UN Security Council Condemns Attempted Assassination in Lebanon

The U.N. Security Council has warned perpetrators of terrorist acts in Lebanon that they will not be allowed to threaten the country's stability.  The Council also condemned the latest bomb attack on a Lebanese journalist.
The 15-member Security Council issued a statement Wednesday describing as "terrorism" the recent attempt to assassinate prominent Lebanese television journalist May Chidiac.
Ms. Chidiac was critically injured when a bomb went off in her car in a Beirut suburb last Sunday. There have been at least a dozen such attacks since February, when a similar bomb killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The Security Council statement, read by Deputy Ambassador Bayani Mercado of the Philippines, welcomed the determination of Lebanese authorities to bring perpetrators of terrorist crimes to justice.
"The members of the Security Council warned that those responsible for such crimes will not be permitted to jeopardize the stability, sovereignty, democracy, and national unity of Lebanon," he said.
Ms. Chidiac is a talk show host and news anchor on a popular Lebanese television station. She is well known for her opposition to Syria's involvement in Lebanon.
U.N. investigators are already in Lebanon probing the Hariri assassination. They spent four days last week questioning officials in Syria, though Syria has repeatedly denied any involvement in the assassination.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora was quoted as saying the attack on Ms. Chidiac was related to the Hariri investigation. There is widespread speculation it may also be linked to the killing of journalist Samir Kassir, who had long advocated Syria's withdrawal from Lebanon.
Mr. Kassir died in a similar bomb explosion in June.
The Hariri assassination led to protests and international pressure on Syria to withdraw its forces from Lebanon. Syria has repeatedly denied any involvement.
The Security Council ordered an international probe of the Hariri killing after determining that Lebanon's initial investigation was flawed.  The investigation is being led by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis. He is due to release his findings before the end of the year.

Source: VOA

Mehlis Follows on Murr-Ghazaleh Quarrel to Verify Assad's Threat to Eliminate Hariri

 

German Prosecutor Detlev Mehlis has investigated in Yarze the claim of a Syrian threat served on Defense Minister Elias Murr before the July attempt on his life because, if ascertained, it would lend credence to contentions that President Assad had threatened ex-Premier Rafik Hariri face-to-face to physically eliminate him. "Mehlis in the Defense Ministry to Probe the Dimensions of Ghazaleh's Threats," screamed an 8-column banner-line across An Nahar's page-one on Wednesday, a day after Murr made the bombshell revelation of the telephone quarrel he had with Syria's former military intelligence chief Rustom Ghazaleh prior to his assassination attempt. There was little information on the official level about Mehlis' visit to the Defense Ministry complex in Yarze beyond a terse release that said acting Defense Minister Yacoub Sarraf held talks at his office with Mehlis. Sarraf is sitting for Murr while he is undergoing treatment in Zurich for injuries he suffered in the July 12 car-bomb attempted assassination. Murr made the bombshell revelation in the course of a talk show on the LBCI Beirut TV network that was devoted Monday evening to the booby-trap car bombing to assassinate the station's star anchorwoman May Chidiac Sunday. Murr, long a staunch ally of Syria, said the Chidiac affair made him incapable of keeping silent any longer about his quarrel with Ghazaleh when he was interior minister last year. The Mehlis commission requested a full text of the talk show on Marcel Ghanem's Kalam El Nass before going to Yarze, An Nahar noted. "Murr's testimony ascertains that the Syrian authority was making threats to Lebanese officials during the era of tutelage, which lends credence to the threats Rafik Hariri received face-to-face from President Assad before the extension of President Lahoud's term in office a year ago," according to An Nahar. Hariri repeatedly spoke privately of the Assad threat before he perished in a massive bomb attack near Beirut's St. George seafront hotel Feb. 14. Hariri's longtime Economy Minister Bassel Fleihan was also killed in the blast along with 21 other persons, including six bodyguards of the billionaire Lebanese leader. "The Defense Minister's revelation constitutes the strongest evidence of Syria's coercion. He is the living witness who escaped death in an assassination attempt, who has come forth to supply the (U.N.) investigation with events of a high value," said An Nahar. "Murr's testimony also has uncovered Syria's relationship with fundamentalist groups it is using in Lebanon, which means the circle of accusation of Damascus on the Iraq connection is spreading now to Lebanon," An Nahar concluded.

Lebanese defense minister says Syrians threatened him before July bid to kill him

