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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

New Lebanon PM Mikati says hes committed to US ties

2011-01-28

[Jerusalem Post Front Page] The billionaire chosen by Hizbullah to become prime minister of Leb told the US ambassador Thursday that he is committed to having good ties with Washington. Najib Mikati met with US Ambassador Maura Connelly days after Washington warned that the formation of a government dominated by the guerrilla group would mean changes in relations with Leb. The 55-year-old telecom tycoon "confirmed during the meeting the importance of bilateral relations between Beirut and Washington," he said in a statement as he began the process of forming a new government. Hizbullah denied Thursday that it placed any demands on the billionaire businessman it chose to become prime minister of Leb. The Shi'ite group and its allies toppled Leb's Western-backed government two weeks ago and secured enough support in parliament to name Najib Mikati as their pick for prime minister. Critics have expressed concern that Mikati will be beholden to the group's demands -- something Mikati has also denied. "We did not give a list of conditions to Prime Minister Mikati," the head of Hezbullies's 12-member bloc in parliament said. "What we asked for is a national partnership and a national salvation government in which everyone cooperates for the interest of the country." Opponents of Hizbullah say having an Iranian proxy at the helm of Leb's government would be disastrous and lead to international isolation. But Mikati has emphasized that he wants to form a unity government and will not be beholden to any one side in Leb's fractious politics. On Thursday, Mikati's opponents pushed him to state his position on an issue that is at the heart of Leb's political crisis: a UN-backed tribunal expected to accuse members of Hizbullah of involvement in the 2005 liquidation of former prime minister Rafik Hariri. Hizbullah denies any links to the killing and calls the court a conspiracy by the US and Israel. The group and its allies walked out of the previous government when then-Prime Minister Sa'ad Hariri -- the slain man's son -- refused to denounce the tribunal and cut off Leb's 49 percent share of the funding for it. Sa'ad Hariri has called the walkout a "coup d'etat" and insisted he will never join a government led by a candidate chosen by Hizbullah -- suggesting the country could be in for a prolonged stalemate. Hariri ally and former premier Fuad Saniora on Thursday called on Mikati to put into writing exactly what his stance is on the tribunal. Mikati did not immediately respond, but in recent days he has said he would make a decision based on dialogue with all sides. Saniora also spoke about Hizbullah's weapons, a contentious issue in Leb. Hizbullah insists that it needs to maintain its arsenal to ward off any threat from Israel. But the weapons make Hizbullah the most powerful military force in the country -- far stronger even than the national army.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hariri rules out peace talks with Israel

2009-06-11

[Jerusalem Post Middle East] Lebanon will not conduct an independent peace track with Israel, and may not even join the Arab peace initiative, should it become the basis for regional negotiations, Sa'ad Hariri, the billionaire businessman who is the favorite to lead Lebanon's government following Sunday's elections, said on Tuesday. "We will follow after the Arab initiative," he told CNN. "You see, the Arab initiative includes many countries for the peace process, and Lebanon will come as we see fit." Earlier, when the interviewer reminded Hariri about comments made by pundits suggesting that Lebanon would be the last country to make peace with Israel, the coalition leader readily agreed with the view. "[Other people don't say that,] I say that," he told the station. Legislative allies said Tuesday that Hariri, the 39-year-old moderate leader of the largest parliamentary bloc in the winning coalition, is expected to replace his ally Fuad Saniora, after his pro-Western coalition fended off a serious challenge from Iranian-backed Hizbullah in weekend elections. Hariri's alliance dealt a major setback to Hizbullah and its Syrian and Iranian backers in Sunday's vote, gaining 68 seats to the opposing group's 57. The other three seats in the 128-member parliament went to independents. Fears of Iran gaining more influence in the Arab country swayed Christian swing voters away from the coalition led by the Shi'ite group and helped deliver the election victory to the US-aligned camp. Analysts and voters said Tuesday that President Barack Obama's outreach to the Muslim world also helped blunt the appeal of the group.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Billionaire Hariri tipped as Lebanon's next PM

