Asiri urges Lebanese unity to keep strife at bay
Saudi Ambassador Ali Awad Asiri urged Lebanese to bolster national unity and elect a new president to prevent an...
Tuesday, 23 September 2014
As Syria Grabs Headlines, Congress Tends To Local Business
The chamber of the House of Representatives empties following a joint meeting of Congress, at the Capitol on Thursday, Sept. 18, with visiting Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. J. Scott Applewhite/AP hide caption
itoggle caption J. Scott Applewhite/AP
The chamber of the House of Representatives empties following a joint meeting of Congress, at the Capitol on Thursday, Sept. 18, with visiting Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
The U.S. action against ISIS in Syria is dominating headlines around the globe.
President Obama spoke about the mission Tuesday, saying it has bipartisan support from Congress and called it necessary for the security of the country, and the world.
Members of Congress, meanwhile, are watching from afar — after approving the president's plan to equip and train Syrian opposition fighters, lawmakers left Washington and returned to their districts ahead of the Nov. 4 midterm election.
For many members, the daily business of tending to their constituents (or their re-election campaigns) is no less pressing than the events unfolding on the world stage.
Here's a sample of what members of Congress are up to — and tweeting about:
Salam sees defensive role for Lebanon
BEIRUT: Lebanon will have a defensive role in the fight against ISIS, Prime Minister Tammam Salam said Tuesday after arriving in New York, adding that his country was in need of urgent aid to cope with the huge influx of Syrian refugees.
Salam, who is taking part in the 69th session of the U.N. General Assembly, held a series of meetings with head of states and top international officials. “ Lebanon is taking part in the war against ISIS from a defensive position because it lacks the military capabilities to be on the offensive,” he told Al-Arabiya TV.
A U.S.-led coalition began striking ISIS positions in Syria Tuesday, weeks after it started targeting the group’s headquarters in Iraq.
“The danger of terrorism is not limited to Lebanon but in the entire region and we are in need of support,” Salam added.
Regarding the Syrian refugee crisis, Salam said Lebanon needed additional aid to cope with the situation.
“We are determined to raise our voice regarding the Syrian refugees to contact all sides to get support,” Salam said, stressing that no country in the world could endure the magnitude of the refugee crisis Lebanon was falling under.
“The assistance should not only be directed to Syrian refugees but also to the hosting people that are carrying the biggest burden,” he said. “We hope to receive more support by our presence at the U.N. now, and we rely on donor states to a great extent.”
Salam is expected to address the U.N. General Assembly Friday.
The premier met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Iraqi President Fouad Massoum, King Abdullah of Jordan and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades.
Addressing Salam, Sisi said: “Your security stems from our security and our security stems from your security.” He also offered training to Lebanese Army units to be provided by the Egyptian Army.
Salam also met U.N. Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon, head of the Arab League Nabil Elaraby and U.K. Foreign Minister Philip Hammond.
Salam also attended a reception hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama in honor of the heads of delegations participating in the U.N. General Assembly sessions and met World Bank President Jim Yong Kim.
Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, who accompanied Salam to New York, met his Saudi counterpart Prince Saud al-Faisal. The two discussed issues related to counterterrorsim and arming Lebanon’s Army.
Bassil also took part in a seminar on the need to combat international terrorism during which he stressed that the Lebanese military needed support to confront terrorism.
Nasrallah: Lebanon must not join U.S. anti-terror coalition
BEIRUT: Lebanon should not be part of the U.S.-led international coalition fighting terrorism because “America is the mother of terrorism,” the leader of Hezbollah said in a televised speech Tuesday night.
Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah also said his group opposed U.S. military intervention in Syria, including airstrikes on ISIS targets.
Declaring that Lebanon was capable to confront terrorism alone, he said the government should negotiate with Islamist militants holding at least 21 Lebanese soldiers and policemen hostage from a position of strength, warning that negotiating from a weak position would lead to a catastrophe.
“We are against Lebanon’s participation in the U.S.-led coalition. The U.S. isn’t qualified morally to lead an anti-terrorism coalition,” Nasrallah said in the speech aired on Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV station. “In our view, America is the mother of terrorism and the cause of terrorism in this world. It is the absolute supporter of the Zionist state of terrorism.”
He added that America had created or helped create terrorist groups which the global coalition was now seeking to fight in Iraq and Syria.
“We reject that Lebanon be part of the international coalition. It is not in Lebanon’s interest to be part of this coalition. There are risks for Lebanon if it joins this coalition,” Nasrallah said.
“Everyone knows that Hezbollah is against ISIS and takfiri groups and is fighting them. The groups that kill and slaughter pose a threat to all the peoples of this region,” he said. “However, that doesn’t mean we support U.S. military intervention in the region. Hezbollah is against any U.S.-led international coalition that uses terrorism as an excuse for a military intervention in Syria and Iraq.”
“We are against American military intervention and an international coalition in Syria, whether that [action] is against the Syrian regime or Daesh,” Nasrallah said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
“Under the false pretext of fighting terrorism the U.S. seeks to take control of the region,” he said.
Nasrallah’s speech came hours after the United States and its Arab allies bombed Syria for the first time, killing scores of ISIS fighters and members of a separate Al-Qaeda-linked group, opening a new front against militants by joining Syria’s three-year-old civil war.
The formation of the global coalition to fight ISIS militants who have seized large swaths in Iraq and Syria was endorsed during a meeting of the coalition’s foreign ministers in the Saudi city of Jeddah earlier this month. The U.S won backing for the coalition from 10 Arab countries, including Lebanon.
Nasrallah argued that some countries in the coalition were still supporting, funding and arming terrorist groups, including ISIS.
