Lebanon-Horizon

Just five days after the United States declared the end of its combat mission in Iraq, U.S. soldiers opened fire Sunday morning on suicide bombers who snuck into an Iraqi army base in Baghdad, a U.S. military spokesman said.

Medical staff treat a wounded soldier after a bomb attack in Baghdad September 5, 2010

The assailants detonated a car bomb outside an army division headquarters housed in the former defense ministry building, killing at least 12 people, most of them Iraqi soldiers, authorities said. The blast wounded at least 20 people at the complex, where a bombing last month targeting recruits killed more than 60 people.

A gun battle raged for more than two hours after the explosion as Iraqi soldiers tried to corral the two bombers who managed to get inside the base, Iraqi officials at the scene said. A small contingent of U.S. soldiers is based at the facility.

The assailants, who wore vests rigged with explosives, threw grenades as Iraqi soldiers shot at them from a distance, fearing that their bullets could detonate the bombs. American soldiers backed them up with “suppressive fire,” said Lt. Col. Eric Bloom, the U.S. military spokesman. U.S. helicopters, drones and explosives experts also responded.

During the shooting, the explosives in the vests detonated, killing the suicide bombers. Two other men wearing explosive vests were shot in the head outside the building. Their vests were defused.

The brazen attack is the second targeting the base in less than a month.

The involvement of U.S. soldiers underscored that while they are no longer officially in a combat mission, many among the roughly 50,000 American soldiers still in Iraq remain in harm’s way.

Commanders have stressed that U.S. soldiers retain the right to self-defense and will conduct joint operations with Iraqi security forces.

The attack also illustrated how much help Iraq’s fledgling security forces need as insurgents continue their almost daily attacks.

Just before the U.S. military officially changed their mission from combat to stability operations last week, the Iraqi government put the nation and security forces on high alert in anticipation of attacks.

Despite the extra checkpoints that have worsened traffic jams throughout Baghdad, the bombers were able to infiltrate a high-profile building and kill a dozen people outside.

Many worry that without an Iraqi government in place nearly six months after Iraq’s national election and after a declaration by President Obama that it was time to “turn the page” in Iraq, violence will continue to increase as it did last month. Washington Post

By Ghassan Karam

Although the idea of personal liberty and freedom has preoccupied humans for millennia the notion as we presently know it was best clarified by the work of John Stuart Mill and later on Isaiah Berlin.  What was initially stressed by JS Mill was the important concept that liberty carries within it two essential meanings; the liberty to act when one wills and the conditions whereby one is free from coercion. Berlin however took these two ideas and elaborated on them as to show that liberty has two components; positive liberty and negative liberty. These two ideas are not the same. It is possible to have one without the other.

Positive liberty is when individuals are offered the right and the ability to commit an act such as the opportunity to apply for a job vacancy. This kind of liberty is essential and very much appreciated but not as much as its negative counterpart whereby individuals will be protected from the arbitrary exercise of authority, it is our safety valve against tyranny.

A vibrant responsible democracy is structured so as to offer its citizens protection against abuse by discriminate application of the law. Civil society cannot thrive without a total respect for the rule of law and an unconditional rejection of the rule of men. Unless we are all equal and accountable to the same sets of rules under a perfectly transparent judicial system then none of us is free.

It is paradoxical that the most vocal critics of the Bush-Cheney administration in the Middle East rely , and rightly so, on the US administration’s total disregard of the rule of law and binding international conventions when each of these regimes outdoes the Bush-Cheney administration by a factor in their own abandonment of the rule of law. This is not meant to be a defense of the offensive and serious crimes committed by Bush-Cheney but instead are meant to highlight the sorry state of affairs under which we have to live.

Remember when arrest warrants were issued against three young men who had exercised their positive liberty to right but who were intimidated by the authorities who did not take lightly to being criticized? And then what about the Al Akhbar journalist who was arbitrarily detained by the military for an article that he wrote? I will not bore you by naming the hundreds, possibly thousands, of examples of arbitrarily detained individuals, redacted articles, banned films and songs whose only crime is that they offended the personal sensibilities of certain powerful individuals.

All of the above pales in importance to the continuous non enforcement of constitutional prerogatives. By elections that are supposed to take place in a month sometime go unfilled for much longer, National Constitutional Council is expected to always be ready to hear cases about the constitutionality of developments does not meet for over a year and does not pass a judgment on what is arguably the greatest constitutional violation; to elect a President who is proscribed from that position.

