BEIRUT: Prime Minister Tammam Salam headed to Belgium Monday on a two-day official visit.
Salam – accompanied by a ministerial, administrative and media delegation – is scheduled to meet Belgium Prime Minister Charles Michel and head of the European Commission as well as European officials and member of the Lebanese community.
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BEIRUT: Song and dance shattered Downtown Beirut’s typical Sunday calm as thousands poured onto the streets, tears in their eyes and youthful memories in their hearts, to bid farewell to musical legend Sabah. Fans remembered her not only for her huge contribution to music in the Middle East and the entire world, but hailed her for her humility despite achieving international acclaim.
Downtown Beirut was brimming with citizens, musicians, artists and singers, gathering outside the St. George Cathedral to celebrate the life of a figure whose impact transcended borders.
Sabah’s coffin arrived in a white hearse covered with white flowers, which led a convoy of five black hearses carrying the wreaths that had the names of nearly all of Lebanon’s most known figures. Among the names were those of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, Speaker Nabih Berri, Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, head of the Lebanese Forces Samir Geagea and Army Commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi.
Perhaps the most touching of all farewell notes was written by the another legendary icon of Lebanese art, Fairouz: “Your sun never sets.”
One wreath also carried the name of Prime Minister Tammam Salam. Attending the funeral were many Cabinet ministers and MPs.
“It is just normal that a person who filled the hearts of all the Lebanese with joy and life is remembered by all these people on her final day,” MP Elie Keyrouz, observing the huge line of wreaths and reading each note, told The Daily Star.
“But it’s unfortunate that Lebanon is incomplete at this moment. It’s sad that there is no president to tell her goodbye,” he said.
Born Jeanette Feghali in Bdadoun, a village in Aley, Sabah, who died last week at the age of 87, was the first Arab singer to perform at Olympia in Paris, Carnegie Hall in New York, Piccadilly Theater in London and the Sydney Opera House in Australia.
She starred in 83 films (Lebanese and Egyptian) and 27 Lebanese plays. Sabah’s repertoire included over 3,000 Lebanese and Egyptian songs. She received many awards during her lengthy career, including one from the Dubai International Film Festival and another by former Lebanese President Michel Sleiman at the Beiteddine Art Festival.
Trying to fight back tears with a smile, Alia, a 70-year-old longtime fan of the artist, nicknamed Sabbouha, found it difficult to find words to express her emotions.
“More than anyone in the whole world, Sabah brought happiness to the hearts of every single person who heard her songs,” she said. “I and millions like me would have not enjoyed our youth so much if not for her.”
Dabke dancers jolted with the sound of her music and singers recited parts of her most notable songs for reporters, while the Army brought its orchestra to play her music, setting a remarkable precedent.
Dressed in black from head to toe and wearing shoes with wooden heels, a woman surprised the crowd when she started performing a flamenco dance in harmonious rhythm.
Sabah’s coffin, draped with a Lebanese flag and covered with white flowers, was carried into the hall of the church.
Sabah’s portraits showing her charming smile hung on every corner of the church, from its gates, to the walls of its outdoor hall, to the pins so proudly displayed by her fans.
“She should be remembered every day, in every home, and by everyone who appreciates what she gave us,” Darine Hadchiti, a Lebanese celebrity and singer, told The Daily Star.
For Hadchiti, Lebanon’s modern singers and actresses have a very important lesson to learn from Shahroura, another nickname, meaning singing bird in Arabic.
“It’s all about modesty,” she said. “If Sabah’s character was not so extraordinarily modest, you wouldn’t have seen all these people coming here just to express how much respect they have for her.”
But the mood inside the cathedral where Sabah’s funeral service was held was toned down, with prayers held and a sermon delivered by Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai.
“Sabah died but her voice will stay alive on the air,” Rai said after the prayers.
“She rests in peace, with one will, that her farewell day be a day of joy, without grief or weeping,” Rai added, addressing Sabah’s relatives, fans and a host of politicians who attended the Mass.
The cathedral was packed with hundreds of admirers, some of whom watched from the high balconies.
Sabah is survived by her son, Sabah Shammas, from her marriage to Najib Shammas, and her daughter Howeida, from her marriage to Egyptian violinist Anwar Mansi.
After the Mass, Sabah’s body was transferred to Bdadoun, passing through the village of Houmal.