2009-06-10

Saad Hariri, the billionaire businessman and son of the slain former Lebanese prime minister, is emerging as the favourite to lead Lebanon's government after his pro-Western coalition fended off a serious challenge from Hezbollah in weekend elections. Legislative allies on Tuesday said Hariri, a 39-year-old moderate Muslim and leader of the largest parliamentary bloc in the winning coalition, is expected to replace his ally Fuad Saniora. Hariri's alliance dealt a major setback to Hezbollah in Sunday's vote, gaining 68 seats to the opposing group's 57. Hezbollah's loss removed one potential obstacle to Obama's renewed push for Mideast peace. The group fought a 2006 war against Israel and there were fears that if it gained more power, there could be another conflict. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in calm words on Monday, recognised the results and offered to cooperate with the winners. "A chance to build a strong and fair state still exists. All agree that there are crises facing us at all levels," he said. "We are in a new stage and in a new situation." In a victory speech on Monday, Hariri called on the Lebanese to close ranks. "We must extend a hand to each other, roll up our sleeves and work together for the benefit of Lebanon," he said. The makeup of the new parliament, almost identical to the outgoing one, means that many of the questions that have dogged the fractious nation, such as what to do with Hezbollah's arsenal, remain. And that could translate into renewed political deadlock in this sharply polarised, volatile nation.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Israel worries about UNIFIL fate after Lebanon elections

2009-05-28

[Jerusalem Post Middle East] Israel is becoming increasingly anxious about the fate of UNIFIL if Hizbullah increases its power in upcoming parliamentary elections in Lebanon. Wasn't it after the Polish contingent took charge of UNIFIL that it became effective, or am I misremembering? Defense officials have also expressed concern with American plans to supply advanced military platforms to the Lebanese armed forces. The Lebanese people will head to polls on June 7 amid predictions that Hizbullah will bolster its position in parliament and form the next coalition. Israel is concerned that if Hizbullah wins the elections, some European members of UNIFIL will consider downsizing their participation in the force or completely withdrawing their personnel. Poland has already decided to withdraw its forces and transfer them to Afghanistan. The concern also stems from the scheduled resignation of UNIFIL Command Maj.-Gen. Claudio Graziano, of Italy, and the handover of command of the 12,000-man force to the Spanish military, defense officials said. "We are hoping to receive assurances that European countries will remain committed to UNIFIL even in the event of a Hizbullah victory in the elections," a senior defense official familiar with the issue said. On Tuesday, IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi told the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that while Hizbullah was amassing unprecedented amounts of weaponry, UNIFIL's presence in southern Lebanon was "making the task more difficult." Then shouldn't we want UNIFIL to evaporate? Senior defense officials said they were concerned with the supply of American arms platforms to Lebanon and warned that if Hizbullah formed the next government, the weapons would fall into the guerrilla group's hands. Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Murr was quoted as saying last week that the US has promised to supply dozens of fighter jets, helicopters, tanks and unmanned aerial vehicles following the elections and regardless of its results. Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned this week that if Hizbullah gained considerably in the elections Israel would not feel the restraints it did in 2006 about attacking Lebanese infrastructure. "Today Hizbullah controls a third of the Lebanese government," Barak said. "If in the upcoming elections Hizbullah will gain more power in the government, that will open it up more than in the past to the IDF's force, and will give us a freedom of action that we did not have completely in July 2006." During the early days of the Second Lebanon War in 2006, there was a debate inside the government about the degree to which the IDF should hit essential infrastructure in Lebanon, with much of the world urging Israeli restraint so as not to weaken the position of pro-Western Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora. "The UN investigation will apparently find Hizbullah responsible for the killing of [former Lebanese prime minister Rafik] Hariri," Barak said, adding that this is a further indictment against Hizbullah for trying to undermine the legitimacy of moderate regimes in the region.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hezbollah denies report about Hariri assassination

