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Wednesday, 15 October 2014
Testimony casts doubt on key fact in Hariri case
BEIRUT: Defense lawyers at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon said Wednesday that a member of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s convoy who survived the explosion that killed Hariri had not seen the Mitsubishi vehicle that allegedly carried the explosives, casting doubt on a key fact in the case. The lawyers also suggested that at least one jammer used by Hariri’s motorcade to block remotely controlled bombs was not operational, a claim that could bolster their theory of an underground bomb or failures among Hariri’s security staff.
Defense lawyer Iain Edwards said a witness who will testify next week in the trial and who was part of the convoy had said the radio in his vehicle was operational, which indicates that jammers in Hariri’s motorcade meant to block remotely detonated bombs were not all working when the blast killed the former premier.
Edwards, who represents the interests of top Hezbollah operative Mustafa Badreddine, suggested that it was possible there were “catastrophic failures of the jammer system” and asked if Hariri’s top bodyguards would have had the incentive to cover up such a failure.
The lawyers also began discussing the role of Wissam al-Hasan, Hariri’s chief of protocol and later Lebanon’s top intelligence operative, who was assassinated in October 2012, and whose absence from Hariri’s convoy on the day of the assassination prompted the suspicion of international investigators.
Hasan’s whereabouts on the night before the attack were discussed but not decided upon in the trial. Prosecutors have said in the past that they do not consider him a suspect.
But the discussion of Hasan’s whereabouts in close proximity to the issue of the faulty jammer may indicate that the lawyers are seeking to draw a connection between the two, though they did not do so explicitly in trial.
The STL is tasked with prosecuting those responsible for the Valentine’s Day bombing in 2005 that killed Hariri and 21 others and plunged Lebanon into years of turmoil in addition to ending Syria’s formal tutelage over its smaller neighbor.
The U.N.-backed tribunal indicted five Hezbollah members in connection with the attack. Their trial in absentia is ongoing in The Hague.
Defense lawyers cross-examined a key witness in the case – a former bodyguard of Hariri who was in the motorcade but survived the explosion. It was the guard’s second day of testimony, and his identity was kept confidential after he reported receiving telephone threats.
The defense counsel disclosed testimony by the bodyguard given to U.N. investigators in 2005 and 2006, in which he said he had not seen a Mitsubishi Canter van in the moments leading up to the explosion. They said they were also in possession of statements by another member of the convoy who survived the explosion, who also said he had not seen a Mitsubishi van.
The witness said he did not remember anything from the final 50-meter stretch of road before the explosion due to the massive blast, though defense lawyers say his testimony indicates that he had a view of the front of the St. Georges Hotel, where the Mitsubishi was supposedly parked.
Prosecutors say Hariri was killed when his motorcade passed by the St. Georges and next to an explosives-laden Mitsubishi van that was double-parked on the side of the road. Defense lawyers say the blast was caused by an underground bomb.
Defense lawyers probed the bodyguard on whether Wissam al-Hasan had accompanied Hariri frequently on trips to Syria, as well as if he had visited the Hariri residence late the night before the assassination. They suggested that CCTV footage in Qoreitem Palace, Hariri’s home in the Hamra neighborhood, would have picked up Hasan’s visit, but did not say what happened when international investigators went looking for the tapes.
Testimony casts doubt on key fact in Hariri case
BEIRUT: Defense lawyers at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon said Wednesday that a member of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s convoy who survived the explosion that killed Hariri had not seen the Mitsubishi vehicle that allegedly carried the explosives, casting doubt on a key fact in the case. The lawyers also suggested that at least one jammer used by Hariri’s motorcade to block remotely controlled bombs was not operational, a claim that could bolster their theory of an underground bomb or failures among Hariri’s security staff.
Defense lawyer Iain Edwards said a witness who will testify next week in the trial and who was part of the convoy had said the radio in his vehicle was operational, which indicates that jammers in Hariri’s motorcade meant to block remotely detonated bombs were not all working when the blast killed the former premier.
Edwards, who represents the interests of top Hezbollah operative Mustafa Badreddine, suggested that it was possible there were “catastrophic failures of the jammer system” and asked if Hariri’s top bodyguards would have had the incentive to cover up such a failure.
The lawyers also began discussing the role of Wissam al-Hasan, Hariri’s chief of protocol and later Lebanon’s top intelligence operative, who was assassinated in October 2012, and whose absence from Hariri’s convoy on the day of the assassination prompted the suspicion of international investigators.
Hasan’s whereabouts on the night before the attack were discussed but not decided upon in the trial. Prosecutors have said in the past that they do not consider him a suspect.
But the discussion of Hasan’s whereabouts in close proximity to the issue of the faulty jammer may indicate that the lawyers are seeking to draw a connection between the two, though they did not do so explicitly in trial.
The STL is tasked with prosecuting those responsible for the Valentine’s Day bombing in 2005 that killed Hariri and 21 others and plunged Lebanon into years of turmoil in addition to ending Syria’s formal tutelage over its smaller neighbor.