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanon's defense minister says Syrian intelligence officials in Lebanon threatened him months before an attempt on his life in a July car bombing.
The allegation by Elias Murr, who is also deputy prime minister, was the first time that a traditionally pro-Syrian politician in Lebanon has accused Syrian officials of playing a role in the mysterious series of bombings that have occurred in the past year.
Speaking by telephone from Switzerland where he is recovering from his injuries, Murr told LBC television channel he had decided to speak out because he has "had enough" after a Sunday bombing maimed well-known TV anchorwoman May Chidiac.
Chidiac lost an arm and a leg in an explosion that devastated her car in the coastal town of Jounieh. She hosted political talk shows for LBC, which opposes Syria's role in Lebanon. Another anti-Syrian journalist and a politician have been killed in the bombings, while an anti-Syrian legislator was wounded in an October bombing.
Murr said that last year, while he was interior minister, he had an argument with Syria's intelligence chief in Lebanon, Brig. Gen. Rustum Ghazale, after the police had broken a ring of Islamic extremists, including al-Qaida elements, who had plotted to attack diplomatic missions in Beirut.
Ghazale's intelligence apparatus then controlled almost every aspect of Lebanese political and military life.
Murr left the Cabinet in October, but in January he got a warning.
"I received information about personal threats," he told LBC in the interview, which was broadcast late Monday.
Murr did not identify the source of the threats, but the context made clear he was referring to Ghazale.
Journalists have no access to Ghazale, as is the case with Syrian military intelligence officers. He has been in Syria since late April, when Syria withdrew its military from Lebanon.
Syria has denied any involvement in the series of bombings, which it has condemned.
In April, Murr returned to the Cabinet. A new government was formed as the Syrians withdrew in the face of mass demonstrations and international pressure after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February.
On July 12, Murr's car was heavily damaged by a bomb that detonated in an adjacent car on a road near his house. He received moderate wounds, but his two aides were seriously injured and the driver of a third car was killed.
The attempt to kill Murr ran against the trend of the bombings, which tended to target anti-Syrian personalities or Christian districts, which are strongholds of anti-Syrian sentiment. Murr comes from a political family that has traditionally been allied with Damascus. He is the son-in-law of President Emile Lahoud, Syria's top ally in Lebanon.
Sunday's attack on Chidiac provoked wide indignation in Lebanon. Students protested Monday on two campuses and in a downtown Beirut.
Interior Minister Hassan Sabei warned of a "terrorist plot" to destabilize the country and acknowledged the government was finding it difficult to break the chain of attacks.
Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said a team of U.S. experts was expected to arrive Tuesday in Beirut to help the investigation into Sunday's bombing.
Source: The Associated Press

Anti-Syrian journalist injured in Beirut blast

(Reuters) BEIRUT - A prominent anti-Syrian Lebanese television journalist was seriously wounded yesterday when her car exploded north of Beirut, security sources and her LBC television channel said.
May Chidac, a Christian news anchor and familiar face to the Lebanese public, may lose her foot after the blast and bystanders found her with her hair and clothes on fire, an LBC colleague and medics said.A series of explosions has rocked Lebanon since the killing of former prime minister Rafik Al Hariri in February threw the country into its worst crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. An anti-Syrian politician and columnist were assassinated in Lebanon earlier this year and an explosion wounded pro-Syrian defence minister Elias Murr in July.The latest attack comes as Lebanon awaits the outcome of a UN probe into the Hariri’s death and raised fears the country was sliding back into violence.
May Chidac, who is known through the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation for her courageous stance, was targeted by this explosion, her colleague Yazbeck Wehbe said from the scene of the blast in Ghazir.
People ran over when they heard the blast to find May's clothes and hair on fire, he said, adding that the blast had seriously injured her left foot and badly hurt her arms.Medics at the hospital where she was being treated said they were trying to save her foot.

Heavily armed pro Syrian Palestinians sneaking illegally to Lebanon

Beirut, Lebanon- The Lebanese authorities have been alarmed by a massive influx of arms and Palestinian guerrillas from Syria to Lebanon in recent days and army troops reinforced by police and state intelligence units deployed at key passes on the common border to curb the incursion, An Nahar reported on Sunday.
 The infiltrators belong to Syrian-backed Palestinian factions, mainly Ahmed Jibreel's Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC), which maintains border bases in Deir Al Ashaer and Sultan Yacoub in the Bekaa as well as the Naameh hills south of Beirut, An Nahar said.
The army has intercepted dozens of PFLP-GC fighters trying to sneak illegally across the Bekaa with arms shipments to the Deir al Ashaer and Sultan Yacoub strongholds, the two main spots that remain a focal point of sovereignty dispute in the wake of Syria's evacuation of Lebanon in April.
Many infiltrators were sent back to Syria, but An Nahar spoke of reports that undetected infiltrators managed to bring fresh arms supplies to the Naameh base as well as the Beirut Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps.
There were earlier media reports that Jibreel's guerrillas were reactivating their Lebanon strongholds, bringing in arms and reinforcements under the guise of a rotation operation.
Jibreel, who served as a captain in the Syrian army and acquired a dual Syrian citizenship, is the most trusted Palestinian ally of the Assad regime in Damascus. All his moves are coordinated with the Syrian military intelligence apparatus, which makes the ongoing influx look like a prelude for uglier terrorist operations in Lebanon.
Syria does not want to give up on Lebanon. This is another one of their desperate moves to create instability in this country. Perhaps they know they will be named in Mehlis' report as the party behind Hariri's murder (as the Guardian has reported) and this is their way of revenge. This move by Syria may spell the end of the Assad regime.

source: Naharnet

Transcript of press conference on Lebanon at UN - 09-19-05

The Secretary-General: Representatives of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, the European Union, the Russian Federation, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Nations and the World Bank met today at United Nations Headquarters with Lebanese Prime Minister Siniora.


We gathered to demonstrate our support for and commitment to the new Government of Lebanon as it works to reaffirm Lebanon’s sovereignty, engage in vital reforms, and strengthen Lebanon’s democratic institutions.