He urged the coalition’s member states to stop the financing and arming of “terrorist groups that are targeting Lebanon” and to accelerate the delivery of weapons to the Lebanese Army to help in the battle against terrorism.
Despite deep political differences and polarization between the March 8 and March 14 parties, Nasrallah said Lebanon was strong and capable of confronting terrorist groups. “The Lebanese people, through their Army, are able to defend and protect their country from terrorist threats,” he said.
Responding to a statement by Sheikh Sirajuddine Zureiqat, a spokesman of Al-Qaeda-affiliated group, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, who threatened to come to Beirut in a few days after ISIS captured large swaths in Iraq and Syria, Nasrallah said: “You cannot come to Beirut or any other place because the Lebanese are capable of confronting any terrorist threat. No one can threaten to invade [Beirut]. We will shoulder our responsibility.”
Referring to the thorny issue of Lebanese soldiers and policemen captured by ISIS and Nusra Front militants during last month’s fierce clashes with the Lebanese Army in the northeastern town of Arsal, Nasrallah rejected accusations that Hezbollah opposed negotiations with the militants to secure the release of the hostages. He urged the government to negotiate with the militants through intermediaries from a position of strength.
He also called on rival factions to keep the hostage ordeal away from their political bickering and rivalry. Nasrallah said the soldiers’ kidnappers were playing with the country’s fate in view of the confusion within the government over how to approach the hostage crisis.
“Lebanon has been experiencing real humiliation for weeks because of the political performance of several political parties. The continued political one-upmanship will not lead to a solution to this problem,” he said. “For the sake of the Army, the country and the people, we hope that this [hostage] issue be kept away from political one-upmanship and settlement of scores.”
Nasrallah stressed that negotiating from a position of strength would help secure the release of the soldiers and policemen, warning that negotiating from a weak position would lead to a catastrophe.
“We call for negotiation from a position of strength. The Lebanese government is aware of the positions of strength it has,” he said.
Nusra Front and ISIS militants are still holding at least 21 Lebanese soldiers and policemen. The government has been involved in indirect negotiations with the militant groups through Qatari-sponsored mediation, but has recently announced the suspension of these efforts in response to last week’s execution of Mohammad Maarouf Hammieh by Nusra Front militants and threats to execute more servicemen.
Nasrallah confirmed that Hezbollah was open to negotiations with militants over the release of the captives, underlining that the party “has never rejected the principle of negotiations.”
Nasrallah condemned the wave of sectarian kidnappings that swept the Bekaa region following the execution of three captive soldiers by ISIS and Nusra Front militants. He warned that the kidnappings served the goals of the militants who were seeking to incite sectarian strife.
“Kidnappings serve the goals of the terrorists who aim to spark sectarian strife in in Lebanon. They want to move the battle to Lebanon,” he said.
VAT hike part of Preliminary formula to resolve public sector salaries
BEIRUT: Signs of a breakthrough emerged Tuesday regarding the problematic issue of the public sector finances after Finance Minister Ali Hasan Khalil held five-hour marathon talks on the wage hike with Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan, a parliamentary source said.
Speaking to The Daily Star on condition of anonymity, the source said that based on a formula agreed upon by the two officials, the wage hike would be paid in installments over two years depending on the capabilities of the Finance Ministry.
The raise would be financed by a 1 percentage point increase in VAT and there would be no retroactive payments.
The source said Adwan was also negotiating on behalf of the Future Movement, adding that he was showing flexibility.
The source said Wednesday would be decisive, as Khalil would relay to Adwan the final stance of the March 8 coalition on the preliminary deal.
In the event the group’s position is positive, Parliament’s secretariat will meet next week to set an agenda for a legislative session expected to convene during the same week.
The visitors of Speaker Nabih Berri quoted him as saying he expected Union Coordination Committee to accept the solution reached during the Khalil and Adwan deliberations. “This is because the burden of the wage hike falls on all the Lebanese and not only on those whom the Union Coordination Committee represents,” Berri was quoted as saying.
The UCC has spearheaded demands for the salary raise over the past three years.
Berri said all efforts were now concentrated on endorsing the salary raise because this was the key to resuming legislative sessions.
The speaker also noted that there were no disagreements between political parties over other draft laws.
Saudi-Iranian meeting fails to resolve issues
No positive developments came from the much-anticipated Iranian-Saudi meeting in New York over the weekend, which was the culmination of several attempts by regional powers to establish a better relationship between Tehran and Riyadh. The meeting between Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif tackled the latest developments in the region, sources familiar with the talks said.
The meeting happened as Shiite Houthi rebels, who are believed to be supported by Iran, took control of key institutions in the Yemeni capital. This action has triggered clashes between the rebels and the army-backed Sunni militiamen belonging to the influential Islah Party.
The sources said that the recent developments in the Sunni-dominated country had revealed Iran’s real intentions, namely to consolidate its power in the region, partly in response to Saudi Arabia’s inclusion in the international coalition against ISIS, and Tehran’s exclusion.
Last week, the Houthis consolidated their control over strongholds and key institutions in Sanaa, after refusing to see Yemen divided into a six-region federation.
The sources see parallels with the events of May 2008 in Lebanon, when Hezbollah took over many areas of West Beirut. The clashes turned into street fighting between allies of Hezbollah and of the March 14 bloc.
Hezbollah came out on top in the confrontation, much as it appears that the Houthi rebels are going to come out on top in the events in Yemen.
Over the weekend a U.N.-brokered peace agreement was signed between the clashing groups in Yemen, a deal that the sources considered similar to the 2008 Doha agreement that may have prevented sectarian clashes in Lebanon from turning into another civil war.
This caused the sources to dismiss reports saying that the Saudi-Iranian meeting had resulted in a comprehensive agreement over the Yemeni situation.
