Tuesday, 14 October 2014

Lebanon's Arabic press digest – Oct. 15, 2014



The following are a selection of stories from Lebanese newspapers that may be of interest to Daily Star readers. The Daily Star cannot vouch for the accuracy of these reports.


An-Nahar


Salary scale at a standstill


The parliamentary joint committee will meet again Wednesday to discuss the salary raise.


Parliamentary sources told An-Nahar that the meeting will address the demands of private sector teachers who are calling for a six-grade raise, which requires a study of the costs that would result if this was generalized to all sectors included in the salary scale.


Concerning the raise for military personnel, the sources said this issue aimed to restore the figures to what they were previously under the plan proposed by the Chairman of the Finance and Budget Committee MP Ibrahim Kanaan – LL 2.4 billion, which requires search for new funding sources.


As-Safir


Hariri’s return will stir up ‘political quagmire’


Future Movement leader Saad Hariri’s visit to Rome, where he announced that he plans to return to Beirut put parliamentary elections back on the political track despite pessimism over the presidential election issue.


Hariri has succeeded in wooing Christians and the Maronite spiritual leadership through giving priority to the presidential election and his showing willingness to carry out initiatives in this direction, March 8’s weak point – particularly Hezbollah, which has surrendered to the nomination of MP Michel Aoun, although the majority in the March 8 coalition are convinced that the arrival of Gen. Aoun to Baabda Palace has many pitfalls, both internally and externally.


More to follow ...



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President Obama Joins International Military Leaders to Discuss Coalition Efforts Against ISIL


President Obama meets with more than 20 foreign chiefs of defense to discuss coalition efforts in the campaign against ISIL

President Barack Obama participates in a meeting hosted by Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, with more than 20 foreign chiefs of defense to discuss the coalition efforts in the ongoing campaign against ISIL. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, Commander, U.S. Central Command also participates in the meeting at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, Oct. 14, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)




This afternoon, President Obama traveled to Joint Base Andrews, just outside of Washington, D.C., to attend a meeting with military leaders from more than 20 partner nations in the coalition to degrade and destroy ISIL.


read more


A Guide To Third Party Candidates



Florida Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Adrian Wyllie told the Miami Herald, "I'm a middle-class guy. I face the same problems that Floridians are facing. I'm not living in an ivory castle like Rick Scott and Charlie Crist."i i



Florida Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Adrian Wyllie told the Miami Herald, "I'm a middle-class guy. I face the same problems that Floridians are facing. I'm not living in an ivory castle like Rick Scott and Charlie Crist." Brendan Farrington/AP hide caption



itoggle caption Brendan Farrington/AP

Florida Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Adrian Wyllie told the Miami Herald, "I'm a middle-class guy. I face the same problems that Floridians are facing. I'm not living in an ivory castle like Rick Scott and Charlie Crist."



Florida Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Adrian Wyllie told the Miami Herald, "I'm a middle-class guy. I face the same problems that Floridians are facing. I'm not living in an ivory castle like Rick Scott and Charlie Crist."


Brendan Farrington/AP


Third party are often written off as long shots or unrealistic. But this November, observers are expecting them to do better than usual.


Polls show voters are tired of both parties. As NPR's Tamara Keith reports, that could be creating an opening for third party candidates in statewide elections.



Richard Winger, editor of Ballot Access News, says Libertarians have been slowly gaining steam at the state level, but he's now predicting record-breaking vote counts for statewide, top-office candidates this midterm season.


With many candidates pulling 5-15 percent in the polls, and so many close races this election, the major party campaigns have more than a few reasons to worry.


Here are some of the independent candidates poised to affect the November race:


Greg Orman


Occupation: Entrepreneur


Candidate for: U.S. Senate, Kansas



Independent candidate Greg Orman debates at the Kansas State Fair.i i



Independent candidate Greg Orman debates at the Kansas State Fair. Don Gonyea/NPR hide caption



itoggle caption Don Gonyea/NPR

Independent candidate Greg Orman debates at the Kansas State Fair.



Independent candidate Greg Orman debates at the Kansas State Fair.


Don Gonyea/NPR




"We're sending the worst of both parties [to Washington]. Bitter partisans who care more about pleasing extremists than they do solving problems. I've tried both parties and, like lots of Kansans, I've been disappointed. That's why I'm running for the U.S. Senate as an independent." (Source: Kansas State Fair)




Sean Haugh


Occupation: Pizza deliveryman


Candidate for: U.S. Senate, North Carolina




"You know I started out thinking, if I get any more votes than just my own, hey bonus you know. But now I really feel like the views I am putting out there to stop all war and stop spending more money than we have are really resonating across the political spectrum" - (Source: NPR)




David Patterson


Occupation: Peace officer


Candidate for: U.S. Senate, Kentucky




"Like you, I am not a politician. However, I have reached a point where I can no longer remain silent. Our career politicians have failed us. Our government has overstepped it's bounds and has compromised our way of life. It's now time for us, the regular people of Kentucky, to stand up and demand that our elected representatives actually listen to us - the people they are supposed to represent." (Source: David4Senate.com)




Mark Fish


Occupation: Military technician


Candidate for: U.S. Senate, Alaska




"Alaskans deserve an alternative choice, one that can change the status quo and move us toward a freer, safer and more prosperous society. I believe my life in Alaska and voice I add to the debate offers Alaskans that choice." (Source: Alaska Dispatch)




Amanda Swafford


Occupation: Paralegal


Candidate for: U.S. Senate, Georgia




"I believe electing someone to the Senate like me, who knows what it's like to work a job, have a boss, and make ends meet on a regular budget, would bring a valuable perspective to the Senate." (Source: TIME)




Bill Walker


Candidate for: Governor, Alaska


Occupation: Attorney




"I'm so absolutely convinced that the only way that Alaska's going to commercialize our gas is for the state of Alaska to take control and to be the owner of the gas pipeline. Built by the private sector, people who are already here, and operated by Alaskans.