In light of the above political culture that acts as if there is no concept of what is the rule of law do we have the right to expect young well meaning individuals to devote their full time and energy to promote human rights, justice, rule of law and constitutional behavior? Luckily enough for us there are a few of these idealistic energetic individuals who strongly believe in praxis, to live what they preach.

Nour Merheb is such an individual that we can all be proud of for his commitment and idealism to fairness, liberty and equity. Nour has been working diligently to promote his theories and ideas about the steps that need to be taken to transform society from its current political feudalism to responsible and accountable free and democratic society.

Nour was sentenced two days ago by a Military Court to two months in prison for a small altercation with an off duty army personnel. This is outrageous for the simple fact that Military Court in Lebanon have become ubiquitous, passing rules and issuing judgments in all areas. That is simply unconstitutional.  A society is ultimately made up of its citizens. Politicians and leaders will strip away our freedoms and institutionalize abuse only with our consent. Make no mistake about it the American public enabled George Bush-Cheney to practice torture in Guantanamo, and Abu Ghraib   but credit the US public with forcing a change once the facts became known. (Ultimately Bush-Cheney must be held accountable in a court of law).

The real issue facing us in this case is simply when would we show outrage? When would we act as the newscaster in Networks by saying: We are mad enough and we cannot take it any more”.

You might not agree with Nour Merheb on all the issues or even on any of them. That is not what is at stake. What is crucial is that his rights and dignity as a Lebanese citizen be respected. Nour has already declared that he would go on a hunger strike as soon as he is arrested. I would hope that his sentence be annulled but if it is not I would hope that many would declare solidarity with Nour in any way possible including the possibility of joining him in his hunger strike.

Nour and Wael Khair, the Executive Director of The Foundation for Humanitarian Rights , Lebanon held a press conference today that must be watched in order to appreciate the importance of this issue : nour merheb

Political aide to Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hussein Khalil, has contacted Prime Minister Saad Hariri to thank him on behalf of Nasrallah for committing to calm rhetoric, local media reported Sunday.

Al-Hayat on Sunday also reported that Hezbollah and Hariri’s Mustaqbal Movement have vowed to end political bickering.

It said head of Hezbollah’s Coordination and Liaison Committee Wafiq Safa has informed a source close to Hariri that the Shiite group has decided to refrain from responding to political statements.

Safa also reportedly said that Hezbollah officials and MPs were given orders to end political bickering.

Al-Hayat said Mustaqbal Movement officials and MPs also received similar orders.

Tension between between the two leaders started by Nasrallah . In his speech last Friday on the occasion of Jerusalem day Nasrallah attacked what he said was political exploitation of the August 24 clashes in Beirut between supporters of Hezbollah and Al-Ahbash, saying that “a knife was put in Hezbollah’s wound and twisted.”

In his Friday Iftar speech, Hariri responded to Nasrallah’s remarks by saying, “I am not the one who is carrying the knife because I don’t know how to carry one. I only know how to carry a pen. I am the son of [former Prime Minister] Rafik Hariri and I will remain modest”

Al-Hayat said Hariri has informed MP Walid Jumblat in a telephone call that the prime minister was being “targeted” by Nasrallah and statements criticizing him were “no longer acceptable.”

During an Iftar dinner in Qoreitem on Saturday, Hariri called for calm and dialogue , saying that “that political and media rhetoric following his remarks on Friday evening reached a level he had hoped would be avoided”.

During an Iftar on Sunday Hariri said that “in this country we have to know how to all live together under the shelter of the state and abide by our constitution.”

He reiterated his commitment to polite speech and calm dialogue.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun attacked the government in a televised speech on Sunday and called for resignations of several ministers.

He also criticized president Michel Suleiman .

“For some time we have been telling the government that it is violating the law, but it is as if they are not listening.”

Aoun said that the Internal Security Forces (ISF) Information Branch is an “illegitimate branch “, “kidnaps people for months,” and “spreads rumors about people.”

His criticism comes as a possible reference to the branch’s August 5 arrest of retired Brigadier General Fayez Karam ( pictured with Aoun) on charges of spying for Israel

Karam who is also a senior FPM official, was charged with espionage and providing the Jewish state with information on Hezbollah.

Aoun has repeatedly condemned authorities over the issue of leaks to the media on the investigation.

“Who is this branch responsible to?… Is Interior Minister [Ziad Baroud] asleep?” he asked.