The U.N.-backed tribunal indicted five Hezbollah members in connection with the attack. Their trial in absentia is ongoing in The Hague.
Defense lawyers cross-examined a key witness in the case – a former bodyguard of Hariri who was in the motorcade but survived the explosion. It was the guard’s second day of testimony, and his identity was kept confidential after he reported receiving telephone threats.
The defense counsel disclosed testimony by the bodyguard given to U.N. investigators in 2005 and 2006, in which he said he had not seen a Mitsubishi Canter van in the moments leading up to the explosion. They said they were also in possession of statements by another member of the convoy who survived the explosion, who also said he had not seen a Mitsubishi van.
The witness said he did not remember anything from the final 50-meter stretch of road before the explosion due to the massive blast, though defense lawyers say his testimony indicates that he had a view of the front of the St. Georges Hotel, where the Mitsubishi was supposedly parked.
Prosecutors say Hariri was killed when his motorcade passed by the St. Georges and next to an explosives-laden Mitsubishi van that was double-parked on the side of the road. Defense lawyers say the blast was caused by an underground bomb.
Defense lawyers probed the bodyguard on whether Wissam al-Hasan had accompanied Hariri frequently on trips to Syria, as well as if he had visited the Hariri residence late the night before the assassination. They suggested that CCTV footage in Qoreitem Palace, Hariri’s home in the Hamra neighborhood, would have picked up Hasan’s visit, but did not say what happened when international investigators went looking for the tapes.
Hujeiri says his arrest will scupper hostage negotiations
ARSAL, Lebanon: Sheikh Mustafa Hujeiri, who was charged Tuesday with belonging to the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front, said Wednesday that the arrest warrant would ruin efforts to obtain the release of 27 soldiers and policemen being held hostage by extremist groups outside his hometown of Arsal. Hujeiri made the comments during a news conference that was held in his mosque in Arsal, saying he would turn himself in once a fair judicial system was established in Lebanon, implying he had no intention of surrendering anytime soon, and decrying the arrest warrant as politically motivated.
A military judge is now seeking the death penalty for the sheikh.
The Salafist sheikh rose to prominence when he became a key intermediary between the Committee of Muslim Scholars and the Nusra Front and ISIS over the Arsal hostages.
“Am I now a terrorist because I supported the Syrian revolution since it started?” Hujeiri asked.
“[Because] I made it a lost opportunity for those who wanted to tamper with Lebanon’s security and for those who wanted to [destroy] Arsal and its residents? Or because I helped protect the soldiers and security forces and release some of them?” he asked.
Hujeiri played a key role in helping families visit their abducted relatives last month. He accompanied the family of George Khoury to the outskirts of Arsal to meet the abducted soldier and is said to have done the same for Rana Fliti, the wife of captured soldier Ali Bazzal.
He is also believed to have played an important role in facilitating the release of seven hostages held by the Nusra Front. Two policemen were freed Aug. 17, and four soldiers and a policeman were released Aug. 30.
But with the issuing of the arrest warrant, Hujeiri said there were no longer any assurances for the hostages’ safety: “There is a possibility that a huge danger [looms] over them.”
Hujeiri said he had suspended mediation efforts after the Lebanese Army closed off all supply routes leading from the northeastern border town to the area’s outskirts, where there are farmlands and caves that the militants are believed to be hiding out in.
He also pointed to the Lebanese government’s refusal five days earlier to free militant Imad Ahmad Jomaa, whose arrest sparked five days of heavy clashes in Arsal in August, during which the security personnel were seized.
The sheikh said the militants had given him a one-week deadline to secure the release of Jomaa, and he was forced to withdraw from negotiations when the government said it would not comply.
The militants have also demanded an exchange for a number of Islamists being held in Roumieh Prison – many of whom have been there for years without trial – an issue the Lebanese government has dragged its feet on.
“Our military sons deserve the best. Don’t be stingy with them, even if the price is the release of those unfairly imprisoned in Roumieh Prison,” he said.
“If the Nusra Front is a terrorist organization then you should hold Walid Jumblatt accountable, because he considered it to be a faction of the Syrian revolution,” Hujeiri said, referring to comments made by the Progressive Socialist Party leader to OTV Tuesday night that the Nusra Front was not a terrorist group.
The sheikh also called on the Lebanese Army “to treat all the Lebanese equally,” adding that he considered Hezbollah to have succeeded in exploiting the Army.
“The judicial system should have from the start directed its warrants at those killing Lebanese and Syrians,” Hujeiri said.
He also criticized the judiciary’s dealing with his son: “Where was the judicial system when my 17-year-old son was captured or kidnapped at an Army checkpoint and then imprisoned?”
Tripoli residents urge Lebanon to save northern capital
TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Tripoli sheikhs and officials gathered Wednesday to confirm their rejection of any plots to incite violence in the restive northern city, calling on the government to execute projects to boost economic activity and development.