Hundreds of residents took to streets to receive the funeral in both villages, carrying the diva’s photos.
In Bdadoun, residents carried the coffin to a church where the last funeral prayers were held before she was laid to rest.
BEIRUT: Hezbollah Sunday stood firm on its support for MP Michel Aoun for the presidency, a stance that is likely to put spikes in the wheel of a much-anticipated dialogue between the Shiite party and its Sunni rival, the Future Movement.
Hezbollah’s unyielding stance on the presidential vote also ran contrary to former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s call for the election of a consensus candidate as the only solution to end the political deadlock that has left Lebanon without a president for more than six months.
Speaker Nabih Berri, meanwhile, said contacts would be stepped up this week to prepare the agenda for the Future-Hezbollah talks.
Berri, according to visitors, voiced optimism that the planned dialogue between Hezbollah and the Future Movement would be successful, and praised Hariri’s stances on the dialogue and on the entire situation in Lebanon.
“Hariri’s stances will help ensure the success of dialogue in the mission to be assigned to it,” Berri was quoted as saying by visitors.
Hariri said in a TV interview Thursday that he was ready for a serious dialogue with Hezbollah with the aim of defusing Sunni-Shiite tensions.
Political sources said the first round of talks between Hezbollah and the Future Movement would be sponsored by Berri and held in Ain al-Tineh in the first half of this month. Nader Hariri, chief of Hariri’s staff, and Future MP Jamal Jarrah, will represent the Future Movement, while Hussein Khalil, a political aide to Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah and a party lawmaker, probably MP Hassan Fadlallah, will stand for Hezbollah, the sources said.
Earlier Sunday, Fadlallah said Hezbollah supported the presidential candidate who enjoyed the widest popular base, in a clear reference to Aoun, the leader of the Free Patriotic Movement who heads the largest Christian bloc in Parliament.
“Our stance has become clear on the presidential election. It emanates from our vision of the national interest and not only from our loyalty [to Aoun],” Fadlallah said at a memorial ceremony in south Lebanon. “National interest dictates that the president be a person who enjoys real representation in his environment and at the national level and who can win consensus and accord among the Lebanese parties.”
He called on the rival March 8 and March 14 factions “to meet together on this national vision, based on Lebanon’s interest, which dictates that the president be a person who can steer Lebanon out of the crisis.”
“Hezbollah stands firm on its vision toward the presidency issue,” Fadlallah said.
His remarks came as preparations are underway to launch the dialogue between Hezbollah and the Future Movement. They also came three days after Hariri, the head of the Future Movement, said in a TV interview that he was ready to discuss the presidency issue in the dialogue with Hezbollah, while stressing that only the election of a consensus candidate could end the vacuum in the country’s top Christian post.
Responding to Hariri’s call for a consensus candidate, Aoun vowed not to withdraw from the presidency race, insisting in an interview with The Daily Star Friday that he was the most popular Christian candidate.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s top Sunni and Shiite spiritual leaders voiced support for the dialogue.
“We appreciate the sincere and transparent initiative launched by [former] Prime Minister Saad Hariri, which does not seek political gain, but serves to rescue Lebanon and the Lebanese,” Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian said during a luncheon. “We hope everyone will join on the road to dialogue in order to rescue Lebanon.”
Sheikh Abdel Amir Qabalan, deputy head of the Higher Shiite Council, said dialogue is essential to elect a president.
“The Lebanese are bound to meet and consult on the ground that dialogue is a national duty to solve crises and a compulsory way to accomplish national events, at the top of which is the election of a president who can enjoy national unanimity,” he said.
ZAHLE, Lebanon: The Health Ministry’s food safety campaign against violators hit another target over the weekend, closing Taanayel Center, a dairy producer.
The Taanayel Center operating in Zahle was shut down following major health violations, the Health Ministry said Sunday.
The center is not affiliated with Taanayel Les Fermes.
Ministry inspectors were initially prevented from entering the dairy factory, according to the statement.
Considered to be one of the biggest dairy factories in the Bekaa Valley, owned by Rami Abdul-Malak, the place was described as a “disastrous case” by inspectors, prompting Judge Farid Kallas, chief public prosecutor of the Bekaa Valley, to close it down.
The inspectors were also joined by a team from the Economy Ministry’s Consumer Protection Directorate.