Aoun also said that even though Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar is responsible for keeping investigations confidential, rumors have spread. He criticized Information Minister Tarek Mitri and Defense Minister Elias al-Murr over the investigations as well.

“Are all these ministers sleeping?” Aoun said, asking, “What are they waiting for to resign?”

Karam and Aoun went into exile in France following Aoun’s defeat by the Syrian army in 1990 and both returned to Lebanon in May 2005 , 11 days following the withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon.

Based on articles 274-278 of the Lebanese law , those convicted of spying for Israel could face the death sentence.

Aoun also questioned the transparency of government expenditure and the activities of the Finance Ministry and Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

He also asked : “Is President Michel Suleiman doing anything other than weeping.”

It is “necessary to see dismissals and resignations starting today,” the FPM leader said.

Aoun also criticized calls arms and militia free Beirut , saying a weapons-free country would be in danger from Israel.

March 14 alliance and some FPM officials called for an arms-free and militia Beirut following the bloody street battle that shook the Borj Abi Haidar neighborhood in the Lebanese capital on August 24, pitting supporters of the Iranian backed Hezbollah against the pro-Syrian Al-Ahbash militants —also known as the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects. 3 people were killed in the clash including a Hezbollah senior official.

Aoun who was very critical of Hezbollah while in exile in France has been a close ally of the Iranian backed group since 2006.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said that last week’s Borj Abi Haidar clashes harmed Hezbollah’s image, adding that the violence revealed that the party has a military presence in the capital that cannot be justified or accepted, according to a statement issued last Wednesday by Geagea’s office.

Geagea also said last Friday that Hezbollah’s arms “serve other interests. ”

“As far as we know the resistance should be in occupied territories. Is Beirut occupied?” Geagea asked.

Former Lebanese president and Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel said today : “They say weapons are in the best interest of the State. Where is the interest of the country in Borj Abi Haidar incident and Shehabiyeh explosions? What are weapons there for?”

Last Friday a large explosion rocked a village in southern Lebanon .The explosion took place inside the village of Shehabiyeh , near the border with Israel at an arms depot for Hezbollah.

The explosion was reportedly the result of a fire that detonated eight rocket shells, several hand grenades, and two gas containers, according to Reuters

Lebanon Defense Minister Elias Murr headed to Spain at the official invitation of his Spanish counterpart for talks on military cooperation between the two countries and assistance to the Lebanese Army, National News Agency reported.

NNA said talks would also tackle U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701.

Murr told reporters last month any party that wished to help the military had to do so without any conditions.

He made the statement after US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman, D-Calif., announced his decision last August to withhold $100 million in military aid following the border skirmishes between Israel and Lebanese army.

Most banks in the United Arab Emirates, an important trading partner for Iran, have stopped money transfers there after the latest round of sanctions on the Islamic republic, bankers said on Sunday.

A Dubai-based Iranian businessman said that the latest sanctions have halved trade with Dubai, an important re-export centre for Iranian goods.

“We stopped transfers to Iran in all currencies in July,” an executive from an international bank, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

The UN Security Council imposed a fourth round of sanctions on June 9 over Iran’s controversial programme of uranium enrichment, which many Western states believe may be a covert bid to make a nuclear bomb, a charge Tehran denies.

The United States and European Union have since unilaterally imposed even tougher punitive measures, which contain provisions to penalise Tehran’s trading partners.

A banker with an Emirati bank said that transfers to Iran in dollars and euros are now forbidden, and have become “very difficult, if not impossible, in dirhams,” the UAE’s currency.

“Transactions by Iranian clients are closely monitored,” the banker said, adding that certain activities by Iranian clients, such as transfers to Asia to purchase goods, are sometimes blocked.

“We used to deal with some banks in Tehran, but now it is almost impossible,” the banker said.

Bank accounts of some Iranian clients have been closed recently, he added.

“The volume of trade between Dubai and Iran has been reduced by 50 percent compared to before the latest round of sanctions, mainly due to bank restrictions,” said Morteza Masoumzadeh, vice president of the Iranian Business Council in Dubai.

“There are more restrictions, and things are getting more complicated” because of the latest sanctions, he said.

For example, businessmen can no longer “open a letter of credit to overseas suppliers if the port of discharge is an Iranian port,” he said.

UAE officials said last month that the country was implementing sanctions against Iran. It reportedly began taking steps to implement the latest UN sanctions against the Islamic republic in June.

