Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
Siniora to Asharq Al-Awsat: I Fear Deadlock With Israel Over Maritime Borders |
2021-04-12 |
[ENGLISH.AAWSAT] Former Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora expressed his fear that the demarcation of the maritime borders with Israel would become "another Shebaa Farms" crisis, referring to the stumbling efforts to demarcate the borders. In an interview with Asharq al-Awsat, Siniora said: "When we rely on solid ground, all the Lebanese will support the negotiating team." But he cautioned that if the new demands were not legally established, negotiations could extend for years and be delayed, allowing Israel "to take advantage of our wealth." Indirect negotiations with Israel, under the auspices and mediation of the United States, stopped after four sessions held at the UN headquarters in Ras Naqoura in the far south-west of Leb ![]() , when the Lebanese side raised the ceiling of its conditions, demanding an additional 1,430 nautical kilometers, while the initial demand was limited to 860 kilometers. The Lebanese negotiating delegation announced a few weeks ago that it would not resume talks without amending the decree that the Lebanese government deposited at the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... in 2010, describing it as "our weapon to win the negotiations." Siniora explained the demarcation path since 2007, saying that Lebanon signed an agreement with Cyprus on January 17, 2007, without specifying the triple points in the north and the south, because of hostility with Israel and Damascus's rejection of a joint demarcation of the border in the north. The agreement stipulated that no party could take an additional step without the approval of the third party, and accordingly, the Lebanese side individually demarcated its borders, Siniora noted, stressing that the move had no legal value because it was made on a unilateral basis. In contrast to the agreement with Lebanon, Cyprus made a unilateral move and concluded an agreement with Israel on December 17, 2010, without consulting the Lebanese side. The former premier noted that Tel Aviv has deposited its borders as it sees fit, with the triple point with Cyprus, in the United Nations. The government of Prime Minister Najib Mikati objected to that agreement on June 20, 2011, because it contravened Point 23 that the second Siniora government had set in 2008. "I am afraid that we will have another Shebaa Farms in the sea," Siniora said, referring to disputed land in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. He continued: "When our rights are legally established, and we have solid ground to prove them, then we must all support the amendment of the decree," demanded by the negotiating delegation. |
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
Saudis urge force to destroy Hezbollah: Wikileaks |
2010-12-09 |
[Bangla Daily Star] Soddy Arabia proposed an Arab-led military force to destroy Hezbullies in Leb two years ago, a US diplomatic cable published by Wikileaks suggests. Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal presented a senior US diplomat with a plan for a force backed by US and Nato air and sea power. The US responded by expressing scepticism about the military feasibility of the plan. Hezbullies is a Shia paramilitary group and political movement. While Syria and Iran are Hezbullies's main regional allies, Soddy Arabia has strong ties with the country's Sunni community and the current Prime Minister Saad Hariri, son of the murdered ex-prime minister. The cable is describes a meeting in May 2008 between David Satterfield, a senior US State Department official, and Prince Saud al-Faisal. At the meeting the prince "argued for an 'Arab force' to create and maintain order in and around Beirut. The US and Nato would need to provide transport and logistical support, as well as 'naval and air cover'. Saud said that a Hezbullies victory in Beirut would mean the end of the Siniora government and the 'Iranian takeover' of Leb". The cable came days after armed Hezbullies members took over parts of central Beirut threatening to overthrow the government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. According to the cable, the Saudi foreign minister argued that a Hezbullies victory against the Siniora government "combined with Iranian actions in Iraq and on the Paleostinian front would be a disaster for the US and the entire region". He argued that the situation called for an "Arab force drawn from Arab 'periphery' states to deploy to Beirut under the 'cover of the UN'". Saud al-Faisal said Mr Siniora strongly backed the idea. Over the past two weeks, Wikileaks has released thousands of classified messages from US envoys around the world. Washington has called their publication "irresponsible" and an "attack on the international community". |
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
Jumblatt: Antagonizing Iran was mistake |