Those at the meeting, which was called by the Muslims Scholars Committee in Tripoli and held at Abdel-Rahman Mosque in Bab al-Tabbaneh, also expressed alarm at the amount of reports targeting Tripoli in the media and by political and security figures.
The city was increasingly being painted as the source of all the crises in the country, scrutinizing things that were insignificant compared to what was happening in other cities, the statement said.
“Investigations revealed that people belonging to Hezbollah are responsible for the attacks on the Lebanese Army, which almost led to a big conflict,” the statement said.
The committee blamed Hezbollah for being outside of the state’s authority and for sheltering, embracing and protecting the killers of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and those behind the fighting in May 2008 crimes.
No matter how great the Shiite party’s excesses and crimes, they were being ignored, the statement read, adding that Hezbollah was also sending hordes of men to Syria to kill people there, while Sunnis in Lebanon were being held accountable for giving basic support to the Syrian people.
The meeting was held in order to show solidarity with Tripoli residents and the people of the north, and to stand against the plot that is targeting them, the statement said.
Attendees condemned suspicious attacks on Army checkpoints in Tripoli, calling for those responsible to be arrested.
The committee rejected any crimes targeting Tripoli’s stability, requesting a reduction in military checkpoints and posts in order to lessen the traffic congestion inside the city, and urging the media to show the positive side of the city as well.
“The committee calls on the government to execute past promises to develop Tripoli, disburse compensations for Tripoli residents, and offer a solution to compensate for economic damages in the city,” the statement added.
The committee called on the government to adopt a different strategy to save Tripoli and achieve justice – a strategy not based on military solutions that it said had been proved not to work – by founding a development council for Tripoli and the north, like that in the south.
“We ask the government to declare Tripoli a devastated city and exempt it from taxes and fees until further notice,” the statement said.
The committee also asked the government to end the file of Islamist detainees, such as Hussam Sabbagh, after detaining them for years without trial.
The meeting was attended by the following sheikhs: Dr. Zakaria Abed Razzak Masri, Raed Hleihel, Mustafa Alloush, Saeed Awayek, Bilal Baroudi, Tarek Mezher, Mohammad Merheb, Hasan al-Yamin, Yehia Daouk, Faysal Yakhni, Salah Mikati, Ibrahim Ibrahim, Youssef Jajieh, and Sheikh Khaled Sayyed who read the statement.
Hezbollah taking steps to limit southern fallout
The recent visit of Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah to the Bekaa Valley and his meeting with other prominent figures from his party is striking for its timing, form and content.
Crucially, it reflects how much importance the party places on the war Lebanon is fighting with ISIS and the Nusra Front on its mountainous eastern border, even though that battle may be less virulent than Hezbollah’s historical conflict with Israel.
Although it is not the first time that the party’s secretary-general has left his residence to go to the Bekaa Valley in spite of the associated security risks – he visited the area during the battle for Qusair last year – this trip is a significant final step in a series of actions Hezbollah is taking to control current events.
Hezbollah is intimately acquainted with Lebanon’s strong political divisions over various issues, including its involvement in the more than 3-year-old civil war in Syria and its non-state weapons arsenal.
Regardless, the party has chosen to continue fighting a battle that it considers vital to secure Syria’s future, a mission that is now no less important to it than battling Israel.
Perhaps it knows that since the liberation of the south in 2000, there is a red line that Lebanese parties – no matter how hostile – cannot cross concerning its weapons and continuing conflict with Israel.
Lately, the party believes Israel is trying to exhaust it by pushing it into another confrontation with ISIS and the Nusra Front in the southern Shebaa Farms and Arkoub villages, possibly by giving safe passage to rebel groups who have seized control of the Syrian part of the Golan Heights.
Hezbollah knows that uniting Nusra and ISIS into one front fighting Hezbollah and opening other fronts in the south would be a game-changer that would work to Israel’s advantage.
By keeping the party busy with new front lines – from the south to the northern Bekaa Valley – it would prevent it from attacking Israel or trying to involve it in other battles.
The party used the Oct. 8 operation in the UNIFIL-monitored Israeli-occupied Shebaa farms, which saw Hezbollah members detonate mines underneath an Israeli patrol, to send different messages to the various sides in the growing conflict.
Perhaps the most striking aspect of this operation was the diplomacy and field mobilization by UNIFIL, which swiftly made calls with various Lebanese leaders in order to assess the situation. More than anything, UNIFIL is worried about its peacekeepers being kidnapped, something that has happened before in the Golan.
Through the Shebaa operation, Hezbollah was confirming its right to attack Israel, according to a politician who is close to the party.
Hezbollah “is not trying to find excuses to fight with Israel, the game rules are clear and we won’t let Israel change the conflict’s form – which is primarily about combating Israeli occupation – by letting in takfiri groups coming from Qunaitra,” the source said.
