securing the release of two Israeli soldiers, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, captured by the Lebanon-based militant group in a July 2006 cross border raid that sparked the Second Lebanon War. (Haaretz)
Labels: Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanon
J'lem sources say Israel and Hezbollah strike prisoner swap deal
Israeli sources said Monday that Israel and Hezbollah had struck a deal securing the release of two Israeli soldiers captured by the Lebanon-based militant group in a July 2006 cross border raid that sparked the Second Lebanon War.
The sources explained that in exchange for the captives, Israel would release Samir Kuntar, a Lebanese militant currently imprisoned in Israel for the 1979 murder of a Nahariyah family, an Israeli citizen jailed for espionage on Hezbollah's behalf and four other Hezbollah men captured by Israel during the 2006 war. The deal reportedly will also include the return of the remains of ten Lebanese, currently held by Israel, to Hezbollah.
Earlier Monday, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah hinted that a prisoner swap would soon be completed, telling supporters in Beirut that Kuntar would soon be freed.
The sources refrained from commenting on whether the Israeli captives, Ehud Golwasser and Eldad Regev, were alive. However, a medical report encompassing evidence from the site of the kidnapping near Israel's northern border maintained that at both Israel Defense Forces soldiers were seriously hurt at the scene.
The sources added that the fact that the deal did not include any Palestinian prisoners held in Israel may be indicative of the Israeli captives' condition.
The timetable for the exchange of prisoners is not yet clear. (Haaretz)
Labels: Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanon
Suleiman prepares for talks on unity government
President Michel Suleiman prepared on Monday to launch consultations this week on forming a national unity government as he began his first full day in office and officially took up residence at Baabda Palace. His office said he would begin consultations with the various blocs in Parliament on Wednesday on forming the new 30-member national unity cabinet.
The new cabinet, in which the opposition will have veto power, will replace the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora which six opposition ministers quit in November 2006, sparking an 18-month long political crisis. The deadlock had left the country's top post vacant for six months and had driven the country toward the brink of renewed civil war. Siniora resigned on Sunday and is now heading a caretaker administration.
The new unity government was one of the key points of the deal which the government and the opposition reached in Qatar last week to end the crisis.
According to the agreement, the parliamentary majority will have 16 seats in the new cabinet while the opposition will be allotted 11 seats. The remaining three ministers will be appointed by Suleiman. (Daily Star)
Labels: Lebanon
Hezbollah has warning for Lebanon's new government
Lebanon's new president got a red carpet welcome Monday, but was quickly thrust into the political thicket as Hezbollah's leader warned against any efforts to disarm his Iranian-backed guerrilla group.
Sheik Hassan Nasrallah delivered his stern message after military bands and an honor guard saluted President Michel Suleiman on his first day on the job.
Suleiman, the former army commander, was a consensus candidate agreed on by both Hezbollah and its pro-Western political foes, but he drew pointed comments from Nasrallah after saying in his inauguration speech Sunday that there should be a dialogue over Hezbollah's arsenal.
The Shiite militant group has rejected demands it disarm, insisting its weapons are needed to protect Lebanon from Israel.
Nasrallah's speech was his first since Hezbollah fighters seized several areas of Muslim west Beirut in several days of fighting this month, forcing the Western-backed Cabinet to agree to a political deal designed to give Hezbollah and its allies a veto over government policies.
The Hezbollah leader pledged to comply with a provision of the Arab League-brokered agreement that forbids the use of arms to achieve political gains. But he warned that the government shouldn't try to use the military against Hezbollah and its allies. (AP)
Hezbollah head urges co-existence
Hezbollah is not seeking to control Lebanon or impose its views on other political forces, the group's leader has told a large crowd in Beirut.
Hassan Nasrallah addressed thousands of supporters via video link to mark the Israeli pullout from Lebanon in 2000.
"Lebanon is a pluralistic country. The existence of this country only comes about through co-existence," he said.