2009-08-09 |
![]() It seems that Jumblatt, who recently played the leading part in a major political power shift in the country, has now changed his tune on Iran as well. The leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, who has recently been making the headlines in Lebanon, told the local As-Safir daily that Iran's role in the region could not be ignored. In a keynote address at Beirut's Beaurivage Hotel on August 2, Jumblatt sent shock waves around the Lebanese capital by announcing that his alliance with the Western-backed March 14 coalition had been "driven by necessity and must end". The development proved that his alliance with the March 14 coalition was the key to the group's victory in the recent parliamentary elections. That announcement, shifted political balance in favor of the Hezbollah-led opposition, which had won a total of 57 seats in parliament in comparison to the US and French-backed ruling majority's 71 seats. Guess they met Wally's price, huh? The former March 14 heavyweight's dramatic U-turn has taken Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri by surprise, forcing him to stall efforts to form a cabinet. According to comments by Caretaker Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, Hariri left Lebanon on Tuesday for a brief vacation in France to "reflect and think quietly." During the interview with As Safir, Jumblatt once again clarified his position by criticizing the March 14 group on matters such as their "unrealistic" and "insensitive" attitude toward the Palestinian issue and Israeli occupation of Arab land. Commenting on the issue of Hezbollah's arms- weapons which the group insists will help resist Israeli invasions- Jumblatt also said that dialogue must continue to determine how they can be absorbed and used in time. |
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
Beirut bomb threat defused as US envoy arrives |
2009-06-13 |
[Al Arabiya Latest] United States envoy George Mitchell said Friday his country would not sacrifice Lebanon as it seeks to reach comprehensive peace in the region in his latest visit to the countr, which came y as security officials defused a small bomb sent to Beirut's General Security headquarters. "Lebanon will play a key role in the long term effort to build lasting, comprehensive peace and stability in the Middle East," Mitchell said after meeting separately with President Michel Sleiman and Prime Minister Fuad Siniora. Meanwhile a bomb containing 200 grams (seven ounces) of explosives was defused after failing to explode because of a technical glitch, security sources said. Bombs are rarely sent to government buildings although several explosive devices are defused or explode every week in Lebanon. Mideast tour Mitchell was holding separate meetings with President Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Saad Hariri, leader of the March 14 coalition that retained its majority in a closely-fought parliamentary election on Sunday. "Clearly, there can be no lasting solution reached at Lebanon's expense and we look forward to continuing to work with Lebanon to build this solution." Mitchell said his latest tour of the region, which includes stops in Israel, the West Bank, Egypt and Jordan, as well as previous visits were clear proof that U.S. President Barack Obama's administration was committed to "actively and aggressively" seek peace in the region. On a visit to Beirut ahead of the vote, Vice President Joe Biden had hinted that Washington may cut off military aid if a coalition led by Hezbollah won. Mitchell arrived in Lebanon after visits to Jordan and Egypt where he discussed with leaders there ways to achieve peace between the Israelis and Palestinians based on a two-state solution. |
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran | ||
Ahead of elections, Lebanon finds fake ID cards | ||
2009-06-05 | ||
[Iran Press TV Latest] Lebanese authorities have discovered thousands of forged identity cards only three days ahead of watershed parliamentary elections in the country. According to a Thursday report by Asharq al-Awsat, Lebanese security agents have confiscated over 4,000 falsified ID cards and have adopted concrete measures to identify those behind the forgery and bring them to justice.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and Interior Minister Ziad Baroud have promised to implement necessary measures to lower the chances of voter fraud during the elections. "We have taken strict measures and we will take even more measures to bring the situation under control," Baroud said in an address to a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday night. Lebanon's parliamentary elections are scheduled to take place on June 7. The ballot vote is of significant importance as it pits the pro-Western majority against the opposition powerhouse led by Hezbollah. Former American president Jimmy Carter is set to lead the international delegation tasked with vote observation.
