Bush discusses Lebanon with Chirac

Bush presses Chirac on NATO involvement in Darfur
22 Feb 2006 22:18:23 GMT

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON, Feb 22 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Wednesday told French President Jacques Chirac that NATO should take a more active role in international efforts to stop the bloodshed in Sudan's Darfur region, the White House said.
In a 30-minute conversation initiated by Chirac, Bush "raised his concern about the deteriorating situation in Darfur and his view that NATO should be more actively involved in a robust international response to this crisis," Frederick Jones, spokesman for the White House national security council said.
Bush last week said NATO should have an organizational role and there should be double the number of international peacekeepers for Darfur.
The conflict in Darfur began when non-Arab rebels took up arms in early 2003, accusing the government of neglect and repression. Since then, tens of thousands of Sudanese have been killed and more than 2 million have been driven from their homes and herded into grim camps.
Jones said the two leaders also discussed Chirac's recent visit to India and developments in Syria and Lebanon, Jones said. "They stressed their common commitment to ensuring that Syria abide by U.N. resolution pertaining to Lebanon."
Bush will visit India and Pakistan next month.

UN presses Lebanon over Hizbollah weapons claim

The United Nations has called on the Lebanese government to explain allegations that the Lebanese army aided the transfer of weapons from Syria to Hizbollah, the Iranian-backed militant Islamic group.
A UN Security Council resolution, adopted in 2004, called for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Lebanon and the disbanding and disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias.
UN officials have warned for some time that weapons and personnel are flowing from Syria to militia in Lebanon, but the issue had taken a relative back-seat during an international investigation into last year's murder of Rafiq Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister.
It rose to new prominence, however, following allegations that several truckloads of light weapons and missiles were transferred on January 31, after which, according to officials, the Lebanese army all but acknowledged it was playing a role.
"If this information were to be confirmed it would be an alarming development in clear violation of resolution 1559," said Terje Roed-Larsen, the UN envoy monitoring compliance with Security Council demands.
In a statement this week, the Lebanese army said the transport of "ammunition belonging to the resistance" to southern Lebanon was governed by ministerial policy, although it also claimed the supplies had been stored inside the country.
"The government considers the Lebanese resistance a genuine and natural expression of the Lebanese people's national right to liberate their territories . . . in the face of Israeli aggressions," it said.
John Bolton, the US ambassador, yesterday said the facts still had to be established. But he warned that the text of resolution 1559 was clear.
Analysts said the issue highlighted Lebanese government fears of a confrontation with Hizbollah. But Walid Jumblatt, the Lebanese Druze leader, gave the flow of weapons new prominence with public statements this weekend.
While the US and France, who have led UN policy on Lebanon, shied away from detailed pronouncements on the army's alleged role, officials said they were concerned, and were considering how and when to pressure the government of Fouad Siniora to stop it.
Meanwhile, one UN diplomat suggested that the international inquiry, led by the International Criminal Court's deputy prosecutor Serge Brammertz, could slow down as he shored up evidence to satisfy international legal standards.