It's time for Alaskans to act like Alaskans, and look back at what got us statehood, what got us the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, how hard Alaska's worked for that. It's time we continue that on through the gas pipeline project, and that we do it now on our timeframe, on our terms, for the future of our children and our grandchildren." (Source: WalkerMallottforAlaska.com)




Robert Sarvis


Candidate for: U.S. Senate, Virginia


Occupation: Entrepreneur, software engineer, lawyer




"This is your opportunity to vote against the status quo in Washington ... Libertarians stand for an open society, open-minded and open for business and we want to make sure that people understand this. It's economic freedom and personal liberty. I don't want the government telling me how to live my life, and I don't want to tell you how to live yours.


It's not going to be a contested race between them, so you might as well register a really strong protest vote against Washington...Vote for me. Get the Libertarian party major party status, improve Virginia politics. If you don't do that, then I think you're throwing your vote away." (Source: WDBJ)




Adrian Wyllie


Occupation: IT consultant


Candidate for: Governor, Florida




"If you actually want to change the government, people have to change the way they vote...No vote of conscience is a wasted vote, ever.


I'm a middle-class guy. I face the same problems that Floridians are facing. I'm not living in an ivory castle like Rick Scott and Charlie Crist." (Source: Miami Herald)




Joe Visconti


Occupation: Builder


Candidate for: Governor, Connecticut




"At the end of the day I am a builder. I deliver a product....We are bleeding with waste and I believe most people in government know it, they just don't know how to address it." (Source: CT Mirror)





Kahwagi in Washington as anti-ISIS coalition meets


BEIRUT: Lebanese Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi took part Tuesday in a gathering in Washington of military leaders from the anti-ISIS coalition as the military repelled an infiltration attempt by gunmen in the town of Arsal.


Speaking to The Daily Star, an Army source said Lebanon was not involved with any decisions made during the meeting.


“We are attending as a country that receives military aid and training from the United States and because our Army is confronting terrorism on Lebanese territories,” the source said, requesting to remain anonymous.


“We have nothing to do with the decisions made during the meeting,” he said.


The gathering aims at hammering out a strategy to counter ISIS, which is still advancing in Syria and Iraq despite weeks of airstrikes launched by the coalition.


Attending the meeting were representatives from over 20 countries


The source said that Kahwagi, who has been in Washington since the weekend, had traveled to the U.S. on Dempsey’s invitation. “The aim of the visit is to discuss the pressing needs of the Lebanese Army and seek additional military assistance from the United States,” the source explained. The Lebanese Army has been receiving shipments of arms from the U.S. over the past weeks


Overstretched and underequipped, the Lebanese Army is confronting ISIS and the Nusra Front, which have thousands of fighters on Lebanon’s borders with Syria.


The groups briefly took over the border town of Arsal and are still holding at least 21 serviceman during fierce battles in August.


Meanwhile, the National News Agency reported Tuesday that the Army had opened fire at gunmen in Wadi al-Raayan on the outskirts of Arsal after they tried to infiltrate one of its posts.



Efforts in the works to reach package deal on elections


BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s latest initiative to break the nearly 5-month-old presidential impasse has set political activity into motion with a view to reaching “a package deal” that would set the stage for a smooth extension of Parliament’s mandate and the election of a new president.


Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk met separately Tuesday with Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, Kataeb Party chief Amine Gemayel and former President Michel Sleiman to brief them on the outcome of Hariri’s talks with Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai in Rome Monday night.


“The interior minister’s visits to the three leaders were aimed at informing them about Hariri’s initiative to break the presidential deadlock,” political sources told The Daily Star. “Efforts are underway to reach a package deal that would extend Parliament’s mandate for two years and seven months and elect a new president,” the sources said.


According to the sources, even after the extension of Parliament’s term, which expires on Nov. 20, the deal calls for the election of a president to be followed by parliamentary polls six months later.Hariri, who held talks with Rai in Rome centering on the presidential crisis, called on the March 8 and March 14 parties to reach consensus on a new president as the only way to resolve the crisis that has left Lebanon without a head of state for nearly five months.


He also said a new extension of Parliament’s mandate was essential to prevent the country from entering the unknown.


However, MP Walid Jumblatt sounded downbeat about the presidential election being held soon, citing regional tensions as a reason.


“At present, there is no regional umbrella to elect a president. I don’t see an American-Iranian dialogue or an Iranian-Saudi dialogue about Lebanon,” Jumblatt said in an interview with OTV station, which is affiliated with FPM.


In order to break the presidential stalemate, Jumblatt called on rival leaders to meet together to agree on a successor to Sleiman.


Jumblatt voiced support for the extension of Parliament’s mandate in the absence of a president.


“How can you hold [parliamentary] elections in the absence of a president? It’s better not to take risks and to go instead for the extension [of Parliament’s term] conditional on the election of a president,” he said.


During his visit to Rome, Hariri met Tuesday with Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini and Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti to discuss the security situation in Lebanon, the presidential election and the presence of more than 1 million Syrian refugees on Lebanese territory.


Hariri said he asked Mogherini for Italy’s assistance to help Lebanon cope with the burden of the Syrian refugees. “As I said yesterday after meeting the patriarch, we will work hard on the presidential issue and the possibility of making a new initiative after the extension of Parliament’s mandate.”


On the threat of ISIS and Nusra Front facing the country, Hariri stressed that terrorists would not find a hospitable environment within the Sunni community in Lebanon, while strongly rejecting any attack on the Army.