2009-05-25

Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group denied a report by a German magazine linking it to the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, saying Sunday that it was an attempt to tarnish its image before parliamentary elections. Saturday's report in the weekly Der Spiegel came at a time of rising tensions before the crucial June 7 elections, which could result in the Western-backed government being ousted by a Hezbollah-led coalition supported by Syria and Iran. Hezbollah said the Der Spiegel report was based on "fabrications." Hariri's assassination has deeply divided the country. His supporters blamed Syria for the killing, a charge Damascus denies, but no one had ever accused Hezbollah of being involved. A Hezbollah legislator dismissed the Der Spiegel report as "a big lie." "We are waiting for the international tribunal to react and to see where the German magazine got its information from," Nawar Saheli told The Associated Press Sunday. The group also indirectly accused Israel, saying it believed those who gave the magazine its information sought to draw attention away from Lebanon's recent arrests of people suspected of spying on Hezbollah for Israel. Der Spiegel said in its Saturday report, which it said was based on sources close to the tribunal and verified by internal documents, that the investigation had reached the conclusion about Hezbollah's involvement about a month ago. The report said that the assassins used eight cellular telephones bought on the same day in the northern city of Tripoli. One of them made the mistake of calling his girlfriend with one of the phones, revealing his identity. The report also linked the explosives and the truck used in the attack to the Shiite militant group. Last month, four Lebanese generals were released by the tribunal. They had been the only suspects in custody. "The magazine's accusations are police fabrications made in the same black rooms that fabricated similar stories about the Syrians and the four generals," Hezbollah's statement said. Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, a critic of Hezbollah, refused to comment on the report's allegations. "We want justice. We don't give weight to any words said here or there," Saniora told Al-Arabiya TV. "We have put trust in the tribunal and we don't care to what the newspapers say." After reading the Der Spiegel report, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called for the arrest of Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah. "If this is the conclusion of the investigators an international arrest warrant must be issued immediately against Nasrallah," he said. Four years ago, U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis said the complexity of the assassination plot suggested a role by Syrian intelligence services and its pro-Syrian Lebanese counterpart. During a news conference in Beirut, Mehlis had said Hezbollah was not involved in Hariri's assassination. An early draft of a report he issued in 2005 linked Syrian President Bashar Assad's inner circle but the two investigators who succeeded him did not repeat the accusations and said Syria was cooperating.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Lebanon to complain to UN about 'Israeli threats' to destroy villages

2008-10-11

Lebanon's government said on Friday it planned to complain to the United Nations about Israeli threats to destroy Lebanese villages if they are used to fire missiles on Israel. Because the ability to fire missiles on Juden without fear of retribution is a basic Human Right! Speaking after a late Friday Cabinet meeting, Information Minister Tarek Mitri said the recent Israeli threats should be taken seriously. He said Prime Minister Fuad Saniora will write to the United Nations on the subject.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Abbas: no to settlement of refugees in Lebanon

2008-08-29

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday rejected the idea that Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon might be forced to stay there permanently, saying they should have the right to return home. Paleos don't seem to have a home anywhere, do they. Wonder why no one wants them ... About 400,000 Palestinian refugees and their descendants live in a dozen refugee camps in Lebanon, which were set up for those who fled or were pushed out during fighting around Israel's creation in 1948. Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said this week that the "right of return" is incompatible with the creation of a Palestinian state. On a visit to Beirut, Abbas said, "The refugees should have the right of return to their homeland and we are negotiating this with the Israelis. I have to say we are not with permanent settlement of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. "We are against permanent resettlement," Abbas told reporters after meeting Lebanese President Michel Suleiman. Abbas later met with Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

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Iraq

Iraq's Sunni politicians angry over arrests

2008-08-21

Top Sunni politicians on Wednesday accused Iraq's Shiite-dominated security forces of carrying out political arrests, and warned that this could push Iraq into another round of sectarian fighting. The outcry came in response to the high-profile arrests Tuesday of three Sunnis -- the son of a senior politician, a university president and a provincial council member. The arrests could upset the delicate political cooperation between the Shiite majority and Sunni minority in parliament. The Sunnis' angry words -- though not backed by specific threats of action -- highlighted the country's stubborn religious divisions. Sectarian hatred pushed Iraq to the brink of all-out Sunni-Shiite civil war two years ago, though recent months have seen a sharp drop in violence. Despite its domestic troubles, Iraq's Shiite-led government took another step toward wider recognition Wednesday, winning a pledge of support from visiting Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora. Since the U.S.-led 2003 invasion of Iraq, the country had been largely isolated. Saniora, a Sunni, was only the third senior Arab politician to visit since the war. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said the two countries would sign trade deals, including on the sale of Iraqi oil to Lebanon. The Lebanese are expected to get a discount, one official said. The latest round of arrests began early Tuesday, with raids in the town of Baqouba in the volatile Diyala province, where a university professor and provincial council member were taken. Late Tuesday, security forces arrested the son of a senior Sunni politician, Adnan al-Dulaimi. Al-Dulaimi said troops arrested his 44-year-old son, Muthanna, at the family's home in western Baghdad. Another son was detained eight months ago. Al-Dulaimi said Muthanna is not involved in politics, and that his arrest was meant to silence his father instead. An Iraqi military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Qassim Atta, told the state-run Iraqiyah TV that Muthanna al-Dulaimi is suspected of involvement in sectarian killings, forcing Shiites out of certain areas and banning displaced families from returning.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Security cabinet to discuss 'new reality' created in Lebanon