He said Hezbollah would not use its arms to attain its goals. Lebanon saw fierce factional violence recently.
It was the first speech by Mr Nasrallah since Hezbollah gunmen seized several parts of Beirut, forcing the government to agree to a deal that has strengthened the Shia Muslim group's political role in Lebanon.
"I reaffirm the Doha agreement clause that prevents the use of arms to attain political goals," said Mr Nasrallah, whose Syrian- and Iranian-backed group has Lebanon's most powerful military force. (BBC)
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DOHA AGREEMENT
Western-backed ruling majority to get 16 cabinet seats and choose prime minister
Syrian-backed opposition to get 11 cabinet seats and veto power
Three cabinet seats to be nominated by president
The use of weapons in internal conflicts is to be banned
Opposition protest camps in central Beirut are to be removed
New law to divide country into smaller electoral districts
Monday, May 26, 2008
First tasks for Lebanon president
Lebanon's new President, Michel Suleiman, has arrived at the presidential palace to begin his first full day in office.
His first official visitor is expected to be Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
Mr Suleiman will then begin consultations about forming a new national unity government.
His appointment came after months of political division which exploded into bloody clashes earlier this month.
Mr Suleiman has been head of the army for the past nine years. The presidency has been vacant since November.
He is expected to appoint a prime minister from the parliamentary majority led by the pro-Western leader, Saad al-Hariri - but a recent reconciliation agreement will give a powerful role in the cabinet to the Hezbollah movement and other allies of Syria and Iran.
Military bands played Lebanon's national anthem at the Baabda palace in the hills overlooking southern Beirut.
As he walked down a red carpet past a guard of honour, Mr Suleiman was greeted with a 21-gun salute, while dozens of presidential staff applauded. (BBC)
Labels: Lebanon
MIDEAST: Lebanon Deal Confirms Qatar's Honest Broker Role
While Lebanon rejoices over the power-sharing deal among its rival factions that ended 18 months of political conflict and saved it from the brink of civil war, deal-broker Qatar revels in the glory of yet another diplomatic coup.
Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem bin Jabor Al Thani, who is also his country’s foreign minister, chaired six days of Arab League talks in Doha that ended on Wednesday with a deal between the United States-backed ruling coalition and the Hezbollah-led opposition.
The agreement which allowed for the election of Gen. Michel Suleiman as Lebanese president -- a post lying vacant since November -- approved a parliamentary election law and cleared the opposition’s demand for veto power in the cabinet.
‘‘We never doubted when we called for this inter-Lebanese dialogue in Doha that it would succeed,’’ Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, was quoted as saying in the media. Qatar hosts the headquarters of the U.S. central command for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Qatar’s latest diplomatic success could be attributed to its ties with the rival factions and regional powers with influence in Beirut.
While Doha is a close ally of Washington, which also supports the government in Beirut, it has maintained good relations with Tehran and Damascus, which back the Lebanese opposition led by the Shiite militant movement Hezbollah. Recent reconciliation with Saudi Arabia, which also supports the Lebanese government, helped in the process too.
The mediation efforts, according to Doha-based political analyst Mehran Kamrava, is consistent with Qatar’s ‘‘increasingly proactive diplomacy’’ over the last few years both in the Gulf region and larger Middle East. (IPS)
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Lebanon elects new president
Lebanon's leaders have elected the country's army chief as president in a step towards defusing an 18-month standoff between rival factions.
Michel Sleiman was elected on Sunday in a parliamentary session attended by foreign dignitaries including Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the emir of Qatar who helped broker a deal to end the dispute.
Fireworks exploded and and motorists hooted their car horns as crowds of people cheering and waving Lebanese flags poured onto the streets of Beirut and Sleiman's hometown of Amsheet after hearing the news.
Of those voting in Lebanon's 127-member parlaiment, 118 voted in favour of Sleiman becoming president.
Six of the ballots cast were blank, signifying a protest vote or reservations over Sleiman's election.