The former premier refuted claims that Sunnis have created an environment that encourages terrorism.


“Most Sunnis in Lebanon or all of them are moderate. Today, some are trying to portray them as if they are encouraging terrorism,” Hariri said.


“Our position as the Future Movement is that ISIS poses a threat to all of Lebanon and the region too,” he said. “With regard to ISIS, we will not compromise at all. They [ISIS militants} are terrorists. They have fought the Lebanese and the Lebanese Army and we will fight them because they have nothing to do with Islam.”


Hariri reaffirmed the Future Movement’s support for the Lebanese Army in its battle against terrorism. “We shall confront anyone, including Sunnis, who seek to attack the Army,” he said.


Hariri confirmed that he plans to return to Lebanon permanently after living in self-imposed exile for approximately three years for security reasons.



Analysts forecast stormy winter on Lebanon’s border


BEIRUT: The approaching winter is likely to lead to an increase in attacks by extremist groups ISIS and the Nusra Front either at weak points along the border or within Lebanon itself, analysts say, putting the Lebanese Army and Hezbollah at severe risk of being overstretched. “We do expect a breakthrough somewhere along the border,” said Hisham Jaber, a retired major general from the Lebanese Army and head of the Middle East Center for Studies and Public Affairs. “Those militants cannot stay where they are, they need logistical support, and especially when winter comes, they will need somewhere warmer.”


Several thousand fighters allied with ISIS and Nusra are believed to be located in Syria’s mountainous Qalamoun region that stretches along the Syrian-Lebanese border. Several hundred of these are camped out in the outskirts of Arsal, where heavy fighting with the Army broke out in August after they stormed the northeastern Lebanese border town.


Arsal has since witnessed a massive security crackdown, including controversial raids on surrounding Syrian refugee camps believed to be harboring militants, making future raids much more difficult.


Jaber pointed instead to several other potential weak spots on Lebanon’s border, including Akkar in the north and Shebaa in the south, as well as in West Bekaa. Crucially, he added, these were places where Hezbollah – which is also fighting the militants in Syria alongside the Syrian regime – does not have a strong presence and where the Shiite population was low to nonexistent.


“Arsal is now well defended by the Army,” said Elias Hanna, a retired general who now teaches strategy and geopolitics at the American University of Beirut. “So they will look for the weaker spots. Brital was one of them. So maybe they will move a bit to Zabadani [in Syria by the border], and the Western Bekaa.


“There are not many cities there, and no Hezbollah presence, as well as less of an Army presence.”


The importance of not having to fight two enemies at once is obvious, but there are also other reasons the militants would want to find Hezbollah-free areas to try to exploit or control during the freezing winter months.


While the Army has been treated to a spurt of financial and in-kind support recently from countries including the U.S., Saudi Arabia and possibly Iran, it remains woefully underequipped to deal with a sustained insurgency movement on the border on its own, especially if it occurs in several places.


Further, argues Randa Slim, a Lebanese-American political analyst at the Middle East Institute, the military is severely overcommitted and faces restrictions on what it can and can’t do due to its need to court public opinion, a problem Hezbollah does not seem to face.


“The army is about 35,000 strong, and they are now doing everything. They are engaged in every type of security activity ... So there are some questions about resources,” she said.


“There is also a line that the Army needs to be aware of; what the Army can do is different from what Hezbollah can do,” she added. “The Army is the Lebanese Army and has to act according to the consensus among communities in Lebanon, that has always been the case.


“So the Army has to take into consideration the fact that some within Sunni communities [in Lebanon] have certain sympathies for Nusra that limit how far the Army can go. Hezbollah has a freer hand in this sense.”


The result was a “coordination between the two” forces that she said was “part of an evolving modus operandi for both Hezbollah and the Army.”


“I think both groups see the extremists as an existential threat now,” she added.


Whether there is cooperation or not – a controversial subject for many in Lebanon who disagree with Hezbollah’s hefty non-state arsenal – the Lebanese Army is clearly braced for more border incursions in the coming months.


However, some believe that the harsh winter weather, which will blanket the eastern Anti-Lebanon Mountains in snow, may actually reduce the amount of fighting on the border.


“I think winter will have somewhat of a suppressive effect on the situation,” said Jeffrey White, a defense fellow at the Washington Institute. “It’s just harder to conduct operations in that weather, visibility drops, it’s harder to move vehicles around, troops are more exposed to elements.


“It doesn’t mean fighting will stop,” he explained, “but I think there will be a natural tendency to stay inside and save resources.”


“As far as the jihadists go, they are fighting on the move,” Hanna agreed. “They will be hindered by logistics, how they can move, how to conduct surveillance, preparations and exits. In some places there will be a lot of snow, so you cannot hide.”


“In principle, operations should decline in number because of the weather,” he said, before adding, “but maybe they will instead shift toward conducting operations deeper inside Lebanon, maybe they will use their sleeper cells.”


There have been numerous reports recently about the existence of such cells in Lebanon many of which are suspected to be within refugee camps awaiting a signal to conduct a suicide bombing or assassination similar to the spate of attacks seen late last year and early this year.


Although Slim believes the sleeper cells in Lebanon would more to likely comprise of clusters of sympathizers or relatives of fighters than anything more sophisticated, she agreed that they would likely be utilized as part of ISIS and Nusra’s struggle for the border.


“We are likely to see some attempts at activating some of the sleeper cells to create distractions in other areas to detract attention from border,” Slim agreed. “It’s a matter of life or death for them [ISIS and Nusra]. They need to have this supply line as winter approaches.


“The more the Army puts pressure on the militants in the border area the more likely they are to create disturbances to divert resources from the border.” Resources, all analysts agreed, would be the key sticking point this coming winter, in particular human resources.


