Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Mike Feghali: Another Psychic 'predicting' Lebanon's future

منجّم لبناني يتوقّع موت فنانين وسياسيين عرب
توقّع موت ملوك وانتشار الإرهاب في العالم مايك فغالي:هالة سوداء تطارد بعض الفنانين


لقائي به تمّ بمحض الصّدفة في مكتب إحدى النجمات التي كانت تتابع باهتمام ما يقوله لها، أخبرتني أنّه توقّع لها خلال العام الماضي أحداثاً وصحّت توقّعاته، بدت مهتمّة لما سيقوله لها، قبل أن أقرّر محاورته بما يثير فضول القرّاء، الذين ما أن تهلّ تباشير سنة جديدة، حتى يصبح اهتمام معظمهم توقّعات المنجّمين، صدقت أو لم تصدق. اللقاء تمّ قبل إعدام صدّام بيومين، وقال لي حينها "صدّام سيموت ولن يعدم"، وبعد إعدام صدّام تردّدت في نشر المقابلة، فاتّصل بي مستفسراً عن سبب تأخير المقابلة، وحين علم بأسبابي قال لي بثقة "صدّام لم يعدم، وسيثبت أمام الرأي العام أنّه قتل ولديّ ما يثبت وأنا مستعدّ للنقاش"، وانتهى حديثنا عند هذا الحد. ولا أخفي القارىء أنّي لا أميل إلى تصديق توقّعات الفلكيين والمنجّمين، لكنّ ما الذي يدفع بشاب مثل مايك فغالي إلى المجازفة بحياته من خلال طرحه توقّعات خطيرة تطال ملوكاً عرب وشخصيّات سياسيّة رفيعة المستوى في لبنان والعالم؟ وكيف سيواجه القرّاء حين تفشل توقّعاته؟ وماذا إن صحّت؟ حينها سيموت كل ملوكنا، وستتغيّر جغرافيا العالم العربي، وسنرتاح من إسرائيل وأميركا بضربة واحدة، وسيعمّ الإرهاب دولاً آمنة، ولن يسلم من شرّه سوى لبنان الذي سيصبح حسب توقّعات فغالي جنّة العالم. وللأمانة فقد أجريت المقابلة قبل أن يظهر ميشال حايك ليلة رأس السّنة على شاشة المؤسّسة اللبنانيّة للإرسال، ويطلق توقّعات تطابقت إلى حدّ الريبة مع توقّعات مايك.
إيمان إبراهيم من بيروت

يصف مايك نفسه بأنّه متعلّم "زيادة عن اللزوم"، فهو متخصّص في مجال المحاسبة الدوليّة، ودرس علم النفس والبارابسيكولوجي، وعلم اللاهوت، فضلاً عن دراسته إدارة الأعمال ومتابعته دراسة علم الفلك، يقول "أتوقّع أحداثاً مستقبليّة منذ أن كان عمري أربع سنوات، لكنّي لم أكن أعير الأمر اهتماماً إلى أن اغتيل الرّئيس بشير الجميّل، الذي توقّعت موته وبكيته مسبقاً، وعندما قتل أرسلني أهلي إلى الأطباء، ووصل أطباء من خارج لبنان ليجروا اختبارات عليّ، ولا أنكر أنّي تناولت الكثير من الأدوية لتخفيف حواسي الخمس." ولا ينكر مايك الذي أصبح محور اهتمام وسائل الإعلام هذا العام، أنّ حاسّته السّادسة تزعجه، مؤكّداً أنّه توقّع اجتياحاً إسرائيلياً للبنان في شهر تموز، في مقابلة أجريت معه في إحدى المجلات اللبنانيّة في شهر شباط الماضي.

سنة 2007 رائعة جداً، لبنان سيكون جنّة العالم وسيغطّي العجز المالي الذي يرهقه من النفط والغاز الطبيعي الذي سيستخرج من البحر.
ماذا عن أزمة الحكومة؟
ثمّة استقالات كثيرة، السنيورة لن يمكث طويلاً في الحكم، سيباع ولن يشترى. والموضوع تعدّى الحكومة، والكل سيشارك في حكم لبنان معارضة وموالاة، وستنشأ معارضة للمعارضة ضمن 14 آذار التي ستشهد خيانة كبيرة.
وماذا عن الرّئيس لحّود؟
سيتنحّى ويقدّم استقالته ساعة يريد. سيحدث انقلاباً سياسياً أبيضاً.
هل ستكتشف الجرائم والاغتيالات التي حدثت خلال العامين الماضيين؟
سوف تكتشف جريمة اغتيال الشهيد بيار الجميّل والشهيد جبران التويني، وستظهر حينها الخيانة في 14 آذار وستقلب الطّاولة عليهم. البعض منهم أمام المحاكم والبعض الآخر في المنفى.
هل سيتمّ الكشف عن جريمة اغتيال الرّئيس الحريري؟
طلبت الأمان من عائلة الحريري لكنّهم لم يجيبوني، هم رافضون للحقيقة في الوقت الرّاهن.
أمان بأي معنى؟
الجريمة واضحة جداً، أستطيع أن أقولها إذا وجدت من يضمن أمني. السيناريو الذي يروّج من قبل جماعة 14 آذار عن الجريمة، أحدهم روّجه والبعض الآخر عاش الدراما.
كيف ترى موقع الزّعيم وليد جنبلاط؟
إجمالاً نرى الشّخص ضمن هالة سوداء، جنبلاط دخل هذه الهالة. وأرى ابنه تيمور يستلم معه أو مكانه أو إلى جانبه الزعامة.
وماذا عن الرّئيس برّي؟
الذي نجّاه في المرّة الأولى، ينجّيه هذه المرّة.
السيّد حسن نصر الله؟
أتمنّى أن يكون موجوداً معنا في مرحلة النّصر.
أي نصر؟
نصر غير حربي.
لن يكون موجوداً معنا؟
أتمنّى أن يكون موجود.
اً تخاف أن تتحدّث عن السيّد حسن؟ تحدّثت بجرأة عن جنبلاط، لماذا تحفّظت حول اسم نصر الله؟
أقولها للمرّة الأولى أمامه محاولة اغتيال، وأنا أتمنّى أن يكون موجوداً في مرحلة السلم .
الجنرال عون؟
سيكون في موقع أكبر من رئيس جمهوريّة، يستحدث منصباً جديداً في الدولة أكبر من الرئاسة الأولى .
الدكتور سمير جعجع؟
سيصبح نائباً ولا أعرف على حساب من. لا أخطار شخصيّة تطاله، الأخطار تحوم حول زوجته.
مروان حمادة؟
الله أعطاه عمراً جديداً لا يخاف عليه، وأدعوه إلى قول الحقيقة هذه المرّة.
سليم الحص؟
أراه في موقع جميل جداً، لكن أتمنّى أن يكون عمره طويلاً كي يستمر فيه، لكنّي لا أرى اغتيالاً يحوم حوله.
ستستمر موجة الاغتيالات؟
لدينا جريمتا اغتيال، سيموت سياسيّان، ولدينا موت لاهوتي مسيحي، وموت ديني مسلم، غياب فنّانين عمالقة جداً في لبنان والعالم العربي، والأدب سيخسر، المؤسّسة اللبنانيّة ستلبس الأسود أيضاً. جريدة "النهار" تلبس الأسود مرّة جديدة.
ماذا عن عمليّة السلام؟
لبنان جنّة، وقريباً ستفتح الحدود مع إسرئيل، وأرى سفارة سوريّة تفتح في لبنان.
وماذا عن الأسرى المعتقلين في إسرائيل؟
سمير القنطار في العام 2007 في لبنان ولن يكون وحده، وسيتمّ إجراء صفقة تبادل ومزارع شبعا نصفها لبناني.
ألا تخشى من تصريحات خطيرة كهذه؟
بالطبع أخشى لكنّ هذا ما أراه. العالم العربي ليس على فوهة بركان، بل بركان بدأ يقذف حممه، لكن لبنان سيبقى بمنأى عن هذا البركان الذي سيطال دول الخليج بصورة خاصة. في إحدى الدول العربية سيسقط البرلمان بسبب المشاكل الداخليّة والإرهاب.
وماذا عن العراق؟
سيقسّم إلى أربعة أجزاء وصدّام حسين يموت ولن يعدم، لن ينفّذ الحكم (أجرينا المقابلة قبل إعدام صدّام بيومين).
ماذا عن الأصوليّة في العالم؟
تزداد وتمتدّ إلى الشّام. أرى خضّة كبيرة في سوريا والأردن. هذا العام سيشهد موت وسقوط العديد من الملوك والرؤساء، والكثير من الزعماء العرب لن يكملوا ولاياتهم.
ماذا عن إيران؟
إيران ستحدث خضّة في الخليج من خلال عمل سياسي وليس عسكري.
وماذا عن الرّئيس أحمدي نجاد؟
أمامه مصافحة تاريخيّة وسينسى موضوع اليورانيوم لفترة وجيزة.
الرئيس الأميركي جورج بوش؟
سيدخل إلى المستشفى وحالته خطيرة، أرى مداً بحرياً أكبر من تسونامي في أميركا، وانفجار طائرة بركّابها.
وماذا عن إسرائيل؟
شارون غيّب ولم يغب، كثيرون راهنوا على موته وأنا راهنت على شلله، سيفيق من غيبوبته قبل أن يموت. وأولمرت لن يستمر في الحكم. لن يكون هناك إسرائيل أو فلسطين بعد اليوم.
وماذا عن فرنسا؟
إرهاب مرعب يضرب فرنسا، وستحكم فرنسا امرأة، وفي العام 2009 ستحكم امرأة من أصول يهوديّة مصر.
وإنكلترا؟
الإرهاب سيتسلّل أيضاً إلى انكلترا، وفضيحة في القصر الملكي .
لننتقل من السّياسة إلى الفن، ترى هالات سوداء حول بعض الفنّانين؟
هذا صحيح، منهم السيّدة صباح التي أرى حولها أكبر من هالة سوداء، وهويدا ستعود إلى أميركا، وصحياً ستعود كما بدأت. وإحدى الفنّانات ستتعرّض للتشويه.
السيّدة فيروز؟
تتعرّض لضغوطات يعلن عن بعضها، ومنها ضغوط سياسيّة وفنيّة.
الفنان وديع الصافي؟
حالة صحيّة متردّية.
إليسا؟
نجوميّة أكبر من نجوميّتها الحاليّة.
هيفا؟
لديها نجاحات فنيّة، وشخصياً لديها تدهور عاطفي ومشاكل كثيرة.
تلمّح إلى أنّ هذه الفنّانة هي هيفا؟
كل شيء ممكن، وهناك فنّانة ستتعرّض للخطف، وصحافي يخطف.
نانسي؟
نجاح مبهر وانفصال عن جيجي لامارا.
رولا سعد؟
لديها ارتباط في ال2007، ستجدّد أغاني مع الصبوحة وستشهد نجاحات كبيرة.
ميريام فارس؟
راوح مكانك، هبوط وصعود لا شيء ثابت لديها.
راغب علامة؟
يرشّح لمركز ولا يفوز. وهناك فنّانة أخرى ستترشّح ولن تفوز.
مروان خوري؟
نجاحات وموسيقى جديدة للعالم العربي .
عاصي الحلاني؟
لقب عالمي يحوز عليه.
كاظم الساهر؟
حالة صحيّة متدهورة، تنطلق من المعدة ولا أعرف إلى أي ستصل.
ماذا تتوقّع لنفسك؟
سأموت بعد أربع سنوات في غربة.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