2008-08-06

The security cabinet is expected to discuss on Wednesday the ramifications of a Lebanese cabinet policy statement giving Hizbullah the right of "resistance" to "liberate Lebanese territories." The Lebs walked into it with their eyes open. They didn't want to give control to Hezbollah, but they did. Now they're going to have to live with the consequences. I'm guessing the next war is going to be merciless. "This creates a new reality," one Israeli diplomatic official said of the statement, which was approved Monday. "With the smuggling of arms into Lebanon from Syria, Iran's involvement, and the fact that Hizbullah is now a part of the Lebanese government, there is a need to discuss the situation and formulate policy." In the course of three years, Leb's gone from being a Syrian colony to being an Iranian colony. I'm thinking that's not much improvement, if any. Defense Minister Ehud Barak has said in recent weeks that UN Security Resolution 1701, which put an end to the Second Lebanon War, was a failure because it did not stop the arms transfers from Syria to Hizbullah. It's been pretty much ignored, even by UNIFIL. Maybe starting with UNIFIL. Wednesday's meeting is a continuation of a security cabinet meeting held in early July, where the ministers were briefed by security and intelligence officials on the situation in Lebanon. The ministers were told at the time that there were some 2,500 non-uniformed Hizbullah men in southern Lebanon, and that the organization had trebled its pre-war military arsenal and now had some 40,000 short and medium-range missiles inside Lebanon. However, Wednesday's security cabinet meeting is expected to discuss not only the arms, but also the changing situation vis-a-vis Lebanon as a result of the approval of the policy statement, which says it is "the right of Lebanon's people, the army and the resistance to liberate all its territories." The approval of this statement came after Lebanese political factions reached a compromise on Friday by releasing a vaguely worded draft statement implying Hizbullah could keep its weapons. Be as vague about it as you want, they're still gonna keep the guns. They've said they'll kill anybody who tries to take them away. Diplomatic officials in Israel said these Lebanese government decisions would mean that the Lebanese government could be held accountable if Hizbullah carried out provocations against Israel. Lebanese Information Minister Tarek Mitri said some ministers in the majority had had reservations on the paragraph indicating Hizbullah could keep its weapons, but in the end, all ministers had voted in favor of the statement. According to Mitri, some anti-Syrian ministers had wanted to add "under the state's supervision" to the statement, but were not successful. The parliament will now discuss the policy statement before giving Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's 30-member national unity government an expected vote of confidence. The parliament meeting is expected later this week.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Fighting in northern Lebanon kills 6, wounds 15

2008-07-26

Sectarian clashes broke out Friday in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli, killing six people, including a 10 year-old-boy and a policeman, and wounding at least 15, police officials said. The clashes between Sunni Muslim gunmen and Alawites, an offshoot Shiite sect, broke out at dawn after a hand grenade was thrown toward a Sunni area, the state-run National News Agency reported. Tension has been high along Lebanon's religious and political fault lines since the militant Shiite group Hezbollah overran parts of Beirut in May in response to government attempts to limit its power. The deal that ended that crisis saw Hezbollah and other opposition politicians re-enter the government of the Western-backed prime minister, Fuad Saniora, with veto power over its decisions. Friday's clashes occurred as the government was struggling to draft a document outlining plans for its term in office amid disagreements with Hezbollah. The fighting escalated as automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades were used between the Sunni Bab el-Tabaneh district and the predominantly Alawite Jabal Mohsen neighborhood, the police officials said. The two officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the media. A cease-fire went into effect at 1 p.m. after mediation by the grand mufti of north Lebanon, Sheik Malek al-Shaar, who has acted as a mediator throughout the recent weeks of fighting. But after a brief lull fighting broke out again, said residents of the city, located 50 miles north of Beirut. The police officials said three more people died in the afternoon fighting, including a policeman and two women. A 10-year-old boy struck by a stray bullet also died later Friday, bringing the total to six people killed. The International Committee of the Red Cross urged those fighting to stop and allow the wounded to be evacuated and medical personnel to carry out their tasks.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Pro- and anti-government factions battle in Lebanon's north, leaving 3 dead and 32 wounded