“Any expansion of fighting, especially into new areas, will stretch the Army,” White said. “It’s not a big Army and it’s not used to conducting these operations over such a wide area.”


And Hezbollah, which is heavily committed in Syria, is not exempt from this problem. “I think Hezbollah has a problem of capacity right now,” Slim said. “The multiplicity of fronts on which it is engaged is a serious drain on their human resources. Especially given the fact they also have the southern front to maintain.”


“Everybody is overstretched,” Hanna agreed. “The Army, Hezbollah, the Syrian regime. But while they are all looking to crush the militants, the main strategy of the jihadists is just to survive. If they survive, they win.”



Divisive Arsal sheikh charged with belonging to Nusra Front


BEIRUT: Sheikh Mustafa Hujeiri, a former negotiator in Lebanon's hostage crisis, was charged Tuesday with belonging to the Nusra Front. A military judge is seeking the death penalty against the Arsal resident. Hujeiri, a Salafist sheikh, rose to prominence when he became a key intermediary between the Committee of Muslim Scholars and the Islamist militants holding at least 21 Lebanese servicemen hostage in the outskirts of Arsal.


A source in Arsal told The Daily Star that the sheikh had lived outside Arsal for most of his life, during which time he began to follow Salafist teachings. Hujeiri previously lived in Sidon and reportedly maintains strong ties with Salafist sheikhs in Tripoli. He is also said to have travelled between Syria and Pakistan.


The sheikh started visiting Arsal ten years ago, and he later on built a mosque that he named after himself.


FSA commander in Qalamoun Bassil Idriss said that Abu Taqiyyeh, Hujeiri’s nom de guerre, was responsible for overseeing humanitarian and medical aid for Syrian refugees.


He opened a field hospital in his mosque, where both civilians and opposition fighters have been treated. His operations, according to a source, are financed by Salafists in Lebanon and abroad.


Rumors began that the hybrid mosque/hospital was being used as a hub for Nusra fighters.


A doctor at the infirmary, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, denied the most recent accusations against the Sheikh. The doctor said that the “charges claimed the second floor of his mosque was being used as militant base, but that is not true.”


Hujeiri was previously indicted for the killing of two army officers in Arsal in January 2013 and is being tried in absentia.


Known of late as the emir of Nusra in Arsal, Hujeiri is a divisive figure. “A lot of people believe that he drew Arsal into the troubles,” said one Arsal resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity.


Others, however, say he was instrumental in the release of several kidnapped soldiers.


Hujeiri facilitated the release of seven hostages held by the Nusra Front. Four soldiers and a policeman were released on Aug. 30, while two policemen were freed on Aug.18.


Hujeiri is also credited with facilitating visits by the abducted soldiers’ families last month. The sheikh accompanied abducted soldier George Khoury’s family to the outskirts in order for them to meet with their son. Hujeiri is also said to have done the same for Rana Fliti, the wife of captured soldier Ali Bazzal.


But in the heat of the Arsal battle, multiple sources told The Daily Star that the kidnapped soldiers and ISF members were held briefly in Hujeiri’s Arsal mosque. A member of the first team that negotiated the cease-fire in Arsal, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the servicemen had been held in the mosque during the clashes before being spirited to the outskirts.


Hujeiri spoke with LBCI television Tuesday about the new charges against him. “Is this how they thank me for what I did for the kidnapped soldiers?” he asked.


Also Tuesday, a military court postponed the trial of more than 50 people suspected of being involved in clashes in Abra, including radical preacher Ahmad Assir and singer Fadel Shaker, until Nov. 18.


A judicial source said the postponement was due to the fact that Alaaeddine al-Baba, a suspect who was released on bail, was part of the Lebanon Football Federation taking part in games outside the country.



Rafik Hariri security was aware of threat: guard


BEIRUT: A bodyguard who worked for former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and survived the blast that killed him said Tuesday the premier’s top security officer had warned them of an unspecified threat posed by Hezbollah before the assassination. The bodyguard, who testified before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, also described the aftermath of stormy meetings between Hariri and Syrian President Bashar Assad as well as a meeting with the head of military intelligence, Rustom Ghazaleh, who allegedly threatened that he would break Hariri’s arm.


The officer, who was in the second vehicle in Hariri’s motorcade on the day of the explosion, also described the mental and nervous disorders that have plagued him since the day of the bombing.


“During the meetings, he would warn us a lot about ... Hezbollah,” said the bodyguard, whose identity and voice were obscured to protect his confidentiality after he received telephone threats, referring to Yahya al-Arab, Hariri’s top security official who was killed in the bombing. “I don’t know what the story was; he said that Hariri is annoyed with Hezbollah, Hariri has reconciled with Hezbollah, but you have to pay attention and watch out.”


The STL is tasked with prosecuting those responsible for the Valentine’s Day bombing in 2005 that killed Hariri and 21 others, the fallout from which ended the Syrian tutelage over Lebanon and plunged the country into years of political turmoil. The U.N.-backed court indicted five members of Hezbollah in connection with the attack, and their trial in absentia is being held in The Hague.


Opponents of the court have long pointed to Hariri’s cordial relations with Hezbollah, and in particular its Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, in the runup to his assassination. Hariri’s Future Movement and Hezbollah entered the 2005 parliamentary elections in some districts on joint lists.


But the testimony casts fresh doubt over the relationship between Hariri and Hezbollah.


The bodyguard, who began working with Hariri’s security detail in 2000, described in detail Hariri’s close protection measures, which usually consisted of three vehicles in addition to the premier’s, and an ambulance, often supplemented by ISF officers on motorbikes or other cars. They would also sometimes make use of decoy vehicles.