According the sources, the New York meeting didn’t tackle the developments in Yemen. The Saudi-Iranian meeting was limited to regional issues that are of interest to both countries.
Additionally, based on diplomatic information they acquired, the sources said the meeting did not have any implications for Lebanon.
Lebanon, according to the sources, is not the top priority of the two countries, since time is needed to prepare the right circumstances to settle the country’s issues, the main one being the issue of the presidency.
Since May 25, Lebanon has been without a head of state, and Parliament has failed to convene numerous times due to the lack of a quorum.
Despite regional developments, communication between key parties inside Lebanon has been heightened, with a view to finding a solution to the presidency issue.
Trilateral contacts between Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil, Health Minister Wael Abu Faour and the head of Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s office, Nader Hariri, are ongoing. The latest meeting was held in the last 48 hours.
The meetings have been focusing on finding common ground between the Future Movement and the Shiite parties – Hezbollah and the Amal Movement – over the issues of Parliament’s extension and the holding of legislative sessions.
Speaker Nabih Berri has expressed his disagreement with the idea of extending Parliament’s current term, unless it gains back its legislative authority.
Berri believes that there is no point in extending the term of an inactive Parliament that cannot pass laws.
However, the Future Movement will settle for Parliament’s being able to pass laws related to urgent issues. The movement is basing its decision on the Constitution, which says the Parliament should meet constantly to elect a new head of state if a president has not been elected.
Time is passing without any tangible progress being made, and Nov. 22, the date set for the parliamentary elections, is looming. Analysts fear that this time, an extension will not take place.
“This means that Parliament’s rule would be dissolved. The Constitution is very precise in this regard,” an analyst explained.
According to the Constitution, when Parliament’s term ends, this automatically means that the government resigns and works as a caretaker government with limited jurisdiction until a new government can take over.
“Hence, Lebanon is facing the prospect of a presidential and parliamentary vacuum and a resigned government,” the analyst said.
This issue can’t be solved until all political factions convene and discuss a way to revive constitutional institutions.
“Time is limited and this is adding pressures on Lebanese leaders,” a political source said. The source added that there were no guarantees for Lebanon, given the security situation along the borders.
“The fear increases not only for the institutions but also for the Lebanese entity,” the source said.
Ras Baalbek’s Christians take up arms
RAS BAALBEK, Lebanon: In the dark of night a group of around 10 armed men donning military fatigues and carrying Kalashnikovs gathered at a house near the edge of Ras Baalbek, close to where Islamist militants have tried to infiltrate the town on a few occasions.
“We have welcomed many Syrian refugees and I believe they are like our family,” said Rifaat Nasrallah, the group’s leader. “However, some are using the refugee status to enter Lebanon and in reality they are members of terrorist groups.”
Ras Baalbek is a Greek Catholic town in Lebanon’s northeast with a population of 15,000 people. A set of mountains is all that separates the town from Arsal, where the Lebanese Army has been at battle with Islamist militants from the Nusra Front and ISIS. Unlike in Syria where Nusra and IS have regularly clashed, the two groups are thought to be coordinating in the region along the Lebanese border.
And while the town has warmly welcomed 1,300 Syrian refugees, the local population fears the presence of terrorist sleeper cells hiding among the throngs of refugees.
“These terrorists are taking advantage of refugees by having sleeper cells in camps,” a military intelligence source told The Daily Star in Ras Baalbek. While expressing sympathy for the hardship faced by so many refugees, he emphasized the all-too-real existential threat the town faces from these alleged sleeper cells.
“There are many rumors,” the intelligence officer said. Military intelligence monitors social media and regularly intercepts communications between militants lurking in the mountains straddling the town. But the militants are aware they are being listened in on and therefore send out plenty of misinformation and false intel. “There are people from all the Arab countries and other foreigners,” the source said. “We hear all sorts of accents, but they mostly speak in Arabic and no real names are used.”
He added that while the Army feels it is in a strong position at the moment, military intelligence must look into each and every threat.
“An attack could come at any minute so we have to take every threat seriously,” he stressed.
Fear of infiltration by the militants hangs low over this town. Two locals have already been kidnapped while working along the town’s periphery. Both were later freed, one of which cost a ransom of $30,000. Sleiman Semaan, a local culture aficionado and former writer for An-Nahar newspaper, told The Daily Star about the time he watched a suspicious car descend from the mountains behind town by navigating unpaved dirt roads.
Semaan made a call and the Army quickly moved to intercept the vehicle, which turned out to be loaded with explosives.
These accounts have been woven into the fabric of the town’s psyche. Looking for a way to protect their homes, residents settled on forming armed patrol units that monitor activity in and around Ras Baalbek.
“It wasn’t the idea of anyone in particular,” Nasrallah said. “The whole village felt in danger so we all agreed it was necessary.”
While the majority of these men have military experience, they are not currently enlisted. This particular group, led by Nasrallah, is made up of the Hezbollah-affiliated Resistance Brigades and other civilians who have volunteered to defend their town.
“We don’t shoot if we see someone or something moving in the mountains,” said one of the watchmen, most of whom requested anonymity for security reasons. “We just call the Army and they investigate.”
Contrary to rumors, the group said they do not receive training from Hezbollah or any other outfit.
“Everyone in town owns a gun and we’ve all been shooting since we were small,” said another member of the patrol.
This development has also allegedly taken place in other Christian areas like Koura, Batroun, Jezzine and neighboring Christian villages in the Bekaa Valley such as Al-Qaa.
Other groups, including rival political parties like the Kataeb and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, also perform similar patrols in other parts of town. In fact the outside threat has united rival political factions in the name of protecting the town’s Christian population.