“Regardless of how other people interpret it, the Shebaa operation was a reply to intimidation by the chief of general staff of the Israeli army, Benny Gantz,” he said.
“Hezbollah is still a shield,” the politician said, “and he [Gantz] knows the price of the costly war that he will pay for fighting against Hezbollah.”
However, he also admitted: “Israel is capable of taking Lebanon 80 years back in time.”
Regardless of the various dimensions to the Shebaa operation, Hezbollah’s logistical power remains intact, the political source said. It is not tired at all from the conflict inside Syria and its soldiers are as ready as ever to battle on the southern front, he added.
“Hezbollah is capable of potentially confronting Israel at any time in the south,” he said.
“Hezbollah is not only defending Shiites on both the Syrian and Israeli fronts against the terrorism of both Israel and ISIS, but also the idea of a diverse Lebanon and its unique social fabric in the Middle East,” he concluded.
Tripoli residents urge Lebanon to save northern capital
TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Tripoli sheikhs and officials gathered Wednesday to confirm their rejection of any plots to incite violence in the restive northern city, calling on the government to execute projects to boost economic activity and development.
Those at the meeting, which was called by the Muslims Scholars Committee in Tripoli and held at Abdel-Rahman Mosque in Bab al-Tabbaneh, also expressed alarm at the amount of reports targeting Tripoli in the media and by political and security figures.
The city was increasingly being painted as the source of all the crises in the country, scrutinizing things that were insignificant compared to what was happening in other cities, the statement said.
“Investigations revealed that people belonging to Hezbollah are responsible for the attacks on the Lebanese Army, which almost led to a big conflict,” the statement said.
The committee blamed Hezbollah for being outside of the state’s authority and for sheltering, embracing and protecting the killers of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and those behind the fighting in May 2008 crimes.
No matter how great the Shiite party’s excesses and crimes, they were being ignored, the statement read, adding that Hezbollah was also sending hordes of men to Syria to kill people there, while Sunnis in Lebanon were being held accountable for giving basic support to the Syrian people.
The meeting was held in order to show solidarity with Tripoli residents and the people of the north, and to stand against the plot that is targeting them, the statement said.
Attendees condemned suspicious attacks on Army checkpoints in Tripoli, calling for those responsible to be arrested.
The committee rejected any crimes targeting Tripoli’s stability, requesting a reduction in military checkpoints and posts in order to lessen the traffic congestion inside the city, and urging the media to show the positive side of the city as well.
“The committee calls on the government to execute past promises to develop Tripoli, disburse compensations for Tripoli residents, and offer a solution to compensate for economic damages in the city,” the statement added.
The committee called on the government to adopt a different strategy to save Tripoli and achieve justice – a strategy not based on military solutions that it said had been proved not to work – by founding a development council for Tripoli and the north, like that in the south.
“We ask the government to declare Tripoli a devastated city and exempt it from taxes and fees until further notice,” the statement said.
The committee also asked the government to end the file of Islamist detainees, such as Hussam Sabbagh, after detaining them for years without trial.
The meeting was attended by the following sheikhs: Dr. Zakaria Abed Razzak Masri, Raed Hleihel, Mustafa Alloush, Saeed Awayek, Bilal Baroudi, Tarek Mezher, Mohammad Merheb, Hasan al-Yamin, Yehia Daouk, Faysal Yakhni, Salah Mikati, Ibrahim Ibrahim, Youssef Jajieh, and Sheikh Khaled Sayyed who read the statement.
Ebola Seems To Stay Two Steps Ahead Of Government Response
The White House abruptly cancelled President Obama's campaign trip on Wednesday so he could hold a meeting on the federal response to Ebola.
In Increasingly Red Louisiana, Democrat Landrieu Struggles To Hold On
Sen. Mary Landrieu, right, greets candidates, Rep. Bill Cassidy, left and Rob Maness, center, after Tuesday's debate. Most observers don't see how Landrieu can pull enough support to avoid a runoff in the state's open primary. Gerald Herbert/AP hide caption
itoggle caption Gerald Herbert/AP
Sen. Mary Landrieu, right, greets candidates, Rep. Bill Cassidy, left and Rob Maness, center, after Tuesday's debate. Most observers don't see how Landrieu can pull enough support to avoid a runoff in the state's open primary.
Gerald Herbert/AP
Listening to Sen. Mary Landrieu's opponents, you might think President Obama was up for re-election. Tuesday night in Shreveport, the three candidates faced off in a debate for the first time.
Democrat Landrieu is waging hard-fought battle for re-election in a race that could help decide which party has control of the U.S. Senate. Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy and a tea party candidate, Rob Maness, are her main challengers in Louisiana's open primary on November 4th.
At the debate, whether the question was about fighting terrorism or curtailing student debt, Cassidy managed to tie Landrieu to the nation's top Democrat and her vote for his signature health care plan.
"We need a better economy than the Obama and the Obamacare economy. Sen. Landrieu, when she voted for Obamacare...in essence put a wet blanket over that economy," he said.