The UAE central bank ordered the freezing of 41 bank accounts because of the sanctions on Iran, according to the Emirates Business 24/7 website.

Dubai, the UAE’s business and aviation transport hub, has also closed down the offices of 40 firms suspected of breaching the sanctions, the Gulf News daily reported.

Iran is a significant UAE trading partner, with trade volume between it and Dubai alone estimated at about 10 billion dollars (7.7 billion euros) a year, mostly imports to the emirate.

There are about 400,000 Iranians living in the UAE. AFP

According to local reports , a March 8 delegation visited UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams’ office on Saturday and delivered a memorandum asking UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to abolish the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).

The memorandum called on the UN to replace the STL with a joint Arab-Lebanese commission to investigate the 2005 assassination of Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, he added.

According to local reports , March 14 General Coordinator Fares Soueid said in an interview published in Kuwaiti newspaper As-Seyassah on Sunday that Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah feels threatened by the tribunal.Soueid revealed that the March 8 parties also submitted the same memorandum to the Chinese and Russian embassies in Lebanon.

No one really knows what the contents of the STL indictments will be like , but the leader of the Iranian backed Hezbollah admitted in his speech on Thursday July 22 that some of his party members would be named in the tribunal’s formal charges but stressed that he will reject the indictments. He accused the STL of being an Israeli project aiming to cause internal strife.

In a speech on August 9, 2010, Nasrallah tried to present evidence to prove that Israel was behind the assassination of Lebanon’s former PM Rafik Hariri . He also said he had more information ( which he will present at a later date ) that will prove Israel killed Hariri.

After securing a copy of Nasrallah’s presentation STL prosecutor tried to obtain copies of the additional evidence that Nasrallah still had , but the Hezbollah leader refused to cooperate.

Wahab attacks Hariri

During an interview with OTV, Wiam Wahab on Sunday attacked Prime Minister Saad Hariri and described as an “Israeli agent” anyone that finances the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

Wahab , a staunch ally of Syria and Hezbollah said: “We are on the brink (of a civil war) and we could fall into the abyss any moment because we have responsible officials who are not responsible.” .

He said Hariri was not acting as a prime minister for Lebanon

Hariri “is acting as if he were leader of an alley,” Wahab said.

He said he was surprised that the Opposition continues to accept Hariri as Prime Minister.

“We’ve had enough of six childish years,” Wahab said, adding that anyone supporting or financing the STL is an Israeli agent.

Addressing Hariri, Wahab said: Back off. You made us ungrateful for the international tribunal. Go away. We want to live.”

He called on Opposition Cabinet ministers to resign over the STL.

Ali Hussein a political analyst told Ya Libnan last week: “Both Hezbollah and Syria use Wahab on regular basis to do their dirty work….whatever he has been saying ever since 2004 has always been reflecting the thinking of the Syrian and Hezbollah leadership.”

Wahab’s comment come after the verbal clash between Hezbollah chief and the Lebanese Prime minister , following the deadly Borj Abi Haider clash between Hezbollah and Al Ahbash gunmen.

Protesters hurled shoes and eggs Saturday at Tony Blair, who held the first public signing of his memoir amid high security in Ireland’s capital. Hundreds more people lined up to have their books autographed — evidence that the divisions left by Blair’s decade as British leader have yet to heal.

Blair’s new book, “A Journey,” is a best-seller, but it has angered opponents of his policies, especially the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

About 200 demonstrators chanted that Blair had “blood on his hands” as the former prime minister arrived at a Dublin bookstore. Shoes, eggs and other projectiles were thrown toward Blair as he emerged from a car, but did not hit him. A flip-flop could be seen lying on the roof of a BMW in Blair’s motorcade.

Security was tight, with book buyers — who appeared to outnumber the protesters by about two to one — told to hand over bags and mobile phones before entering Eason’s bookstore on O’Connell Street, Dublin’s main shopping thoroughfare.

There were scuffles between police and demonstrators when some tried to force their way through the security cordon. Two protesters were bundled into the back of a security van. Several demonstrators, including one wheelchair user, laid themselves in the van’s path, and riot police were brought in to remove them. Police said four men were arrested and charged with public order offenses.

Blair spent about two hours in the store before emerging to more shouts, boos and eggs. He was quickly driven away, as a police helicopter circled overhead.

“Blair took the world to war in Iraq and Afghanistan on the basis of lies,” protester Donal MacFhearraigh said. He said Blair should be indicted as a war criminal.