“He who doesn’t have a gun is buying a gun,” said retired school teacher Hikmat Semaan, 68. “The whole [Bekaa] area, but especially Ras Baalbek, is a danger zone.”
Semaan said that the mountains behind Ras Baalbek are currently inhabited by thousands of gunmen. “They see us as enemies and if we cannot deal with it we have to fight them ourselves. People here are scared and the boys guard us at night.”
While the armed patrol puts residents like Semaan slightly more at ease, a palpable worry still hangs over the town. “I went to bed [Friday night] and at 2 a.m. shooting started,” he said. “I jumped out of bed and couldn’t fall back asleep.”
Semaan said he was living under a state of heavy anxiety but such a burden would never lead him to even consider abandoning his home. “We are living our normal life, not in a 5-star hotel,” he said. “I live here all the time. I don’t like Beirut and I don’t want to go stay there.”
Echoing a mantra often articulated by the defiant residents of Ras Baalbek, Semaan said: “We may die here but we will not leave our home.”
Ex-EDL workers shut down another service provider
BEIRUT: Former EDL workers contracted by the service provider KVA shut down the company’s headquarters Tuesday after receiving only half of August’s wages.
“We were paid only part of our salaries 20 days ago and we were promised the remainder in a matter of days,” Ali al-Hajj Yousef, one of the contract workers, told The Daily Star, adding that they would shut down the company’s premises again Wednesday if salaries were not distributed by the end of the day.
The executives and staff of KVA, one of three service providers that manage Lebanon’s electricity sector, were unable to reach their Dora offices due to the protest.
The firm released a statement apologizing for the halt in services Tuesday, including its 24-hour call center.
“We did not pay half their salaries because they were on strike,” Jamal Hatoum, human resources manager at the company, told The Daily Star.
“And we also don’t have enough funding to pay their wages,” Hatoum added.
Hatoum said KVA suffers financial pressures because payments from the state-owned Electricite du Liban have also been delayed, as well as the recent workers’ strike.
“We stopped working seven weeks ago due to the strike and before that, EDL had not paid us for eight months,” Hatoum explained.
Contract workers Monday also shut down the building of another service provider, NEU Company, for not paying the entirety of their August salaries.
In parallel to the development at KVA’s facility in the Dora area, NEU’s Jezzine offices were closed by the company’s head executive Tuesday, after its employees were attacked and forced out of the building.
“I will not open Jezzine’s office and risk the lives of my employees while they receive daily threats,” said NEU’s CEO Carla Aoun.
“The Jezzine office was not attacked by contract workers,” she explained. “And whoever reads today’s newspaper can easily guess who was behind the assault.”
The An-Nahar daily reported Tuesday that south Lebanon MP Ziad Aswad said he was behind the closing of NEU offices Monday, citing his disagreement with the company’s practices.
Aswad said many reasons contributed to his decision, among them the tension between NEU and its contract employees.
In the report, he said the sacking of two employees from Jezzine played a role in his controversial decision. Aoun claimed the employee had attacked a company executive and threatened to use a weapon.
Aswad was not available for comment Tuesday.
While KVA and NEU both had to deal with angry contract workers and wage issues, each firm gave its own justification for the delay in payment.
Aoun had promised to pay the wages after a meeting with the workers’ representative and said the payment delays were related to a pledge that the workers had refused to sign.
The pledge would legally bind workers to not engage in “unlawful” activities. After most workers refused to sign, the company said it would only pay half their salaries, but later went back on the decision.
The contract workers have been striking outside EDL’s main headquarters for more than 40 days.
After years of no social security, paid vacations or other employment benefits at EDL, the workers are demanding full-time employment with the company, if not immediately then by the time their contract with the service providers expires in 2016.
But EDL decided to hire 897 out of the protesting 2,000 workers, lengthening the ongoing strike.
Families of captive servicemen threaten to escalate protests
BEIRUT: Families of Lebanese soldiers and policemen kidnapped by militants threatened Tuesday to escalate protests in a manner that would “surprise the government and people,” blasting the Cabinet for neglecting their case.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Tammam Salam said that several options to end the hostage crisis, including force, were on the table.
“I decided, in coordination with the families of the other kidnapped, to take action and escalate on a level that will surprise everybody, including the government and people,” said Rana Fliti, the wife of captured policemen Ali Bazal.
Speaking during a news conference at her house in the Bekaa Valley village of Bazalieh, Fliti said that escalation would come due to government negligence and because she discovered that demands made by the Nusra Front, which is holding a number of the captives including her husband, were not hard to meet.
Fliti met with three Nusra Front members Monday on the outskirts of the northeastern town of Arsal, and received their demands.
She said the group was demanding the opening of a humanitarian corridor to Arsal, ending what they describe as attacks against Syrian refugees and Sunnis in Lebanon and the release of all those arrested by the Lebanese Army in the aftermath of ISIS and the Nusra Front’s brief takeover of Arsal last month.
“We are fed up with begging politicians who don’t care about the lives of the captives. We hold them responsible for the bloodshed, and I threaten the sons of every politician, as their blood is not more valuable than the blood of the soldiers,” Fliti said.
Militants from the Nusra Front and ISIS, stationed on the outskirts of Arsal, are still holding at least 21 policemen and soldiers captured during the battle. ISIS has beheaded two soldiers so far, while the Nusra Front shot dead one soldier last week.
Addressing Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, Fliti said: “Given that you are in control of everything, stop the bloodshed and open the way for negotiations because we are running out of time, as all soldiers will be killed within 48 hours, one after the other,” Fliti said.
She said that solving the crisis was in the hands of Salam. “You say that you will not negotiate under pressure and threats by the Nusra Front, I tell you that you have to negotiate under all sorts of pressure if you are a capable prime minister.”