Inspectors found expired yeast and artificial flavors, as well as expired and unlabeled preservatives. The butter too did not have an expiry label.
The factory also had a large quantity of kishik believed to have been made using expired dairy products.
The factory’s administration claimed that inspectors only examined the products returned to the factory from supermarkets and shop owners. However, inspectors denied the claim.
According to sources, all kinds of products were examined. The source added that if the factory administration’s claims were true it should be reprimanded for placing factory products next to expired items.
The source added that the inspection team headed over to the factory following a tip that it had been re-packaging expired products and selling them in the open market.
For instance, inspectors were informed that the factory would repackage cheese after scraping moldy surfaces and washing it in salt water, and sometimes using it as a base for shanklish. Accusations that the factory was repacking old labneh also emerged.
“When taking samples we don’t ask the factory owner to choose, we choose them out of many,” the source said. “What we chose [samples], proved that they’re not suitable for consumption.”
The source added that laboratory tests indicated a high percentage of preservatives, which makes things more dangerous. The source also said the samples could poison consumers, especially children and elderly.
Three of five refrigerators inspected revealed expired dairy products and moldy goods.
“One refrigerator had recently produced products, but we found insects and mosquitoes in them,” the source said. A series of rat traps on the floor indicated that the factory also had an infestation problem.
The factory was shut down after inspectors filed a report that Health Minister Wael Abu Faour will refer to the judiciary Monday.
The health minister will also request that charges be pressed against the factory owner.
The source said that the campaign against food safety violators would continue, adding that other factories might be shut down in the next few days.
The campaign began last month, when Abu Faour announced names of restaurants selling contaminated food across the country.
Last week, Economy Minister Alain Hakim ordered six dairy factories in the Bekaa Valley to stop selling labneh, saying the product did not meet health specifications.
ZAHLE, Lebanon: The Health Ministry’s food safety campaign against violators hit another target over the weekend, closing Taanayel Center, a dairy producer.
The Taanayel Center operating in Zahle was shut down following major health violations, the Health Ministry said Sunday.
The center is not affiliated with Taanayel Les Fermes.
Ministry inspectors were initially prevented from entering the dairy factory, according to the statement.
Considered to be one of the biggest dairy factories in the Bekaa Valley, owned by Rami Abdul-Malak, the place was described as a “disastrous case” by inspectors, prompting Judge Farid Kallas, chief public prosecutor of the Bekaa Valley, to close it down.
The inspectors were also joined by a team from the Economy Ministry’s Consumer Protection Directorate.
Inspectors found expired yeast and artificial flavors, as well as expired and unlabeled preservatives. The butter too did not have an expiry label.
The factory also had a large quantity of kishik believed to have been made using expired dairy products.
The factory’s administration claimed that inspectors only examined the products returned to the factory from supermarkets and shop owners. However, inspectors denied the claim.
According to sources, all kinds of products were examined. The source added that if the factory administration’s claims were true it should be reprimanded for placing factory products next to expired items.
The source added that the inspection team headed over to the factory following a tip that it had been re-packaging expired products and selling them in the open market.
For instance, inspectors were informed that the factory would repackage cheese after scraping moldy surfaces and washing it in salt water, and sometimes using it as a base for shanklish. Accusations that the factory was repacking old labneh also emerged.
“When taking samples we don’t ask the factory owner to choose, we choose them out of many,” the source said. “What we chose [samples], proved that they’re not suitable for consumption.”
The source added that laboratory tests indicated a high percentage of preservatives, which makes things more dangerous. The source also said the samples could poison consumers, especially children and elderly.
Three of five refrigerators inspected revealed expired dairy products and moldy goods.
“One refrigerator had recently produced products, but we found insects and mosquitoes in them,” the source said. A series of rat traps on the floor indicated that the factory also had an infestation problem.
The factory was shut down after inspectors filed a report that Health Minister Wael Abu Faour will refer to the judiciary Monday.
The health minister will also request that charges be pressed against the factory owner.
The source said that the campaign against food safety violators would continue, adding that other factories might be shut down in the next few days.
The campaign began last month, when Abu Faour announced names of restaurants selling contaminated food across the country.
Last week, Economy Minister Alain Hakim ordered six dairy factories in the Bekaa Valley to stop selling labneh, saying the product did not meet health specifications.