As premier, Hariri sometimes had as many as 50 ISF officers in his protection detail, the witness said.


On the day of the assassination, Hariri’s motorcade consisted of a Toyota Landcruiser manned by ISF personnel in the lead, followed by a Mercedes S-300 which included the witness, then Hariri’s car, which he was driving himself alongside MP Bassil Fleihan. Behind Hariri were two other Mercedes vehicles, one of which was an ambulance.


The witness described how the close protection officers tested the signal jammers meant to block remotely controlled explosives as they left Parliament 10 minutes before the explosion – their phones and the radio did not work when they turned the jammers on.


He said the officers never turned off the jammers unless instructed to by Hariri, who would turn on his hazard lights to make a phone call, though he often only did that outside Beirut on highways, and did not do so on the day of the bombing.


“The jammers were on and they were operational,” the witness said.


He added that he was tasked with waving away any traffic that cuts into the path of the convoy. He remembered waving off a motorbike and a car moments before the bomb went off – and then nothing.


“I stopped remembering anything related to that area 50 meters before the explosion,” he said, though he added that he remembered vague sounds and voices at the scene and hospital as he was recovered from the area.


But the most intriguing details were those offered by the witness on Hariri’s meetings with top Syrian officials, including his last meeting with President Bashar Assad in Damascus and a meeting of Yahya al-Arab, Hariri’s top security officer, with Rustom Ghazaleh, the chief of Syria’s military intelligence apparatus in Lebanon at the time.


After the meeting with Assad in the fall of 2004, the bodyguard said they met a distraught Hariri after an unusually short encounter with the Syrian president.


“He was tired, upset and his face was all red and flushed,” said the officer, adding that they escorted Hariri to his residence in Faqra where he stayed to recover for a week.


The officer said that he heard from Talal Nasser, Hariri’s chief bodyguard, that the meeting with Assad, intended to discuss the extension of President Emile Lahoud’s term which Hariri opposed, went “very badly.”


“He said that Mr. Hariri was very upset ... and God help the country,” the officer said. “Talal Nasser died with Mr. Hariri.”


The witness also described the meeting between Hariri’s top security officer, Arab, and Ghazaleh, the Syrian chief of military intelligence in Lebanon. After the meeting, Arab told Nasser that Ghazaleh threatened that if Hariri did not agree to Lahoud’s extension, he would “break his arm.”


The witness said Hariri’s security detail made changes in the aftermath of Ghazaleh’s threats, including using more decoy convoys when Hariri traveled through Beirut.



Rafik Hariri security was aware of threat: guard


BEIRUT: A bodyguard who worked for former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and survived the blast that killed him said Tuesday the premier’s top security officer had warned them of an unspecified threat posed by Hezbollah before the assassination. The bodyguard, who testified before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, also described the aftermath of stormy meetings between Hariri and Syrian President Bashar Assad as well as a meeting with the head of military intelligence, Rustom Ghazaleh, who allegedly threatened that he would break Hariri’s arm.


The officer, who was in the second vehicle in Hariri’s motorcade on the day of the explosion, also described the mental and nervous disorders that have plagued him since the day of the bombing.


“During the meetings, he would warn us a lot about ... Hezbollah,” said the bodyguard, whose identity and voice were obscured to protect his confidentiality after he received telephone threats, referring to Yahya al-Arab, Hariri’s top security official who was killed in the bombing. “I don’t know what the story was; he said that Hariri is annoyed with Hezbollah, Hariri has reconciled with Hezbollah, but you have to pay attention and watch out.”


The STL is tasked with prosecuting those responsible for the Valentine’s Day bombing in 2005 that killed Hariri and 21 others, the fallout from which ended the Syrian tutelage over Lebanon and plunged the country into years of political turmoil. The U.N.-backed court indicted five members of Hezbollah in connection with the attack, and their trial in absentia is being held in The Hague.


Opponents of the court have long pointed to Hariri’s cordial relations with Hezbollah, and in particular its Secretary-General Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, in the runup to his assassination. Hariri’s Future Movement and Hezbollah entered the 2005 parliamentary elections in some districts on joint lists.


But the testimony casts fresh doubt over the relationship between Hariri and Hezbollah.


The bodyguard, who began working with Hariri’s security detail in 2000, described in detail Hariri’s close protection measures, which usually consisted of three vehicles in addition to the premier’s, and an ambulance, often supplemented by ISF officers on motorbikes or other cars. They would also sometimes make use of decoy vehicles.


As premier, Hariri sometimes had as many as 50 ISF officers in his protection detail, the witness said.


On the day of the assassination, Hariri’s motorcade consisted of a Toyota Landcruiser manned by ISF personnel in the lead, followed by a Mercedes S-300 which included the witness, then Hariri’s car, which he was driving himself alongside MP Bassil Fleihan. Behind Hariri were two other Mercedes vehicles, one of which was an ambulance.


The witness described how the close protection officers tested the signal jammers meant to block remotely controlled explosives as they left Parliament 10 minutes before the explosion – their phones and the radio did not work when they turned the jammers on.


He said the officers never turned off the jammers unless instructed to by Hariri, who would turn on his hazard lights to make a phone call, though he often only did that outside Beirut on highways, and did not do so on the day of the bombing.


“The jammers were on and they were operational,” the witness said.


He added that he was tasked with waving away any traffic that cuts into the path of the convoy. He remembered waving off a motorbike and a car moments before the bomb went off – and then nothing.


“I stopped remembering anything related to that area 50 meters before the explosion,” he said, though he added that he remembered vague sounds and voices at the scene and hospital as he was recovered from the area.