For its part, the family of kidnapped soldier Ibrahim Moghit blocked the Qalamoun highway in north Lebanon for three hours.
The families stepped up their protests to pressure the government into meeting the demands of the captives Monday, blocking the vital Dahr al-Baidar road in the Bekaa Valley.
The government refuses to swap the captured servicemen with Islamist inmates in Roumieh prison, a key demand of some of the captors.
Salam did not rule out the possibility of using force to end the crisis, but also stressed that negotiations were still an option on the table.
“We have numerous options such as military confrontation, but at the same time, negotiation is one of these options,” Salam told Al-Arabiya TV.
The Army has cut off most supply routes to the outskirts of Arsal and often pounds positions of ISIS and the Nusra Front there.
Salam, currently in New York to take part in the 69th session of the U.N. General Assembly, stressed that Lebanon would not be blackmailed by the captors of the soldiers.
“Targeting the Lebanese soldiers only increases our insistence on confrontation,” he said. “We do not have a magic formula, but we will use all means to free the soldiers.”
Salam said that the government had stressed that a starting point with indirect negotiations with militants should be that they stop killing policemen and soldiers.
He added that he would discuss the hostage crisis with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of the General Assembly.
Authorities decided after a security meeting chaired by Defense Minister Samir Moqbel Tuesday to take a number of measures across the country to preserve stability.
“We discussed the security situation in the country in general, particularly in the Bekaa Valley, Arsal, Tripoli and the issue of Roumieh prison,” Moqbel said after the meeting, which was attended by top security officials and Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk. “A series of measures were taken to enhance security in the country.” Machnouk met Turkish Ambassador to Lebanon Inan Ozyildiz. The minister had said that he would seek the help of Turkey to resolve the hostage crisis.
A rocket reportedly crashed into the location where security personnel captured by Nusra Front militants were being held, the group claimed on an affiliated Twitter page. It also attached a picture of the alleged rocket. A source acquainted with the militants confirmed the rocket attack and highlighted that none of the hostages were killed.
The militants, however, were wounded as a result of the rocket, the source told The Daily Star. According to the source, “Syrian warplanes targeted the area where the Nusra Front is keeping its captives.”
The Future bloc of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri reiterated unconditional support to the government as it tries to resolve the issue of the hostages. In a statement after its weekly meeting, the bloc expressed sympathy with families of the captured soldiers and policemen.
Separately, gunmen in a speeding car opened fire at a Lebanese Army position near the northern city of Tripoli Tuesday, killing one soldier and wounding two others, a security source said. The source told The Daily Star that the soldiers were shot at close range as they stood guard at their position near the Akoumi gas station in Beddawi at 4 a.m.
The dead soldier was identified as Mohammad Khaled al-Hussein. An Army statement confirmed the death of the soldier. – Additional reporting by Samya Kullab
President Obama: "No Nation Is Immune" to Climate Change
"For all the immediate challenges that we gather to address this week -- terrorism, instability, inequality, disease -- there’s one issue that will define the contours of this century more dramatically than any other, and that is the urgent and growing threat of a changing climate."
Those were President Obama's words at today's U.N. Climate Summit -- a meeting of world leaders that showcased climate action commitments from governments, local leaders, and the private sector. In his remarks, the President detailed the ambitious clean energy investments and carbon emission reductions the U.S. has made, but made clear that all of the world's major economies also need to step up in order to protect our planet.
Move To Curb U.S. Corporate Tax Dodges Could Delay Reform
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has announced rules aimed at discouraging U.S. companies from moving their headquarters overseas to cut their tax bills. Win McNamee/Getty Images hide caption
itoggle caption Win McNamee/Getty Images
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has announced rules aimed at discouraging U.S. companies from moving their headquarters overseas to cut their tax bills.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
The Obama administration's effort to curb corporate inversions — the strategy of moving company headquarters overseas to dodge U.S. taxes — drew boos from business on Tuesday, and cheers from consumer and labor groups.
No surprise there. But the Treasury Department's rule tweaks to discourage tax-avoidance deals also united everyone on one point: The country needs comprehensive tax-reform legislation.
The Business Roundtable criticized the White House's "Band-Aid solution." And, the group said, the current system is "outdated, uncompetitive and puts American companies and workers at a disadvantage."
Public Citizen said it "applauds the action" by Treasury, but the consumer-rights group said broader reform legislation is still needed.
President Obama himself declared "there's no substitute for Congressional action."
So Congress will jump right on it.
Kidding!
This fall, lawmakers are focused on their Nov. 4 re-election campaigns. And next year, they may lose the political will to address tax reform precisely because unpopular corporate-inversion deals likely will decline in the wake of the Treasury's technical fixes to existing tax law.
"The Obama Administration's limited action on inversions might take the pressure off for tax reform," Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said in a statement.
Susan Harley, deputy director of Public Citizen's Congress Watch Division, likewise sees little hope for quick action to lower the corporate tax rate while eliminating loopholes. "I would say it's very unlikely to see comprehensive tax reform passed in the near future," she said.
Here's how we got to this strange place where everyone agrees that 1) legislative action is more necessary than ever and 2) that legislative action is less likely to happen now.
The Background
In recent months, a number of American companies have acquired rivals based in other countries. They then switched their headquarters' addresses to take advantage of lower taxes overseas. The "inversion" goal was to cut their tax rates from as much as 35 percent to as little as the single digits in other countries.
One headline-grabbing example involves Burger King, a Miami-based fast-food chain that has proposed a merger with a Canadian company, Tim Hortons Inc. That potential transaction, which would move the burger chain's headquarters to Canada, has stirred considerable anger among U.S. taxpayers, who would get left holding a bigger share of the nation's fiscal burden.