RAS BAALBEK, Lebanon: A thin red line of defense is emerging along Lebanon’s northern border as the Lebanese Army builds a series of fortified watchtowers to help check the spillover from Syria’s civil war, including the threat posed by extremist militants holed up in mountains east of Arsal.
The United Kingdom-funded project, which began in 2011, also includes equipping and training the Army’s Land Border Regiments which are tasked specifically with securing the porous frontier with Syria. Since last year, the British government has approved around $30 million for the “train and equip” program for the two Land Border Regiments. A third Land Border Regiment is currently being raised.
“The U.K. project is of great importance because it has allowed the state to be present along 50 percent of the border with Syria where the government had not been present for many years,” said Brig. Gen. Maroun Hitti, the Army’s director of planning.
Lebanon’s tiny size means it has little “strategic depth,” Hitti added, which is why defending the border is of such critical importance.
“A few kilometers inside Lebanon is like a thousand kilometers in Russia. There are only a few kilometers separating the border [with Syria] from the border villages,” he said.
Although the U.K. has provided assistance to the Lebanese Army since 2006, the border project arose from a conversation in October 2011 between then-Prime Minister Najib Mikati and his British counterpart, David Cameron. Asked by Cameron what he needed to help maintain stability in Lebanon, Mikati replied that securing the border was a priority given the worsening violence in Syria at the time.
“Since the beginning of my mandate in 2011, the risks of spillover from the Syria crisis brought a new security challenge, which triggered the urgent need to upgrade our response,” Mikati said in a statement. “The cooperation with the U.K., driven by [British] Ambassador [Tom] Fletcher, was pivotal for our ability to defend our borders against these new threats.”
Those threats are nowhere more apparent than in the rugged barren mountainous terrain of northeast Lebanon. The Army has built 12 watchtowers so far, four of them along the northeast border between Namaat, east of Masharih al-Qaa, and Aaqabet al-Jourd, a hill 3 kilometers south of Arsal.
A small group of reporters boarded an Army helicopter at the Defense Ministry in Yarze Saturday and headed to Ras Baalbek in the northern Bekaa, a flight that skimmed over pine trees and rooftops, crossed yawning rocky valleys and the snow-capped ridge near Majdal Tarshish before descending and barreling along at around 50 meters above the flat plain of the Bekaa Valley.
Ras Baalbek is home to the headquarters of the 2nd Land Border Regiment, which operates the watchtowers in the northern Bekaa. In the soaring beige mountains to the east, dusted with snow from the recent storm, are some of an estimated 3,000-strong force of mainly Syrian militants, including the extremist ISIS and the Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate.
On Aug. 2, a combined force of some 700 militants attacked and overran Arsal, sparking some of the bloodiest fighting since the 2007 battle in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp. When the militants withdrew as part of a cease-fire agreement five days later, they took with them more than 30 captured soldiers and policemen and a large quantity of looted arms and ammunition. However, the assault on Arsal could have had much graver consequences.
Another group of militants split from the main force to launch an attack on Ras Baalbek, 8 kilometers north of Arsal. The attack ground to a halt when the militants stumbled across a watchtower, Tower 10, on a small hill at the entrance to a serpentine valley that leads directly to Ras Baalbek, 3 kilometers to the west. Construction on the fortified base and watchtower had only ended days earlier and apparently the militants were unaware it existed. If the attack on Ras Baalbek had been successful, it would greatly have inflamed tensions across the country.
“The Lebanese Army took a hit [in Arsal], but they held the line and I’m sure that U.K. training and the towers was part of that,” said Fletcher, the British envoy.
Still, since August, there has been a steady rate of attacks in the Ras Baalbek-Arsal area, much of it unreported. Militants probe the Army defenses at night by firing heavy machine guns at the towers or attempt to plant roadside bombs on patrol routes. A 20 kilogram roadside bomb was discovered by an Army patrol Saturday morning alongside a track leading to Tower 12, under construction at Aaqabet al-Jourd. An anti-tank mine also was uncovered nearby.
“We have every day some troubles. When they come to us, we shoot at them,” said Brig. Gen. Ali Murad, the commander of the 2nd Land Border Regiment. Murad added that the situation was generally calm for now, but assessed that the onset of winter could force the militants in the mountains to attempt to move closer to Arsal, bringing them into contact with the Army.
“If any terrorists try to come here with a big number of people we can repel them,” he said.