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
Israel considers pullout from Lebanon border village |
2009-05-04 |
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu favours an Israeli withdrawal from a village on the Lebanese border and will discuss the issue with cabinet ministers this week, a government source said on Sunday. Israel's Haaretz newspaper said the United States was pressing Netanyahu for a pullout from Ghajar, which straddles the border between Lebanon and territory Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war. The United States, the newspaper said, believes Israel's withdrawal from Ghajar would be a goodwill gesture towards Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and could bolster moderates in Lebanon before its June 7 general election. The government source said Netanyahu, who meets US President Barack Obama in Washington on May 18, would discuss the matter with cabinet ministers later in the week. Netanyahu, the source said, "viewed favourably" a pullout from Ghajar. Israel annexed Ghajar in 1981 along with the occupied Golan Heights in a move that has not won international recognition. A pullout from Ghajar could also open a broader debate about the nearby Shebaa Farms, a stretch of territory controlled by Israel that Lebanon claims as its own but which the United Nations recognises as belonging to Syria. Mark Regev, a spokesman for Netanyahu, declined to comment on the issue. Envoy: Meanwhile, Netanyahu has chosen an American professor and historian as the next ambassador to Washington, Israeli media reported on Sunday. The nomination of Michael Oren, a Columbia and Princeton-educated historian who is currently a guest lecturer at Georgetown University, is expected to be announced before Netanyahu leaves for a mid-May meeting with President Barack Obama. In a lecture at Georgetown last month, Oren said Israel must unilaterally withdraw from the occupied West Bank, an idea rejected by Netanyahu, according to a report last week in the Haaretz newspaper. "The only alternative for Israel to save itself as a Jewish state is by unilaterally withdrawing from the West Bank and evacuating most of the settlements," he was quoted as saying. Oren, 54, hold both American and Israeli passports but will have to renounce his US citizenship to assume the post, it said. |
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
Hezbollah denies firing Katyusha into north Israel |
2009-02-22 |
![]() "Wudn't us." Ibrahim Mussawi, a spokesman for the militant organization, told AFP that Hezbollah had "nothing to do" with the attack, which was launched from a region largely controlled by Hezbollah and its Amal party ally. "It wuz... ummm... somebody else." Three other people were treated for shock after the attack, and a house was damaged, the Israel Defense Forces said. During the IDF's punishing offensive against Hamas in Gaza last month, three Katyusha rockets were fired into northern Israel within a week, hitting Nahariya and Kiryat Shmona. Hezbollah, which has a large rocket arsenal, was behind the two rocket attacks. In both cases, the organization used proxy Palestinian militant groups to launch the rockets from southern Lebanon. Meanwhile, a Lebanese security source in Beirut said Israel had responded by firing at least six artillery shells into southern Lebanon. The IDF Spokesperson's Office later said Israel held the Lebanese government and the Lebanese army accountable. The rocket exploded a few meters from a house, where a 20-year-old was lightly wounded in her sleep. "Shattered glass was scattered all over the house," her father said. "Not a single window pane remained intact." The leader of the local council said that the incident came "out of the blue." Because of the stormy weather, he said, some people thought that the explosion was a thunder. The Lebanese source, asking not to be identified, said: "Two rockets were fired from the area of Mansouri, south of Tyre, towards the direction of Israel. One of these rockets landed [within Lebanese territory]. The other rocket's location has not been determined," said the source. No one claimed responsibility for the rocket firing. A statement from Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's office said Lebanon was committed to implementing UN Security Council resolution 1701 which ended a month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in 2006. He said the attack threatened the area's stability and condemned Israel's artillery fire. "Prime Minister Siniora [said] the rockets launched from the south threaten security and stability in this region and are a violation of resolution 1701, and these issues are rejected, condemned and denounced... Israeli artillery [fire is an] inexcusable violation of Lebanese sovereignty," the statement said. |
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
Katyusha fired from Lebanon hits northern Israel |
2009-02-21 |
A Katyusha rocket fired from Lebanon struck northern Israel on Saturday, lightly wounding two people, the Israel Defense Forces said. Another three people were treated for shock, and a house was damaged. In Beirut, a Lebanese security source said Israel had responded by firing at least six artillery shells into southern Lebanon. The IDF Spokesperson Office said Israel held the Lebanese government and the Lebanese army accountable. The rocket exploded a few meters from a house, where a 20-year-old was lightly injured in her sleep. "Shattered glass was scattered all over the house," her father said. "Not a single window pane remained intact." The leader of the local council said that the incident came "out of the blue." Because of the stormy weather, he said, some people thought that the explosion was a thunder. The Lebanese source, asking not to be identified, said: "Two rockets were fired from the area of Mansouri, south of Tyre, towards the direction of Israel." "One of these rockets landed (within Lebanese territory). The other rocket's location has not been determined," said the source. A statement from Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's office said Lebanon was committed to implementing UN Security Council resolution 1701 which ended a month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in 2006. He said the attack threatened the area's stability and condemned Israel's artillery fire. "Prime Minister Siniora (said) the rockets launched from the south threaten security and stability in this region and are a violation of resolution 1701, and these issues are rejected, condemned and denounced... Israeli artillery (fire is an) inexcusable violation of Lebanese sovereignty," the statement said. |