Rula Amin, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Beirut, said many Lebanese intellectuals had said they would have preferred a civilian candidate for the post. (Al Jazeera)
Labels: Lebanon
Hezbollah's army survives under Lebanon peace deal
Hezbollah fighters have pulled back since seizing parts of Lebanon's capital, but their brazen display has made one thing clear: A private army blamed for terrorist attacks on Western interests and dedicated to the destruction of Israel will be a fixture in this weakened country for a long time.
Lebanon is an ideal incubator for Hezbollah's military clout, just as Afghanistan served al-Qaida. Lebanon's U.S.-funded military doesn't interfere with the thousands of rockets and missiles that militants are believed to have hidden in basements and bunkers throughout Shiite Muslim areas of the tiny country.
Hezbollah's refusal to discuss disarmament at talks with Lebanese factions in Qatar last week means it has formidable firepower to unleash at will. This could have wider implications, given Hezbollah's summer war with Israel two years ago, though some Lebanese suspect Hezbollah's main objectives include local power grabs and settling ethnic scores.
"Hezbollah's mask has dropped," said Ayman Kharma, a Sunni Muslim cleric whose fourth-floor apartment in the northern city of Tripoli was blasted during fighting this month with a militia allied to Hezbollah. "We were in favor of Hezbollah when it was fighting Israel. Now we see it from the inside." (AP)
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Lebanon set to elect new president
Lebanon's leaders are set to elect Michel Suleiman, the country's army chief, as president in a first step toward defusing an 18-month standoff between rival factions.
Suleiman is expected to be elected on Sunday in a parliamentary session attended by several foreign dignitaries, including Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the emir of Qatar.
Bernard Kouchner, the French foreign minister, and Amr Moussa, the Arab League secretary-general, will also be present.
Sueliman's election is part of a deal brokered in Doha, Qatar's capital, on Wednesday that sought to end a political crisis that last month degenerated into violence.
Sixty-five people were killed when armed supporters of the Hezbollah-led opposition took control of much of Beirut after the US-backed government moved to outlaw the group's private communications network.
Ali Hamdan, spokesman for Nabih Berri, the parliament speaker, said that among the 200 dignitaries invited for Suleiman's election were also the foreign ministers of Syria and Iran. (Al Jazeera)
Labels: Lebanon
Thursday, May 22, 2008
History in the making for Hezbollah
British statesman Sir Winston Churchill once said, "History will be kind to me for I intend to write it." On another occasion, he said, "Although prepared for martyrdom, I preferred that it be postponed."
These two quotes came to my mind, as I imagined Hasan Nasrallah, the secretary general of Hezbollah, seated somewhere in Beirut, watching his allies and opponents hammer out a deal in Doha - to his favor - on Wednesday.
He must have been a very happy man because all of the Doha resolutions were almost tailor-made to Nasrallah's liking. Nasrallah finally got what he had been asking for, mainly a greater say for the opposition in the Lebanese government, and the ability to veto any resolution that runs against the interests of Hezbollah.
True, no early parliamentary elections are going to happen (as Hezbollah had requested) to oust the parliamentary majority of Saad al-Hariri, but the entire issue of Hezbollah and its arms was glossed over at the Doha meeting.
A fighter who often said that he seeks martyrdom in his war with Israel, Nasrallah, like Churchill, would certainly prefer that it be postponed. He needs time to enjoy the fruits of victory taken by Hezbollah in Qatar. He might be idolized by millions of Arabs, seen as a war hero and a charismatic, honest and inspiring leader. He might be hated beyond imagination by his opponents, seen as a terrorist and an Iranian stooge. But setting emotions aside - they don't really count in politics - the man has in every sense of the word proven his intention, and succeeded, in writing history; his way. (Asia Times)
International leaders welcome news of accord reached in Qatar
Syria was among the first countries to welcome an agreement among Lebanese leaders on Wednesday to end 18 months of political conflict, saying that it hoped Parliament would elect a president on Sunday. The Qatari News Agency announced that Syrian President Bashar Assad called Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani to congratulate him on the agreement that was reached by the Lebanese leaders in Doha.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem had already expressed from Yemen his support for the agreement.