But the most intriguing details were those offered by the witness on Hariri’s meetings with top Syrian officials, including his last meeting with President Bashar Assad in Damascus and a meeting of Yahya al-Arab, Hariri’s top security officer, with Rustom Ghazaleh, the chief of Syria’s military intelligence apparatus in Lebanon at the time.


After the meeting with Assad in the fall of 2004, the bodyguard said they met a distraught Hariri after an unusually short encounter with the Syrian president.


“He was tired, upset and his face was all red and flushed,” said the officer, adding that they escorted Hariri to his residence in Faqra where he stayed to recover for a week.


The officer said that he heard from Talal Nasser, Hariri’s chief bodyguard, that the meeting with Assad, intended to discuss the extension of President Emile Lahoud’s term which Hariri opposed, went “very badly.”


“He said that Mr. Hariri was very upset ... and God help the country,” the officer said. “Talal Nasser died with Mr. Hariri.”


The witness also described the meeting between Hariri’s top security officer, Arab, and Ghazaleh, the Syrian chief of military intelligence in Lebanon. After the meeting, Arab told Nasser that Ghazaleh threatened that if Hariri did not agree to Lahoud’s extension, he would “break his arm.”


The witness said Hariri’s security detail made changes in the aftermath of Ghazaleh’s threats, including using more decoy convoys when Hariri traveled through Beirut.



Lebanon receives 130M euros from EU for justice and security


BEIRUT: The European Union has allocated more than 130 million euros ($164.8 million) to Lebanon in a new Memorandum of Understanding signed Tuesday by Economy Minister Alain Hakim and the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule. The new funds will be used between 2014 and 2016 on a variety of sectors, with emphasis on justice and security reform, social cohesion projects and the promotion of sustainable management of natural resources.


“This is one more demonstration of the European Union’s deep engagement with Lebanon at this critical juncture. Indeed, the EU is well aware that Lebanon is facing extraordinary security, political, humanitarian, social and economic challenges,” Fule expressed in a press brief released after the Memorandum of Understanding was inked.


Anelina Eichhorst, the European Union’s ambassador to Lebanon, said that bolstering Lebanon’s judiciary system would be an important priority in the coming years.


“There have been many requests from both the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Justice to both work together, particularly on the condition of the prisons and on the conditions of the courts themselves,” Eichhorst told The Daily Star.


While improving capacity building in the courts is an important measure, Eichhorst said that in the next few years European Union funding will go toward improving conditions in prisons.


Lebanon’s jails, in particular the notorious Roumieh prison complex, have drawn increased scrutiny in recent years after jihadist groups were found to be operating and possibly recruiting new members inside. Overcrowded and understaffed, there is growing fear that the country’s prisons are becoming hubs of radicalization rather than rehabilitation.


“We’ll focus on the prisons most,” she added. “Not just the idea of, you know, we need more prisons ... but having a human rights approach to the whole question of justice and dealing with criminality and dealing with terrorism,” she said.


Enhancing social cohesion and supporting Lebanon’s most vulnerable populations, regardless of their nationalities, is also high on the list of the European Union’s priorities.


Fule visited a community center in Burj Hammoud which offers nonformal education to both Lebanese and Syrian students. “There should not be any discrimination just because of the location where the children are coming from,” he said at the center.


Fule said he was concerned about the abuse of Syrian refugees recently reported by UNHCR and Human Rights Watch. “Each report of course about some misconduct, misbehavior even in the most difficult circumstances like we face here must be addressed,” he told The Daily Star.


While welcoming the announced 130 million-euro support, Prime Minister Tammam Salam called on the EU to boost its structural development programs in Lebanon and to acknowledge the “dangerous threats facing Lebanon and their potential socio-economic consequences.”


He also called on foreign governments to accept a greater number of Syrians seeking asylum as Lebanon is unable to support the 1.2 million refugees officially residing within its borders. “We call for decisions to share Lebanon’s refugee burden, by launching a project that moves big numbers of them to other countries,” Salam said.



Gunmen withdraw from Bab al-Tabbaneh mosque


TRIPOLI, Lebanon: The Abdullah bin Masoud Mosque in Tripoli’s neighborhood of Bab al-Tabbaneh is now under the control of local sheikhs after supporters of two notorious militants withdrew from the building following a settlement Sunday, military and security sources told The Daily Star Tuesday. The armed supporters of Shadi Mawlawi and Ousama Mansour had been using the mosque, which is located in Abdul Hamid Alley in the restive Bab al-Tabbaneh neighborhood, as a base for operations, blocking routes leading to the mosque and installing surveillance cameras around the building.


Mawlawi and Mansour were sentenced to death in absentia for their involvement in a deadly bombing targeting the Lebanese Army in Tripoli in August.


Influential local sheikhs, led by Sheikh Khaled al-Sayyed, intervened, negotiating the group’s withdrawal directly with Mawlawi and Mansour, who agreed that their men would leave the mosque within 48 hours.


The armed men left the mosque Monday and reopened the streets leading to the building and removed the surveillance cameras.


Mawlawi and Mansour disappeared shortly after the mediation Sunday and have not been seen since. Conflicting reports place them both in and outside Bab al-Tabbaneh.


According to a high ranking military source, the Army will not use military force to enter Bab al-Tabbaneh and arrest the two now that a settlement has been reached. Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi had warned that the military would use force if the armed men refused to dismantle their security zone.


The source said the problem in Tripoli was “over,” in the view of the military establishment. “We got what we wanted” from the settlement, he added. “The Army is satisfied.”


Meanwhile, the Committee of Muslim Scholars in Tripoli called for a meeting to be held Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. at the Harba Mosque in Bab al-Tabbaneh where it will release a statement tackling the various security issues in Tripoli.


The committee also emphasized that the Abdullah bin Masoud Mosque was indeed under its control.