The Treasury's Action
On Monday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew announced some fairly far-reaching tax-rule changes that should diminish the number of "inversion" deals. The rules, which take effect immediately, are intended to cause U.S. companies to recalculate the cost of inversion, and then choose to stay home.
The changes tighten the ownership requirements for U.S. firms seeking to do inversions, and make it harder for companies to avoid U.S. taxes on foreign income once the inversion is completed.
The Expert Reaction
Tax experts say the changes have teeth in them. Lee Sheppard, a contributing editor for Tax Notes, told NPR that "we expected some banging around the edges, but this is not around the edges. This goes to fundamental stuff."
Experts predict opponents will launch legal challenges to the Treasury action, but that could take a while. The more immediate reaction in financial markets showed the new rules are having an impact: Share prices declined for companies that seemed likely to get involved in inversion deals, like AstraZeneca PLC and Shire PLC.
The Outlook
Harley, of Public Citizen, said a number of senators are still showing "some appetite" for making minor legislative changes this year. But as for a comprehensive reform package, "I wouldn't want to make any bets until after the election," she said.
Hezbollah opposes Lebanon's membership in U.S.-led anti-terror coalition: Nasrallah
US strikes kill 50 Qaeda fighters in Syria: activists
US air strikes killed 50 Al-Qaeda militants and eight civilians, including children, in northern Syria on Tuesday, the...
Hezbollah against U.S. intervention in Syria: Nasrallah
US strikes kill 50 Qaeda fighters in Syria: activists
US air strikes killed 50 Al-Qaeda militants and eight civilians, including children, in northern Syria on Tuesday, the...
Future movement sides with Salam over hostage crisis
Salam: Lebanon defensive in the ISIS war
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More Americans Favor Mixing Religion And Politics, Survey Says
President Barack Obama closes his eyes as a prayer is offered at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, February. Charles Dharapak/AP hide caption
itoggle caption Charles Dharapak/AP
President Barack Obama closes his eyes as a prayer is offered at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, February.
Charles Dharapak/AP
Nearly three-quarters of the US. believes religious influence on American life is waning and nearly half think that churches and other houses of worship should play a greater role in the national discourse on social and political matters, according to a new Pew study.
The findings by Pew's Religion & Public Life Project show that 72 percent of those surveyed think religion's hold on America is in decline, as opposed to 22 percent who believe that influence is on the rise. Most of those surveyed who said religion was losing influence also viewed that decline as a bad thing.
Nearly half of those surveyed think that churches and other houses of worship should make their views known on social and political issues, an increase of 6 percentage points, to 49 percent, from the mid-term 2010 elections when 43 percent said so. Self-identified Republicans were significantly more likely to want more religion in public life (59 percent) than Democrats (42 percent).
Since 2010, the percentage of the public that views religion's role as positive increased to 58 percent from 49 percent, while a quarter of those surveyed view that role as negative, down marginally from 26 percent four years ago.
Pew says:
"The findings reflect a widening divide between religiously affiliated Americans and the rising share of the population that is not affiliated with any religion (sometimes called the 'nones'). The public's appetite for religious influence in politics is increasing in part because those who continue to identify with a religion (e.g., Protestants, Catholics and others) have become significantly more supportive of churches and other houses of worship speaking out about political issues and political leaders talking more often about religion. The 'nones' are much more likely to oppose the intermingling of religion and politics."
As we reported two years ago, the percentage of those "nones" has grown in recent years, especially among younger Americans. In a 2012 Pew survey, 1 in 5 in the U.S. said they were "religiously unaffiliated," a group that includes those who say they have no particular religion as well as self-described atheists and agnostics. Among those under 30 years of age, fully one-third said that religion played "little or no role" in their lives.
Other findings in the latest Pew polls showed a slight decrease in the share of those surveyed who support same-sex marriage (41 percent from 49 percent in a February poll), although Pew notes: "It is too early to know if this modest decline is an anomaly or the beginning of a reversal or leveling off in attitudes toward gay marriage after years of steadily increasing public acceptance."
There has also been a rise in the number who view homosexuality as a sin (50 percent from 45 percent a year ago). While almost half (49 percent) of those surveyed say they believe that businesses such as caterers and florists should not be allowed to reject same-sex couples as customers, nearly as many (47 percent) said they approved of such a practice.
Some other points from the survey worth noting:
— 47 percent see the Republican Party as "friendly toward religion," but only 29 percent said that about the Democratic Party. Pew also says: "our surveys have found a steady rise in the percentage of people who view the Obama administration as unfriendly toward religion – rising to 29% today compared with 23% in 2012 and 17% in 2009."
— 34 percent of white evangelicals believe the GOP has "not done a good job of representing their views on abortion because the party is too liberal," according to Pew.
The survey was based on telephone interviews conducted Sept. 2-9, 2014 among a national sample of 2,002 adults drawn from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The sampling error for different demographic subsets ranged from 2.5 percentage points to 11.4 percentage points.
Obama: Coalition Against ISIS Shows 'This Is Not America's Fight Alone'
President Obama speaks about the participation of five Arab nations in airstrikes against militants in Syria., on Tuesday before heading to the United Nations. Carolyn Kaster/AP hide caption
itoggle caption Carolyn Kaster/AP
President Obama speaks about the participation of five Arab nations in airstrikes against militants in Syria., on Tuesday before heading to the United Nations.
Carolyn Kaster/AP
President Obama said a multinational coalition that carried out airstrikes in Syria shows that the fight against Islamic extremists is "not America's fight alone."