Under Arab League auspices, rival Lebanese leaders clinched a deal on Wednesday to end the political feud that exploded into deadly fighting on May 5 and nearly drove the country into a new civil war.
The agreement, announced in Doha, will see the election of a president for Lebanon within days and the creation of a unity government in which the Hizbullah-led opposition will have the power of veto.
Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Lebanon, whose country backs the Beirut government, said on Wednesday that Riyadh supports the agreement reached between rival leaders in Qatar.
"Saudi Arabia announces its support for the agreement between the Lebanese in Doha. We are very happy that this accord has been reached," Abdel-Aziz Khoja, who is currently in Riyadh, told AFP. (AFP)
Lebanese rivals set to elect president after historic accord
Lebanese lawmakers are set to elect the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, General Michel Suleiman, as president on Sunday after rival political leaders clinched a deal in Doha on Wednesday to end an 18-month feud that exploded into deadly sectarian fighting and threatened to plunge the nation into all-out civil war.
The deal that was reached at Doha after four days of intensive talks will lead to electing Suleiman, forming a national unity cabinet, and drafting a new electoral law for the 2009 parliamentary elections.
The agreement was announced by Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani at noon Wednesday as the rival leaders gathered at a roundtable.
"Some of you took to the streets asking your leaders not to return to Lebanon without reaching an agreement ... I would like to tell you that your leaders have finally agreed and they will shortly be on their way back," Sheikh Hamad said, addressing the Lebanese people.
The rival leaders officially signed the agreement shortly after it was announced. They arrived in Beirut later in the day.
As the good news reached Beirut, people in the capital and in different areas of the country could not help but show their content and relief. (Daily Star)
Labels: Lebanon
U.S. on the Outside in Peace Efforts
Just days after President Bush returned from the Middle East, the Middle East is moving beyond the Bush administration.
Two major peace efforts -- a surprise announcement of indirect talks between Israel and Syria brokered by Turkey and an eleventh-hour deal to prevent a new Lebanese war brokered by Qatar -- were launched without an American role, and both counter U.S. strategy in the region.
For years, the Bush administration has resisted overtures from Jerusalem and Damascus to participate in revived peace efforts over the Golan Heights. The administration balked at including Syria in the Annapolis conference on Middle East peace last year, relenting only under pressure from allies, according to Western officials.
At his Senate confirmation hearing on May 1, James B. Cunningham, the ambassador-designate to Israel, said expanding peace talks to include Syria would be difficult. "We have taken the position that it is not very useful right now for us to be talking to Syria," he said. As a result, over the past year Turkey has taken the initiative to launch shuttle diplomacy, a role once reserved for U.S. secretaries of state. (Washington Post)
Labels: Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanon, Qatar, Syria, U.S.
Reactions to Doha agreement
The barricades are being dismantled and so are the opposition protest camps.
Under the leadership of Qatar, the Arab League has brokered an end to Lebanon's 18-month political crisis.
Feuding factions have agreed to stop fighting and elect a unity government and new president.
Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al Thani, Qatar's prime minister, said: "With God's help and thanks to the co-operation of the Lebanese representatives and efforts of the Arab League seceretary-general, we have been able to reach an agreement based on consensus between all the Lebanese brothers."
Amr Moussa, the Arab League general-secretary, said it was a deal based on the principle of "no victor, no vanquished".
While all rival Lebanese parties agreed it was necessary to reach a deal to build co-existence and unity, some in the March 14 pro-government camp made clear they were not happy.
Amin Gemayel, a pro-government Christian leader, said: "This agreement is not perfect.
