BEIRUT: Belgium has decided to withdraw its 102-strong contingent from the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti has said.
In remarks published Wednesday by the local daily An-Nahar, Tenenti said the withdrawal would take place at the end of December and was a "routine change" of the structure of UNIFIL. The spokesman said it would not affect the capabilities of the peacekeeping force.
He said the Lebanese government had been informed of the decision.
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BEIRUT: Hezbollah is recruiting young Christian, Druze and Sunni men in east Lebanon to fight ISIS, the local newspaper An-Nahar reported Wednesday.
The report, according to information obtained by the paper, said Hezbollah members in the northern and western parts of the Bekaa Valley were offering the recruits weapons and training “to counter the threat of ISIS and its affiliates.”
An-Nahar said the recruitment campaign is dubbed “our fate is one and we have to fight together.”
Lebanon is engaged in a war against ISIS and Nusra Front jihadists along its northern and northeastern border with Syria after the extremists briefly took over the Bekaa town of Arsal early in August, capturing over 30 Lebanese servicemen.
The militants have so far released seven hostages and killed three.
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BEIRUT: Justice Minister Ashraf Rifi will protest a government request for cooperation from Syria stand in resolving the crisis of Lebanese servicemen held hostage by Islamist militants along the Lebanon-Syria border.
“I will veto a formal request to Syrian authorities [asking their help] in the issue of kidnapped soldiers, should this [matter] be raised during the sixth meeting of the ‘crisis cell’,” Rifi said in remarks published Wednesday by the local daily Al-Liwaa.
The crisis cell, created by Prime Minister Tammam Salam to help resolve the issue of the at least 27 Lebanese soldiers and policemen held captive by ISIS and Nusra Front since early August, is scheduled to meet later Wednesday.
"I cannot declare the Syrian regime innocent at any cost," Rifi stressed.
Rifi said intermediaries close to Nusra had “advised” Lebanon to overlook one of the group’s three demands to “avoid embarrassment with the Syrian regime.”
He was referring to the proposal which called for the release of 10 Islamist detainees in Roumieh Prison for each captive.
Nusra had recently suggested three proposals that could ultimately resolve the hostage crisis, including the release of seven Lebanese and 30 women in Syrian prisons for each captive or the release of five Lebanese and 50 female detainees in Syrian prisons in exchange for every hostage.
Al-Liwaa on Tuesday said the Syrian government had conditioned its participation in the hostage release process on receiving an official request from the Lebanese government, asking the Syrian regime to help facilitate the release of named captives by ISIS and Nusra Front.
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The question before the Supreme Court Wednesday is: Did Alabama's Republican-dominated legislature rely predominantly on race or on partisanship when it was redrawing its districts? Carolyn Kaster/AP hide caption
The question before the Supreme Court Wednesday is: Did Alabama's Republican-dominated legislature rely predominantly on race or on partisanship when it was redrawing its districts?
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday takes up the thorny question of what kind of gerrymandering is acceptable, and what kind is not. The Court is being asked to decide whether a 2010 state legislative redistricting in Alabama overloaded some districts with black Democrats on the basis of race or party.
Voting rights cases scramble politics and race. In this case, it is the Democrats who are crying foul because of what they call unconstitutional quotas. In contrast, conservative Republicans, usually critics of racial considerations, this time are defending government classifications based on race.
In the 1990s, the conservative Supreme Court majority, in a series of decisions, ruled that if a redistricting plan is motivated predominantly by racial considerations, it is unconstitutional. Those decisions came in cases brought by conservative Republicans who objected to the Justice Department's attempt to expand the number of majority black or Hispanic legislative districts under the Voting Rights Act in the South.
"Now, the tables are turned," says election-law expert Richard Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine. "It's the liberals and Democrats that are trying to use the racial gerrymandering claim to stop Republicans from packing reliable Democratic minority voters into a smaller number of districts."
Case in point, Alabama: a state rife with ironic political twists and a history of overt attempts to suppress the black vote.
In 2000, the Democrats controlled the state legislature, and the redistricting process. They used their power to create districts with black majorities under the Voting Rights Act, while at the same time putting enough reliably Democratic black voters into majority white districts so that white Democratic candidates could build black-white coalitions and have a chance of winning.
By 2010, the Republicans controlled the legislature, and they set about consolidating the black vote into existing majority-black districts. Under the plan, about one-sixth of all eligible black voters were moved from majority white state senate districts to majority-black districts. The result was that in some of those districts, the black majority increased to over 70 percent. At the same time, the majority white districts got whiter, and more safely Republican.
The redistricting came after the 2010 Census showed population shifts that made some existing districts way too big in population terms, and others too small. The Republicans tried to equalize the size of the districts. They also tried to maintain the same number of majority-black districts, but now contend that under the Voting Rights Act, a simple majority of black voters in those districts was not enough.
"The state cannot diminish the ability of black voters to elect their candidate of choice, for example, by making a district that was 65 percent black into a district that is 51 percent black," says Alabama Solicitor General, Andrew Brasher, who is defending the law at the Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Democrats disagree, and contend that the GOP plan calls for unconstitutional racial quotas. Richard Pildes, one of the lawyers representing the challengers to Alabama's redistricting, argues that, "Alabama admits it used these racial quotas, but says 'the Voting Rights Act made us do it.' We say the Voting Rights Act does not require that, and therefore you had no legitimate reason to use racial quotas. Period."
One example of the dispute is the Senate District representing Montgomery County, Ala. It was a majority-black district that was underpopulated. To fix that, the Republican redistricting plan moved out white residents who had lived in the district for years, and moved in 16,000 new voters, all but 36 of whom were black. The result was that the district became 75 percent black and the neighboring district similarly more white.
"That's where statistics can lead you wrong," says Alabama's Brasher. Those changes might have "correlated with race," he contends, but they "were not driven by race." The districts were redrawn to make one an urban district and the other a suburban-rural district, he says.
Then, too, there is the argument, made by the state, that the reason it had to make majority-black districts blacker is that it was compelled to do so under the Voting Rights Act. As early as 2010, however, Alabama was attacking the Voting Rights Act in court, and in 2013 the U.S. Supreme Court, ruling in an Alabama case, struck down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act as unconstitutional.
That presents this question: Is the voting rights law still valid as applied to the 2010 redistricting, a plan that will be in place until 2020?
The state says it is entitled to rely on the provision even though it has been struck down. "The Court for years and years held that the Voting Rights Act was constitutional, and there was no reason for the legislators engaged in this redistricting process to presuppose that five members of the Court were going to hold that [this section of the law] was unconstitutional," argues Brasher.