source: Financial Times

Lebanon Marks Anniversary of Hariri's Murder with New Cedar Revolt

One million Lebanese flocked to Martyrs' Square Tuesday to mark the first anniversary of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination, in a replication of the Cedar Revolution that took the country by storm a year ago.A human wave carrying red and white Lebanese flags covered the square as the demonstrators gathered in and around the center of the city. The crowds overwhelmed thousands of army troops and policemen deployed amid high security measures.Endless bus convoys poured into the capital from regions throughout the country to take part in the commemorative event. Entrances to the square were clogged with a sea of marchers from all ages and a wide range of religious groups. The demonstrators held banners demanding the resignation of President Emile Lahoud. Some of the signs read: "The extension killed Hariri," "Lahoud is unconstitutional." The president's term was extended in Sept. 2004 under Syrian pressure.
Others carried placards critical of Syria and its president, Bashar Assad. "Isn't it enough, Bashar?" said one, listing the names of anti-Syrian Lebanese who have been slain in other bombings over the last year.
"Yes, for the Syrian people. No to (Syrian) intelligence terrorism," read another.
The organizers of the rally dubbed the "gathering of loyalty and unity" are hoping to recreate the same momentum as the March 14 protest when 1 million flag-waving Lebanese converged on the same spot to pressure Syria to withdraw and demand an international investigation of the assassination of Hariri.
The slain leader was buried along with seven of his companions at al Amin mosque that oversees Martyrs' Square, popularly renamed Freedom Square after his death. All anti-Syrian groups known as the March 14 alliance are participating in huge numbers. The largest members of the coalition are Saad Hariri's Future Movement, Walid Jumblat's Progressive Socialist Party and Samir Geagea's Lebanese Forces representing Lebanon's Sunni Muslim, Druze and Christian communities.Jumblat was among the first politicians to arrive on the scene to participate in the event. He held a meeting with Saad and Geagea at Camp Freedom ahead of a series of political speeches.Forces outside the alliance including Gen. Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement and the two Shiite parties Amal and Hizbullah will only send political representatives. The FPM was a key member of the anti-Syria coalition that drove Damascus' forces out of Lebanon last year. However, relations between Aoun and the remaining members of the alliance have been tense especially in light of a recent cooperation agreement he signed with the Party of God.Politicians of the March 14 alliance dedicated their speeches to Hariri and the 22 other people who died in the fateful blast on Beirut's seaside Corniche a year ago. One of the victims was former Trade and Economy Minister Bassel Fleihan who survived the bombing but died from severe burns two months later.They also paid tribute to Samir Kassir, George Hawi and Gebran Tueni, key figures in the March 14 movement, who were assassinated last year.At 12:55 the crowd will observe a moment of silence in memory of Hariri and the remaining victims.Saad Hariri, who took on his father's political mantle, is also expected to address the huge gathering. Saad returned home at the weekend after six months in exile due to security concerns to issue an emotional appeal for a massive turnout for Tuesday's anniversary of his father's murder as a show of Lebanese unity. The anniversary "will be a day of a renewal of faith in the unity of Lebanon", Hariri told a press conference. "I call on all Lebanese to adopt a historic position of unity on this day to show that our national unity is above all else and that the forces of March 14 will remain united," he added.Beirut has been adorned with billboards in honor of Hariri, a five-time billionaire premier who played a major role in the reconstruction of Beirut after the 1975-1990 civil war. "We miss you," one of them reads. Restaurants and hotels in Beirut marked St Valentine's Day three days early this year so as not to clash with the Hariri commemoration. Florists reported a rush on roses both for lovers and to be placed on Hariri's tomb.

Jumblat: Jamil Sayyed Forged a Map to Put Shabaa Farms in Lebanon

Druze leader Walid Jumblat has said a Lebanese army map dating back to 1962 showed the Shabaa Farms outside Lebanon's border.
Jumblat displayed the map before engineers belonging to the March 14 groups visiting him in his hometown of Mukhtara on Sunday.
He said that the Syrian-Lebanese security apparatuses had altered the maps by pushing the borderline to include the Shabaa Farms into the Lebanese territory. By doing so, the security apparatuses had given a reason for Hizbullah to continue its military activity against Israeli troops supposedly occupying Lebanese land, according to Jumblat.
This way, the Druze leader said, "Syria and Iran could extend their influence in Lebanon through the continuation of Hizbullah's role."
Jumblat blamed the imprisoned former security chief, Jamil Sayyed, for amending the borderline in a map made in 2001 putting the farms in Lebanon.
Sayyed, who served under Syria's defunct tutelage, is awaiting trial along with another three former security chiefs for their alleged role in the assassination of ex-premier Rafik Hariri.
The Progressive Socialist Party leader said that Hariri "was not convinced of the 2001 forged map and that is one of the reasons why he was assassinated."
Lebanon and Syria say the farms are Lebanese, and therefore, support Hizbullah's sporadic military attacks against Israeli troops stationed there. Israel and the United Nations, however, say the area belongs to Syria and its fate is linked to U.N. Resolution 242 that calls on Israel to pull out from Syria's Golan Heights.
Jumblat added that the 2001 map had kept Lebanon hostage of Syrian and Iranian interests.