We discussed the new Government’s plans for political, economic, and institutional reforms in Lebanon to promote stability in Lebanon and in the region as a whole. We welcomed the Government of Lebanon’s response to the Lebanese people’s calls for reform. Lebanon’s reform programme priorities will set the stage for international assistance. We underscored both the urgent need to implement home-grown reforms and our commitment to supporting these initiatives for the future of Lebanon.


We welcomed the effective and swift responses of the Lebanese judicial system and security authorities to the requests of the UN International Independent Investigation Commission (UNIIIC), and expressed our strong support for the Commission’s efforts to disclose fully the truth about the terrorist assassination of late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and for bringing the perpetrators to justice.


The international community remains steadfast in its determination to ensure that outside actors end all interference in the domestic affairs of Lebanon, and invites all parties within Lebanon to commit themselves to peaceful political reform and regional stability, in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 1559. We call on all regional States to respect fully the sovereignty and independence of Lebanon and the sole authority of the Government of Lebanon throughout its territory.


Finally, we pledged to work together, and to reach out to others who want to support Lebanon, to hold an international conference before the end of the year 2005.


I now call on the Prime Minister to say a few words. Mr. Prime Minister, you have the floor.


Fuad Siniora, Prime Minister of Lebanon : Thank you, Mr. Secretary-General. At the outset, I would like to thank all the participants in this exceptional meeting. The core group meeting was called for by friends of Lebanon to explore the ways in which they can support the reform programme of the Lebanese Government. During the meeting, we had the opportunity to outline our economic and political programme of reform. I am very delighted by the positive response that we received from all the participants. This is the beginning of a process that will lead to the convening of the international conference to support Lebanon before the end of this year, in Beirut.


Today, Lebanon is at the threshold of a new dawn. With the goodwill and support of the international community and the determination of the Lebanese people, we have a real chance of achieving our goals. By achieving those goals, we will be finally fulfilling the vision of the late Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, in which I was closely involved over the past 13 years.


Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, friends of Lebanon, we really look forward to welcoming all of you in Beirut, where we can share together the rebirth of the new Lebanon. Thank you very much.


The Secretary-General: Condi?


Condoleezza Rice , United States Secretary of State: Secretary-General, Prime Minister, it is very good to be here among so many friends of Lebanon. This gathering, I think, sends a powerful signal to the world that the international community is devoted and committed to the future of a peaceful, prosperous, democratic and sovereign Lebanon.


The international community has, in many ways, never been more united, from the passage of resolution 1559 (2004), through its implementation, through our joint condemnation of the horrific murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and on our support for the Commission of Mr. Mehlis that there can be a full and complete investigation so that the perpetrators of that terrible crime can be brought to justice.


Mr. Prime Minister, the people of the world have been enormously inspired by the Cedar Revolution, and we remain inspired by the Lebanese people as they struggle toward a better future, but now in a context of political freedom. And we call upon all, in the region and around the world, to continue to support a free and sovereign Lebanon that can build a better future for its people and can do so in an absence –- in which there is no outside interference but, rather, in which the people of Lebanon can express their free will.


Thank you very much for your leadership. We all look forward to working with you. And we indeed look forward to seeing you again in Beirut.


The Secretary-General: Philippe?


Philippe Douste-Blazy, Foreign Minister of France (interpretation from French): I would like to thank the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who has just contributed to the outcome of the core group of the friends of Lebanon the support of his moral authority. This meeting is important because it is a milestone on the way to the independence, democracy and sovereignty of Lebanon. I should like to emphasize the remarkable determination for reform of the Prime Minister of Lebanon and his Government following the democratic elections -– which Lebanon had not known for a very long time. The programme that he has presented to us is based, on the one hand, on a deepening of democracy and, on the other, on the involvement of all political forces of Lebanon.


We are fully prepared to support, in due course, the reform efforts of the Government of Prime Minister Siniora. Today, he presented to us an ambitious political and economic programme. Lebanon can count on our help to the extent that it specifies its priorities, as well as the timetable and the modalities for their implementation.


Furthermore, we hope that others will join in the effort. The exchange we have had today and the declaration we have adopted are very encouraging in that regard. Lebanon can count on France.


Finally, let me say, Mr. Secretary-General, that we are ready, together with the Lebanese authorities, to prepare for the international conference that will move forward with the plan of action for the Lebanese Government and that will mobilize the necessary international support.


France will stand side by side with Lebanon in this endeavour.


The Secretary-General: Thank you. Jack?


Jack Straw, Foreign Minister , United Kingdom : Mr. Secretary-General, Mr. Prime Minister, I endorse what my colleagues have said. The circumstances which led to the passing of 1559 were terrible: the assassination of Rafik Hariri. We owe it to his memory and the memory of so many other people who have been killed in Lebanon, or have lost their lives or their livelihoods, to ensure that there is a democratic Lebanon and one which is fully sovereign within its borders.


Like all of us, I was very depressed after the assassination of Mr. Hariri. I now have good hope about the future of this country, and I also believe that the work, Sir, that you, Mr. Secretary-General, have led on behalf of the Security Council, shows what can be achieved by the United Nations when the international community is as united and determined as it has been.