On the other side, lawyer Pildes contends that even if the state can rely on the law as it was in 2010, the law did not then and does not now justify the "racial straightjacket [of] quotas" that Alabama imposed in this redistricting.
Ultimately, the question is this: Did Alabama's Republican-dominated legislature rely predominantly on race or on partisanship when it was redrawing its districts? For the last 25 years, the Court has drawn a line between permissible redistricting, based on partisanship, and impermissible redistricting, based on race. Election expert Hasen argues that, sometimes, they are the same thing.
"Especially when we're talking about the south, where African-American voters are voting for Democrats at above 90 percent, it's artificial to talk about race and party being completely separate," he says.
Similarly, the white vote is overwhelmingly Republican. In 2012, for instance, 84 percent of the white vote in Alabama was cast for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, while 95 percent of the black vote went for Barack Obama.
The current Supreme Court conservative majority has pushed aggressively to eliminate government classifications based on race, contending that they are no longer needed to remedy past discrimination. As Chief Justice John Roberts has said, "the way to stop discrimination on the basis of race, is to stop discriminating on the basis of race."
The question faced by Roberts and the Court now is whether Alabama's redistricting plan is in fact based on racial quotas, or whether it's based on nothing more than partisanship, and thus may remain in place.
The Court's decision could have ramifications beyond redistricting. Some of the same principles apply in election law cases that involve everything from voter ID requirements to restrictions on absentee ballots and early voting.
In American author John Steinbeck’s novel East of Eden, a father describes to his son what it means to be a soldier: "A soldier is the most holy of all humans because he is the most tested."
"Nearly all men are afraid," he continues. "They don’t even know what causes their fear -- shadows, perplexities, dangers without names or numbers, fear of a faceless death. But if you can bring yourself to face not shadows but real death, described and recognizable, by bullet or sabre, arrow or lance, then you need never be afraid again."
Today, speaking at Arlington National Cemetery on behalf of a grateful nation, Vice President Joe Biden thanked America’s veterans – the most tested among us:
Earlier today, Vice President Biden sent this message to the White House email list in honor of Veterans Day. Didn't get it? Make sure you sign up for email updates here.
Mike Erwin saw tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. And when he got home, he kept on serving.
When he came home, he started a community service group. Because, despite everything that Mike had given to his country by serving overseas, he wanted to serve his country at home, as well. This morning on Veterans Day, I had the honor of welcoming Mike and a team of his fellow veterans to the White House -- where they presented a flag they had run across the United States in two months, starting on September 11, 2014.
I've met countless members of our armed forces like Mike over the years. And no matter where or when they served, I am always humbled by their selfless commitment to our country. Our veterans represent the absolute best we have to offer.
They are the heart and soul -- the very spine -- of this nation.
Today, there are still thousands of warriors serving in harm's way. I know them. I've been with them. I've seen the incredible sacrifices they make every day for all of us.
And just like the veterans of past wars, today's returning troops deserve our enduring gratitude.
As my wife Jill points out, less than 1 percent of America's population serves in uniform, but more than 99 percent of Americans owe that 1 percent much more than we could ever repay. We owe them, and we owe their sons and daughters, husbands and wives, too.
It's our sacred obligation to care for and equip those who we send to war, and care for them and their families when they come home.
God bless America and may God protect our troops,
Vice President Joe Biden
BEIRUT: Lebanese watched in shock and horror as Health Minister Wael Abu Faour revealed Tuesday that some popular restaurant chains and supermarkets are serving customers food that contains sewage and fecal matter.
With the nation already burdened by terrorism, sectarian division, and a raft of social and economic problems, Abu Faour revealed that failure to meet basic food safety standards posed a potentially deadly risk to citizens.
“I regret saying that the Lebanese don’t know what they’re eating, and if they did it would be a great catastrophe,” Abu Faour said at a news conference held at the ministry.
“I can say with a clear conscience, with corroboration from science, that Lebanese [food] is covered ... with disease and microbes.”
Major chains such as Spinneys, Hawa Chicken, Roadster Diner, Fahed Supermarket, Abdel Rahman Hallab, Kababji, MacDonald’s, Metro Supermarket, TSC Mega and Bedo were among those found to be storing items in violation of food safety protocols, Abu Faour said.
“The violations entail that certain [products] had microbes that could have negative health implications for Lebanese,” Abu Faour said, adding that some products tested positive for Salmonella and E. Coli.
The ministry issued a list of places, which included supermarkets, bakeries and restaurants found to be in violation of food safety requirements. In certain places, which Abu Faour did not name, bacteria were found in samples that were traced back to sewage.
Among the myriad of establishments examined by the ministry was Tanmiya, a fast food place.
The results revealed that the eatery had been falsely publishing production dates three months ahead to trick customers.
Referring to An-Natour Butcher Shop, Abu Faour said: “We found that they were using expired Brazilian meat.” The shop was since closed down for importing and distributing expired and diseased meat.
The shocking revelations were the result of a 20-day campaign that scrutinized 1,005 establishments across Lebanon and was carried out by the Health Ministry’s food safety inspectors.
Inspectors were tasked to examine food establishments and evaluate them for cleanliness, compliance with food safety protocols and the personal hygiene of employees, and to ensure legal certification was in order.
They also took samples of products being sold to the public for analysis.
Abu Faour said that 3,600 of the samples were sent to the laboratories of the Agriculture Ministry.
“The samples were taken from various kinds of food including red meat, chicken, chicken derivatives, frozen fish, bread, kaak and desserts, as well dairy products,” he added.
Abu Faour stressed that the aim of the inspection was neither to undermine the institutions found to be in violation nor affect their revenues. He said the campaign was crucial to secure the safety and health of Lebanese consumers.
Results of samples taken from Beirut establishments would be announced Thursday, he said, adding that similarly shocking outcomes were likely.
Places found to be in violation of safety codes would be given a warning and some establishments would be shut down until they meet standards.
The minister also listed other, less severe, violators, including establishments found to be reusing frying oils, putting toilets in close proximity to kitchens and placing food next to garbage.
Following Abu Faour’s revelations, some establishments, such as Kababji said they would retest their food products.
“We have taken the statement into consideration,” Eddy Massaad, Kababji’s general manager told The Daily Star. “We have our food safety system properly implemented which complies [with] international standards. We are going to take samples from the same product to test it at AUB’s lab and IRI [Industrial Research Institute] and get back to you with the results.”
Hoda Diab, a concerned citizen, said she was “surprised” by the revelations and could no longer trust any establishments when it came to food in Lebanon. Diab said that in the wake of the minister’s announcement she would no longer buy meat products, saying that the best solution might be to become a vegetarian.