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Israel-Palestine-Jordan | |
Arab foreign ministers to meet on Sunday on Gaza | |
2008-12-28 | |
The council of Arab foreign ministers will hold an extraordinary and immediate meeting tomorrow or the day after ... at the request of Jordan, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said. His spokesman said later it would be Sunday. It will take a joint Arab position on what is happening and at the same time agree on the steps to be taken, Moussa added. But Omani Information Minister Hamad bin Mohammed al-Rashdi told Reuters in Muscat that a meeting of Gulf foreign ministers would go ahead as planned on Sunday. Ministers can send deputies or ambassadors to the Cairo meeting. Moussa said the attacks on Saturday were only the beginning. We are facing a continuing spectacle which has been carefully planned. So we have to expect that there will be many casualties. We face a major humanitarian catastrophe, he said. A separate Arab League statement condemned the Israeli attacks and said Jordan and Egypt wanted the foreign ministers to call for an end to the massacres which Israel is committing against the Palestinian people in Gaza. In Damascus, the official SANA news agency said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was in contact with Arab leaders on the possibility of holding an emergency Arab summit to discuss what a Syrian official source called a heinous crime. The agency said that Assad, who hosted the last Arab summit earlier this year, spoke to the leaders of Qatar, Libya, Sudan and Yemen to discuss the Israeli raids on Gaza. Syria ... calls on Arab leaders to hold an emergency Arab summit to discuss the dangerous situation in Gaza, the source said. The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, also proposed that Arab leaders follow up the foreign ministers meeting by holding a summit, the Arab League said. Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh condemned the attack as a barbaric aggression and called for an emergency Arab summit to discuss it, Yemens state news agency Saba reported. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora also condemned Israels latest massacres in Gaza and appealed in a statement to the United Nations and its secretary-general to take swift measures to end the Israeli attacks. | |
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
Meshaal calls for thaw in Saudi-Syrian ties |
2008-10-06 |
![]() Relations between Riyadh and Damascus have been tense since the February 2005 assassination of Lebanese former Premier Rafik Hariri, a close Saudi ally, in a bombing widely blamed on Syria. Meshaal, who lives in exile in Syria, visited the Saudi holy city of Mecca in September to perform the umrah, or lesser pilgrimage, and to meet with Saudi officials. Fresh tensions between Syria and Saudi Arabia surfaced after a deadly car bombing in Damascus last month that killed 17 people, with Syrian official media complaining that the Saudi authorities did not condemn the attack. Syrian authorities blocked the distribution of the Saudi-owned pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat after the September 27 car bombing, the paper's Beirut bureau chief told AFP on Thursday. The head of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas also met in Mecca with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, the Arab diplomat said. Meshaal also met with Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman for talks on Cairo's efforts to broker a reconciliation between Hamas and the rival Fatah party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the diplomat added. |
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
Hezbollah taking steps towards reconciliation with Future & PSP |
2008-09-14 |
Beirut- Hezbollah's decision to dispatch the head of its politburo Sheikh Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed, as the official representative of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, to the funeral of slain Druze official Saleh Aridi was seen as a step toward reconciliation between Hezbollah and MP Walid Jumblat's Progressive Socialist Party. The daily As Safir on Saturday, citing well-informed sources, said both sides have expressed their desire to "upgrade the present security coordination formula" between Hezbollah 's Wafiq Safa and PSP's Akram Shehayeb. It said serious backstage efforts continue in this regard between Hezbollah and Mustaqbal ( Future) Movement in a bid to achieve reconciliation. The sources said there is a "real chance to achieve a breakthrough" in this regard. Today Sheikh Naim Kassem, deputy of Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said: The Future movement did not make its political decision yet about a meeting between Nasrallah and Hariri . Such a meeting could resolve 90 % of the problems and the remaining 10 % could be resolved through dialogue" Hezbollah arms remain the key issue for the ruling majority. Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said national dialogue meetings will be held under the title of "the defense strategy." |
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
Imam killed in Lebanon village shootout |
2008-09-01 |
![]() The shooting erupted between Sunni Muslims and Alawites in the village of Sheikhlar in the northern region of Akkar, he said, adding that rescue workers were unable to enter because of the intensity of the fighting. The official identified the victim as Ezzedin Kassem, the imam of the mosque in a neighboring village. Five other people were hurt in the shootout, he said, adding that automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades were used in the fighting which was triggered by a "dispute between villagers." The village lies about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of the port city of Tripoli, the scene of a spate of deadly clashes between the two communities which each support rival political factions. In June and July, 23 people were killed in battles between Sunni Muslim supporters of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and their Damascus-backed rivals from the Alawite community who support the Shiite militant Hezbollah movement. There has been tension between the two ever since Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war. Alawites consider themselves a sect of Islam and straddle the border into Syria whose President Bashar al-Assad is a follower of the faith. Sheikhlar is also home to Maronite Christians. |
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