لم يتمكن من دخول كلية الطب في الجامعة اللبنانية فسافر الى فرنسا ميشال عبيد ابن الـ24 يحقق إنجازا عالميا: علاج للسرطان يقضي على 90 في المئة من الأورام

لم يتمكن من دخول كلية الطب في الجامعة اللبنانية فسافر الى فرنسا ميشال عبيد ابن الـ24 يحقق إنجازا عالميا: علاج للسرطان يقضي على 90 في المئة من الأورام

إنجاز جديد يحققه لبناني وإن خارج بلده. شباب لبنان في الخارج يبحثون عن انجازات واختراعات علمية متقدمة، فيما اخوانهم في الوطن يتقاتلون على الهوية والانتماء السياسي الضيق الأفق. في بلاد الاغتراب يعملون للحياة، وهنا يتغنون بالحياة ثم يعملون ما يناقض شعاراتهم سعياالى الموت.
ميشال عبيد شاب لبناني في الرابعة والعشرين من عمره، قد يصبح بعد تأكد التجارب على الانسان، مكتشف العلاج الذي يفتك بالسرطان، هذا المرض الذي أتعب الناس، والعلماء والباحثين.
عبيد اللبناني من بقرزلا، شغل الصحف العالمية الاسبوع الماضي، وعنه كتبت جريدة"Le Parisien " تحقيقا بعنوان "السرطان: الاكتشاف الذي لا يصدق لباحث في الـ24"، كما نشرت مجلة "Nature Medecine" تحقيقا مماثلا .
وكتب دانيال روزينويغ الآتي:
"اعتاد معهد "غوستاف روسي دو فيل جويف" الباحثين الذين يقدمون آخر الاختراعات للبشرية. ومن بين هذه الاكتشافات المتقدمة التي تستحق المتابعة واحدة تبدل الاسطورة لمكتشفها، العالم الشاب الذي لم يتعد الرابعة والعشرين من عمره، ها هو ينشر ثمار أتعابه في العدد الاخير من مجلة المرموقةNature Medecine. والاكتشاف واعد جدا لمرضى السرطان.
في ليلة الميلاد عام 2005 نظر ميشال عبيد مرة اخيرة في مجهره وكاد اليأس يتملكه. وصل هذا الشاب الى المعهد قبل ثلاثة أعوام ليحضر أطروحته حول التلقيح ضد السرطان في القسم الذي يديره غيدو كرويمر.
وبدأ يختبر ردة فعل بعض البروتينات ويشك في انها قد تصلح لانذار جهاز المناعة بوجود خلايا سرطانية. اختبر البروتين الاربعين "الكاريتيكولين" المعروفة بـ"كال" في الثالث والعشرين من كانون الاول الماضي. أتى بابا نويل قبل موعده. لبينغو! حال عجيبة غريبة، فالكال الذي يراقب ينبه جهاز المناعة! 90 في المئة من الورم انتقص حتى العدم.
الـ"كال" موجود في كل الخلايا. يقول الباحث الشاب: "ان الفكرة تكمن في جذب جهاز المناعة الى الخلايا السرطانية عبر هذا البروتين. فما أن تعرف وتصنف الخلايا الدخيلة على أنها غريبة تطرد الكريات اللمفوية كل الخلايا الشبيهة بغية القضاء عليها". النظرية صائبة. فبعد بضعة اشهر، وعقب تجارب على الفئران تفاعل جهاز المناعة.
يشرح طالب الدكتوراة ميشال عبيد قائلا: "خلال أيام، انتقص الورم بنسبة 90 في المئة لدى الفئران ولكن هذه المرة وعلى عكس المعالجة الكيميائية لم تنتج اضرار. قرر ميشال عبيد ومديره غيدو كرويمر المتخصص في موت الخلايا اختبار البروتين ومزجها مع الادوية المستعملة في العلاج الكيميائي. النتيجة كانت مذهلة. تأثير الناتج زاد بكثرة. الاكتشاف مهم. كذلك الآثار وبالاخص الاقتصادية منها. وهذا ما يدفع الى نيل شهادة عالمية.
يلخص كرويمر قائلا: "لقد ابتدعنا العلاج". وعندما سألته: لماذا لم تصل اليه سابقا؟ أجاب: "اعتقد أنه لم يتم البحث عنه، لقد بحثنا من جهة موت الخلية وليس من جهة المناعة. ويبقى كرويمر حريصا على مستقبل هذا الاكتشاف بالنسبة الى السرطان المتقدم الا انه يقول: "انني واثق من ان مشابهات ستحصل عند الانسان ولكن الترتيبات النظامية تنص ان التجربة على الانسان لن تقام قبل عامين وان تطبيقها على المريض قد يحتاج الى نحو عشرة أعوام".
الطالبة فرح ابرهيم عيسى التي تدرس الترجمة واللغات الحية في جامعة القديس يوسف تابعت المسألة باهتمام بالغ، وعملت على ترجمة التحقيق، وأجرت، بالتنسيق مع "النهار" اتصالا بعبيد في باريس وكان لها معه هذا الحوار القصير:
• هلا أخبرتنا عن دراستك ما قبل وصولك إلى فرنسا؟
- درست في مدرسة بقرزلا الرسمية ثم انتقلت الى مدرسة مار يوسف. وعند انتهائي من الدراسة الثانوية تابعت سنة تحضيرية للطب في الجامعة اللبنانية، الا انني لم اقبل لدخول الكلية. وفي عام 2001 انتقلت الى فرنسا الى مدينة تولوز وبعدها قصدت العاصمة باريس.
• أليس من الغريب استبعادك عن الجامعة اللبنانية وتفوقك في فرنسا؟
- لبنان ويا للاسف بلد "الواسطة" ولسوء الحظ لم تكن "واسطتي" قوية...
• الاكتشاف واعد جدا لمرضى السرطان هلا شرحت لنا عنه؟
- يختبئ السرطان في جسم الانسان، لذلك لا يتعرف عليه جهاز المناعة مما يعطيه الوقت ليكبر ويتكاثر حتى انه ينتقل الى اعضاء اخرى في مرحلة متقدمة. الفكرة تكمن في ايجاد خلايا تكشف السرطان وتسهل كشفها عبر جهاز المناعة. ارتكز البحث على جهاز المناعة لا على السرطان، وفي شكل خاص على بروتين موجود في كل الخلايا السليمة، هي "الكالريتيكولين" المعروفة بالـ"كال".
• ما هو دور الكالريتيكولين؟
- يستطيع الـ"كال" اعطاء اشارة للقضاء على الورم، فما ان توجد الخلايا السرطانية حتى يستطيع جهاز المناعة ان يقضي على السرطان عبر الكريات اللمفاوية.
• هل قمتم بتجارب ثابتة؟
- زرعنا خلايا سرطانية لفأرة ثم حقنا الكالريتيكولين فاختفى السرطان من دون ان تتأذى الخلايا السليمة.
• هل من المحتمل ان تنتج عنه مضاعفات؟
- البروتين موجود في كل الخلايا وهو فيزيولوجي لذا لا يمكن ان يكون ساما.
• لماذا لم تذكر صحيفة "Le Parisien "انك لبناني؟
- لقد طرح علي الجميع هذا السؤال. لم يسألوني عن الامر. وانا لم ارد التحدث كباحث مستقل احتراما للاستاذ المسؤول عني فهو نمسوي.
• هل من المحتمل ان يتطور هذا الاكتشاف؟
- أظن ان هذا هو الحد الاقصى حاليا وعلينا ان نختبره على الانسان. وقد نلنا شهادة عالمية عليه.
• هل تود ان تضيف شيئا؟
- لا يسعني سوى ان اشكر الله واهلي في لبنان وكل من اوصلني الى ما انا عليه.