For some, the results were far from shocking; they were expected.
“I wasn’t surprised,” said Zouhair Berro, head of Consumers Lebanon. “These tests confirmed what we’ve always been certain of.”
Although Berro said that the ministry’s clampdown was a step in the right direction, he added that it would not be complete without the implementation of a proper food law.
He said a good food law should govern all food-related sectors in Lebanon, and dictate proper food production.
“Monitoring is the last piece of the chain and it has some importance. What’s more important is creating the principles and systems for proper production,” Berro said, adding that the food should be monitored beginning with imported food and local produce. – Additional reporting by Justin Salhani
BEIRUT: The parliamentary Future bloc offered Tuesday to reach a compromise with its March 8 rivals over electing “a strong and consensus president,” in the latest attempt to break the deadlock that has left Lebanon with no president for nearly six months.
Meanwhile, the law that extended Parliament’s mandate went into effect Tuesday after it was published in the Official Gazette, clearing the way for lawmakers opposed to the extension to challenge it.
Speaker Nabih Berri defended the extension of Parliament’s term, which expires on Nov. 20, to June 2017, as an essential move to ward off the dangers of a vacuum in the legislative branch of power.
Asked to comment on positive signals he spoke concerning the presidential election, Berri was quoted by visitors as saying: “If I disclose them, they will no longer be positive. Of course, there are signals, consultations and moves serving the issue of the presidential election because Parliament has already been called for electoral sessions. A session is scheduled on Nov. 19.”
Lawmakers last week extended Parliament’s mandate for two years and seven months, citing security concerns and arguing that the move was necessary to avert a vacuum in the legislative body.
The Future bloc, which voted for the extension of Parliament’s term, defended its decision, saying it was the “lesser of two evils” to prevent the country from falling into another vacuum, in addition to the 5-month-old presidential void. It stressed that electing a new president should be Parliament’s top priority.
“The bloc considers that the first and main mission of Parliament after the approval of the extension law is still a swift election of a new president in order to end the vacancy in the top presidency post,” the bloc said in a statement issued after its weekly meeting chaired by former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
It blamed Hezbollah and MP Michel Aoun’s parliamentary Change and Reform bloc for the presidential deadlock by thwarting a quorum with their persistent boycott of Parliament sessions to elect a president since April.
“Nevertheless, the bloc sees that this boycotting and negative stance should be reviewed and deeply examined by those who took it in the hope the Lebanese political parties could reach a national compromise over the presidency, resulting in the election of a strong and consensus president who respects the Lebanese Constitution,” the statement said.It added that the strength of a strong president should be manifested in his leadership qualities, as well as in his comprehensive vision of Lebanon’s role in its Arab environment and the world.
“A strong president must enjoy the support of the largest section of the Lebanese and who can work to unite them and boost their solidarity in order to enable Lebanon to confront the accumulating and dangerous problems facing the country,” the statement said.
The bloc stressed that an agreement between the rival factions over the election of a new president is sufficient to create a favorable political climate for the country’s major parties to communicate with each other to tackle divisive issues.
The bloc recalled a recent initiative by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri and the March 14 coalition’s initiative on Sept. 2, both of which called for an agreement with the Hezbollah-led March 8 alliance on a consensus president.
Meanwhile, the law that extended Parliament’s term officially went into effect Tuesday after it was published in the Gazette. Political parties that opposed the law can now file a challenge with the Constitutional Council.
Aoun’s bloc said it would submit a challenge against the extension law to the Constitutional Council during the required period.
“The bloc has decided to file a challenge with the Constitutional Council against the Parliament’s extension law. The bloc’s members have signed the challenge and it will be submitted within the legal deadline,” MP Ibrahim Kanaan said after the bloc’s weekly meeting chaired by Aoun. “The bloc considers the challenge as the only means available to those who want democracy and elections to change the current situation.”
Kanaan added that lawmakers and civil society should support the Constitutional Council in order to guarantee the Lebanese their right to choose, run for the elections and elect.
“The only solution to all debate about a vacuum is by holding [parliamentary] elections. We cannot fill the alleged vacuum except by returning to the people,” he said. “Therefore, the extension [of Parliament’s mandate] is an extension of all crises in which we are living.”
He reiterated Aoun’s proposal for a constitutional amendment to allow the election of a president directly by the people instead of by Parliament.
Last year, the bloc challenged the first extension of Parliament’s mandate, but the Constitutional Council was not able to meet to discuss it for lack of a quorum, caused by the absence of members close to Berri and MP Walid Jumblatt, who backed the extension. The two leaders also backed the new extension, making it uncertain if the council would be able to look into it.
BAALBEK/BEIRUT: The wife of a soldier held by Islamist militants gave birth to their child Tuesday, as the issue of involving Syria in negotiations to free him and 26 other servicemen has stalled, according to a well-acquainted source. Three months after his abduction, the wife of Abbas Msheik, who is among the 27 hostages held by the Nusra Front and ISIS, delivered a baby boy Tuesday morning at the Dar al-Amal Hospital in Baalbek.
Zahraa Msheik, also mother to 7-year-old Fatima and 5-year-old Ali, named her newborn Mohammad.
Msheik had been pregnant for almost six months when her husband was captured along with more than 30 troops by militants in Arsal in August during their brief takeover of the border town. ISIS and the Nusra Front have killed three soldiers so far in a bid to pressure the government to meet their demands, accusing Lebanese authorities of not dealing seriously with the matter.
Msheik’s relatives and families of the other kidnapped servicemen have been protesting outside the Grand Serail for over a month in a bid to pressure the government to win the release of their loved ones, and a member of Msheik’s family has said the captive suffers from liver problems and needs urgent treatment.
In a statement two weeks ago the Nusra Front presented the Lebanese government with three options for a potential swap deal that implicitly brought the Syrian regime into the fore. It included either releasing 10 Islamist detainees from prison per captive; releasing seven and requesting that the Syrian government free 30 female prisoners per captive; or releasing five detainees in Lebanon and 50 Syrian prisoners per captive.
Though General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim had expressed hope in reports published last week that Damascus would be willing to help, a source in direct contact with the militants in Arsal said Syria’s unwillingness to agree to the terms laid out by the Nusra Front with respect to a swap deal in particular has strained talks.
The source added that Qatari mediator Ahmad al-Khatib was still anticipating a response from the government. “The last message he got [from the government] was to wait,” said the source, who requested anonymity. No progress has been made on the file in the last two weeks, he added.
The Syrian government has set conditions for helping secure the release of the captives, Al-Liwaa newspaper said Tuesday, citing diplomatic sources.