Cassidy is a physician from Baton Rouge, and is Landrieu's top challenger. He wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which he claims is costing consumers. "Clearly this is the unaffordable health care act," he said.
Landrieu defends her vote for the law, but says it needs some tweaks. The three-term incumbent Democrat would rather talk about positions that distinguish her from the president. Her support for the Keystone pipeline, and expanding domestic energy production, for instance – popular positions in a state where the oil and gas industry dominates.
Landrieu, chair of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, wants to make the race more about how her seniority can help the state.
"While President Obama is not on the ballot, the future of Louisiana is, and electing a senator that can get the job done when it comes to energy, building a middle class in our country and in Louisiana. Using my influence and my clout, which is really the people's influence and the people's clout in Louisiana," she said.
But retired Air Force Col. Rob Maness, the tea party-backed Republican in the race, calls that the "incumbent protection racket."
"You know what Senator Landrieu?" he said. "The president's policies are on the ballot and they're in your person. And we talked about energy jobs a moment ago. They're hurting energy jobs."
Maness positions himself as the true conservative in the race and has picked up the support of former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.
The Republican establishment is behind Cassidy. Arizona Sen. John McCain campaigned across Louisiana earlier this week, saying the Senate needs a doctor like Cassidy to help fix the broken VA.
McCain asked veterans to go on another mission "by sending Bill Cassidy to the United States Senate."
Louisiana's open primary system puts all candidates, regardless of party, on the ballot together. If no one gets a majority, the race is decided in a December runoff between the top two finishers. Most observers don't see how Landrieu can pull enough support to avoid the runoff — and a head-to-head match with a Republican candidate.
"Mary Landrieu, I would say, is in trouble," says Stephanie Grace, political columnist for the Advocate newspaper. "Not really for anything she did, for really being a Democrat in the Deep South. And that in this current environment which is very hostile to Democrats in the Deep South and President Obama."
Louisiana is a much redder state than it was when Landrieu was first elected to the Senate in 1996. She still has strong support in Democratic pockets like New Orleans, where her brother is mayor and her father once held the job. But elsewhere, she has to make the case.
On Wednesday, she stopped in Lafayette, the heart of the state's oil and gas corridor, to rally a big part of her base – women.
The message she wants them to spread is that she now holds the gavel at the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
"We can write the bill, we can write the energy policy. And I have an opponent that says he wants to get to the Senate. He doesn't get this chairmanship. He'd have to stay there 18 years."
Mary Doucet of Opelousas was among the more than 400 women who turned out for today's luncheon. She says Landrieu's committee chairmanship is important. "Louisiana has been noted for a lot of natural resources so that's a plus for Louisiana. So why would you want to put somebody new there?" she asks.
Republican Cassidy counters that argument by saying Landrieu's chairmanship would be a moot point if the GOP gains control of the Senate.
Louisiana Race Could Determine Control Of The Senate
Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu is in fight of her career as the GOP ramps up to take control of U.S. Senate. Republican Congressman Bill Cassidy, a Baton Rouge physician, is her strongest opponent.
What Is Really Tearing America Apart
What separates Americans the most?
Race ... religion ... gender ...
According to Shanto Iyengar, a political scientist at Stanford University, often the most divisive aspect of contemporary society is: politics.
Divided We Stand
"Unlike race, gender and other social divides where group-related attitudes and behaviors are constrained by social norms," writes Shanto – with co-author Sean J. Westwood of Princeton University – in the recently published report Fear and Loathing Across Party Lines: New Evidence on Group Polarization, "there are no corresponding pressures to temper disapproval of political opponents. "
Political contentiousness – establishing differences and distinctions between people of opposing parties — is often encouraged. "In fact, political hostility toward the opposition is acceptable, even appropriate," the political scientists discovered. "Partisans therefore feel free to express animus and engage in discriminatory behavior toward opposing partisans."
The findings reveal that political partisanship influences decisions and behavior not only inside the voting booth, but outside of it as well. Partisanship, the authors contend, "is a political and social divide."
Research shows: More and more residential neighborhoods are politically homogenous. Partisan politics has become a key indicator in interpersonal relations.There is a greater tendency by parents these days to raise objections to a son or daughter marrying someone who supports the opposing political party. "Actual marriage across party lines is rare," the report points out. "In a 2009 survey of married couples, only nine percent consisted of Democrat-Republican pairs."
Political Profiling
Apparently, political affiliation sometimes trumps racial preference.
The researchers asked 1,000 participants – some African-American, some white — to read through several resumes of high school seniors who were competing for scholarships. The resumes included certain racial cues, such as "president of the African-American Student Association," and certain political cues, such as "president of the Young Republicans."
Race was important, research showed. African-American resume-readers exhibited a preference — 73 percent to 27 percent — for African-American applicants. White readers also displayed a slight preference for African-American candidates.