And this morning’s meeting shows that members of the Security Council and leading members of the United Nations in the Arab world are absolutely united in ensuring that resolutions 1559 and 1595 are fully implemented and that a better, brighter more democratic, more prosperous future for the people of Lebanon is secured. Thank you very much.


The Secretary-General: Thank you, Jack. Ahmed?


Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Foreign Minister , Egypt(interpretation from Arabic): Thank you, Mr. Secretary-General. I would like to reaffirm that Egypt, as it participates in this gathering and in this conference, as I said during the meeting, is working on achieving success in order to take Lebanon to a stable situation that would fulfil the aspirations of all the Lebanese people and would grant them stability and prosperity.


We will work with the people of Lebanon and with the Government of Lebanon in order to achieve this goal, which will undoubtedly have its impact and repercussions on the regional situation and stability in the area.


Thank you, Mr. Secretary-General.


The Secretary-General: Prince Saud?


Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Foreign Minister , Saudi Arabia(interpretation from Arabic): Thank you, Mr. Secretary-General. It is not odd for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to take part in a meeting dedicated to helping Lebanon. It has always stood by Lebanon, every time, in dealing with any crisis that arises.


The evil hands that assassinated Rafik al-Hariri were targeting –- or wanted to keep Lebanon in the instability that it experienced; but the outcome was the opposite. A new Lebanon arose, a stronger Lebanon, one that enjoys stability and prosperity.


We are happy to take part in this work, and today we have heard the programme outlined by Prime Minister Siniora. It is a programme that we support, and we will back it with all our ability. Thank you.


The Secretary-General: Thank you very much. Mr. Fini?


Gianfranco Fini, Foreign Minister , Italy (interpretation from Italian): Italy is a country with an ancient traditional relationship of friendship with Lebanon. We have a consolidated economic and trade relationship. We are involved in guaranteeing that the process of peace, sovereignty and democracy for that much-suffering country is successful. For this reason, we stand alongside Prime Minister Siniora and are convinced that the international community must be aware that the stability of Lebanon has an enormous effect on the entire Middle East region. So, to work towards peace and sovereignty in Lebanon means helping the entire Middle East to live in better conditions.


The Secretary-General: Thank you.


Spokesman for Secretary-General: Before we open up for questions, I did want to mention that also participating in the meeting were the European Union’s High Representative, Javier Solana; the European Commissioner for External Relations, Ms. Benita Ferraro-Waldner; and the President of the World Bank, Paul Wolfowitz.


The first question goes to the United Nations Correspondents Association, Jim Wurst.


Question: Excellencies, I would like to welcome you on behalf of the United Nations Correspondents Association. In all of your discussions, you have not mentioned anything about funding. Now, I understand that will probably be the subject of the international conference, but you must be able to have some idea of the kind of money which you are trying to raise, where it is coming from, benchmarks or conditionalities for the release of the funds. Could one of you -– whoever feels qualified to answer that -– could you please elaborate a bit on that?


The Secretary-General: I think you heard the Prime Minister indicate that we are going to have a pledging conference, where this morning we all agreed to participate, and I appeal to international partners to participate. I think it would be a bit premature –- I don’t know if the Prime Minister agrees with me -– to put a dollar figure on this now. But the Prime Minister may want to add something.


Mr. Siniora: Well, I agree with you, Mr. Secretary-General. I mean, in the coming few weeks, there will be ample dialogue that is going to take place between the representative of Lebanon, as well as the various countries and international organizations, in which we are going to really talk more in detail about our programme or our requirements for the coming period and the various specific programmes that we will undertake in the coming period. So, I think this question –- we may request that it may be delayed until the next meeting, and then we will answer you there.


Question (interpretation from Arabic): What form of aid is going to be extended to Lebanon?


Mr. Siniora: This is going to be really discussed during the coming few weeks, so I think it is premature to get into the details of the nature, the size, the period. These are specific matters that I think will be the subject matter of the coming few weeks; and I think I may ask your patience for some time until we will discuss these matters; and then we will handle them next time, when we get together in Beirut.


Question: Secretary, Mr. Prime Minister, what do you think should be done if the Mehlis Commission, as expected, implicates senior Lebanese security officers and Syria says, “Well, it’s a Lebanese matter”?


Mr. Siniora: Well, as you know, Mehlis has already issued the partial indictment for four of the senior officers of the intelligence. And the Lebanese judicial system has already looked thoroughly into this matter and really acted in accordance with the Lebanese judicial system, and has already taken the decision to arrest.


Now what will come out of the Mehlis report, we will look into the matter then. But I can really tell you clearly that the Lebanese -– all the Lebanese -– are really seeking the truth, no matter how long it takes and no matter which personalities it is going to touch and implicate. We want the truth so that everybody will learn a lesson: not to commit such crimes in future. It is not only [a matter] of penalizing those who really committed this crime but to give a lesson so that [such acts are] not committed once more. So it is too early now to tell you what -– who is going to be implicated and what is going to be done. I assure you that we are going to, in this respect, observe the laws -- the respective laws that should be really observed then.