The daily reported that Syria had conditioned its participation in the hostage release process on receiving an official request from the Lebanese government, asking the Syrian regime to help facilitate the release of named captives by ISIS and Nusra Front.
However, a ministerial source, speaking to Al-Liwaa, voiced doubt that the Lebanese government would respond to the Syrian terms.
According to other ministerial sources, Turkey is also engaged in the negotiations and Ankara’s Ambassador to Lebanon Suleiman Inan Oz Yildiz is expected to meet with a delegation of the relatives of the captured servicemen in the coming days.
As Lebanon has not officially broken diplomatic ties with Syria, the Army has not officially severed military and intelligence ties with the regime, according to analyst Aram Nerguizian. While, the current Army posture toward the Syrian army is not hostile, no “real world” military cooperation exists between the two nations at the moment, he said.
If any cooperation between the two military institutions exists at the moment, it is “narrowly tied” to maintaining and sustaining stability in north Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley and the frontier with Syria.
“For years, that meant trying to push for cooperation with Syria on border demarcation – a push the Assad regime broadly did not take seriously from 2005 through 2011. Since the start of the Syrian conflict, both sides have acted broadly unilaterally to secure their side of the frontier, although consultations were likely,” he said.
The ministerial sources, describing the issue as “complicated,” said Prime Minister Tamam Salam was adamant on keeping the hostage file top secret, communicating covertly about developments with other key government players, including Ibrahim and the interior, defense, finance and health ministers.
Salam’s crisis cell is expected to convene Wednesday at 6 p.m. to discuss the hostage issue. – Additional reporting by Hasan Lakkis
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Tammam Salam will make an official two-day visit to the UAE starting Monday, and will fly to European countries in the following weeks.
During his UAE visit, Salam, who will head a ministerial delegation, is set to meet Emirati heir apparent Sheikh Mohammad bin Zayad al-Nuhyan and Dubai Governor Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed.
Salam and the delegation will also meet with the Lebanese community in the UAE. Salam’s talks with the top officials in the UAE will revolve around the situation in the region and its fallout, especially the Syrian refugee crisis and ways to help Lebanon deal with the issue.
At the end of the month, Salam is set to visit Brussels, where he will meet with top local and European Union officials to discuss the issue of Syrian refugees and bilateral relations between Belgium and Lebanon. In the second week of December, Salam will also fly to Paris with a ministerial delegation.
But before all that, Salam must chair a Cabinet meeting this Thursday that has 49 items on its agenda.
The Cabinet will discuss the signing of contracts with companies to operate the country’s two mobile networks. A number of ministers asked for the item to be delayed during the last session in order for them to review the specifications book distributed by Telecoms Minister Boutros Harb. The book specifies conditions that the candidate companies should fulfill.
Looking into the proposed Iranian military grant for the Lebanese Army will be postponed to the next session, according to Defense Minister Samir Moqbel, who said that he feared it would not be accepted, due to some ministers’ opposition to accepting aid from the Islamic Republic.
There are 11 decrees to be signed by ministers at Thursday’s Cabinet session. The Cabinet will also address the political and security situation, in particular the case of soldiers and policemen kidnapped during fighting in Arsal in early August.
Turkey is now involved in the negotiations to free the at least 27 security personnel being held by the Nusra Front and ISIS, a ministerial source told The Daily Star, and the Turkish ambassador to Lebanon is expected to meet with a delegation of the captives’ parents in the next few days.
The Lebanese task force charged with following up on negotiations consists of the prime minister – who is working hard to prevent leaks so talks won’t be derailed – the interior minister, the defense minister, the finance minister, the health minister and the General Security chief.
Negotiations between the Lebanese task force, represented by General Security Chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, and the Qatari envoy who is handling the talks with the Nusra Front are being kept very secret, the source said, and are being supervised by Salam.
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Muslims will not fall for plans to divide them and create strife, Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian said Tuesday, after visiting a senior Shiite figure.
“We ... agree that Islamic unity must go beyond theories and slogans, and it must be actualized in the awareness of all Muslims,” Derian said after meeting with Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan, the deputy head of the Higher Shiite Council.
“We [believe in] the same religion, the same book and the same prophet,” said Derian, the most senior Sunni religious figure in the country. “And our concerns and responsibilities are the same. Sectarian strife will not happen in Lebanon.”
Qabalan echoed these ideas, saying: “Muslims are loving brothers ... they should protect [Lebanon] by preserving national unity.”
After the meeting, Derian headed to the House of the Druze sect in Verdun, where he met with Sheikh Naim Hasan, the head of the Druze Spiritual Council.
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BAALBEK, Lebanon: A Kuwaiti national who had been kidnapped for more than two months was released Tuesday in return for a huge ransom, a source told The Daily Star.
Masfar al-Hajiri, kidnapped on Aug. 30 in the east Lebanon city of Baalbek, was released after his family paid several hundreds of thousands of dollars as a ransom, according to the source, who was following up on the matter.
The source stressed that the kidnappers had originally demanded a ransom of $1 million, which is why the negotiations took two months to be concluded.
The kidnappers handed over the man to Sheikh Bakr al-Rifai, the imam of Baalbek’s Ouzai Mosque. Rifai kept the man until General Security officers arrived to take him to his family, the source added.
A video allegedly showing the moment when Hajiri first met his family after his release went viral on social media Tuesday.
The man appeared coming out of a 4WD with tinted windows, similar to those used by General Security personnel.
Kidnap-for-ransom acts and car thefts in the Bekaa Valley have been on rise recently after initially dropping in light of a security plan launched by the government of Prime Minister Tammam Salam in April.
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TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Despite his formidable stature, Fawaz Zouq tries to avoid driving alone in Tripoli. It’s not the recent paroxysms of violence in Lebanon’s second city that have Zouq on edge. As a Salafist who began growing his beard in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in America, Zouq says that unless his wife or children are in the car with him, he is treated with suspicion by security forces. “I’m a peaceful man,” he told The Daily Star. “But if I pass a barrier [checkpoint] they will take me to the side because of my look and ideology.”
Salafists in north Lebanon say that while just a handful of their co-religionists are involved in militant activities, many believe that Salafism is inherently intolerant and violent.
The reality is much more complex, say both Lebanese Salafists and academic experts.
“Very often, people ... think Salafists are [similar] to violent militants, to the jihadi brand of Islam, which is untrue,” said Zoltan Pall, a professor at the National University of Singapore who is currently working on his second book about Salafism in Lebanon.
Modern Salafism was born in Saudi Arabia in the late 18th century when Mohammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, an Islamic preacher, sought to rid Islam of religious and cultural innovations introduced as Islam expanded throughout the world.