نقلا عن النهار

US admits Israel 'likely' broke rules on cluster bombs

US admits Israel 'likely' broke rules on cluster bombs
Daily Star staff

BEIRUT: The United States said on Monday that Israel "likely" violated an agreement with Washington in its use of US-made cluster bombs during the 2006 war against Lebanon. "There were likely violations," US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Monday as the department sent Congress a preliminary report on its investigation of Israel's use of cluster-bombs in civilian areas of Lebanon during the summer war. It is up the Congress to decide whether the issue will be investigated further, he said. Under the US Arms Export Control Act, if the US government believes a foreign country violated agreements over how US-made weapons were used, the administration must draw up a report and send its findings to Congress. The State Department spokesperson declined to say how Israel had violated US rules in its use of US-made bombs, rockets or shells armed with cluster bombs in Lebanon. A probe was opened last year, after reports emerged that three types of American cluster bombs were found in South Lebanon and were responsible for civilian deaths. The report was handed over to Congress as two Belgian de-miners serving with the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon were wounded on Monday by shrapnel in a cluster-bomb explosion during a mine-clearance operation in the vicinity of Kunin, near the town of Bint Jbeil. When contacted by The Daily Star,UNIFIL spokesperson Liam McDowall said that "one of the de-miners sustained shrapnel in the right foot and the other in his right arm." "Both received medical care and are in fair condition,"he said, adding that they will return to Belgium as soon as they can.When asked about the report handed over to Congress, McDowall said: "There is no comment on that at this time." On December 29, two other Belgian de-miners were wounded in a similar incident.

Unexploded ordnance has killed or wounded 218 people in Lebanon since the cease-fire in August. Cluster munitions spread bomblets over a wide area from a single container. The bomblets often do not explode on impact but can do so later at the slightest touch, making them as lethal as anti-personnel land mines. Israel has defended its right to use cluster bombs and says it only deploys them in accordance with international law. In Jerusalem, Israel Foreign Ministry Spokesman Mark Regev said: "Israel takes the concerns raised by the US very seriously. In our response, we have been as detailed, as forthcoming and transparent as possible." An Israeli Army spokesman said the military had begun its own investigation two months ago on its use of cluster bombs and declined comment until after that was complete. Israel could be fined, but that is unlikely because of the close ties between the two nations. The US is the biggest military donor to Israel, providing more than $2 billion in military aid each year. - Agencies, with additional reporting by Rym Ghazal

Spooked Beirutis fear new 'balloon-borne' Israeli plot

Spooked Beirutis fear new 'balloon-borne' Israeli plot
Hysteria reaches capital after weekend panic in south

By Rym Ghazal
Daily Star staff


BEIRUT: Renewed panic spread among some Lebanese Monday, as a black balloon with a spider drawn on it landed in the heart of a Beirut neighborhood, a day after Israeli balloons landed in South Lebanon. "It is a terrorist act against our peace of mind," Khaled Qamaryeh, owner of a store in the neighborhood of Salim Salaam, told The Daily Star. His shop is located just a few meters away from where the balloon landed.

The panic over balloons began over the weekend, when several fluorescent green and orange balloons branded with the Hebrew word Ha'ir (The City) drifted into the South from Israel. Five civilians were allegedly hospitalized with nausea, breathing difficulties and dizziness after coming into contact with the balloons, but tests have thus far turned up no toxic sustances and an Israeli newspaper said they were part of an advertising campaign. "I didn't go near it as I was worried it may be filled with poison," Qamaryeh said of the balloon found in his neighborhood. "I don't trust the Israelis." Around 9:30 a.m. on Monday, a handful of residents discovered what they called "an unidentified balloon," near one of the roasteries in the area and immediately called in the Internal Security Forces and the army to investigate its contents. "The balloon in Salim Salaam did not contain poison or dangerous substance," the head of Internal Security Forces, Ashraf Rifi, told The Daily Star. Police and forensic experts were sent to the site and quarantined the area as they tested the balloon for dangerous gases or other substances. "We don't know where the balloon came from, but it is different in color and style from the earlier balloons discovered in the South," said Rifi. While there is no evidence of poison, Rifi said there is a question over the "timing." "Israeli balloons never used to drift over to Lebanon, so why now?" he asked. "I believe it is an intentional act by Israel to cause further panic in a country already on edge," he added.

Resigned Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh slammed Israel Sunday for what he called, "a creative" new way of violating Resolution 1701, and called on the UN to put a stop to it. "It wasn't enough that they violate our skies daily with their drones and warplanes, now they sending over their balloons to terrorize the Lebanese people," he said. Residents interviewed in Salim Salaam by The Daily Star are now suspicious of balloons, with many still believing the one that was placed in their neighborhood to be "poisonous." "Israel is capable of anything, and whether or not there are actual toxins, they are always waging a psychological war against the Lebanese," said Mohammad Sharqawi. Sharqawi also believed that the officials "would lie" to keep the people from panicking. "Israelis have a history of targeting the civilians, and so why not now through balloons?" he asked.

Preliminary tests run by Italian troops in the UNIFIL and by experts in the Lebanese Army tests showed "no evidence" of dangerous substances in the balloons. "There is a sort of panic now in the country from any balloons," the army source told The Daily Star. "Now every time a child has a birthday party and some balloons are released," the source added, "we get a call or two of panic from nearby residents." A white balloon was found in the southern town of Jouwaiyya near Tyre, with the words "you are the first," written in English. The source said more comprehensive tests on the Israeli balloons will continue for the next two days to check "for chemicals and minerals" that the balloons may be carrying or are made of. Israeli daily Haaretz said the balloons were part of a promotional campaign for a Tel Aviv based newspaper.

More poisonous balloons over Birj Abi Haidar area

بالونات سامة فوق برج ابي حيدر

تستمر اسرائيل في القاء البالونات السامة فوق الاراضي اللبنانية، وقبل قليل القت الطائرات الاسرائيلية بالونا ساما على منطقة برج ابي حيدر جسر سليم سلام في بيروت. وكان قد أفيد عن سقوط عدد من البالونات في منطقة الشياح والكفاءات في الضاحية الجنوبية من بيروت.

More poisonous balloons over Birj Abi Haidar area

Israel continues to throw poisonous balloons over the Lebanese territory as a little while ago said balloons where thrown over Birj Abi Haidar area Jisr Salim Slam in Beirut. It was also reported that a number of balloons were found in the Shiyah region as well as in Kafa2at in the south of Beirut.

http://www.lebanonfiles.com/

Siniora reaches out to Berri and Lahoud as Nasrallah urges all sides not to seek 'revenge on their own'

Siniora reaches out to Berri and Lahoud as Nasrallah urges all sides not to seek 'revenge on their own'
By Rym Ghazal
Daily Star staff


BEIRUT: Internal political initiatives intensified in Lebanon over the weekend in an attempt to defuse the political crisis between the ruling coalition and the opposition forces. As local and international leaders stepped up efforts to navigate a way out of the crisis, which has sparked fears of a return to civil war, Lebanese leaders from across the political spectrum called for calm and unity.

Hizbullah's leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, urged all the Lebanese, especially the families of those who died during recent clashes, to "remain calm, and not try to take revenge on their own." "There is a state, there are security forces and there is a judicial system in Lebanon that will not let this issue go, and we will not let this issue go," he said. "We have to protect Lebanon because this is an Israeli plot for us to fall into civil strife. Do not allow those devils to drag the resistance's weapons into bringing down Lebanon and creating strife," he added. "It is absolutely forbidden for there to be chaos among us. Spontaneous reactions are absolutely forbidden," he said. "We will be judged on judgement day for this and we have a great responsibility to control ourselves," Nasrallah said. Nasrallah repeated his vow that Hizbullah's weapons would never be used in internal strife, but stressed that the opposition will not give up its campaign to unseat the government.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora tried to break the ice by telephoning Speak Nabih Berri and President Emile Lahoud, but no actual meeting has been set. A statement by Siniora's office issued late Friday said he telephoned Lahoud and Berri, both pro-Syrian officials and supporters of the opposition. Sources close to Berri confirmed the phone calls between the speaker and the premier but said that so far "nothing has been set or changed." Siniora also publicly urged his political opponents to work toward ending the deadlock, saying that the alternative was too "frightening." As Siniora made efforts to arrange a meeting with opposition leaders, Hizbullah MP Amin Cherri told The Daily Star "there will be no meeting between opposition and the government until the government at least agrees on the main demand - that of a united, representative government." "Berri is in touch with all the different parties in the opposition, and so far there has been no call from him for us to all meet," said Cherri.

Saudi Arabia's ambassador to Lebanon, Abdel-Aziz Khoja, met separately Saturday with both Siniora and Berri. Berri told reporters after the one-hour meeting with Khoja that he was "more optimistic" about reaching a resolution. "It is time for the Lebanese to unite and save the country," Khoja told the media after his meeting with Siniora. "And it's about time given how the situation has reached its peak." Iran, Hizbullah's principal backer, and its regional rival Saudi Arabia, which supports Siniora's government, have reportedly held a series of contacts this week on what Iranian state television called "the critical situation in Lebanon." Sources have said that Iran and Saudi Arabia are trying to arrange a face-to-face meeting between Siniora and Berri in a bid to settle the impasse. Local daily An-Nahar, citing ministerial sources, said Sunday that Iranian and Saudi efforts were still under way to bring together the two leaders, who have not met since the resignation of six ministers in November. "Iran has a critical regional presence and role, and we have been in constant contact with the officials there, and one of the issues discussed is the current situation in Lebanon," said Khoja. "What happens in Lebanon has regional repercussions, and so we are working with all the critical players at find a solution," he said - adding, however, that "the solution has to come from the Lebanese themselves."

As Iranian and Saudi Arabian efforts continued, Siniora called the Arab League's secretary general, Amr Moussa, and asked him to come to Lebanon next week to resume his mediation efforts. When contacted by The Daily Star, sources close to the Arab League said that while no exact date has been set for Moussa's next visit, his return to Lebanon will "most likely" be after Ashoura on Tuesday. Moussa tried to mediate between Lebanese leaders during visits in December but failed to resolve the crisis. The Arab League, among others, has made proposals in the past for reshaping Lebanon's political institutions to better reflect the nation's disparate communities - only to see none of them accepted.