Ms. Rice: I would completely associate myself with what the Prime Minister has said. This is an international investigation that needs to be taken seriously. The chips will fall where they may, but, obviously, we are not going to try to prejudge what Mr. Mehlis will find. I would just say that everyone needs to cooperate, and cooperate fully. And there has been a call for Syria to cooperate, and I think that -- hope that Syria will cooperate fully.


Question: Madam Secretary: President Bush, according to President Talibani of Iraq, told him that the United States is not after a regime change in Syria. There is a lot of talk about the readiness by the United States to strike a deal with Syria. How true is this direction?


And, for the Foreign Minister of France also: Paris has received some high-ranking Syrian officials in the last week or so –- Asif Shawqat, a relative of President Bashar Al-Assad, is one of them. Are you receiving any messages from the President of Syria to strike a deal, to find a way out of the situation?


Ms. Rice: We are interested in only the following with Syria: first of all, that there be full and complete cooperation with the Mehlis investigation and that the truth be found -- whatever that truth is; secondly, that Syria would fully and completely remain true to the letter and the spirit of resolution 1559, which means that their forces should be out, but so also should any remaining intelligence personnel, because Lebanon has to be free of foreign interference. This is an issue of national sovereignty for Lebanon, and Syria must respect the national sovereignty of Lebanon.


Third, it is clear that Syria needs to get on the right side of the events that are going on the Middle East. That means to cut off the routes that insurgents are using to use Syrian territory to penetrate into Iraq and to kill innocent Iraqis. That means to close off support to Palestinian rejectionists, who are the single biggest threat to progress in the Israeli-Palestinian rapprochement, and, again, to make certain that nothing is being done to interfere in the affairs of Lebanon. This is a Lebanese matter now. Lebanon is now in a position to have politics between Lebanese. It needs to be that way. That is what we are talking about with Syria. That is the issue.


Mr. Douste-Blazy (interpretation from French): Indeed, to reply to your question: first of all, what seems to us the most important with respect to Syria is there be no interference by any country with another country, in this case Lebanon. We have always been in favour of respect for a country’s sovereignty and independence and, therefore, believe that there should be no interference, neither militarily nor with regard to intelligence.


With regard to the Mehlis Commission, I believe that this is a criminal investigation being carried out by a professional, highly qualified judge, who must continue to work in full independence. All parties must accept his conclusions at the appropriate time. But we have no comments to make while the investigation is proceeding, nor shall we prejudge its conclusions. I believe that the Ministers of the Core Group have reaffirmed today their full support to the Mehlis Commission. I would end by saying that it seems to us important to implement resolution 1559. This is a high priority: to complete the investigation of the assassination of Mr. Rafik Hariri.


Question: Dr. Rice, you have always talked about the implementation of resolution 1559, but what if Lebanon cannot on its own disarm Hizbollah and the Palestinians? Will the international community help, and is it a condition for Lebanon to receive economic assistance?


Ms. Rice: I believe that the Lebanese Government fully intends to live up to its obligations under resolution 1559. I have talked with the Prime Minister. I have been in Beirut. I know that this is a Government that wants to make a new start based on the resolution that gave Lebanon an opportunity for a new start.


Lebanon is in the context now -- the political context in Lebanon now is different, and this must be a political arrangement, it must be a political dialogue between Lebanese, and we are prepared to see that take place. It goes without saying, I believe, that it is eventually the case that no democracy can exist if there are some within, particularly within the Government, who try and maintain an option of violence. There has to be one authority, and there has to be one Lebanese security force that reports to that authority. And I am certain that that is well understood internationally, well understood in Lebanon, but we are at the beginning of a process, and we are going to support the Lebanese Government as they move forward.

* *** *

World's Heavyweights Give Dramatic Support to Lebanon's Transition out of Syria's Orbit

The international community has extended dramatic support for Lebanon's transition out of Syria's orbit with a hardened determination to turn the Assad regime into a global outcast partly because of reluctance to stop covert meddling in Lebanese affairs.
This was the conclusion drawn by the Beirut media Tuesday from Lebanon-related landmark events in the United Nations in the past 24 hours, which were capped by a decision to hold a conference of donor nations in Beirut before the year's end to bail Lebanon out of its monetary abyss.

The Associated Press noted that 'Lebanon's elected government' under Premier Seniora has gotten the support of the United Nations, the world's major powers and financial titans at a meeting held at the U.N. Monday, which promised the donors' conference and demanded Syria's hands-off Lebanon.

The warmth lavished on Seniora contrasted starkly with the treatment of Lebanon's pro-Syrian president, Emile Lahoud, who was in the United Nations giving a speech to the U.N. General Assembly at the same time. Lahoud, increasingly isolated for his ties to neighboring Syria, had not been invited to either the meeting or a subsequent news conference, The AP noted.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the other foreign ministers of Monday's meeting praised a blueprint of political, economic and judicial reforms submitted by Seniora.

They stressed that Lebanon must be allowed to determine its own future, emphasized the urgent need to complete the ongoing international investigation into Rafik Hariri's assassination and demanded from Syria to cooperate fully with the probe that is headed by German Prosecutor Detlev Mehlis.

"Lebanon has to be free of foreign interference. This is an issue of national sovereignty for Lebanon and Syria must respect the national sovereignty of Lebanon," said Rice, the sponsor of the conference.