Wahhab promoted a return to the original texts of Islam: the Quran and hadith, the traditions and sayings of the Prophet Mohammad passed down from his contemporaries. He forged a pact with a local chief, Mohammad bin Saud, and together they worked to create a religio-political entity that would eventually become the modern Saudi Arabia.
Salafism was brought to Lebanon in the 1940s by Sheikh Salem al-Shahhal, who maintained close ties to the Saudi ruling family.
While holding some common beliefs, Salafists in Lebanon today are not homogenous.
Today, there are three distinct schools of thought among Salafists in Lebanon, according to Robert Rabil, a professor at Florida Atlantic University and author of the recently published book “Salafism in Lebanon: From Apoliticism to Transnational Jihadism.”
The delicate interplay between religion, politics and jihad is what differentiates the groups.
Some Salafists, who Rabil calls “quietists,” are largely apolitical and seek to unite Muslims under the banner of pure Islam.
Hasan Shahhal, a Salafist scholar has long been a proponent of inter-confessional dialogue, and spearheaded a memorandum of understanding with Hezbollah in 2008.
He roundly opposes Muslims who consider non-Muslims or even Muslims who do not share their ideology as apostates. “I’m against takfriri ideology,” he said. “I do not accept that anyone who says the shahadatayn [declaration of faith] would be considered an apostate,” he said.
“I am a staunch supporter of dialogue [between sects], and even with atheists on the condition that all sides remain objective and avoid fanaticism,” he added.
Others, the activist or “Haraki” Salafists, work within Lebanon’s confessional political system to engender social change and promote their ideology.
From his elegant home atop a hill near Tripoli, Sheikh Salem al-Rafei explains that his followers cooperate with the political powers that be.
“We believe in working with the government,” he said. The soft spoken sheikh is convalescing from a bullet wound suffered near Arsal when he was attempting to negotiate a cease-fire between Islamist groups and government forces last August.
Rifai, who was expelled from Germany in 2005 for his inflammatory speech, said he unsuccessfully tried to dissuade a more radical Salafist, Sheikh Khaled Hablas, from attacking the Army several weeks ago.
“On two occasions we met, and I said ‘Don’t do it ... our problem is not with the Army, it’s with Hezbollah.’”
“Any time we have a problem with the Army it benefits Hezbollah.”
But Hablas, along with militant Tripolitans like Shadi Mawlawi and his ilk, is aligned with the radical strain of Salafist jihadism. Many who follow this brand of Salafism are intolerant and fanatical, calling for retribution against those who do not abide by their ultra-orthodox creed.
The Salafist jihadis have gained a toehold, if not popular support, in Tripoli. “We have a few extremist leaders here,” Rafei said. “They are naive about religion. That’s why they are becoming radical.”
According to Pall, some sheikhs in Tripoli are concerned about the expansion of the Salafist jihadi ideology. “Some sheikhs told me ... that Salafist jihadism is spreading among the young generation,” he said. “One of them even told me that a new generation of jihadis might emerge.”
Still, militant Salafist jihadis in Lebanon are few.
Sheikh Zakaria Masri, who Rabil classifies as an activist Salafist, said he was concerned that the environment in Tripoli was pushing some Salafists toward violence.
Several prominent Salafist sheikhs, including Omar Bakri and Hussam Sabbagh, have been imprisoned. Others, like Dai al-Islam al Shahhal, have fled the country.
If security forces constantly tell Salafists they are terrorists, the prophecy will fulfill itself, Masri warned. “Security bodies in general are treating Salafists unfairly in the north. Some Salafists are being humiliated, cursed and arrested at checkpoints,” he added.
“Pressure leads to explosion. And so maybe some Salafists when faced by all this pressure could resort to violence. We pray to God that they will not do so because we believe that they should use reason.” – Additional reporting by Wassim Mroueh
The federal health exchange website is live this week for window shopping and people will begin to purchase new health insurance there on Saturday. But the Affordable Care Act still has many political and legal challenges ahead.
With every new Congress, power ebbs and flows for certain states. Some, like Michigan, will see a significant loss of congressional clout. Other states, like Texas, could see a surge of power.
BAALBEK, Lebanon: A Kuwaiti man who had been kidnapped for more than two months was released Tuesday in return for a huge ransom, a source told The Daily Star.
Masfar al-Hajiri, a Kuwaiti citizen who was kidnapped on Aug. 30 in the east Lebanon city of Baalbek, was released after his family paid several hundreds of thousands of dollars as a ransom, according to a source following on the matter.
The source stressed that the kidnappers had originally demanded a ransom of $1 million, which is why the negotiations took two months to be concluded.
The kidnappers released the man by giving him to Sheikh Bakr al-Rifai, the imam of Baalbek’s Ouzai Mosque. Rifai kept the man until General Security officers arrived to take him to his family, the source added.
A video allegedly showing the moment when Hajiri first met his family after his release went viral on social media Tuesday. The man appeared coming out of an 4-WD with tinted windows, similar to those used by General Security personnel.
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BEIRUT: Around 200 people held a demonstration in the Al-Tariq al-Jedideh area of Beirut in reaction to a street fight that led to the paralysis of a man, the National News Agency reported Tuesday.
According to the NNA, the man was paralyzed during a fistfight two days ago between the Farshoukh and the Shweih families that escalated into a shootout.
The report said that after the protesters attempted to burn tires on the Dana crossroad in the area, police forces and Army troops intervened and ended the sit-in.
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Too many of those who have served our nation in uniform now sleep in our nation’s streets. As Americans, we must uphold our sacred trust with our veterans – and eliminating veteran homelessness is a start to honoring that obligation.
In 2009, President Obama committed his entire Administration to an ambitious plan of ending veteran homelessness. Much work remains to ensure every veteran has a home, but we have made significant progress in fulfilling this goal. Since 2010, the total number of homeless veterans has dropped to 33 percent since 2010. The number of the most vulnerable veterans, with no shelter whatsoever, has declined even more, by 43 percent. This means that on any given night, there are 25,000 fewer veterans on the streets or in shelters.
Here’s a look at where we stand in our efforts to eliminate veteran homelessness:
BEIRUT: The Taif Accord of 1989 was a historical achievement that saved Lebanon from its 15-year civil war and revived coexistence among its people, the Future bloc said after their weekly meeting Tuesday.
“The Future bloc reiterates its stance that the Taif agreement was a great historical achievement of reform for the Lebanese political system,” MP Jamal Jarrah said, reading the bloc’s statement.
The bloc stressed that the peace accord, which ended the 15 years of war in the country, made Lebanon into a nation for all its people, without any discrimination.