Speaking briefly just before his departure for the United Nations in New York, the president said he is "proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder" with Arab allies Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and UAE. The broader coalition against the self-proclaimed Islamic State consists of some 40 allies, he said.
"The strength of this coalition makes it clear to the world that this is not American's fight alone," he said.
In an apparent reference to airstrikes against the shadowy Khorasan group of militants, who U.S. officials say was actively plotting attacks on U.S. and Western interests, Obama: "Once again, it must be clear to anyone who would plot against America and do Americans harm that we will not tolerate safe havens for terrorists who threaten our people."
The Pentagon says that U.S. airstrikes, which included manned warplanes, 37 sea-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles and drones, also targeted the al-Qaida affiliated Nusra Front in Syria.
The president said the next step was to "ramp up" the equipping and training of Syrian rebels to take on Islamic State on the ground.
"We are going to do what's necessary," he said, concluding his remarks with: "God bless our troops. God bless America."
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Happy Birthday, We the People! Marking Three Years of Online Petitions
We the People, the Obama administration's online petitions platform, turned 3 yesterday.
On September 22, 2011, we launched We the People to give Americans a new way to petition their government around issues they care about. It works like this: Start a petition, get enough signatures, and the Obama administration will work with policy experts to issue an official response.
It's three years later, and We the People remains incredibly popular: More than 15 million users have participated, collecting more than 22 million signatures on more than 360,000 petitions. To date, we've issued nearly 250 responses to petitions on a wide range of topics, including maintaining an open and innovative internet, reducing student loan debt, improving our economy, and even building a "Death Star."
The We the People platform has led directly to policy changes and provided new opportunities for dialogue between citizens and their government. That's part of the reason why, over the course of 2014, an average of response surveys showed a majority of signers thought it was "helpful to hear the Administration's response," even if they didn't agree. Nearly 80 percent said they would use We the People again.
To celebrate We the People's third birthday, the White House will host the first-ever social meetup for We the People users and petition creators right here at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It will be an exciting chance for users to meet with policy experts and connect with each other in person.
Meanwhile, we continue to work to make We the People even more accessible so that people -- no matter where they are on the internet -- can use the platform to reach the White House. Beginning in October, third-party websites can submit signatures to We the People on behalf of their own signers, using our soon-to-be-released Write API (which is currently in beta). It's the result of months of hard work, and we can't wait to share it with the public.
Check out the infographic below, and take a look at some of the platform's highlights over the last three years:
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Muslim Scholars lay blame on March 8 coalition for terrorism plaguing Lebanon
BEIRUT: The March 8 coalition is responsible for the terrorism plaguing Lebanon the Committee of Muslim Scholars said Tuesday, calling on Hezbollah withdraw from Syria and the militants spread across the northeastern border to return to Syria.
“We reiterate our call to the so-called Hezbollah fighters to withdraw immediately from Syria, and we call on Syrian fighters immediately withdraw to Syria, where the real battle is,” said a statement issued by the committee in north Lebanon.
“A political team [March 8] which supports the need for alliance with the terrorist [Syrian President Bashar] Assad cannot be honest in the fight against terrorism,” the scholars said.
They accused March 8 of dragging the Lebanese Army into a confrontation with the people, adding that the Hezbollah-led alliance was “responsible for everything that is happening in Lebanon by sending armed militias to kill people in Syria.”
Addressing the Lebanese government, the scholars said the solution to ending the consequences of Hezbollah’s intervention in Syria was "not by implicating the Lebanese Army ... but pushing for Hezbollah’s withdrawal from Syria.”
They called for the deployment of U.N. peacekeeping troops along the Lebanese-Syrian border.
The scholars expressed support for both the residents of the Bekaa Valley border town of Arsal, as well as the families of the Lebanese soldiers and policemen held captive by Islamist militants.
“We declare next Friday a day of solidarity in all mosques under the title ‘no to Arsal’s slaugher,’” the statement said.
To the hostages’ families, the scholars said that “the solution is not with the Lebanese government and not with the Qataris. The solution is with those disrupting negotiations inside the Cabinet.”
“Do not stop your pressure on ministers, minister after minister,” they urged.
The scholars also sympathized with Islamist inmates held at Roumieh Prison for their alleged involvement in the 2007 war between the Lebanese Army and Fatah al-Islam in the northern Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-Bared.
One of the demands of the ISIS and Nusra Front jihadists who are holding at least 21 Lebanese soldiers and policemen hostage was an exchange of the captives with the Islamist prisoners. They have also demanded that Hezbollah withdraws from Syria.
“To Islamist inmates ... We were hoping that you would return to your families who have been suffering for years without killing [taking place] in your name,” the statement said.
ISIS has beheaded two Lebanese soldiers and Nusra recently released a video showing a Lebanese soldier being shot dead.
“We hope you will soon be released from this terrible injustice.”
The statement also referred to a YouTube video that has recently surfaced showing Lebanese soldiers allegedly beating and abusing Syrian refugees.
“The documented violations we saw were shocking, inhumane and inappropriate attitude by the Lebanese security members against Arsal residents and Syrian refugees ... this necessitates sounding the alarm and considering what happened has exceeded all red lines.”
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NYT: De-fact Hezbollah-US alliance against ISIS
BEIRUT: Hezbollah and the U.S. have become de-facto allies in Syria, with the common objective of combating ISIS and preventing its spread into Lebanon, the New York Times said Tuesday.
In a rare interview between a senior party official and American media, Hezbollah’s newly appointed public relations chief, Mohammed Afif, implicitly acknowledged the rise of an indirect coordination in the fight against terror between the party and Washington, though their broader goals and views sharply diverge.
“All have an interest to keep the peace” in Lebanon, Afifi told the NYT, but added that each had its own ways to combat their common enemy.