2008-07-10

Heavy fighting erupted again Wednesday between pro- and anti-government supporters in northern Lebanon, killing at least three people and wounding 32 others and shattering a fragile truce that lasted just two weeks, security officials said. Five soldiers were among the wounded in clashes in the northern city of Tripoli that began overnight and continued Wednesday morning, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media. Among those killed was a woman, identified as Leila Shami, who died of a heart attack after a hand grenade landed near her, the state-run National News Agency reported. It said the fierce fighting forced a large number of people to flee their homes to safer areas. Last month, nine people were killed and 44 others were wounded in two days of fierce sectarian fighting between Sunni Muslim government supporters from Tripoli's Bab el-Tabaneh district and Alawite followers of the Hezbollah-led opposition in the nearby Jabal Mohsen neighborhood, before the army and police deployed to quell violence. A bomb also hit an apartment building in Bab el-Tabaneh last month, killing one person and wounding 28 others. The latest clashes began overnight when three hand grenades exploded in a street separating the two rival districts. It was not immediately known who threw the grenades. Gunmen from the two sides exchanged machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades for hours, the officials said. Despite an army and police presence in the area, tension has been rising between the two sides. About 20 houses in both neighborhoods were torched last month in apparent acts of revenge. The violence in the north comes as Western-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora is having trouble forming a national unity Cabinet in line with an Arab deal that ended an 18-month political stalemate that nearly plunged Lebanon into a new civil war. Located 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Beirut, Tripoli is Lebanon's second largest city and is predominantly Sunni Muslim, a majority of which support the government. But it is also home to Alawites, a small offshoot of Shiite Islam that is allied with Syria and the Lebanese opposition, led by the Shiite militant Hezbollah group. The same area witnessed heavy fighting in May, when pro-government gunmen and militias loyal to the opposition clashed after Hezbollah militants overran streets in Beirut. Nationwide, the violence in May killed 81 and wounded over 200 people, and was Lebanon's worst since the 1975-90 conflict.

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Shaker al-Abssi slams Lebanon's Sunni leaders, Hezbollah chief

2008-06-11

Translated by Rantburg Translation Service The runaway leader of the al-Qaida-inspired Fatah Islam group lashed out at Lebanon's Sunni politicians and the country's Shiite Hezbollah hard boys, and threatened kabooms in a new audio posted Tuesday on the Internet and carried by Lebanese television stations. Shaker Youssef al-Absi said in the recording that time has now come for Dire Revenge™ against the "enemies of God" and added that kaboomers were ready for action. The authenticity of audio, posted on a web site commonly used by hard boys, could not be independently verified. It was the second posting by al-Absi, sentenced to death earlier this year by a Lebanese court for a 2007 double bus bombings that killed three people and wounded 20. Al-Absi remains on the lam after escaping last September from fierce fighting between Fatah Islam and the Lebanese army at the Nahr el-Bared Paleostinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. Also in the audio, al-Absi claimed that Lebanese Sunni leaders and the head of the Shiite Hezbollah hard boy group, Hassan Nasrallah, seek to split the Sunni Muslim community, allegedly acting on American and Iranian orders to do this. He also criticized the Lebanese army for not taking any action when Hezbollah fighters and their allies took over much of Muslim west Beirut from pro-government Sunni gunmen during bitter fighting last month that brought Lebanon close to a new civil war. A Jordanian of Paleostinian origin, al-Absi specifically named Western-backed Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, and Parliament majority leader Saad Hariri, along with the Hezbollah chief in the audio. He also criticized Paleostinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is a Sunni. Their goal, he alleged, "is the same and it is to humiliate and split the nation of monotheism," a reference to Sunni Islam. "One side takes orders from (U.S. President George W.) Bush while the other takes orders from the Satan's ayatollahs in Tehran," he said, referring to top Shiite clerics in Iran, adding that Sunni "lions of monotheism will destroy the enemies of God, whoever they are .... The enemies of God will not be safe from the booby-traps of Iraq and the boomer battalions, wherever they are." Earlier this month, Fatah Islam claimed responsibility for a May 31 explosion that killed a Lebanese soldier in the northern town of Abdeh near the devastated Nahr el-Bared camp. Lebanese authorities have said that 222 Fatah Islam hard boys were killed in the Nahr el-Bared fighting and more than 200 were arrested, while 169 Lebanese soldiers died. Paleostinian officials said 47 Paleostinian civilians also died in the camp as Lebanese army besieged the hard boys holed up inside. Also Tuesday, an Islamic hard boy who was seriously wounded in the Paleostinian refugee camp of Ein el-Hilweh in southern Lebanon died of his wounds, security officials said. Jalal Hassanein, a 27-year-old Paleostinian, was shot by unknown assailants Monday night, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

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