The MPs also said the formulas in the accord established democratic and human rights values in Lebanon, and advanced the principles of civil state, citizenship and equality.
The comments were made after Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil and other Free Patriotic Movement figures condemned the agreement as outdated. Bassil also said France was against the accord, but the French envoy denied the accusation.
The Future Movement statement also attacked Hezbollah and the FPM for “obstructing presidential election sessions,” blaming them for the presidential vacuum that has now lasted five months and the negative consequences that have come with it.
The bloc also defended its decision to back the second extension of Parliament’s mandate, saying it was the “lesser of two evils” and stressing that electing a new president should be the top priority for the new Parliament.
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BEIRUT: Two people were killed in a car accident in east Lebanon Tuesday, according to media reports.
The men, Khodor Yahya and Nabil Dandash, were killed in the crash on the road linking Hermel to Sir al-Dinniyyeh, the reports said.
They added that Nabil’s relative, Mohammad Dandash, was injured in the accident and had been moved to the Dar al-Amal hospital.
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Read enough scientific studies and you might become convinced that everybody should be playing a few hours of Halo or Call of Duty each week to gain a mental edge. Over the past decade, study after study has shown that fast-paced video games bequeath a shocking range of small but measurable cognitive and perceptual benefits to gamers.
"We've seen improvements in tasks like efficiently tracking a large number of objects, accurately rotating an object in your mind, and perceiving slight changes on a display," says Vikranth Bejjanki, a psychologist at Princeton University. "And the big question that sticks out at us now is 'Why?' What are the underlying mechanics that are allowing gamers to get better at such a broad range of tasks?"
Today, in a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Bejjanki and his colleagues have claimed to identify the source of these mental upgrades for the first time. "Action video games, to put it simply, seem to enhance your ability to learn how to learn," Bejjanki says.
Playing Video Games… for Science
To test this theory, Bejjanki and his colleagues enlisted a cohort of action video gamers and non-gamers to participate in a "video game study." They then performed a series of experiments designed to measure the participants' abilities to tackle a specific task: identifying the orientation of fuzzy blotches on a screen with varying levels of background noise. (Why this weird task? Because it's a visual test that's difficult at first but gets easier with practice.)
In one experiment, the scientists simply compared avid action video gamers against people who don't play those games. In another, the researchers trained non-gamers—by having them play 50 hours of Unreal Tournament and Call of Duty 2—and then tested how much they improved compared non-gamers who had been trained to play slow-paced strategy games. In a third experiment, the scientists had action gamers and non-action gamers do the blotch test 8 separate times and tracked how they improved with practice.
So how'd the different groups do?
"You might have expected that people who played action video games were better at this task at the outset," Bejjanki says. "But that wasn't the case—both groups were about equal to begin with. Rather, as a function of being exposed to this new task, the action gamers became better at the task. They could more rapidly extract what was needed to do well."
What Bejjanki found particularly exciting was that the participants of their second experiment—those people who trained on 50 hours of simulated killing sprees—markedly improved their ability to learn how to learn. They could more quickly adapt to the blotch orientation task than a group who played 50 hours of mellow strategy games (such as The Sims 2 and Restaurant Empire) instead. This, Bejjanki argues, shows that action video games actually cause a slight improvement in people's abilities to learn how to learn certain tasks.
Contradictory Conclusions
But Walter Boot, a psychologist who studies action video games at Florida State University, says the story is likely more complicated than Bejjanki's study might suggest. Boot points to another recent study, this one in The Journal of Experimental Psychology, in which the authors tested the same theory as Bejjanki's team but came to the exact opposite conclusion. The title of their paper says it all: "Action Video Games Do Not Improve the Speed of Information Processing in Simple Perceptual Tasks."
What should we make of these contradictory conclusions? "It is a hard thing for anybody to really understand. We have conflicting stories coming from different labs," Boot says. Because the two papers can't both be right about action video games, Boot suggests that the differing conclusions may come down to minutia in how the different experiments were set up.
Boot sees a critical fault in the new study (one acknowledged by Bejjanki and his colleagues in their own paper): Bejjanki's team gathered their study participants by overtly letting them know they were going to play video games. As you can imagine, this made it easy to gather participants, but, Boot argues, "it also [likely] clued the participants in on how they were expected to perform in the laboratory." "People are smart," Boot says. "No matter what you do, people will try to figure an experiment out, and deduce what the experimenters are expecting of them—and that can deeply impact the results of a study."
In particular, Boot worries that the experimenters created room for external factors like persistence and motivation to muck up their results. It makes sense: if you come into an experiment as an action gamer, and realize you're being challenged and judged on how well you can play a game, you'll probably play harder than a non-gamer would. Thus, you have more impetus to improve over time.
Boot adds that self-identifying action gamers might be better at learning complicated visual tasks (such as the blotch orientation test) because "it could be that people who have better visual abilities and are fast learners are drawn to fast-paced action games because these are the abilities required to be good at these games," Boot says. So by overtly collecting self-reported action gamers, you could be collecting people who are naturally gifted at quickly learning these tasks, skewing your results into showing a false causality.
In his defense, Bejjanki argues that first, wanting to be perform better at a task does not necessarily mean a study participant will be able to. Second, overt recruitment shouldn't have affected how the non-gamers performed (particularly during their 50-hour training experiment). But Boot adds that, given enough upfront information, the 50-hour training experiment participants certainly could have been motivated by what they perceived was the experimenters' expectations.
It just goes to show you how tricky these questions can be—and how hard it can be to study them.
"I want to emphasize, I'm not saying this research is entirely wrong," Boot says. "Only, your readers should look at it in light of its admitted weaknesses, and keep in mind: this is just one piece of evidence in a much larger assembly of work."
Originally published on popularmechanics.com
In the March 2013 issue, Esquire published a story called “The Shooter,” by Phil Bronstein. The cover of the issue was stark—black background and these words in relief: “The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden Is Screwed.”
In the story, the Seal Team 6 member who fired the shots that killed bin Laden spoke for the first time about the mission but, more importantly, he spoke of his life in the two years following the mission and how he and his family—and many of the other special operators who bear a disproportionate burden of 21st century warfare—had been set adrift by the military and the United States government. After more than 16 years in the Navy, for much of which time he participated in the most dangerous, most psychologically affecting and most strategically important missions, he was provided no pension; no health coverage for his family; no security for him or his family, and no assistance transitioning to civilian life.
The story was a long time in the making—in large part because its protagonist was reluctant to transgress the code of silence members of the special forces maintain relating to their missions. When, months after his interviews with Bronstein were complete, he did agree to allow us to publish our story, there was one motivation that tipped the balance: He wanted the occasion of its publication to illuminate to the public and to policy makers what he saw as the mistreatment of our most elite warriors and lobby for changes in the way veterans of the special forces transition out of the military and into civilian life.