"We had to make a lot of sacrifices. But the most important thing now is to reconcile the country ... To make all the parties work together." (Al Jazeera)
Labels: Hezbollah, Lebanon, Qatar
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Profile: General Michel Suleiman
General Michel Suleiman, the head of the Lebanon's army since 1998, is set to become the country's new president after rival politicians reached a power-sharing deal in Qatar.
He is widely seen as a unifying figure in Lebanon, where nearly every politician is considered to be either pro- or anti-Syrian.
The 59-year-old Maronite Christian, once seen as a supporter of Syria, was a key facilitator of ending Damascus' 29-year military presence in Lebanon in 2005.
Suleiman has earned respect from both Hezbollah, the Shia Muslim political party and armed resistance movement, and supporters of Fouad Siniora, Lebanon's prime minister.
He also gained support after refusing to deploy the military to crack down on massive anti-Syrian street demonstrations in March 2005, days after the assassination of Rafiq al-Hariri, the former prime minister.
Suleiman, who holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in political and administrative sciences from Lebanese University, has said his 56,000-strong army should ignore politics "and listen to the call of duty". (Al Jazeera)
Labels: Lebanon
Lebanese Political Factions Reach Agreement
Lebanon's rival factions agreed Wednesday to end the country's political crisis in a deal that enhances the standing of the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah and paves the way for filling the vacant presidency.
After 18 months of deadlock and a recent round of street fighting that left more than 60 dead, the country's U.S.-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition came to terms after five days of negotiations in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar.
The crisis took on regional importance as a proxy for broader issues -- the struggle for influence between the United States and Iran, the growing Sunni-Shiite sectarian divide in the Middle East, and the durability of Hezbollah despite long-standing U.S. efforts to marginalize it.
The United States' top diplomat for the region, David Welch, nevertheless welcomed the agreement as "a necessary and positive step" that will let the country's political process move forward, the Associated Press reported. (Washington Post)
Labels: Hezbollah, Lebanon, Qatar
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Deadline extended in Lebanon talks
Arab mediators have extended a deadline for rival Lebanese leaders to agree on one of two proposals put forward to end the political crisis, amid talks in Qatar.
Lebanese leaders are yet to respond to the proposals and one side had asked for more time, Ahmad Abdullah al-Mahmood, Qatari Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, told reporters.
"The committee approved [that request] giving until tomorrow [Wednesday]," he said without disclosing details of the proposals.
The talks earlier suffered a set-back after the opposition rejected a Qatari proposal to postpone discussion on a proposed electoral law and the election of a president.
The opposition refused to delay discussions on the electoral law, suggesting that talks continue in Beirut.
If the electoral law is worked out, it would help clear the way for a new president to be elected in parliament.
The two sides have agreed on General Michel Suleiman as a consensus candidate to succeed Emile Lahoud, the former pro-Syrian president, who stood down at the end of his term of office in November. (Al Jazeera)
Labels: Hezbollah, Lebanon, Qatar
Monday, May 19, 2008
Lebanon talks hit snag over power-sharing plan
Talks to end Lebanon's political crisis suffered a setback on Monday after the Hezbollah-led opposition appeared to ignore proposals by Qatari mediators aimed at pulling the country back from the brink of civil war.
The Arab League intervened last week to end Lebanon's worst domestic fighting since the 1975-1990 civil war and pave the way for the Doha talks between the U.S.-backed ruling coalition and the opposition to end an 18-month-old crisis.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani made proposals on Sunday on power-sharing in a new government and the rivals had been expected to hammer out a compromise over a new election law on Monday.
Agreement on these points would pave the way for parliament to elect army commander General Michel Suleiman as president, a post that has been vacant since November.
But a statement issued by opposition leaders after a meeting on Monday was short on detail and restated existing demands, disappointing the ruling camp and casting a pall over talks. (Reuters)
Labels: Arab Leauge, Hezbollah, Lebanon, Qatar
LEBANON: All Roads Do Not Lead to Beirut
In the wake of the deadly conflict that has left Lebanon with at least 65 dead and 200 injured, the roads in and out of the Land of the Cedars have proved a difficult journey for most. As the rubble was being cleared by large trucks -- after an Arab delegation was able to negotiate a breakthrough among feuding politicians – some Lebanese are asking how long the roads will remain clear.