But when it came to political preference, Democratic and Republican readers chose in-party applicants some 80 percent of the time – even if academic credentials were weaker.
"We were quite surprised at the outcome of the party versus racial divide comparison," Shanto tells NPR.
Conclusion
In the university's summary, Shanto says, "While Republicans view fellow partisans as patriotic, well-informed and altruistic, Democrats are judged to exhibit precisely the opposite traits."
When asked about ways to alleviate the conflict, Shanto tells NPR that his study "does not deal with mechanisms for reducing the divide."
So it's up to us. Maybe that's why we call it the U.S.
—————————————————————————————————————————————
The Protojournalist: An experimental storytelling project for the LURVers — Listeners, Users, Readers, Viewers — of NPR. @NPRtpj
Lebanon road accidents killed 100 over two months: ISF
BEIRUT: One hundred people have been killed in car accidents during the months of August and September, according to a report published by Internal Security Forces Wednesday.
Fifty-five people were killed in car accidents during the month of August while 45 people were killed in September, bringing the death toll for 2014 to 355 this year, according to ISF figures.
The high death rates indicate that very little progress has been achieved with regards to the implementation of a new traffic law.
Lebanon’s Shura Council made way for the implementation of long-awaited legislation last July that was supposed to reduce road safety violations by imposing progressive fines and stricter punishments for violators.
The law stipulates the formation of a National Committee for Road Safety headed by the interior minister and a National Council for Road Safety led by the prime minister.
It also calls for the formation of a road unit within the ISF that would work on improving enforcement of the law.
Under the new system, each driver begins with 12 points which disappear ith each violation. Upon the loss of all points, a driver's license is suspended for six months.
The most severe offenses, which incur a prison sentence of one month to two years and fines from LL1 million to LL3 million, include exceeding the speed limit by 60 km/hour, driving without a license, and driving with a blood alcohol level of more than one gram per liter of blood.
Under the previous rules, speeding tickets were set at LL50,000, and those caught driving without a license only had to pay a small fine.
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Pity the politicians: LF sue over 128 thieves jab
BEIRUT: Lebanese are not known for holding back their animosity towards politicians, casually referring to them as crooks and criminals who have plundered the country. Thus it came as a surprise when two citizens last week were charged with slander and libel for denouncing lawmakers as “thieves.”
The Civil Movement for Accountability - a coalition of NGOs and student associations - has been fighting a second extension of Parliament’s term through an active civil society campaign. In their Oct. 1 protest, activists from the CMFA took to the streets once again carrying their usual signs addressed to members of Parliament: “We’re sick of you,” “Get out,” and “128 thieves.” This time, however, the word “thieves” landed two of them with an unexpected lawsuit from the Lebanese Forces political party.
“The details of the lawsuit are somewhat vague at this time because the defendants have still not received an official legal document or subpoena,” Reda Hassan, communication manager at the Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections, told The Daily Star.
“We basically found out last week when Lebanese Forces MP Fadi Karam announced the lawsuit in the media and then the National News Agency confirmed it,” Hassan said.
Karam’s announcement sparked an uproar on social media, which would soon be swarming with selfies of citizens holding up signs similar to the one that got the activists in trouble.
The CMFA emphasized that the basis for their accusations has never been monetary, and that their reasons for calling the MPs thieves have been clear since the outset of the movement.
“They are violating the Constitution and the people’s sovereignty,” said Hassan. “They are occupying Parliament; stealing our right to vote and to elect our representatives.”
During a press conference held Saturday in response to the lawsuit, the CMFA demanded the Lebanese Forces publicly apologize to the Lebanese people for “attempting to silence their voices.” They also insisted that the party drop its charges, describing the lawsuit as “a reflection of the level of arrogance in the political class.”
“We consider this a legal action against civil society, our entire movement, and everything it represents,” Hassan explained, “starting with the first 17-month extension in May 2013, and up until now.”
If the legislature extends its mandate, this will be the second time in less than two years. While polls are set to take place in November, an extension appears to be looming due to the unstable security situation and the presidential void dragging on into its fifth month.
“What is most unsettling about this lawsuit is that we have members of an already illegitimate Parliament filing a lawsuit against their own people, against citizens who are paying the MPs’ salaries and [who] are simply asking for elections,” Hassan added.
He believes the suit may be a media stunt by the Lebanese Forces to reinforce their position against the proposed extension and set themselves apart from the parties in Parliament who support postponing the vote.
“We support all aspects of the CMFA, but we will not accept these generalizations,” Melhem Riachi, chairman of the Lebanese Forces’ communication department, told The Daily Star. “They can’t claim that everyone is a thief, and especially not the Lebanese Forces MPs. They have to put their finger on the wound; to specify the thieves and the sources of corruption.”
Aside from this contention, Riachi stressed that the party and its MPs are with the activists at the forefront of the movement demanding elections. “We do not insist on taking them to court,” he continued, “but we want them to take a public stance now and ensure that these chaotic accusations will not continue.”