And that is what made the story most compelling: We had all read and seen a variety of accounts of the raid on bin Laden’s compound. But no one had offered a window onto what comes next. From the story’s first sentence, the absurdity of his situation was laid bare: “The man who shot and killed Osama bin Laden sat in a wicker chair in my backyard, wondering how he was going to feed his wife and kids or pay for their medical care.” The reaction to that sentence, and to the entire story, was a collective “What?” E-mails and phone calls poured in—a torrent of outrage and concern and offers of assistance to the Shooter.
The day the story broke, in February of last year, I was one of the people who accompanied the Shooter as he went from office to office on Capitol Hill, talking to the congressional leadership from both parties, as well as the chairmen and ranking members of the pertinent committees in both the House and the Senate. He educated them on the state in which too many elite soldiers find themselves after leaving the service—few job options, tumultuous family lives, serious medical and psychological issues—and lobbied them to consider implementing special provisions that would help special forces veterans transition out of the military. He also suggested that the Department of Defense change pension schedules to provide these elite soldiers a minimal income if they separate from the services before the twenty-year requirement. The congressional leaders were reverential in his company, knowing exactly who he was, and promised to see what could be done. In the wake of the efforts of that day, the story led to the creation of a foundation to aid veterans, an organization called A Grateful Nation.
Throughout this process, he has maintained the cloak of anonymity. This was of vital importance to him, as he wished to both observe a modicum of the code of silence to which he and his colleagues are honor-bound, and even more importantly he wished not to bring unnecessary risk to his wife and children, who were already contemplating the peril that their husband and father's historic role might put them in. We of course also guaranteed that we would not reveal his identity. It was his anonymity, along with his demonstrable concern for other veterans, that lent a clarity to his motives for telling his story at all.
However, tonight, in a Fox News documentary, the man who last week identified himself as the Shooter is coming out publicly, putting a face and name to the known narrative of his experience. I don’t know why he has decided to step forward so conspicuously now. But it is our hope that he continues to draw attention to the difficulties facing special forces veterans and veterans in general.
Since the announcement of the Fox television event, the narrative—or dueling narratives— of who did what in Abbottabad has taken on an unseemly circus atmosphere. This was completely unnecessary. The Shooter's original mission in telling his story was a serious and admirable one. The issues he and his fellow operators face in civilian life are only growing larger. We hope that the new attention he is receiving will not be limited to the melodrama surrounding his most famous mission but will help return the spotlight to the ongoing and extraordinary challenges facing these men after their missions are over.
We wish him and his family well.
Ed Note: This interview originally appeared in U.S. News & World Report. You can find the original post here.
Though the unemployment rate in the U.S. continues to fall, the country is still coping with a skills gap, especially in certain science- and technology-intensive fields like IT and health care. Veterans could fill the gap -- if only employers were more aware of the skills these men and women gained while in military service.
"Not every hiring manager is going to know that a chief petty officer has been responsible for the lives of dozens of their peers," First Lady Michelle Obama said during the Women Veterans Career Development Forum in Arlington, Virginia, on Monday. "Not every HR director understands that a gunner’s mate is probably trained to do some of the most complex, high-tech analysis that you'll find anywhere."
To help bridge that gap, and to encourage citizens to support veterans and military families, the First Lady and Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden, launched Joining Forces in 2011.
BEIRUT: A woman told police Tuesday that her ex-husband took their 6-year-old son after he fired shots at her vehicle, a security source told The Daily Star.
The man reportedly intercepted his ex-wife's vehicle on the Jounieh highway, but she continued driving knowing that he would attempt to take the boy.
After failing to stop, the man shot at her tires, forcing her to stop. The man then dragged the boy out of the car and drove off.
According to An-Nahar, the police who arrived to the scene of the incident said the dispute was over a recent decision by a religious court on the child's custody.
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BEIRUT: The British Embassy in Beirut held 'Remembrance Day' service at the Beirut Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery to honor the soldiers killed in World Wars I and II, including Lebanese and Palestinians.
The service was attended by British Ambassador to Lebanon Tom Fletcher, British Defense Attaché Lt. Col. James Cushner, and representatives of the Lebanese Army Commander and the head of the Internal Security Forces.
A number of Lebanese and Palestinian war veterans, who served with the British army in World War II, attended Monday's event with their families.
At the end of the service, Christobal al-Khawli from the charity organization Dar al-Awlad joined by two members from the British Royal Marines laid the wreath on the memorial.
Nearly 1,200 people, mostly from the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa, are buried at Beirut’s War Cemetery. The graves are supervised by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
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BEIRUT: Lebanese people are eating diseased food, Health Minister Wael Abu Faour warned Tuesday, revealing the names of establishments that do not meet food safety standards.
“The Lebanese citizen’s food is not only dipped with sweat, but also in diseases and microbes,” Abu Faour said during a news conference at his ministry. “The Lebanese does not know what he eats, and it will be a disaster if he knows.”
The minister revealed that numerous supermarkets, butchers and restaurants had been violating food safety standards, according to the results of the inspection campaign done by the ministry over the last 20 days.
The minister named all of the establishments that had failed the inspections.
The inspections have not yet reached Beirut, but Abu Faour said the results for the capital would come out Thursday, promising to take the necessary legal measures against the companies and the ministry’s employees who had not been doing their duty.
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A Malaysian flag sits on a table among other flags during a news conference at the Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement talks in July 2012 in San Diego. Nearly two and a half years later, the deal remains incomplete. Gregory Bull/AP hide caption
Earlier this year, some trade supporters had predicted this week's APEC summit would bring a a breakthrough on trade.
They had hoped that when the 21 global leaders met at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, Obama would be able to use a smaller side meeting to conclude the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal involving the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, as well as eight Asian and Latin American countries.
But the deal wasn't reached, and there's no telling when it will be.
"There are still significant divides that need to be bridged, especially between Japan and the United States," said Joshua Kurlantzick, a Southeast Asia expert with the Council on Foreign Relations.
The dream of a free-trade zone stretching from Asia to the Americas keeps getting tripped up by the stalemate over farm exports. The United States wants Japan to lower barriers to agricultural imports, including rice, pork, beef, dairy and sugar. But Japan wants to protect those sensitive food products.
The problems aren't just at the negotiating table — Obama also has a lot of political resistance to overcome at home. Many groups representing consumers and unions oppose the trade pact.