Welch Criticizes Aoun Over His Agreement With Hizbullah

Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch has criticized the meeting between Gen. Michel Aoun and Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, saying it could delay the implementation of an international decision that calls on Hizbullah to disarm.
Speaking at the Foreign Press Center in Washington, Welch said the U.S. viewed the meeting between Aoun and Nasrallah as a discussion between two political currents, and not a government discussion.
But when asked if he believed that the implementation of U.N. Resolution 1559 has been undermined by the statement of cooperation between Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement, Welch said: "We are concerned about any understandings, whatever their status, that would appear to postpone such a decision."
Earlier this week, Hizbullah and the FPM issued a 10-point joint statement of cooperation stating that holding arms was an honorable and sacred way for a resistance group to defend its occupied land.
The two parties also said that the Lebanese should take responsibility for protecting Lebanon especially that Israel occupies the Shabaa Farms, detains Lebanese resistance fighters and threatens the country.
Welch reiterated Washington's position on Hizbullah, saying the Shiite party is considered "terrorist" under American law. "It receives foreign funding and it tends to respond to foreign guidance," he said.
The U.S. official said Washington objected to comments by some Lebanese politicians that have justified Hizbullah's "terrorist actions" committed in the past, such as the taking of hostages.
Asked if he was referring to Aoun, Welch said, "yes." Aoun reportedly had said that Hizbullah and the FPM were the only two parties in Lebanon who were not involved in mass murders during the country's 1975-1990 year civil war.
"American citizens have suffered at the hands of this organization (Hizbullah) and that's why we consider it a terrorist organization, and there is no reason in our view why there should be any excuse or any loophole for them to change their behavior and disarm, as according to the rules of the international community as expressed in 1559," said Welch.
Welch, who visited Lebanon last month, said Washington deals with the established institutions of the government. "And we ask them to respect the will of the international community."
He said the U.S. administration understands the need for the Lebanese to have a dialogue with Hizbullah, but he stressed that such a dialogue should be directed toward the implementation of UN Resolution 1559

Violence rises in Muslim protest

BEIRUT, Lebanon - A Muslim protest over caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad turned into a rampage in Beirut on Sunday, as outrage over the drawings spread across continents and widened the rift between Islam and the West. At least one person reportedly died and about 200 were detained, officials said.

Muslim clerics denounced the violence, with some wading into the mobs trying to stop them. Copenhagen ordered Danes to leave the country or stay indoors in the second day of attacks on its diplomatic outposts in the Middle East.

A day after violent protests in neighboring Syria, protesters in the Lebanese capital torched the Danish Embassy, clashed with police and stoned a church -- the most violent reaction yet to 12 cartoons lampooning the prophet that first appeared in a Danish newspaper and were reprinted in other media this month.

Thirty people were injured, half of them members of the security forces, officials said, making it the most violent in a string of demonstrations across the Muslim world. All the injuries were from beatings and stones.

The violence in Beirut started when thousands of Muslims gathered near the Danish Embassy, which is in the Christian area of Ashrafieh. A small group of demonstrators set fire to the embassy, overturned cars and broke the windows of a Maronite Catholic church. Lebanese forces used tear gas and water cannons to beat back the crowds.

The event quickly took on ugly sectarian undertones in a capital scarred by Lebanon's bloody, 15-year civil war. Christian militants sent text messages to cell phones that read, ``Launch the Christian nation of Lebanon. It is never going to end unless you prepare your weapons.'' Muslims, meanwhile, rolled out their prayer carpets on the streets of the mostly Christian neighborhood in an act viewed as a provocation.

The Lebanese government called an emergency Cabinet meeting Sunday night, while both Shiite and Sunni Muslim leaders condemned the violence. Senior Shiite cleric Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah issued a religious order banning flag burnings and attacks on embassies, and urged Muslims to show their outrage by joining the boycott of Danish exports.