The U.S. paper suggested that American intelligence had indirectly shared information with Hezbollah that helped the party stop suicide attacks in its stronghold in the southern suburb of Beirut.
The American military aid that has been arriving in Lebanon to help the Army to secure the border was another form of indirect cooperation according to the paper, as the Lebanese Army coordinates with Hezbollah and shares intelligence.
The New York Times added that there are signs that Hezbollah, which the U.S. lists as a terrorist organization, may see the fight against ISIS as an opportunity to gain legitimacy by making the case that it is standing against terrorism.
“We need to open up a new page with the world media, with Arabs and internationally,” Afifi said, justifying the lengthy interview with NYT.
While there may be indirect coordination behind the scenes, Hezbollah and the U.S. deny any hint of an alliance. Hezbollah is also opposed to having Lebanon join a US-led coalition to combat ISIS.
But analysts contended that having American drones in the air and Hezbollah fighters on the ground, targeting the same foe, constitutes a de-facto collaboration, though each can argue there was no official coordination - just two parties doing different things for the same goal.
According to the analysts, Hezbollah would deeply welcome U.S. strikes as long as they are confined to ISIS targets, even if it might not say so in public.
Another anaylst went as far as to suggest to the NYT that the U.S. should rethink its stance against Hezbollah.
“Hezbollah is not representing an imminent threat against the world,” Kamel Wazne said. “It represents a threat against Israel, as Israel represents a threat against Lebanon. But Hezbollah is not going to threaten the U.S. and Europe. Nobody said Hezbollah is cutting off heads.”
Contract workers shut service provider KVA over half salaries
BEIRUT: Former EDL workers who are currently contracted by the service provider KVA shut down the company’s headquarters north Beirut Tuesday after receiving only half of their August salaries.
“We were paid part of our salaries 20 days ago and we were promised to receive the remainder in a matter of days,” Ali Al-Hajj Yousef, one of the contract workers, told The Daily Star. “If they do not promise to pay them in one hour from now, we will block their building again tomorrow.”
The executives and staff at KVA, one of the three service providers that manage Lebanon’s electricity sector, were unable to reach their offices at Dora due to the protest today.
“We did not pay half their salaries because they were on strike,” said Jamal Hatoum, the human resources manager at the company.
“And we are also not finding enough funds to pay the wages,” he added.
According to Hatoum, KVA has come under financial pressure because of delayed payments from the state-owned Electricite du Liban, as well as the recent workers' strike.
“We stopped working seven weeks ago due to the strike and before that, EDL had not paid us for eight months,” Hatoum explained to The Daily Star.
Contract workers on Monday also shut down the building of another service provider, NEU Company, for not paying all of their wages for August.
However, for NEU, whose CEO Carla Aoun promised to pay the wages after a meeting with workers’ representative, the suspended salaries were due to a conflict around a pledge that the workers refused to sign.
The pledge was a way to push workers to make a legally binding promise not to engage in ‘unlawful’ activities. After most workers refused to sign, the company said it would only pay half their salary, but later went back on its decision.
The contract workers have been striking and blocking EDL’s main headquarters for more than 40 days.
After years of no social security, paid vacation, or any other employment benefits under day labor contracts at EDL, the workers are demanding full-time employment with EDL, either now or when their temporary employment with the service providers expires in 2016. However, EDL’s administration decided to only hire 897 out of close to 2000 workers, prompting the ongoing strike.
Berri postpones Lebanon presidential election to Oct.9
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Lebanese PM in New York for meeting at the UN General Assembly
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Tammam Salam arrived in New York to take part in the 69th session of the U.N. General Assembly.
Salam will meet at the sidelines of the sessions with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Iraqi President Fouad Massoum, Jordan's King Abdullah as well as U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon and the head of the Arab League Nabil al-Arabi.
Salam is also expected to hold talks with Britain’s foreign minister and the World Bank president, Jim Yong.
The prime minister will also attend a reception hosted by U.S. President Barack Obama in honor of heads of delegations participating in the U.N. General Assembly sessions.
Salam is scheduled to address the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 26.
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Arsal mayor hopeful of solution to Lebanese hostage crisis
BEIRUT: A positive outcome for the Lebanese servicemen held captive by Islamist militants could be on the cards following the restart in Qatari mediation and compromises between the militants and government, according to Arsal's mayor.
“We hope that the coming days will bring good news,” Ali Hujeiri told The Daily Star by telephone Tuesday.
“A Qatari envoy is expected to kick off negotiations today and hopefully things will work out after both the kidnappers and the Lebanese government made some retractions,” he said.
“It is in no one’s interest, and not in Arsal’s interest, for soldiers to be killed,” Hujeiri said, referencing the at least 21 Lebanese soldiers and policemen held captive by jihadists from ISIS and the Nusra Front.
Nusra released a video last week showing soldier Mohammad Hammieh being shot dead. Previously the group had released seven captives. For its part, ISIS has beheaded two soldiers, and threatened to behead a third unless its demands are met.
The militants have set out several demands for the hostages’ release, including; swapping them with Islamist inmates at Roumieh Prison, Hezbollah’s withdrawal from Syria and ensuring Syrian refugees are not harmed.
Lebanon, which has insisted it would not negotiate with terrorists, appeared to have softened its stance.
“We want irrefutable guarantees that the kidnappers would stop the killings before indulging in anything else,” Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk told the local daily As-Safir in remarks published Tuesday.
He acknowledged that the government has made some “non-essential conveniences as a goodwill gesture,” but complained that the militants in return killed a Lebanese soldier and detonated a roadside bomb.
“The Lebanese state is confronting terrorist killers who are seeking to sow Sunni-Shiite strife,” Machnouk added.
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