For example, Lori Wallach, a global trade expert for Public Citizen, a consumer watchdog group, said in a statement that TPP would "promote lower wages, higher medicine prices, more unsafe imported food, and new rights for foreign investors to demand payments from national treasuries."
At the same time, very conservative groups oppose any suggestion that House and Senate GOP leaders agree to renew "fast-track" negotiating authority for Obama.
Previous presidents have had that authority, which gave them the ability to complete a deal and then present it to Congress for a simple yes-or-no vote, with no amendments. But the White House hasn't had that ability for new deals since 2007, or for existing negotiations since 2011.
Obama wants Congress to renew the now-expired power, but Tea Party Nation President Judson Phillips and other conservatives put out a joint statement in opposition of "giving the president even more power to bypass Congress and enact his open borders agenda."
Whether Obama can put together a coalition of enough Democrats and Republicans to renew his trade-promotion authority in the new Congress is not yet clear.
"Any trade deal is hard to pass in the United States," but with Congress still so divided, a politically weakened Obama will have an especially tough time with TPP, Kurlantzick said.
President Obama said on Monday that he still sees success for the Asian trade deal.
"I just met with several other members of the TPP who share my desire to make this agreement a reality," Obama said. "We're going to keep on working to get it done."
Leaders of the 12 nations participating in TPP issued a joint statement saying they are "intensively engaging" in talks, but offered no deadline for completion.
BEIRUT: Labor Minister Sejaan Azzi issued a decision Tuesday banning domestic worker recruitment offices from advertising their services, saying any violation would be prosecuted under human trafficking.
In a statement, the ministry said that recruitment offices advertise their work in newspapers, flyers and billboards and use phrases such as "we secure a maid ... the price for bringing her to the house ... you can pay cost in installments ... a 24-hour maid ... and maids at your request."
The minister also said that such advertisements violate the rules regulating the work of such offices because it gives these agencies a commercial feel.
"The ministry asks these offices to remove all advertisements related to domestic workers because they are demeaning and will consider them human trafficking and will sue the office accordingly.”
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BEIRUT: The European Union will allocate an additional 12 million euros ($14.89 million) in humanitarian assistance for Syrian refugees and the most vulnerable Lebanese host families over the winter season, an EU statement said Tuesday.
The bulk of the extra funding, amounting to 10 million euros, will be used to help some half a million refugees improve and rehabilitate unfinished buildings and dwellings in which they are staying ahead of the winter season, especially in the regions where winter is particularly harsh, the statement said.
Another 2 million euros will be allocated for secondary health care projects, to ensure families continue to receive medical services in hospitals for life-saving treatment.
“Winter in Lebanon, particularly in high-altitude areas, can be a particularly cruel time for families who do not have proper shelter, who are living in tents or unfinished buildings without windows and proper insulation,” Bruno Rotival, head of office for the European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department in Lebanon, said.
Some of the most vulnerable Lebanese families will also benefit from the winter assistance, referred to as winterization.
The statement said ECHO has allocated 39 million euros in funding for humanitarian aid in Lebanon, including the extra winterization allocation of 12 million euros.
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BEIRUT: The law to extend Parliament’s term officially went into effect Tuesday, paving the way for lawmakers opposed to the move to challenge the decision.
The law, which won a majority of votes during last week’s legislative session, was published in the Official Gazette Tuesday, which officially extends lawmakers' mandate until 2017.
Political parties that opposed the law can now file a challenge at the Constitutional Council.
Some MPs in the Change and Reform bloc are expected to file a challenge to the law on the basis that the decision was illegal.
The head of the bloc, MP Michel Aoun, has argued that the extension is unnecessary given that the government would remain functioning in the absence of a Parliament. He has said that the Parliament failed to convene on several occasions to address pressing issues and extending its term would be futile.
Aoun, whose bloc boycotted the extension session, has also said that the alternative to an extension was to hold the parliamentary elections.
Future Movement lawmakers have lobbied in favor of the extension, saying that the presidential election remains a priority over the parliamentary polls. The Future Movement’s Christian allies, the Lebanese Forces and independent lawmakers allied with the party, voted for the extension.
Although the Kataeb Party, one of the two main Christian parties in the March 14 coalition, also boycotted the session, its lawmakers have not yet said whether they would challenge it.
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BEIRUT: A Baath Party official blasted MP Walid Jumblatt Tuesday for urging Syria’s Druze community to disengage from the regime and side with the rebels, accusing him of serving Israeli and Turkish schemes aimed at partitioning Syria.
“The latest declarations made by Walid Jumblatt and his previous definition of terrorism converge with the Zionist [Israeli] stance seeking with its Turkish ally to divide Syria and undermine its people’s unity,” said Fayez Shukr, secretary of Lebanon’s branch of Syria’s ruling Baath Party.
Shukr accused Jumblatt of endangering Lebanon and placing border areas close to Syria in the Arkoub region, southeast Lebanon, under big threats.
“Walid Jumblatt’s blunt engagement in the Zionist-led terrorist scheme, which is being carried out by the terrorist takfiri groups, poses great dangers on Syria and its people as well as the whole of Lebanon, especially the border areas,” Shukr said.
Jumblatt, the powerful leader of Lebanon’s Druze community and head of the Progressive Socialist Party, has called on his coreligionists in Syria to join relinquish all links with Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime and join the ranks of the rebels.
His comments came after fierce clashes broke out last week in Druze villages on the Syrian side of Mount Hermon between rebels and pro-government forces, in which several pro-regime Druze were reportedly killed.
“This very dangerous role that Walid Jumblatt brags about assuming constitutes a dangerous challenge to the Lebanese and Syrian people alike, especially at these very critical times,” Shukr added.
Jumblatt had made several calls on Syrian Druze to join the Syrian opposition since the uprising against Assad began in March 2011.
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TRIPOLI, Lebanon: The body of a 24-year-old Syrian woman was taken Tuesday to a hospital in Halba in the northern Akkar province, where a poisonous substance was said to be the cause of her death.
A security source told The Daily Star Mounira Shehadeh, who lives in the Akkar town of Arqa, was found dead at her house Tuesday morning.
The source would not give other details.
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BEIRUT: Prime Minister Tammam Salam will head on an official visit to the United Arab Emirates next week to discuss the situation in Lebanon and the region, a source close to the premier said Tuesday.
The source told The Daily Star that Salam would meet Monday with the emir of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan.
He said Salam would later head to Dubai for talks with Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed al-Maktoum.
Salam’s UAE trip, according to the source, was part of an Arab tour the prime minister kicked off earlier this year with a visit to Saudi Arabia.
During his May visit, Salam met Saudi King Abdullah and senior Saudi officials.
It was Salam’s first official visit to Riyadh since he took office in February.
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