The CMFA argues that any politicians who consider themselves exempt from accusations must take more effective actions to prevent the extension. “It’s not enough to make public statements condemning it without really doing anything,” Hassan elaborated, referring to the supervisory council that has yet to be approved by the government in order to oversee parliamentary elections.
He also pointed to the apparent lack of electoral campaigns, despite the Interior Ministry’s announcement in September that there are 514 final candidates. “These are some of the most important indicators of whether or not the politicians actually intend on holding elections.”
Instead of deterring the movement, news of the lawsuit seems to have further motivated activists, who claim that they refuse to let it hijack their cause. In parallel with the online campaign, the CMFA has called for a protest Wednesday evening at Riad al-Solh Square in downtown Beirut to express their frustration with the ordeal and reaffirm their views against the extension.
“The legal and logical grounds of the lawsuit are so absurd that public support for us has been overwhelming,” Hassan observed. “It should be clear though that our framework has not changed. We are standing in the face of the extension, and even if it seems inevitable, we will continue to do so.”
Lebanon tests vodka energy drinks for additives
Lebanon tests vodka energy drinks for additives
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Geagea slams state over Arsal security failures
BEIRUT: The state should warn the public against visiting the restive northeastern town of Arsal, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said Wednesday, criticizing the absence of security which has led to a string of recent kidnappings.
Geagea specifically referred to the case of Toufic Wehbe who was kidnapped last week in Arsal and released Tuesday after his family reportedly paid a hefty ransom.
“Wehbe remained in captivity for seven days until he was released yesterday after a ransom worth $50,000 was paid by his family,” Geagea said after meeting with Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk.
Geagea said he did not support the family’s decision to pay the ransom.
“All security forces disavowed the crime,” however, they considered that they “don’t have any influence inside the town of Arsal,” Geagea said.
If security forces can’t ensure the safety of citizens in Arsal, then the defense ministry should have at least warned the Lebanese against visiting the town, since the absence of security forces makes them highly vulnerable to kidnapping, he added.
“The situation in Arsal is not tolerable whatsoever and it’s not acceptable for the culture of kidnapping to spread among the Lebanese.”
Geagea called on the public prosecutor in the Bekaa to find out who transferred the ransom to the captors in order to find out who collected the payment.
“No political faction supports these kidnappers but at the same time they are not acting alone,” Geagea said.
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Private school teachers to be included in Lebanon wage hike: Kanaan
BEIRUT: The parliamentary joint committees has accepted the principle of including private school teachers into the public sector wage hike bill proposal, MP Ibrahim Kanaan said Wednesday.
The committees will at a later session look into the details of the wage hike for private school teachers, especially those pertaining to tuition increases Kanaan said.
The salary scale increase for private school teachers would not influence the state treasury, but it may have an impact on private school tuition, political sources have said.
Kanaan also said that the education minister is looking into a mechanism that would allow the incorporation of private school teachers into the salary scale bill without increasing tuition fees. Clarifications over this mechanism will be discussed at a later meeting, he added.
However, the meeting failed to achieve quorum over a salary increase for the public sector, Education Minister Elias Bou Saab said after the session.
The session also failed to agree on whether or not to provide military personnel with the same wage increases given to civil servants and public school teachers.
The issue of salary hikes for the military will be postponed for another session, Kanaan said. Giving the military the same wage hike as civil servants and public school teachers would require the committee to review revenues he added.
Political sources have said that a military wage hike would require the availability of more revenue, and that the committees would be unable to raise the TVA by more 1 percent, which would not generate adequate funding.
A rise in the overall cost of the draft law, currently estimated at $1.2 billion annually, would force lawmakers to find new ways to increase revenues in the face of higher expenditures, according to the sources.
Lawmakers have overcome massive obstacles to agree on the draft law, including balancing revenues and expenditures, a demand made by several politicians and the Cabinet.
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BEIRUT: The Israeli threat takes priority over the takfiri dangers facing Lebanon, Hezbollah’s Deputy Head Naim Qassem said Tuesday, nothing that the party has been fighting exremists since since 2006.
“A priority will always be given to confronting the Israeli threat,” Qassem said during a graduation ceremony held at al-Jinan Hall in the southern suburbs of Beirut. The deputy head downplayed the threat posed by takfiri groups, saying that they are linked to Israel and have only been drawn in to confrontation with Hezbollah as a result of “circumstance.”
“The resistance against Israel is a decision that liberated the land,” while the reliance on the U.S. and the U.N. have failed in that regard, he added in reference to Hezbollah’s liberation of Israeli occupied territories in south Lebanon in May 2000.
Shifting to domestic politics, the Hezbollah number two announced his acceptance of Iranian aid pledged to the Lebanese Army, after some politicians voiced opposition to the donation due to complications with regards to international sanctions imposed on Tehran.
Qassem said that the only state he would exclude from efforts to arm the Lebanese military would be Israel.