Addressing his supporters on Sunday during a religious ceremony, Sheikh Naim Qassem, Hizbullah's second in command, said the opposition will "not be dragged into sectarian strife." "There is no battle between opposition and loyalists, but between Lebanon against the international world that doesn't want stability in this country," said Qassem. "We are at an important crossroads, and we will pick unity against division," he said, echoing statements made by other Hizbullah officials. Calls for calm also came from an unlikely source on Saturday - the former Hizbullah leader, Sheikh Sobhi Tufeili, once wanted by authorities for a late-1990s civil disobedience campaign and expelled from Hizbullah in 1998 because of it. "I hope everyone will leave the streets and ... sit around a table like all sane people do," Tufeili said in reference to two months of Hizbullah-led sit-ins in downtown Beirut.

March 14 Forces MP Ghassan Tueni pressed Berri to "speed up" the process of convening a parliamentary session. "Put pressure for the session to happen or set up a meeting for dialogue outside Parliament," Tueni said during an interview with a local radio station on Sunday. Tueni also called on Nasrallah "to work for Lebanon, and not against Lebanon." Meanwhile, Telecommunication Minister Marwan Hamadeh called for a "return to dialogue," and said in a statement on Sunday that "the street can't remain uncontrolled like this, where the leaders don't talk to each other unless there are martyrs." This came after British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett expressed her country's concern late Friday over the latest violent clashes in Lebanon. "It is vital that all sides work to prevent the situation getting out of control," she said in an official statement. "We continue to support the people of Lebanon and their democratically elected government and believe that differences between the parties should be resolved through political dialogue rather than street action," said Beckett. - With agencies, additional reporting by Maher Zeineddine

Balloons floating in from Israel have residents of South on edge

Balloons floating in from Israel have residents of South on edge
Initial test results show no sign of danger

By Mohammed Zaatari
Daily Star staff


TYRE AND NABATIEH: Balloons advertising an Israeli newspaper drifted into South Lebanon over the weekend, causing concern among residents and the Lebanese Army. Five civilians in Nabatieh were reportedly admitted to hospital with nausea, asphyxia and dizziness after alleged exposure to gas in the balloons. The green and orange balloons, branded with the Hebrew word Ha'ir (The City), floated into Lebanese territory 10 days after a separate batch of balloons landed in gardens and yards in South Lebanon. The source of the earlier balloons was said to be a birthday party taking place near the border.

The Lebanese Army has repeatedly warned civilians not to touch Israeli balloons. The army, with help from United Nations peacekeepers, rounded up the balloons for a controlled explosion in an open field near Tyre on Saturday. Some balloon samples were brought to Italian UN troops for examination. "While our investigation and analysis are continuing, we have told local inhabitants not to touch such balloons in case they contain a toxic gas," said an army spokesman who wished to remain anonymous. Hizbullah-run television station Al-Manar said that the balloons had been dropped by Israeli military aircraft and contained toxic gas.

Israeli daily Haaretz said the balloons were part of promotional campaign for a Tel Aviv-based newspaper. An Israeli military spokeswoman in Jerusalem said the balloons had been filled with helium for distribution at "a kind of open-air ceremony" organized by the Ha'ir newspaper. "It was a public relations sort of gathering," the spokeswoman said. "They gave out balloons with helium in them and the balloons made their way into Lebanon." Sources from UNIFIL said that lab results have shown the Israeli balloons did not contain any toxic gases. The spokesperson of the Italian contingent, Captain Thomaso Magistretti, declined to comment pending results of a separate study. Speaking on condition of anonymity, an army source told The Daily Star that primary lab results had not shown the balloons to be toxic. "However, final results will be made public on Monday," the source said.

Some of the balloons reached the backyard of the Mali family in Nabatieh. Five members of the family - father, mother, a grandmother and two daughters - reportedly went a nearby hospital after inhaling some of the gas contained in the balloons. - With AFP

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Chronique d'un coup d'Etat-Histoire vecue a la rue Monnot!

Je viens de recevoir cet email ecrit par une personne annonyme de moi, mais je ne poste qu'une partie en rapport avec la description des evenements qui ont eu lieu le Mardi 23 Jan. 2007 a rue Monnot car l'autre partie est une message de haine que je n'approuve pas.
JZ


"Une seule caracteristique marque le noir de cette nuit : le silence total a Beyrouth. Je ne m'attarderai surtout pas aux folies meurtrieres de ce 23 janvier, vous les connaissez bien a present. Je me contente simplement de vous retransmettre les evenements qui se sont deroules dans mon propre quartier a Monnot.

J'avais lu sur Internet lundi soir que le Hezbollah et les oranges preparaient des barrages des l'aube de mardi sur toutes les routes libanaises afin de soumettre l'ensemble des Libanais a leur greve surtout apres avoir constate d'avance l'echec ecrasant de cette derniere puisque la majorite des organismes civils et economiques ont decrete mardi comme etant un jour de travail normal. J'ai prevu alors de me reveiller tot le matin et de suivre le deroulement des choses a la tele. 7H et quelques du matin, je sursaute du lit en entendant ma mere crier: elle vient d'apercevoir un enorme groupe (plus d'une trentaine de personnes) des mecs du Hezbollah se diriger en-dessous de notre immeuble afin de bloquer notre quartier. On sort au balcon et on les voit effectivement en train de deplacer d'enormes bacs a fleurs en beton (qu'ils ont soigneusement pris de notre propre immeuble) qu'ils ont vite mis en plein milieu de la route pour la bloquer dans les 2 sens du croisemenent. Ma mere, rage de colere, n'hesite pas a sortir au balcon en hurlant sur le groupe leur demandant de s'eloigner immediatement des lieux et de ne plus toucher aux proprietes de l'immeuble... Alertes, les voisins sortent a leur tour et regardent bouche bee a une scene de (tres) mauvais gout. Les cris resteront evidemment inutiles devant le groupe bien determine a imposer sa propre loi. On appelle d'urgence le 112 et leur demandons de nous assurer la protection de l'armee, en fait moins de 5 min et cette derniere etait d'office la.

2 min pour s'habiller et nous voila en-bas, moi-meme priant ma mere de ne pas se meler aux frondeurs (je ne vous decrirai pas leurs belles gueules de gentilhommes...) et de calmer sa colere. Quelques voisins nous suivent et plein de voitures commencent a affluer, ces dernieres essayant de se froler un passage en direction de leurs boulots. Une fois arrivees au niveau de Monnot, les voitures sont systematiquement bloquees par le Hezbollah qui leur interdit tout passage sous les propres yeux d'une unite de l'armee (moins d'une dizaine de soldats) qui ne bouge pas le petit doigt. La circulation commence a aller dans tous les sens, les automobilistes fous de rage sont completement perdus devant le blocage complet des routes. Je me mis a marcher avec ma mere en compagnie d'une dame (une voisine de l'immeuble) en direction du 'Crystal', et a nouveau meme scene, les rues sont bloquees de partout et les automobilistes cherchent desesperement un passage. Pres du 'Element' ils ont carrement place des montagnes de sable, de vraies tranchees. Inimaginable, je revois devant moi les memes cliches de la guerre, ces memes endroits qui etaient les anciennes lignes de demarcation, meme scenario !!!

Un peu plus loin, remarquant qu'il n'y avait pas de miliciens aux alentours,j'entrepris moi-meme d'ouvrir la rue de l'universite st-Joseph coupee par les tonneaux a ordures Sukleen et des branches d'arbres ce qui a permis au moins aux voitures de prendre la direction de la rue du Liban et de rejoindre d'autres routes dans Achrafie. On continue la tournee... les voitures sont en grand nombre a la rue du Liban, les automobilistes tentant l'impossible pour acceder a leurs boulots.

Nous voila a nouveau arrives au croisement Abdel-Wahab / Monnot, et on assiste soudainement a la montee d'un cran de l'ambiance lorsqu'un monsieur qui accompagnait ses enfants a l'ecole descend de sa voiture et, fou de rage, chahute sur les miliciens du Hezbollah leur demandant d'ouvrir immediatement la route. Ces derniers se moquant de ses cris, il entreprit de pousser le bac a fleurs par la force. Fou de rage a mon tour, je me suis jete avec lui sur le bloc betonne et apres quelques efforts voila la route enfin reouverte. Vous pouvez bien imaginer la suite, les miliciens du Hezb haussent le ton et nous menacent de bloquer la route par tous les moyens. Loin de se laisser intimider par leur nombre et leurs barbes (un d'entre eux laissait profiler un semblant de Magnum sur sa ceinture), nous leur tenons tete et leur disons clairement de laisser libre ce quartier. L'armee assiste encore sans intervenir a la scene, les miliciens du Hezb se gardant de toute violence physique a la vue de 2 dames, 4 monsieurs quinquagenaires et moi-meme (le seul "jeune") devant eux. Ils ne se privent toutefois pas de toutes sortes de gentillesses orales, nous-memes leur renvoyant a notre tour sur un ton eleve leurs menaces. "Tla3 3a baytak ma elak cheghel hone badna nsakkir el tarik law chou ma 3melto", j'y ai eu droit a au moins 4 fois par mes eloquents interlocuteurs qui m'ont menace et ont voulu rappeler du renfort pour commencer a bruler des pneus. Par autant d'eloquence et de politesse (oui oui...) je leur repondais menace par menace : pas moyen qu'ils viennent faire la loi (plutot le hors-la-loi) dans notre propre quartier et sous nos yeux. Voyant les choses s'envenimer, l'armee est intervenue nous sommant de s'eloigner les uns des autres afin de regler le probleme. Le capitaine de l'unite demande alors aux miliciens de ne plus nous provoquer et de faire remonter leur barrage plus haut, cad au tout debut de la rue Monnot afin d'eviter le clash avec les habitants du quartier.