“There are no manifestations of armed [groups around the mosque] and those that used it have left it. It is now controlled by local sheikhs, who are holding religious rites in it,” Tripoli Mufti Malek Shaar also said.


Shaar expressed hope that those “sabotaging the security and attacking the Lebanese Army” will be held responsible by the security forces.


Former Tripoli and Future Movement official Mustapha Alloush blamed unrest in the northern city on “suspicious groups” allegedly backed by Hezbollah


Mawlawi and Mansour were relatively unknown before the National Security Plan went into effect in Tripoli earlier this year in an effort to curb recurring clashes between Bab al-Tabbaneh and its rival neighborhood, Jabal Mohsen.


The plan led to the arrest of many militia leaders in Tripoli which observers say created a vacuum later filled by Mawlawi and Mansour.


Separately, the military source did not rule out the renewal of clashes in and around Arsal between the Army and Islamist militants.



In Nevada's Governor's Race, Hispanic Candidates Try To Woo Voters



Audio for this story from All Things Considered will be available at approximately 7:00 p.m. ET.





The state's first Hispanic governor, Brian Sandoval, has become popular and is expected to easily win reelection. But Democrats there now have a rising star: a young Latina politician, Lucy Flores.



Pizza Man And Other Third Party Candidates Shake Up Tight Senate Races



Libertarian Party Senate candidate Sean Haugh, center, looks on as Sen. Kay Hagan and North Carolina Republican Senate candidate Thom Tillis, right, shake hands prior to a live televised debate on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014. Haugh wore a tie featuring a cartoon cat. He says his mom gave it to him.i i



Libertarian Party Senate candidate Sean Haugh, center, looks on as Sen. Kay Hagan and North Carolina Republican Senate candidate Thom Tillis, right, shake hands prior to a live televised debate on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014. Haugh wore a tie featuring a cartoon cat. He says his mom gave it to him. Gerry Broome/AP hide caption



itoggle caption Gerry Broome/AP

Libertarian Party Senate candidate Sean Haugh, center, looks on as Sen. Kay Hagan and North Carolina Republican Senate candidate Thom Tillis, right, shake hands prior to a live televised debate on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014. Haugh wore a tie featuring a cartoon cat. He says his mom gave it to him.



Libertarian Party Senate candidate Sean Haugh, center, looks on as Sen. Kay Hagan and North Carolina Republican Senate candidate Thom Tillis, right, shake hands prior to a live televised debate on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2014. Haugh wore a tie featuring a cartoon cat. He says his mom gave it to him.


Gerry Broome/AP


He's a pizza delivery man by night, and a candidate for US Senate by day. Sean Haugh is the Libertarian running for Senate in North Carolina and he's among a dozen independent and third party candidates nationwide who could shake up tight races for Senate and Governor.


Haugh, 53, doesn't have a traditional campaign headquarters, so he suggests meeting at a hipster fancy doughnut joint in downtown Durham called Monuts.


He is wearing a t-shirt and wire rimmed glasses that harken back to the 1990s, far from the typical dark suit uniform of most male politicians. He orders an orange velvet and a lemon praline doughnut and settles in at a high top table in back for the latest of many sit down interviews he's done this election cycle. Others have taken place at a Waffle House, a coffee shop and his campaign manager's basement where he also films his campaign videos.



YouTube

Sean Haugh's campaign for US Senate involves quite a few YouTube videos shot in his campaign manager's basement.




Delivering Joy And Pizza


After the interview he'll drive his silver Kia to the pizza place where he works as a delivery driver.


"I'm the deliverer of joy and relief to about 20 families a night," says Haugh. "When you think about why you order pizza it's because you want to treat yourself or you just got home from work and you're so tired and you say 'I don't want to cook, let's just order something.' So everyone loves the pizza guy."



Libertarian candidate for Senate Sean Haugh ordered a lemon praline and an orange velvet doughnut at Monuts in Raleigh, NC, where he was interviewed by NPR.




Libertarian candidate for Senate Sean Haugh ordered a lemon praline and an orange velvet doughnut at Monuts in Raleigh, NC, where he was interviewed by NPR. Tamara Keith/NPR hide caption



itoggle caption Tamara Keith/NPR


And Haugh loves being the pizza guy, more than he thought he might. He gets to see five sunsets a week and says his job allows him to decompress after days spent campaigning. He asked us not to publish the name of the company he works for, to keep the corporate office out of it.


Haugh started delivering pizzas it about a year ago after an extended stint of odd jobs and applications that went nowhere. It turns out, he says, 2010 was the worst possible time as a man in his fifties to try and change careers. Before that, Haugh spent more than a decade working for the Libertarian party.


His first job, while still in college, was as a paid petition signature gatherer trying to get Ed Clark and David Koch on the ballot in all fifty states in 1980. His next job: selling merchandise for Greenpeace.


An Act of Conscience


Haugh says he decided to run for senate as an act of conscience, so there'd be someone on the ballot he felt like he could vote for. At first he thought, any votes in addition to his own would be a bonus.


"But now I really feel like the views I am putting out there to stop all war and stop spending more money than we have are really resonating all across the political spectrum," says Haugh.


He's polling around six or seven percent, which is high for a Libertarian candidate. Most polls show his major party opponents Democratic incumbent Kay Hagen and Republican State House Speaker Thom Tillis separated by just one or two points. And that's why Haugh is making people nervous.


"The third party candidate is is a pizza delivery man - nothing against pizza delivery men - who is getting between four, five and seven percent of the vote," says Scott Reed, senior political strategist at the US Chamber of Commerce. "Sure that's a concern."