With regards to Syria, Hezbollah’s intervention minimized the risks against Lebanon, Qassem added. However, the takfiri threat did not emerge as a result of the Syrian war.
Hezbollah intelligence has been warning of takfiris since 2006, he said, citing reports that said the extremists sought to “dispatch explosive rigged vehicles to target the party’s ceremonies and gatherings years before the outbreak of the Syrian crisis.”
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FPM lawmaker calls for anti-Parliament extension protests
BEIRUT: Free Patriotic Movement MP Alain Aoun Wednesday called on Lebanese to take to the streets to protest against a parliamentary extension.
“A demonstration against the extension will not pose a threat to political figures,” Aoun told local LBCI television channel.
But Aoun acknowledged that this was just wishful thinking.
“I wish protests would have influence and change the status quo,” he said.
The FPM is staunchly against the extension of Parliament’s mandate.
The party's leader Michel Aoun has said in a recent interview: “From the start we opposed the extension and submitted a challenge before the Constitutional Council [against the first extension].”
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Jumblatt: Nusra Front are not terrorists
BEIRUT: The Nusra Front is not a terrorist organization, Progressive Socialist Party Leader Walid Jumblatt said Tuesday night, as he called for talks with all opposition factions, including ISIS, in a political settlement over Syria.
“I don’t consider the Nusra Front to be terrorists,” Jumblatt said in a televised interview on OTV, arguing that the group is comprised of “Syrian citizens” who operate within a war-torn environment.
The PSP chief said that the only solution for the Syrian crisis is a political settlement that accommodates all elements of the Syrian opposition, going as far as saying that even "ISIS should be asked about its prospects for Syria."
“There is a need for a quick settlement to protect Syria’s unity, in which no component of the Syrian opposition should be left out, not even the Islamic State (ISIS),” Jumblatt added.
Jumblatt who leads the 11-man-strong Democratic Gathering Bloc in Parliament projected a “long war of attrition” in Syria, turned into a battleground for regional and international players.
“Iran is requested to reconsider its calculation in Syria, as well as Turkey. If no political solution is reached soon, Syria will be totally dismembered, Jumblatt said, stressing that Syrian President Bashar Assad and his Baath regime cannot be part of any settlement.
Despite his opposition to the Nusra Front’s terrorist label, the PSP leader and Hezbollah are coordinating their efforts in preparation for a possible militant assault on the areas of West Bekaa and the neighboring areas of Hasbaya, Rashaya and Arqoub in southeast Lebanon, after Jumblatt received a tip from French intelligence that Nusra was actively and successfully recruiting from the area, sources told The Daily Star.
Lebanon’s security and stability hinges on its capacity to curb the repercussions of the raging war in Syria which could last for a very long time, Jumblatt added in the interview, calling on Lebanese politicians to reinforce the country’s immunity by rallying around the state and the Lebanese Army.
“We should protect ourselves from the impacts of the Syrian war, and it is about time that we rally behind the Army. It is the duty of all politicians to support the military institution.”
Jumblatt underscored the need to buttress the Army’s arsenal and reinforce its fighting capacities, but advised against accepting Iran’s donation to the military institution.
“I am for acquiring arms from any party, and am not against the Iranian offer as such, but accepting this donation would cause problems which we can do without,” Jumblatt said, referring to international sanctions imposed on Tehran.
Weather-related road accidents injure five in Lebanon
BEIRUT: Five people were injured in four weather-related road accidents that took place during heavy rainfall between 7 p.m. Tuesday and 9 a.m. Wednesday, security sources and the Traffic Management Center said.
They said two of the injured were from a six-vehicle crash on the Sayyad-Karantina highway Wednesday morning.
TMC said heavy rains also created pools of water mainly in several Beirut streets, including one near the Kuwaiti Embassy in the Bir Hasan neighborhood, another in Karantina and one in Ouzai, the southern entrance to the capital.
The Director-General of the Public Works Ministry Adib Dahrouj denied responsibility for the frequent street flooding that occurs after heavy rains.
"We have cleaned up the sewages since September. Waste comes from floods and this is normal. But the problem is due to violations on public land and disrespect for the laws,” Dahrouj told a local radio station.
Drivers were witnessing huge traffic congestion due to heavy rainfall that submerged many streets across Lebanon since Tuesday evening.
Beirut’s northern entrance also witnessed heavy traffic jams, particularly from Dbayeh to Nahr el-Mot, Sin el-Fil, Jisr el-Wati and vise versa.
Torrential rain also caused flooding on streets and in shops across the southern port city of Sidon and left many stranded, particularly along the Serail roundabout and the city’s main roads of Sitt Nafiseh and Habseh.
The meteorology department at the Beirut airport said Wednesday’s weather is mostly cloudy with wind and rain.
Police advised motorists to use extreme caution while rains persist. They also cautioned motorists to drive with extra caution on the Dahr al-Baidar highway, east of Lebanon, due to poor visibility.
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