"It is clear that Syria needs to get on the right side of the events that are going on in the Middle East."

The truth about Hariri's assassination has to be found, 'whatever that truth is," Rice asserted.

The AP said the U.N. meeting "was meant to show support for Seniora as he charts a delicate course of political and economic independence after 29 years of effective Syrian occupation. He was chosen by Lebanon's current parliament, which is largely anti-Syrian and was the first to be elected in a vote free of Syrian influence."

"Today, Lebanon is at a threshold of a new dawn," Seniora said. "With the goodwill and support of the international community and the determination of the Lebanese people, we have a real chance of achieving our goals."

Lebanon has one of the highest national debts in the world -- measured as 165 percent of its gross national product or about $36 billion. Seniora hopes eventually to win international debt relief, although most of the debt is held by Lebanese creditors.

The meeting was also attended by the foreign ministers of Egypt, France, Italy, Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Britain. European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz also took part.

"For Syria, the most important is that there be no meddling (in Lebanon) either by its military or by its intelligence services," said French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy. "Lebanon can count on France."

Annan said the world community "remains steadfast in its determination to ensure that outside actors end all interference in the domestic affairs of Lebanon and invite all parties within Lebanon to commit themselves to peaceful democratic reforms and regional stability."(Naharnet-AP-AFP)

One killed, 28 wounded in new Lebanon blast

One person was killed and 28 wounded in a bombing in a Christian section of Beirut, the latest in a string of blasts to hit the Lebanese capital this year, police said.

Police identified the dead man as an elderly Lebanese of Armenian origin and said three of the wounded remained in hospital Saturday.

The blast struck just before midnight (2100 GMT) on Friday in a small side street in the Jeitawi quarter of east Beirut.

Investigating magistrate Rashid Mezher said a resident saw two young men place two suitcases between two parked cars before running off. Her son, who ran across the alley to warn customers at a nearby cafe, was wounded in the blast, judicial sources said.

The force of the blast, estimated at some 20 kilogrammes (44 pounds) of TNT equivalent, collapsed the roof of the cafe and damaged the facade of a neighbouring office block.

It was the 12th bomb attack in Lebanon since the February assassination of ex-prime minister Rafiq Hariri in a massive car bombing on the Beirut seafront in which 20 other people also died.

Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, in New York for the UN General Assembly, said he had no doubt that there was a single hand behind the bombings.

"They're trying to divert attention and point the finger elsewhere," he told Lebanese media, without actually saying who he meant.

Syria, the former power broker in Lebanon, has been widely accused in Lebanon of being behind Hariri's murder and others of the attacks, charges that Damascus strongly denies.

Beirut MP Atef Majdalani, a supporter of Siniora's government, said: "The series of attacks won't end until the truth comes out about those who planned the killing of Rafiq Hariri."

The blast came the day after Lebanon's central bank lifted the bank secrecy of the Beirut accounts of eight Lebanese and Syrian figures at the request of a UN commission of inquiry into Hariri's murder.

"The special commission on the fight against money-laundering chaired by the central bank governor has decided to waive the bank secrecy of the accounts of nine figures," a banking source told AFP, asking not to be identified.

The list includes Syrian Interior Minister General Ghazi Kanaan, who previously served as Syria's military intelligence chief in Lebanon, and his successor, General Rustom Ghazaleh.

Ghazaleh held the post until April 2005 when Syria's army pulled out of its smaller neighbour after a 29-year presence in the face of intense domestic and international pressure following Hariri's killing.

Among the Lebanese figures are former pro-Syrian MP Nasser Qandil, and Ad-Diyar newspaper's chief editor Charles Ayyub, who is considered close to Ghazaleh.

Four Lebanese intelligence chiefs who were arrested in early September and charged with premeditated murder, attempted murder, carrying out acts of terrorism and possession of firearms and explosives, make up the rest of the list.

They are President Emile Lahoud's republican guard chief Mustafa Hamdan, former general security boss Jamil al-Sayed, ex-internal security head Ali al-Hage and former army intelligence director Raymond Azar.

The under-fire president, who was also in New York for the UN General Assembly, blamed the latest bombing on "enemies of Lebanon" determined to "sow fear each time the state makes progress towards stability," the official ANI news agency reported.

Source: AFP

Lebanese Forces on alert after receiving threats from Al-Qaeda

BEIRUT: Bsharri MP Strida Geagea's abrupt departure from the country last week came after threats were made against the Lebanese Forces representative from persons claiming to be Al-Qaeda members, according to security sources. Geagea had been scheduled to address a crowd of LF supporters in Bourj Hammoud last week and attend a rally at the  Our Lady of Harissa Cathedral on Sunday in remembrance of the party's martyrs killed during the Civil War.

 

But according to sources, an anonymous caller - identifying himself only as a member of Al-Qaeda - threatened to blow up a commercial center in Bourj Hammoud if the LF held a rally in the area.

 

The call was made to the Internal Security Forces emergency 112 number, and was eventually traced to a pay phone in Bourj Hammoud.

 

LF officials immediately cancelled the planned rally upon being informed of the threat.