Another protester, 24-year-old Kate O’Sullivan, said she was taken away by security guards after approaching Blair in the store and trying to perform a citizen’s arrest.

Confrontation erupted again once Blair had left, as police stopped demonstrators from entering the bookstore.

Many of the demonstrators then marched to the police station where those arrested were being held to continue their protest there.

Despite the protests, Blair is popular with many in Ireland for his role in forging the 1998 Good Friday peace accord in Northern Ireland, and several hundred people lined up in the rain to have their copies of “A Journey” autographed.

“I appreciate what he did for Irish politics, particularly along the border. That’s why I’ve come,” retiree Maureen Hedderman told the Press Association news agency.

Released this week, “A Journey” is Amazon’s best-selling title in Britain, and has climbed into the top 10 on the online retailer’s U.S. chart.

Blair was paid a 4 million pound ($7 million) advance for the memoir, which mounts a strong defense of his policies during his years as prime minister from 1997 to 2007, including the invasion of Iraq.

Blair says in the book that he is not sorry for his decision to enter the U.S.-led war, although he has wept for its victims. He is donating all proceeds from the book to a charity for wounded troops.

In an interview aired Saturday, Blair rejected claims that the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan had increased Muslim radicalization, saying “wicked and backward-looking” radical Islam is the greatest threat to global security.

Blair told the BBC World Service “the biggest threat in international security is this broader radicalized movement, because I think it is rather similar to revolutionary communism.”

He said al-Qaida-linked extremism was “loosely a global ideological movement, but Iran is a state sponsor of it.” AP

Photo: Irish police clash with protesters as former British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrived for a public book signing at the Eason book store, in Dublin, Saturday Sept. 4, 2010.

Israel’s ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren, warned Friday that Hezbollah has placed around 15,000 rockets along Lebanon’s border with Israel, including some that could hit southern Eilat.

A parade by the Iranian and Syrian backed Hezbollah militants

“The Syrian-Iranian backed Hezbollah poses a very serious threat to Israel,” Oren said in a conference call focused mainly on the new direct Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations.

“Hezbollah today now has four times as many rockets as it had during the 2006 Lebanon war. These rockets are longer-range. Every city in Israel is within range right now, including Eilat,” he said.

The Red Sea resort of Eilat is the most southern point in Israel.

He said the rockets also have bigger payloads and are “far more accurate” than those fired four years ago.

“In 2006, many of their missiles were basically out in the open, in silos and the Israeli air force was able to neutralize a great number of them,” Oren said.

“Today those same missiles have been placed under hospitals, and homes and schools because Hezbollah knows full well if we try to defend ourselves against them, we will be branded once again as war criminals,” he added.

He said Israel is watching the situation with Hezbollah, a Shiite Muslim fundamentalist movement, “very vigilantly” because it is of great concern to the Jewish state.

“We know Hezbollah has in violation of UN resolutions once again penetrated southern Lebanon, transformed entire villages into armed camps and put in about 15,000 rockets along the Israeli border,” he said.

Israel has already said Hezbollah has a total arsenal of 40,000 rockets.

In the summer of 2006, Hezbollah fired more than 4,000 rockets at northern Israel during a conflict with the Jewish state, paralyzing the region for 34 days and forcing a million Israelis to hide in shelters or flee to cities in the south.

More than 1,200 Lebanese, mainly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mainly soldiers, were killed during the 2006 war.

Israel accuses Shiite Muslim Iran of arming Hezbollah.
AFP

Phalange MP Nadim Gemayel said on Saturday during an interview with Future TV that “all militias should be disarmed in Lebanon, starting with Hezbollah.”

“The Lebanese army is the only legitimate power that persists, we want it to be well equipped and deployed throughout the country ,” Gemayel said.

Several Lebanese called for a weapons-free and militia free Beirut after the bloody street battle that shook the Borj Abi Haidar neighborhood in the Lebanese capital on August 24, pitting supporters of the Iranian backed Hezbollah against the pro-Syrian Al-Ahbash militants —also known as the Association of Islamic Charitable Projects. 3 people were killed in the clash including a Hezbollah senior official.

Many analysts branded the clash as a proxy war between Iran and Syria over the control of Lebanon.

March 8 MPs are opposed to the idea have said that such slogans aim to incite sectarian tension and that the weapons proliferation issue is being used against the Resistance.