Hagan and Tillis are both underwater when it comes to voter approval. Heck, voters nationwide are fed up. Reed says that creates an opening for third party candidates, as protest votes. The Chamber, who wants republican candidates to win, is targeting those voters directly.


Third Party Candidates a Factor In Many Races


And it's not just North Carolina. A libertarian candidate could force a runoff in the Georgia Senate race, an independent is polling well in Alaska, there's a wild four-way race in South Dakota, in Kansas the independent candidate leads in some polls.


"All over the map we're just seeing potential this year for these third party candidates to have strange impacts on races in a way that I can't remember," says Tom Jensen, director of Public Policy Polling, a democratic polling group based in Raleigh.


Jensen says support for third party candidates tends to fade as election day gets closer, but this year he expects them to do better than in the past.


Just Don't Call Him a Spoiler


Conventional wisdom suggests Libertarians like Sean Haugh are more likely to pull votes from Republicans. But Richard Winger, editor of Ballot Access News, says that's not the case. He says polls that ask people planning to vote for a third party candidate who they'd choose if that person weren't running, find the vote split along the same lines as the rest of the electorate.


"They are not spoilers," says Winger. "Libertarians are generally drawing equally from people who'd vote Democratic and Republican."


Haugh agrees with this analysis and bristles at the term spoiler. As he sees it, his platform is a combination of ideas from the left and the right. He's pro-choice everything, anti-war, and wants a smaller government.


His grandfather was a moderate Republican, his parents are very liberal.


"I was simultaneously raised by Barry Goldwater and Martin Luther King, so you put them both together you get a natural born libertarian," says Haugh.


And because North Carolina is on everyone's senate race watch list, this natural born libertarian is bringing more attention to his party now, delivering pizzas, than he was able to do in a decade as a paid party operative.



Gay Republican House Candidate DeMaio Hasn't Won Fans In LGBT Community



Audio for this story from All Things Considered will be available at approximately 7:00 p.m. ET.





San Diego's Carl DeMaio is expected to have a real shot at unseating the Democratic incumbent. But the LGBT community isn't embracing the historic moment.



What's Holding Up Release Of The CIA 'Torture Report'?



Audio for this story from All Things Considered will be available at approximately 7:00 p.m. ET.





The CIA, whose post-Sept. 11 interrogation techniques are said to be blasted in the report, has blacked out large parts of the unreleased summary.



Report sees flaws in case against vanishing Marine


RALEIGH, North Carolina: Prosecutors could have a difficult time proving the desertion case against a Lebanese-born U.S. Marine who vanished from his unit in Iraq a decade ago, according to a military report.


The government has a circumstantial case and could have a hard time finding witnesses to testify against 34-year-old Cpl. Wassef Hassoun because the case is so old and many witnesses were Iraqis, the officer who presided over the military equivalent of a grand jury noted in the report.


Hassoun's attorney cites the difficulty in producing witnesses in his request this week for another chance to dissuade the Marines from taking the case to trial. Late last month, Maj. Gen. William D. Beydler referred Hassoun to a court-martial on charges of desertion, larceny and destruction of government property.


Defense attorney Haytham Faraj argued that more witnesses should have testified at the Article 32 hearing and that unsworn statements from witnesses improperly influenced the decision to go to a court-martial. Faraj also said he didn't receive evidence that could help his client until weeks after the hearing.


The officer who presided over the Article 32 hearing said the government faces a significant hurdle in finding Iraqi natives and contractors from a decade ago. In Iraq, Hassoun had been part of a team to develop intelligence by interacting with Iraqis who worked on the base.


"Mr. Faraj is absolutely right -- if trial counsel is unable to track down and produce the witnesses in this case, the government stands little chance of meeting its burden at trial. The government's case hinges upon the appearance and credibility of the witnesses," Martin wrote in the Sept. 10 report.


It was provided to The Associated Press by the defense. Hassoun is being held at Camp Lejeune.


Martin noted that an NCIS agent who testified at the Article 32 acknowledged that "many if not most of the non-U.S. witnesses in this case will not be reachable by the government."


Still, Martin said it's up to him to determine whether the charges have merit - not determine guilt or innocence. Martin also wrote that he didn't consider the unsworn statements.


A Marines spokesman declined to comment on Tuesday.


The case began in June 2004, when Hassoun disappeared from a base in Fallujah, Iraq. About a week later, he appeared in a photo purportedly taken by insurgents. Hassoun was blindfolded and had a sword poised above his head.


Hassoun, a naturalized American citizen who was born and grew up in Lebanon, turned up days later at the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon, saying he was kidnapped by extremists.


The military doubted his story, and he was brought back to the U.S. while charges were considered. He was allowed to visit relatives in Utah in December 2004 when he disappeared again.


Military prosecutors argue Hassoun was unhappy with his deployment and left the Marines. They cited witnesses who said Hassoun didn't like how the U.S. was interrogating Iraqis and that he said he wouldn't shoot back at Iraqis.


After vanishing from the U.S., Hassoun traveled to Lebanon in early 2005 and was soon arrested by Lebanese authorities. Faraj argues that court proceedings in Lebanon were triggered by the desertion accusations and prevented him from leaving for eight years.


Faraj also said that he received new evidence after the Article 32 hearing, including hundreds of pages from investigators that shed light on Hassoun's initial disappearance and kidnapping. An NCIS report from August 2004 states that Hassoun's family in Lebanon contacted the U.S. Embassy in tears after reports of his kidnapping surfaced in the news.


A subsequent report from that month said a representative of the Hassoun clan, which is made up of Sunni Muslims, was able to negotiate with insurgents to earn his release. News that he had returned to the U.S. Embassy in Beirut "sparked a wave of violence and retribution against the Hassoun clan" in Tripoli, Lebanon, a military investigator wrote at the time.