J'adore la scene qui se presente : le responsable des miliciens (les fameux "indibat") prend vite son talkie-walkie et questionne ses superieurs quant aux ordres d'action face a la situation. J'ecoute "sidere" (il faut dire que plus rien ne nous choque) aux commentaires et aux differentes conversations, le milicien devant moi donnant les reperes a son superieur (unite x, secteur y, etc.) comme en vrai temps de guerre et d'operations de combats. Oui, ma petite rue Monnot est bien fichee sur les plans du Hezb, leur travail est admirablement minutieux, detaille, prepare, programme jusqu'aux moindres choses afin de mener a bien l'operation. Ils veulent s'emparer de la ville quartier par quartier, les objectifs sont minutieusement clairs, les ordres ne laissent le moindre doute. Et c'est aussi quartier par quartier, que la "resistance" des habitants face a la deferlante du coup d'Etat s'organise spontanement, ici violemment, la-bas un peu plus pacifiquement. Bref, apres avoir discute avec son superieur, le chef de l'unite milicienne appelle le capitaine de l'armee pour lui noter clairement qu'il n'y a pas moyen d'evacuer les lieux : les ordres etant de maintenir les barrages et les positions tel que planifie. Le ton monte a nouveau et notre entetement est double face a leurs menaces, face a l'interminable va et vient des miliciens prenant le centre-ville comme quartier general. Le capitaine de l'armee mene a nouveau les discussions lorsqu'il est a 2 doigts, comme par sursaut de se faire respecter, de faire arreter un des miliciens qui crie et refuse le moindre mot de ce meme capitaine. Les choses sont calmees a nouveau par les soldats afin d'eviter que ca ne degenere. Plus de 40 longues minutes sont ainsi passees, entrecoupees par les voitures et les chauffeurs rouge de colere face a ce "hajiz" proprement dit.

Puis chacun des 2 camps se met de cote (cad a 4 metres de l'autre), et nouvelle scene de clowns : les manakishs tout chauds viennent d'etre livres par un milicien fraichement monte du centre-ville. L'unite du Hezb se repose alors sur le trottoir et prend calmement son petit-dejeuner, j'avoue etre en admiration devant Sayyid Hassan et son sens de l'organisation et de l'hospitalite, son armee peut effectivement se vanter de tous les merites et du sens des operations terrestres (franchement a voir la petite unite de l'armee libanaise face a eux, vous pouvez deviner mes commentaires). Et voila que s'annonce un des superieurs de la milice, une mobilette se dirige vers nous et un aimable barbu se presente devant une unite toute docile a sa vue. Il discute avec le chef de la milice sur place lequel lui rapporte tous les details de la situation. Inutile de vous dire les regards qu'on se lancait, rappelez-vous de Gangs of New-York vous aurez alors un apercu de la chose. Le superieur prend finalement l'ultime decision : faire remonter le barrage a 100 metres plus haut afin d'eviter le debordement avec les habitants du quartier. Je vous jure, c'est comme crier victoire, ce fut un vrai feeling de "liberation".

Ma mere, peu diplomate dans ce genre de situations, n'hesite pas a sommer les miliciens de remettre les bacs a fleurs a leur place (ils etaient 5 a les porter c'est trop lourd) ce qu'ils firent bon gre mal gre. L'armee s'etait retiree 10 min auparavant, probablement alertee par des secteurs plus "chauds" que le notre. Les voitures repassent enfin a Monnot, meme si elles restent bloquees un peu plus loin. Quant a nous, on est restes jusqu'a 10h du mat, faisant en quelque sorte le relais, afin de maintenir une presence qui decouragerait le retour des miliciens qui n'hesitaient pas a repasser en groupes chaque quelque temps afin de sonder les lieux et de communiquer a leurs chefs (surement bien equipes en portables, talkies-walkies, et tout ce que vous voulez) la situation sur les lieux.

Le reste de l'histoire, le reste de la journee, vous la connaissez tous. Un pays entier pris en hotage, des scenes de guerre civile parcourant le Liban comme une trainee de feu, des barrages et des milices imposant leur propre volonte partout devant une armee libanaise completement depassee et debordee. J'ai jamais vu ca au Liban depuis la guerre, et croyez-moi la seule chose qui fait que la guerre civile n'a pas encore eclate pour de bon cette fois est le fait que les puissances regionales et occidentales n'en veulent pas pour le moment. Qu'ils changent d'avis et en moins de 24h le pays s'embrase, ce qui manque ce sont les armes (sauf chez la milice du Hezbollah deja bien equipee) et quand guerre ils voudront armes a gogo nous aurons.

C'est degueulasse, c'est inqualifiable, c'est tellement facile la volonte de detruire un pays. Comme s'ils n'ont rien appris de toutes les annees de guerre, mais vraiment rien!! "

[...]
4h du mat, le soleil se leve dans 2h sur Beyrouth.
Demain sera (peut-etre) un autre jour."

Israeli warplanes intrude on Beirut airspace

Israeli warplanes intrude on Beirut airspace
Jewish state claims to have uncovered, destroyed hizbullah bunkers
By Iman Azzi
Daily Star staff


BEIRUT: As Beirut's curfew ended at 6 a.m. Friday and Lebanese looked forward to a day of calm following Thursday's deadly clashes, Israeli forces conducted a series of overflights across Lebanon, including the capital, in what was for many a stark reminder of the summer 2006 war. An Israeli plane was seen "circling at a low altitude" off the coast of Beirut early Friday, in violation of the terms of the cease-fire ending the war with Israel, a Lebanese Army source told The Daily Star. This was the first time since October 30 that an Israeli plane was detected near the capital, but a spokesperson for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFL) told The Daily Star that Israel violates Lebanese airspace south of the Litani River, where UNIFIL operates "almost every day." Liam McDowall said that over the last week there have been "numerous reports of alleged violations" of Lebanese airspace by Israel, all of which constitute breaches of UN Resolution 1701, which ended the 34-day war. The army said an Israeli drone flew over Bayada, near Naqoura, in the early morning, circling the area before flying over Ilma as-Shaab, a border town, before heading back to Israel. On Friday afternoon, two other planes flew over Lebanese waters and Naqoura.

In a separate development on Friday, the Israeli Army claimed that it had blown up two Hizbullah bunkers, both located on the Israeli side of the UN-demarcated Blue Line. Israeli forces "uncovered two connected bunkers which had been used by Hizbullah," the Israeli Army said in a statement. "Inside the bunkers, forces found food, shovels and other equipment. The bunkers were detonated in a controlled environment by [Israeli Army] engineering forces." Last month, the Israeli Army said it had discovered a backpack filled with weapons belonging to Hizbullah's in the area between the Blue Line and a border fence constructed by Israel, but Hizbullah never claimed the backpack. UNIFIL sources confirmed the presence of Israeli soldiers but said they did not know who the bunkers belonged to. The Israeli Army "informed the UN through liaison channels of the activity," McDowall said. "UNIFIL did not observe any activity in part because the area concerned is deep in a [valley]," he added. The Israelis were in the general area of Rmeich and outside of the view of UN observation towers. The National News Agency reported that in the village of Zibddine, in the Shebaa Farms, Israeli soldiers opened fire on the surrounding area. Israeli forces also patrolled the area around the border village of Ghajar, NNA said. - With AFP

Friday, January 26, 2007

A Security Source: A fifth element has infiltrated the fighters

مصدر امني: طابور خامس دخل بين المتقاتلين

قال مصدر أمني رفيع لـجريدة الأخبار انه بينما كانت الأمور تسير نحو التهدئة في منطقة المدينة الرياضية، ومع تمكّن الجيش من السيطرة على المتعاركين من الجهتين، أطلقت النيران وسقط ثلاثة جرحى في صفوف الجيش اللبناني. وأضاف: نحن نعتقد بأن هناك بعض الأشخاص الذين لا ينتمون إلى أي من المجموعتين المتصارعتين (موالين ومعارضين للحكومة) يعملون على إشعال الفتنة وتحويل المواجهة في الشارع الى حرب دموية يستخدم فيها السلاح.وأعرب مصدر أمني رفيع عن تشاؤمه من الوضع الأمني، وقال: هناك مسلحون يحاولون استدراج مناصري الحكومة والمعارضين لها لصراع مسلّح وقوى الأمن ستترك المعالجة للجيش لأن البعض يريد زجّها في الاقتتال. ويأتي هذا التصريح بعد توجيه المعارضة طوال الفترة السابقة اتهامات لقوى الأمن الداخلي، وخصوصاً فرع المعلومات التابع لها بالتحيّز لمصلحة تيار المستقبل وفريق 14 آذار.

A Security Source: A fifth element has infiltrated the fighters

A refined security source was quoted saying to Al-Akhabar newspaper that while the situation was calming down in the region of Al-Madina Al-Riyadiyah in Beirut and as the army was controling the fighters from both sides, shots were fired and caused 3 wounded amongst the ranks of the Lebanese army. The source added: we believe that there are some people who do not belong to either opposing camps (loyalists or opposition) working on sparking strife and turning the street confrontations into a bloody war with deadly weapons. The source expressed his pessimism about the security situation and stated: there are armed men trying to manipulate loyalists and opposition supporters into armed conflicts and the Lebanese Internal Forces will leave the handling of the situation to the army as some are trying to involved it in the fights. This statement comes after the opposition accused the Lebanese Internal Force of being partial to the Future Movement and its March 14th allies.


http://www.lebanonfiles.com/news_desc.php?id=2300

The Lebanese Army warns citizens not to touch or handle the poisonous balloons released by Israel

الجيش يحذر المواطنين من العبث بالبالونات السامة المطلقة من العدو

صدر عن قيادة الجيش - مديرية التوجيه البيان الاتي: "يقوم العدو الإسرائيلي من حين إلى آخر بإطلاق بالونات معبأة بالغاز بإتجاه الأجواء اللبنانية، ويعمد بعض المواطنين إلى إفراغها، مما يشكل خطرا على سلامتهم، خصوصا أن هذا الغاز قد يكون من الأنواع السامة، لذا تدعو
قيادة الجيش المواطنين إلى عدم العبث بهذه البالونات في حال العثور عليها، وإبلاغ أقرب مركز عسكري عنها".