Usually bustling with traffic, Lebanon's roads connecting the country to the outside world came to a full stop May 7. A protest against the high cost of living ignited a bloodbath on the streets of Beirut, which spread to the mountains, the eastern Bekaa valley and the northern city of Tripoli.
Pro-Syrian and Iranian opposition gunmen -- comprised of the Shia Hezbollah and Amal movements as well as the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), a Lebanese organisation affiliated ideologically to the Damascus regime -- fought governing majority groups, the Sunni Future Movement and the Druze Progressive Socialist Party (PSP).
The conflict erupted after the government said it would investigate the expanding independent Hezbollah telephone network and reassign airport security chief Wafiq Shoucair over his alleged links to Hezbollah.
Air traffic came to a complete halt after opposition members closed the roads leading to the Rafik Hariri International Airport, Lebanon's only gateway for air passage. Jihad al-Bina, Hezbollah's reconstruction arm, poured piles of sand and rubble on the highway and set old tires ablaze, blackening the tarmac. (IPS)
HRW urges Lebanon to probe rights abuses during clashes
Ongoing political talks being held by Lebanese leaders in Qatar need to address violations of humanitarian law that occurred during recent clashes between pro-government and opposition gunmen, according to a Sunday press release by Human Rights Watch (HRW).
In the statement, HRW said it documented several human rights abuses committed by both opposition and pro-government fighters, and urged the political leadership in Lebanon to "support impartial judicial investigations and not try to shield their supporters."
In addition to reports of maltreatment of captured fighters, a preliminary probe conducted by the human rights group indicated that at least 12 of those killed during the clashes had nothing to do with the fighting.
"Armed gunmen have acted as if they are above the law in Lebanon for far too long," said HRW deputy Middle East director Joe Stork. "The Lebanese government should bring to justice all those who killed civilians, or who executed fighters in their custody."
Opposition fighter violations included the use of rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) in "densely populated areas of Beirut," including two reported instances where gunmen, using automatic weapons and RPGs, shot at civilians attempting to flee the conflict in Ras al-Nabaa. (Daily Star)
Labels: Hezbollah, Human Rights Watch, Lebanon
Lebanese Sunnis bitter after Hezbollah triumph
Sunni Muslims are bitter and fearful after Shiite Hezbollah's triumph in Beirut, watching their backs on the streets and some even moving to safer spots.
It is an ominous sign of how Lebanon's latest political crisis has sharply worsened sectarian tensions in a country still traumatized by its 1975-1990 civil war.
"They entered and they carried out the plan. But who did they liberate Beirut from?" Mohammed Zaghloul, a 41-year-old Sunni, asked bitterly of Hezbollah, as he sat on a street corner in the Tarik Jadideh neighborhood, once controlled by Sunni groups.
The rise in sectarian feeling could be highly damaging to Lebanon's future and have implications across the wider Middle East, already struggling with Shiite-Sunni tensions sparked by the Iraq war and Iran's rising influence.
Until the recent fighting, Lebanon's long crisis had been largely political, as all sides worked to keep the country's ever-present sectarian issues from surfacing. But last week's fighting roiled up sectarian anger. Unchecked, the tensions could stoke another full-fledged civil war. (AP)
Sunday, May 18, 2008
327 put signatures to joint statement blaming Hizbullah for country's strife
A group of 327 intellectual, political and media figures as well as social activists released an appeal on Sunday calling for "Peaceful Civil Resistance" to defend "the Lebanese nation and entity." "What is happening can now be clearly defined as a gruesome attempt to a coup d'etat not only targeting the nation's existence but also the Lebanese entity," the appeal said.
"Hizbullah has declared a confessional war to accomplish the pa