 

Two other calls were made to the Internal Security Forces operations center in Jounieh Friday night. The first came from Dora, with the second, made two hours later, coming from Bikfaya.

 

Again the caller claimed he was an Al-Qaeda member and threatened to blow up the Our Lady of Harissa Cathedral, with the LF "blasphemers" inside it, if they spoke against the forces fighting Israel and Zionism.

 

The LF commandment was once more informed of the threats and decided to go ahead with the rally, but without Geagea. Security measures were increased and explosive experts were called in to examine the site several times before the Mass was given the green light. All the roads leading to the church were also searched.

 

According to instructions from the authorities and with the cooperation of technical experts, the origins of the phoned in threats were determined and two people were arrested.

 

An Egyptian national has been charged with threatening to blow up the commercial center in Bourj Hammoud. A Syrian national was found to have placed the call from Dora before he moved to Bikfaya to place the second call threatening to blow up the Our Lady of Harissa Cathedral and the square where the LF planned to gather.

 

Well-informed sources said the pre-paid telephone cards used to place the phone calls were seized after investigations led to the discovery of the locations of the phone booths. Investigations are still ongoing.

 

Meanwhile, rumors have circulated this week that Geagea may make a surprise return to Lebanon to make arrangements for the return of her husband, LF leader Samir Geagea.

 

But when contacted by The Daily Star, LF spokesperson Antoinette Geagea said it was still too early to comment.

 

"We don't want to overreact or jump to any conclusions until it is properly confirmed," she said.

source: DailyStar

Lahoud, Seniora Clash over Legal Prison for Hariri's Suspected Assassins

An Extraordinary cabinet session has been scheduled for Tuesday afternoon at the Baabda Palace to defuse a new standoff between President Lahoud and Premier Seniora over turning the Surete General's detention ward into a legal prison for 4 detained generals accused of complicity in Rafik Hariri's assassination. An Nahar said the decision to convene the emergency cabinet session under Lahoud's chairmanship was reached after a threat by the president to abstain from signing a decree to legalize the Surete Generale's prison. Lahoud telephoned the threat to Seniora just as the cabinet began a regular session under the premier's chairmanship at the Grand Serail Monday evening, during which Haririst Interior Minister Hassan Sabaa charged that three of the four generals held at the military police prison in suburban Reihanieh were being allowed to see non-family visitors, particularly loyalist officers, An Nahar said. Justice Minister Charles Rizk, a Lahoud loyalist, rejected Sabaa's charge, saying all visits allowed to the three generals in Reihanieh were within the context of the law and had no adverse bearing on the progress of the international or domestic investigation into Hariri's murder. At this point, Seniora called Lahoud from the Grand Serail by telephone to the Baabda Palace and proposed an emergency session of the cabinet to "straighten out this abnormal situation," An Nahar said. "If President Lahoud insists on his stance against legalizing the Surete Generale prison, Seniora is bent on calling a cabinet vote to resolve the standoff," said An Nahar. If this happens, it would be the first time that a cabinet vote is called to settle a dispute between the president and the prime minister, who is backed by an overwhelming majority of Parliament. To stop the prison decree, Lahoud has to have one third of the 24-member cabinet voting 'no.'

Syrian Defector Tells Mehlis of Explosives from Slovakia to Kill Hariri

The Paris-based 'Intelligence Online' website, an intelligence affairs specialty, has said the investigation into Hariri's assassination made a breakthrough from information fed by a dissident Syria army officer to German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis in two meetings in Geneva.
The internet newsletter quoted diplomatic sources in Beirut as having said U.S. and Saudi Arabian intelligence services had managed to convince Syrian officer Col. Mohammed Safi, who directed the office of Syria's former intelligence chief Gen. Ali Khalil to defect.

Safi first went to Saudi Arabia, where its secret service interrogated him and then turned him over to the Americans. The dissident Syrian has revealed to Mehlis information about the kind of explosives used in the assassination, which were purchased from Slovakia, Intelligence Online said.(AFP-Naharnet)

Syrians Allegedly Got Hariri's Slovak Bomb via Istanbul

The Slovak secret service is investigating whether some of the explosives used in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri earlier this year came from Slovakia, a spokesman said Tuesday. "We have this information ... and it is at the stage of being investigated," said Vladimir Simko, a spokesman for the Slovak Information Service. The Slovaks had already opened an investigation into the possible purchase before the online publication revealed the possible link, Simko said, but he declined to say how they learned about it. "The 1,000 kilograms (2,205 pounds) of RDX explosive used in the attack were bought from a Slovak company," the report said. "The Syrians bought a large quantity of the explosive through the intermediary of a Syrian businessman close to military intelligence who has an office in Istanbul." Repeated calls to the company were not answered Tuesday.(AP)