The Lebanese Army warns citizens not to touch or handle the poisonous balloons released by Israel.

Issued by the Army HQ the following statement: "From time to time, Israel is releasing balloons filled with gas in the direction of the Lebanese airspace and some citizens are handling these balloons and attempting to deflate them which might constitute a danger to their health, especially that this gas might be poisonous. The army therefore calls upon all citiziens not to handle these balloons in case they are found and to inform the nearest military office."


www.lebanonfiles.com

Some of the aid comes with strings attached

Some of the aid comes with strings attached
The Daily Star

BEIRUT: The $7.6 billion in aid pledged Thursday was toward the upper end of projections, though the nature of some pledges remained unclear when The Daily Star went to press.

Saudi Arabia headed the list of donors with a promise of $1.1 billion, $100 million earmarked for direct financial assistance and the remainder for development projects.

The United States pledged $770 million pending congressional approval, one third of which will fund security related projects - $220 million for military equipment and training, $184 for peacekeeping, and $60 million to equip and train the Internal Security Forces - and $300 million in the form of direct budget support. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said $250 million will be "liquid cash assistance" and the rest will fund "projects." Rice said "there are expectations about continued progress on economic reform," and "benchmarks," rather than conditions, will accompany the financial support package.

The Arab Monetary Fund offered $700 million of funding to be dispersed over five years, and the International Monetary Fund pledged the same amount to "support the implementation of the government's program," $400 million of which could be made available this year.

France pledged a $649.4 million loan with "very favorable conditions," and the European Union pledged $400 million worth of grants and soft loans. The European Investment Bank pledged a total of $3 billion, of which $520 million is for priority investments, notably in the electricity sector, and $725 million for the private sector. The UAE promised $300 million and the Arab Investment Bank $250 million. The Islamic Development Bank offered a financial package of $250 million for social services and basic infrastructure.

Britain pledged $48 million to the UN refugees agency in Lebanon and $115 million over the next four years for reconstruction projects with no conditions. Belgium chipped in with $26 million and Oman pledged $10 million. Italy offered $156 million, made up of $84 million in low-interest credits and a gift of $71 million. It also offered a suspension of Lebanon's commercial debt repayments to Italy. Spain pledged a $45 million grant over 2007-08, and Brazil offered a $1 million donation. Malaysia promised $1 million, and signaled its willingness to discuss rescheduling existing bond maturities. Sweden will give $5.85 million to be channeled through the UN Development Program. Austria pledged $1.3 million to help improve living conditions and for economic reforms, Slovenia pledged $130,000 in 2007, while Greece will give $6.5 million in aid for reconstruction, and Ireland offered $2.4 million, as a grant with no conditions. Germany will give $133.6 million, including $82 million for reconstruction work and $51 million for equipping security forces on the Lebanese border. Norway offered a $15 million aid package to fund coastal management, the petroleum sector, and support for Palestinian refugees and work against cluster munitions. Egypt's $44 million donation will go toward the rebuilding infrastructure.

The nature of Canada's $17 million pledge was not specified, nor was the South Korean offer of $1 million and China's promised $3.86 million. Denmark's $3.5 million will be focused on improving conditions in South Lebanon. Finally Australia will channel $3.9 million to the UN for relief activities, planning to allocate a further $2 million to high-priority community-action programs. - Agencies

Rival mobs plunge Beirut into anarchy

Rival mobs plunge Beirut into anarchy
Army imposes curfew to end mayhem between pro- and anti-government rioters
By Iman Azzi and Rym Ghazal
Daily Star staff


BEIRUT: Clashes erupted between government loyalists and opposition supporters in Lebanon on Thursday, escalating swiftly and leaving at least three dead and 158 others wounded by the time a rare curfew was imposed on the city at 8:30 p.m. Scenes across the capital were reminiscent of the country's brutal 1975-1990 Civil War; burning cars, reports of snipers on rooftops and a curfew for the first time since 1996. Thirteen Lebanese Army soldiers, including four officers, were also wounded while trying to defuse the violence that spilled over from a political argument on a university campus in Tariq al-Jdideh.

Premier Fouad Siniora, speaking from the Paris III donor conference, called for restraint. "What are we doing? No one can help a country where its own people can't help themselves," Siniora said. "We have to set an example for those people who came from all over and are watching Lebanon that we are trying to build a country, not a battlefield." He pleaded for the Lebanese to "avoid tension and escalation" and "to calm down and return to their senses." For the second time in a week, supporters of the opposition and the government took their disputes to the streets. "What we are doing doesn't help anyone but the real enemy," Siniora said in an allusion to Israel. "Know that my heart is with Lebanon," he added.

The initial fight Thursday broke out in a cafeteria Beirut Arab University in the Tariq al-Jdideh neighborhood. Two students - one a supporter of the Future Movement and the other a Hizbullah partisan - exchanged insults, with one spitting at the other. From there, it escalated into a mainly Sunni-Shiite clash, escalating from fists to clubs to gunfire and Molotov cocktails. The initial fight trapped many people, including local high-school students, in the midst of the clashes until they were escorted out by the army. Supporters from pro-government Sunni parties and their Shiite counterparts, Amal and Hizbullah, quickly arrived at the scene for a face-off. Both young and old men wielded stones, wrapped chains around their necks and even carried stylized batons - hand-painted and sharpened, with special grips made of tape. "This is war," Ali, a Future Movement backer and resident of Tariq al-Jdideh, told The Daily Star as stones flew nearby. The army responded by blocking off main roads and imposed a curfew over Beirut from 8:30 p.m. until 6 a.m. Friday, the first curfew announced since April 1996, during Israel's infamous Grapes of Wrath attack. The curfew applied to pedestrians and moving vehicles, while the tents in Downtown - where opposition supporters have been sleeping since December - were to be treated as a residential area. Military personnel, medical staff, the diplomatic corps, media and bakeries were excluded from the curfew.

As the clashes progressed and escalated to various areas across Beirut, Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah released an unexpected fatwa urging residents to "respect" the curfew. "For the sake of this country and civil peace, we issue a fatwa," Nasrallah said during a live telephone announcement broadcast on several stations. "I ask you to fully cooperate with the Lebanese Army and to respect army measures already adopted or those due to be adopted in the next few hours." Pleading for calm, Nasrallah said: "Everyone should evacuate the streets, remain calm and leave the stage for the Lebanese Army and security forces." Nasrallah accused "some parties in Lebanon of having designs to drag the country into a civil war." "Anyone who raises arms against their brother is the same as an Israeli," he added. "There is a return of the snipers," Nasrallah warned. "Snipers have been posted throughout Beirut." The army confirmed the presence of snipers, but both groups blamed the other. "Their identities should be determined and they should be prosecuted," Nasrallah said. Speaker Nabih Berri, leader of the Amal Movement, also condemned the clashes and echoed Siniora's and Nasrallah's concerns about Israel. "It's a shame what we are doing to this country," the speaker said. "The only winner is our enemy, Israel." Berri called for rival political leaders to return to dialogue after weeks of deadlock. "There is no solution, we have to return to talks," he said. The speaker urged all Lebanese to "get off the streets before we fall into deadly strife." MP Saad Hariri, leader of the Future Movement, dismissed opposition claims that his party was a "militia." "We have nothing to do with militias and we will never stop protecting our country," Hariri told Future Television. "I urge all Lebanese to remain calm, stay away from strife and allow the Lebanese Army and security forces to perform their duties," he added. "I urge you to cooperate with them for us to establish the rule of law." Prominent pro-government MP Walid Jumblatt blamed Syrian President Bashar Assad for Thursday's violence, saying "the problem is not in Lebanon, the problem is in Syria. Enough is enough; stop it, you crazy man of Syria. Get out of the streets, get out of the tents and stop occupying Lebanon." "There is no such thing as the opposition, there is only Nasrallah," Jumblatt added.

In Basta, army barracks were destroyed. Bank Street, near the opposition's sit-in, was also a scene of violent clashes, where many windows were broken. The army blocked several roads in Beirut, boxing in Hamra for a period, and deployed heavily in areas where tensions have been high, such as Corniche al-Mazraa. In Jiyyeh, unidentified armed men erected roadblocks and stopped motorists to check identification papers, a scenario eerily reminiscent of the Civil War when militiamen used similar tactics to sort out - and murder - motorists on the basis of religion. The army eventually cleared the gunmen and reopened the highway from Beirut to the South. Despite the curfew, Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport remained open. An airport official told The Daily Star that passengers would be allowed to travel to the airport if they showed army soldiers a valid ticket. However, passengers were expected to remain in the airport until the curfew ended. Some flights were cancelled. All schools and universities were ordered shut until further notice, Education Minister Khaled Qabbani said. Late Thursday, a bomb exploded outside the Italian Consulate in Sidon. No injuries were reported but a car was said to have been damaged. Italy is scheduled to take command of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon in February, and has the largest number of troops in the South. - Additional reporting by Mohammad Zaatari

Thursday, January 25, 2007

ENOUGH!! For God's sake, for Lebanon's sake STOP!

For the love of God and country, please STOP! No one is benefiting from this chaos, not any political party, not any religious faction, not any Lebanese patriot! What the hell is going on? Where are the people's conscience, common sense and sense of decency? Don't they know right from wrong anymore?

As of 08:30 tonight Lebanon's beloved capital is under curfew imposed by the Lebanese army with the consent of all political parties in response to the several riots, shootings and attacks taking place in the capital mainly between Sunni- Shiites. The situation is so critical that all schools and universities have been suspensed until next week, hoping that by that time things would have cooled down. We do not even know if we will be able to go to work come morning!

What happened today at the Arab University is unacceptable. Students held by force at their campus while snipers targeted them. Rocks and bullets targeting parents who have braved the dangers to rescue their children. Burning and destroying private properties while the army attempted to free the students using tanks no less.

All political leaders from opposing camps have called for calm and restraints. All have called on their respective supporters to leave the streets and comply to the army's directives. And still, the mobs have vandilized shops and cars, burned political flags and generally detained passers-by asking for their identity and their religion while wearing black ski masks!!

The Palestinian camps have even attacked the Lebanese army claiming that our army has no authority in their regions! Their regions! This is OUR land! OUR country!

Not one Lebanese benefits for these attacks so who is the pupeteer orchestrating these events? Who is infiltrating the crowds and taking advantage of the existing tensions to move the sensibilities of young, foolish and impulsive people into such actions? Who is coming up with the action plans and sending these kids out on the streets to terrorize and create mayhem? Who is providing them with the green light to further violate our beloved Lebanon?

How dared they bring political differences to the streets?

How dared they all presume to resolve any political conflicts by destruction, burning tires, preventing people from excercising their God's given right to have an opinion, excercise their freedom of speech or of religion or even make a living.

What happened on what is now known as "black Tuesday" is unacceptable. From ALL sides. Not one person, party, leader, protestor, or counter-protestor handled the situation right: Calling for a strike to express an opinion or for a show of popularity is a democratic step. But burning tires, creating road blocks and causing mayhem is dictatorship. However, sending a "counter-mob" on the streets to "stop" the protestors is irresponsible, criminal and frankly bordering on psychotic!

How dared they presume to take the law into their own hands and send their supporters on the streets to confront the protestors? How dared they presume to be so above the law that they took it upon themself to 'enforce' either a strike or an anti-strike? How dared they call upon their supporters to 'uphold order' as they deemed the governmental agencies inefficient to do their jobs?

And still, they wonder where this mob came from!? and how this day has come to pass?! Their political speeches in the last couple of days generated so much tensions and bad feelings that it had to be channeled somehow and the result was riots, vandalism and casualties.

But somehow today their tone changed. Where two days ago they were calling on their supporters to take to the streets and 'enforce order' where the army has in their opinions 'failed', today they are calling on their supporters to leave the streets and abide by the army's directives. THEY are the cause of this confusion, mixed messages and chaos. And THEY should take responsibility for the destruction and deaths.

And when I say "they", I mean ALL leaders. No exceptions.

STOP trading accusations! STOP the insults and finger pointing! STOP the media from being so damned BIASED! Its RIDICULOUS that we have to flip channels to try to extrapulate a little bit of truth or have a piece of real news. Its ridiculous that no one really cares about this country, its citizens or the unemployed generation leaving or hoping to leave this beautiful land. It is ridiculous that when a business is burned down to the ground as a result of riots it is fined in the millions of USD and when confronted with the fact the Honorable Minister of Finance replies that "there is nothing he can do about the problem". It is ridiculous that we are destroying ourselves with our own hands and we cannot to do anything about it as if hypothesized. It is ridiculous that when so-called leaders admit knoweldge of a 'plan' to create mayhem and divisions within us and when we are at a cross-road of either falling wihin this plan or resisting, we seem to fall right into the pupeteer's hands. It is ridiculous that we comply to so-called leaders' veiled statments like sheep, cows, moutons and any other type of bovins and head to the streets as nothing less than stampedes destroying everything on our paths and everyone we 'think' belongs to the opposing camps. Its is ridiculous that so-called leaders turn a blind eye and ear to the thousands of men and women sleeping in the tents in the cold in protest. It is ridiculous that so-called leaders actually call on their supporters to sleep in tents in the cold and its even more ridiculous that they have their calls answered!

Damnit! Everything is so ridiculous! And so senseless! and so unacceptable! I am so frustrated and confused I cannot even think straight!!

And all the while, Pr. Minister Siniora and his minions are enjoying Parisian hospitality and have gathered an additional $7.6 billions in new debts (which we will have to eventually pay back!). Lebanon's public debt had previously reached $41 billion, more than 180 percent of Gross Domestic Product. The country is dead socially and economically to say the least and Mr. Siniora is talking about increasing taxes!! Where the hell does he expect us to get money to pay these additional taxes? We can barely get by in the current situation where many companies have declared bankruptcy and most of my generation has left the country looking for better opportunities in foreign lands... How does he expect us to pay back all these debts, loans and 'grants'? Paris I, II, III (a.k.a. Rafik Hariri Donor Conference) and maybe heading to Paris IV?!

Nothing comes for free, everyone knows that! What will be our new price to pay this time?

JZ

Bloodshed in Beirut casts shadow over aid pledges

Bloodshed in Beirut casts shadow over aid pledges
By Nadim Ladki - REUTERS

Student battles killed at least two in Lebanon on Thursday, as international donors promised $7.6 billion some hope will help the U.S.-backed government survive a growing challenge from the Hezbollah-led opposition. At least two opposition students were shot dead and 35 were injured, some by gunfire, at Beirut's Arab University, security sources said. The opposition-run NBN television station put the death toll at four, including two students. It was not immediately clear who opened fired but NBN and Al-Manar television, run by the opposition's Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah movement, blamed the shootings on pro-government gunmen loyal to Sunni leader Saad al-Hariri. Soldiers fired into the air to try to disperse the crowds and were later deployed in large numbers in an effort to control the clashes. Thick smoke rose from the area, where rioters had set cars and tires ablaze. Soldiers used military trucks to evacuate scores of civilians trapped on the streets by the violence.

Rival television stations blamed each other's camps for the fighting. Witnesses reported shots fired at the students from rooftops in the mainly Sunni areas and attacks by a Shi'ite mob on a Sunni-run school in another area of the capital. Hezbollah issued a statement urging its supporters to pull out of the streets around the university, while Hariri urged supporters to show self-restraint and calm. "What everyone should do now is halt the strife," Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Shi'ite opposition leader, told several television stations by telephone.

OPPOSITION CAMPAIGN

The opposition launched nationwide protests on Tuesday which shut down much of Lebanon and sparked violence in which three people were killed and 176 wounded. The opposition want veto power in government and early parliamentary elections to topple the cabinet of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. Siniora and his main backer, parliamentary majority leader Hariri, have refused to give in to the demands. Lebanon won more than $7.6 billion in grants and soft loans at a Paris conference on Thursday to help it cope with a debt mountain and recover from war. Some donors also hope to help the U.S.-backed Beirut government weather the threat from the opposition. Saudi Arabia headed the list of donors with a promise of $1.1 billion of development aid and grants, the United States pledged $770 million and the Arab Monetary Fund and World Bank offered funding of around $700 million apiece. "The total sum collected for Lebanon amounts to a little more than $7.6 billion," French President Jacques Chirac told the conference after around 40 countries and organizations outlined their funding plans at the one-day meeting. "I'm overjoyed by this," he added to loud applause.

Lebanon is still struggling to rebuild from its 1975-1990 civil war and is weighed down by $40 billion of debt, equal to 180 percent of gross domestic product. War between Israel and Shi'ite Hezbollah guerrillas last year left much of the country's infrastructure bombed and many Shi'ite villages and districts wrecked.
(Additional reporting by Laila Bassam and Tom Perry in Beirut and Francois Murphy and Arshad Mohammed in Paris)

Paris conference pledges aid to struggling Lebanon

Paris conference pledges aid to struggling Lebanon
By Crispian Balmer REUTERS

Promises of aid topped $4 billion at a donors' conference on Thursday after Lebanon appealed for funds to help it recover from the war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas. A Saudi Arabian pledge of $1.1 billion, on top of grants and loans from France, the EU, the United States, the Arab Monetary Fund and World Bank, brought the total to around $4.6 billion. French President Jacques Chirac opened the one-day donors' conference saying Lebanon needed generous support to overcome economic woes caused by the "appalling clashes" in 2006.

The meeting comes two days after some of the worst street violence Lebanon has seen in years, with three people killed and more than 100 injured during a general strike called by the Hezbollah-led opposition. The militant Shi'ite group has accused Prime Minister Fouad Siniora of being in the pocket of the West and Lebanon's pro-opposition al-Akhbar daily said on Thursday the Paris conference was designed to help the government, not the country. French diplomats said they were worried some countries might hold back from offering aid because of the political turmoil. "(Lebanon) is a country that is obstinately seeking rebirth and more than ever needs the unanimous support of the international community," Chirac told the conference. High ranking representatives of more than 40 countries and organizations were attending the meeting, including Siniora, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The conference appeared set to beat the goal set by French officials of raising at least as much as a previous donors' conference in Paris in 2002, which raked in $4.2 billion in aid and loans.

DEBT MOUNTAIN

Lebanon is still struggling to rebuild after its 1975-1990 civil war and is weighed down by $40 billion of debt, equal to 180 percent of gross domestic product. The July/August war against Israel seriously exacerbated Lebanon's problems, with much of the country's infrastructure bombed and many Shi'ite villages and districts wrecked. "After Israel's onslaught on our country we are now on the edge of a deep recession," Siniora told the conference, adding that his government would stand firm against the Hezbollah-led protests and try to enact a planned financial reform. "The cost of failure is too great to contemplate, certainly greater than the cost of implementing success," he said. Hezbollah is funded by Shi'ite Iran and has promised to provide its own financial aid to the war victims. Western countries and Arab Gulf states are anxious to show the Lebanese people they have deeper pockets and are the better allies. "The process of reconstruction must be a priority for the Lebanese people, but they need help in order to do it," British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett told reporters, saying London would offer some $48 million, primarily for refugees in Lebanon. British officials said London was also pledging $115 million over the next four years in direct aid to the Lebanon government to be spent on reconstruction projects.

Some donors are likely to link their aid offers to Siniora's ability to push through his potentially unpopular reform package, which was unveiled this month and includes plans for privatizations, cutting state spending and hiking taxes. "Even in times of great despair our determination has never diminished. We have faith in the people of Lebanon," Siniora said.