Questions remain about the fate of Syria and Lahoud after UN probe

By Zeina Abu Rizk
The Daily Star

Those who expected Detlev Mehlis to make major revelations yesterday may have been deceived. But perhaps what transpired in the concise statement by the head of the UN Committee investigating former Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination, and in the following question and answer session with reporters was more enlightening than what was actually said.
Mehlis' assertions his committee was here to unveil the truth about Hariri's assassination and that the detainees were suspected of plotting in Hariri's assassination, sounded like an indication the four former heads of security apparatuses in detention since Tuesday were likely to be officially arrested.
Indeed, information spread on Thursday evening the Lebanese judiciary had followed Mehlis' recommendation - although unbinding - to issue arrest warrants against Raymond Azar, Ali Hajj, Mustafa Hamdan and Jamil Sayyed.
In the meantime, a series of significant developments seem worth highlighting. One of those is the early release of former MP Nasser Qandil, who was amongst the fifth detainees first arrested Tuesday. Although Mehlis made it clear that all suspects do not need to be detained, and that the release of a suspect does not make him less of a suspect, freeing a political figure strongly associated with Syria and once referred to as Damascus' spokesman in Lebanon, could not pass unnoticed.
Coupled with Mehlis' comments about Syrian witnesses as opposed to Syrian suspects, which the committee needs to interrogate, Qandil's release seemed to confirm this impression. Involving Syria at this point may force the international committee to take measures it is still not ready to adopt, especially if the implication of Syrian suspects were to lead to the Syrian leadership itself. More time might be required before taking investigations a step further in this direction.
Although Damocles' sword is still hanging above Hizbullah's head, the Tuesday arrests have led to a substantial decline of support for the theory that Hizbullah could be implicated in the crime. None of the four suspects has direct affiliations with Hizbullah; even rumors the booby-trapped truck that killed Hariri had been prepared in one of the southern suburbs' neighborhood - a Hizbullah stronghold - have substantially diminished over the past days.
The main question is about Lahoud's fate following the investigations, especially now that Mustafa Hamdan, his close aid, has been officially arrested. Even if Lahoud continues to say he will assume his presidential responsibilities until the end of his mandate, it seems difficult to believe he would be able to do so.
Yesterday's cancellation of the Cabinet meeting is an indication that, in such an atmosphere, cohabitation with the president has become almost impossible. Holding government meetings in Baabda in particular seemed unrealistic; if Lahoud persists on staying in office, political life could be seriously paralyzed.
One of Lahoud's main defenders to date has been Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir. This time, however, the Prelate may have a different approach to an issue in which the judiciary should have the final say. The September Maronite Bishops statement to be issued Wednesday will reveal Bkirki's position with respect to this issue.
The bottom line is Bkirki will not defend anyone found guilty by the judiciary, nor would it interfere in issues falling under the judiciary's jurisdiction.
Also, rumors Druze leader Walid Jumblatt will start examining the possibilities of electing a new president with other senior leaders have started spreading.
But on the other hand, arresting former heads of security apparatuses known for their close ties with Syria leaves little ambiguity as to the political side standing behind those suspects, if they were to be convicted. If they really planned Hariri's assassination, they could not have done so unless a higher authority brought them together, considering the security leaders were not always friendly and would have probably needed a higher power to bring them together.
Therefore, the theory these Lebanese suspects may eventually serve as scapegoats to the Hariri affair if Syria manages to conclude a "deal" with the international community - which is what Damascus is supposedly trying to do through political and diplomatic channels, while delaying its authorization for interviews with the Syrian witnesses - does not sound convincing.
 

US increases diplomatic pressure on Syria following Hariri assassination's investigation

The Bush administration has launched the process of taking further diplomatic action against Syria following the defection of a former Syrian officer and new disclosures that purportedly link Damascus with the assassination of Rafiq Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister.
US officials said last night that Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, and Stephen Hadley, national security adviser, met Terje Roed-Larsen, special UN envoy to the Middle East, late on Tuesday to examine new evidence related to last February's bombing in Beirut.
The officials provided no details but one said they had examined "new, stronger linkage", while a second said the "ball is moving" and that responsibility for Hariri's killing went "high up the [Syrian] food chain".
Syria has denied any involvement in the bombing, which killed 21 people. Nonetheless, mass protests in Beirut and international pressure on Damascus backed by UN resolutions forced Syria to end its 29-year presence in Lebanon. Syrian troops and most intelligence officers withdrew in April.
According to western and Lebanese sources, a former Syrian officer recently defected and has been providing information to the UN team investigating the Hariri assassination.
The defector is believed to have been privy to sensitive intelligence information. US officials declined to comment on the reported defection.
On the request of Detlev Mehlis, the German prosecutor leading the UN team, Lebanese authorities detained on Tuesday pro-Syrian senior security chiefs who were serving at the time of the Hariri assassination, including Mustafa Hamdan, still the head of Lebanon's presidential guard. Nasser Qandil, a former pro-Syrian MP, was questioned but released yesterday.
The detentions were the first big development in the three-month investigation. Lebanese newspapers reported yesterday that two houses in south Beirut had been searched following the detentions amid suspicion that they might have been used in the Hariri plot.
Mr Mehlis told the UN Security Council in a report last week that Syria had not responded to requests for documents and interviews, delaying the investigation.
The UN team's mandate expires in two weeks but UN officials have said Mr Mehlis may ask for an extension of a few weeks to conclude his inquiry. Analysts in Washington say the Bush administration wanted international backing for a policy that was in effect aimed at destabilising the government of President Bashar al-Assad, which the US also accuses of not doing enough to prevent support reaching insurgents inside Iraq.
 
source: Financial Times