(Additional reporting by Arshad Mohammed and Francois Murphy)

Ad firm fined after demanding riot compensation

Ad firm fined after demanding riot compensation
Daily Star staff
Friday, January 19, 2007


BEIRUT: The Finance Ministry slapped LL700 billion ($466,000) in fines on a leading advertising group for allegedly refusing to submit documents and records to the ministry. This action stunned the chairman of THG Company, which groups seven PR and advertising firms, especially since the company suffered millions of dollars in material losses after rioters burned down the building housing the THG headquarters in Tabaris late last year. "This is insane. Instead of compensating me for all the damages our company suffered as a result of the fire they slap this huge fine," THG group chairman Talal Makdisi told The Daily Star in a telephone interview Thursday. He added that all his documents and papers which his company accumulated over the past 22 years turned into ashes as a result of the fire which consumed all the building. "I want to thank the state for its extra attention to those who incurred losses in the riots last year. This is their method of compensating people," Makdisi said sarcastically.

Makdisi raised the issue of the fines with Finance Minister Jihad Azour and other officials."Azour told me he sympathizes but cannot do anything about this problem," he added. He said this action by the ministry demonstrates that the government and politicians are not concerned in serving the citizens in a just and fair way.

"Our company has an impeccable record because all employees are registered in the social funds and we pay taxes on time." Makdisi filed a law suit against the state with the Shura Council for its failure to pay the full compensation to his firm after the fire. "I have faith in the justice system and hope to get a verdict soon." - The Daily Star

Donors promise generosity in Paris despite turmoil in Beirut

Donors promise generosity in Paris despite turmoil in Beirut
'Not helping will be much more expensive than helping' - PM

By Lysandra Ohrstrom
Daily Star staff


BEIRUT: Undettered by escalating political tensions, international donors reiterated promises Wednesday to provide substantial financial support to Lebanon as Prime Minister Fouad Siniora arrived in Paris on the eve of the aid summit. France pledged a $500 million loan at "very advantageous terms," the European Commission pledged $522 million in new aid, and the US government promised a "considerable donation," lessening fears that Tuesday's opposition strike would discourage the 40 donors attending the conference from making sizable contributions. "Not helping Lebanon will be much more expensive than helping it," Siniora said after a lunch meeting with President Jacques Chirac. "Our problems can only be resolved through dialogue, not confrontation," he told a news conference. "I sensed that all countries that hope Lebanon will prosper would like to have seen another image of a unified Lebanon. Those same countries will be reluctant to help Lebanon if tensions persist," he said of whether Tuesday's strike would impact Paris III.

Though Lebanon has not released an official aid target, analysts expect Siniora to raise about $5 billion in soft loans and grants to service Lebanon's $41 billion public debt, and hopefully free up public funds to implement his controversial economic reform plan. If anything the opposition's calls for a unity government and early polls have strengthened the resolve of the 30 Western and Arab donor states and 10 international institutions expected to attend the meeting in Paris. "Tuesday increased the resolve of the international community to show their support for Lebanon," said the head of the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies, Oussama Safa. "The big question is not whether the government will get money, but whether they'll be able to spend it. Economic reform requires political consensus, and right now the government's reforms could get blocked."

The opposition has led protests for the past month against the reform plan. But they have repeatedly said they are not against an aid summit, only aid that is conditional. Various donors are expected to give Lebanon an upfront payment to finance the debt - currently 181 percent of GDP - and disperse the remainder of the pledges gradually as reforms are implemented. Siniora has said repeatedly no political conditions would be attached, but donors may not deliver promised aid if reforms stall.

US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch said Wednesday Paris III aid will be tied to serious economic reforms. "This is not a blank check," he said. "These are serious economic proposals. We are not dealing with political handouts here. The reform proposals made by this government of Lebanon are very important." In addition to privatization, the plan also proposes measures to curb corruption, such as anti-trust laws, competition regulations and the creation of a privatization regulator - all of which must be approved by Cabinet. Critics have faulted the plan for failing to include adequate social welfare provisions along with economic reforms. The VAT, a non-progressive tax, has been a particular bone of contention. "It is unjust for the government to think it can resolve the problem of the public debt by increasing the VAT," said Zuheir Berro, president of Consumers Lebanon. "We need to adopt direct taxes on banks and all financial sectors and give support to specific industries." Increasing the value added tax in 2008 is an "optimistic deadline if things continue like this," Safa said.

Siniora assured donors that Lebanon would collaborate with "international and Arab donor organizations" to set up a plan to allocate the funds raised Thursday. "We should lead a duel effort to maintain Lebanese unity and implement economic reforms," he said. If the summit does not succeed Lebanon may default on a $7 billion interest payment at end of this financial quarter. Chirac urged all participants on Thursday to also make "significant" donations "to show their confidence in the Lebanese government's economic and social program." "The cost of inaction would be far greater that rallying to Lebanon's side," he added. - With agencies

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

One day was more than enough

One day was more than enough
Opposition calls off strike but warns of 'far worse' to come if government refuses to give in

By Rym Ghazal
Daily Star staff


BEIRUT: The Hizbullah-led opposition's general strike against the government on Tuesday led to a nationwide protest that paralyzed the country and left its capital engulfed in barricades of blazing tires and bloodied by clashes that left at least three dead and over 130 wounded. Late Tuesday, the opposition announced that it would lift its strike.

Prior to the announcement, however, the man whom the crippling protest was aimed at unseating - Prime Minister Fouad Siniora - issued a brief, firm address to the nation in which he stood his ground and announced he would remain in office, even as the country appeared to be drawing to the verge of another civil war. "We are at a dangerous crossroads: Either we are heading to a civil war, or heading to dialogue," Siniora said in a televised address from inside the Grand Serail, where he has been residing since the beginning on December 1 of a sit-in in the heart of the capital aimed at deposing his government.

The peaceful anti-government campaign had been escalating slowly over the past two months, until on Tuesday it suddenly surged and turned violent. As The Daily Star went to press, unverified reports had emerged that at least seven had perished in street clashes. "We will stand together against intimidation. We will stand together against strife," Siniora said, calling on the opposition to "get off the streets" and return to dialogue. Fear gripped the country as residents of the capital watched columns of smoke rising in all directions, fed by the blazing tires, cars and garbage that opposition protesters used to block all main routes into Beirut. It was the second time in less than six months that Lebanon was besieged, with its highways, main roads, ports and airport completely blocked off - the predicament reminiscent of the summer 2006 war with Israel.

Siniora was forced to cancel a flight to Paris, where he was to join the Paris III international donor conference for Lebanon on Thursday. The premier called for an immediate extraordinary session of Parliament to defuse the crisis, pleading for "our brothers in the opposition" to join in.

In its announcement that the strike would end, the opposition said that the day's chaos had been a "warning." "This was a warning to the government," said Hizbullah MP Amin Cherri, reading a joint opposition statement. "The government has to respond to our demands, and if doesn't, then it should expect even greater escalation, far worse than today's," Cherri told The Daily Star. Lebanese troops and police remained on high alert throughout the day, working to keep rival groups apart. Security forces made sporadic efforts to open roads but made little headway because of the crowds of protesters. Violent clashes erupted across the country, with two areas witnessing the return of old "fault lines" from the 1975-1990 Lebanese Civil War.

The Shiite supporters of Hizbullah and Amal clashed with the Future Movement's Sunni supporters in the predominantly Sunni area of Corniche al-Mazraa. Stone-throwing and fistfights injured dozens of people and wreaked damage on cars and private property. At the same time, supporters of Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun clashed with followers of Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea in several predominantly Christian areas, in fights recalling the leaders' bitter rivalry in the late 1980s. Lebanese officials were quoted as warning that the Aoun-Geagea struggle may turn into "a war of elimination." Many shops, schools and businesses were closed in Beirut, either because of business owners supporting the strike, or because employees could not get to work past fiery barricades. Many commuters were stranded, and an eerie silence hung heavily over most of the capital's commercial districts. "What is happening is a revolution and a coup d'etat," Geagea told local media. "This is direct terrorism to paralyze the country," he said, going on to criticize the national security apparatus for failing to "guarantee safe and open passage for the Lebanese." After Defense Minister Elias Murr instructed the army to "avoid use of force," the troops remained on alert, with shots fired in the air and tear gas released whenever riots erupted. "Our campaign will escalate day by day," former Minister Suleiman Franjieh, an opposition leader, told Al-Manar television earlier on Tuesday. "As long as they won't listen to us, we will not let them rest." Some residents caught in the middle of the clashes between the two opposed Christian parties called on their religious leader, Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, for help and for an end to clashes before the situation deteriorated into a violent intra-Christian war. Sfeir met Tuesday with the US ambassador to Lebanon, Jeffrey Feltman, but no statement was made to the media following the meeting. The US State Department released a statement blaming the opposition for the violence and saying it was "deeply concerned" about Lebanese factions "allied with Syria" that "are trying to use violence, threats and intimidation to impose their political will on Lebanon." "Especially given the dangers of sectarian clashes, the United States calls on all parties to use peaceful and constitutional means to debate the political issues before them, and to exercise restraint," said the statement.

Germany, which holds the rotating EU presidency, also called on both sides in Lebanon to halt violence that has killed three people and left scores of others injured, saying Tuesday that the only way to resolve the ongoing dispute there was through dialogue. The German government said the European Union continues to strive for a peaceful future in Lebanon and that it would underline the point during Thursday's donor conference in Paris. - With agencies

Monday, January 22, 2007

More stars choose Elie Saab designs

Jessica Simpson in Elie Saab

Kelly Preston in Elie Saab


Kelly Rowland in Elie Saab

Teri Hatcher in Elie Saab
Tyra Banks in Elie Saab

Debra Messing in Elie Saab

Eva Longoria in Elie Saab

Diane Kruger in Elie Saab
Jessica Simpson in Elie Saab

Catherine Zeta-Jones in Elie Saab

Kate Walsh in Elie Saab at the Golden Globe 2007

Charlize Theron in Elie Saab

Salma Hayek in Elie Saab Teri Hatcher in Elie Saab

Michelle Williams in Elie Saab