As a convoy of Army vehicles headed east from Ras Baalbek, Murad received a call that seven potentially armed men had been spotted in the craggy heights above the valley leading to Tower 10. The convoy halted while two Humvees with machine gunners raced ahead to check. It later turned out that the men, who were armed, were likely members of Ras Baalbek’s local civilian defense force on patrol.
Tower 10 is an imposing bastion with sweeping views over an expanse of flat ground leading to the hills and mountains to the east. It is protected by two levels of Hesco blast barriers, huge boxes each packed with 20 tons of earth and rock. The soldiers manned firing positions along the walls. In front of the base were 81mm mortar pits and two armored personnel carriers mounted with 23mm and 14.5mm anti-aircraft guns.
“We are attacked about once a week here,” said 1st Lieutenant Hasan Dirani, the base commander. He added that he was doubtful the militants would attempt another assault on Ras Baalbek.
“We are strong and ready for them and they know that we are here,” he said.
Observation is carried out from a cramped room at the top of a fortified tower. Long-range reconnaissance cameras with night-vision capabilities constantly scan the surrounding landscape. The British government has also provided the Lebanese Army with several mobile observation platforms which can be towed to hilltops for temporary reconnaissance missions. Visible 6 kilometers to the south of Tower 10 is Tower 11, a squat square dimple on a hill above Arsal.
The goal is to build towers down the entire length of Lebanon’s eastern border to Shebaa on the edge of the UNIFIL area of operations. The next phase of tower installation will be between Arsal and Masnaa which will become the operational area of the new 3rd Land Border Regiment.
RAS BAALBEK, Lebanon: A thin red line of defense is emerging along Lebanon’s northern border as the Lebanese Army builds a series of fortified watchtowers to help check the spillover from Syria’s civil war, including the threat posed by extremist militants holed up in mountains east of Arsal.
The United Kingdom-funded project, which began in 2011, also includes equipping and training the Army’s Land Border Regiments which are tasked specifically with securing the porous frontier with Syria. Since last year, the British government has approved around $30 million for the “train and equip” program for the two Land Border Regiments. A third Land Border Regiment is currently being raised.
“The U.K. project is of great importance because it has allowed the state to be present along 50 percent of the border with Syria where the government had not been present for many years,” said Brig. Gen. Maroun Hitti, the Army’s director of planning.
Lebanon’s tiny size means it has little “strategic depth,” Hitti added, which is why defending the border is of such critical importance.
“A few kilometers inside Lebanon is like a thousand kilometers in Russia. There are only a few kilometers separating the border [with Syria] from the border villages,” he said.
Although the U.K. has provided assistance to the Lebanese Army since 2006, the border project arose from a conversation in October 2011 between then-Prime Minister Najib Mikati and his British counterpart, David Cameron. Asked by Cameron what he needed to help maintain stability in Lebanon, Mikati replied that securing the border was a priority given the worsening violence in Syria at the time.
“Since the beginning of my mandate in 2011, the risks of spillover from the Syria crisis brought a new security challenge, which triggered the urgent need to upgrade our response,” Mikati said in a statement. “The cooperation with the U.K., driven by [British] Ambassador [Tom] Fletcher, was pivotal for our ability to defend our borders against these new threats.”
Those threats are nowhere more apparent than in the rugged barren mountainous terrain of northeast Lebanon. The Army has built 12 watchtowers so far, four of them along the northeast border between Namaat, east of Masharih al-Qaa, and Aaqabet al-Jourd, a hill 3 kilometers south of Arsal.
A small group of reporters boarded an Army helicopter at the Defense Ministry in Yarze Saturday and headed to Ras Baalbek in the northern Bekaa, a flight that skimmed over pine trees and rooftops, crossed yawning rocky valleys and the snow-capped ridge near Majdal Tarshish before descending and barreling along at around 50 meters above the flat plain of the Bekaa Valley.
Ras Baalbek is home to the headquarters of the 2nd Land Border Regiment, which operates the watchtowers in the northern Bekaa. In the soaring beige mountains to the east, dusted with snow from the recent storm, are some of an estimated 3,000-strong force of mainly Syrian militants, including the extremist ISIS and the Nusra Front, Al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate.
On Aug. 2, a combined force of some 700 militants attacked and overran Arsal, sparking some of the bloodiest fighting since the 2007 battle in the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp. When the militants withdrew as part of a cease-fire agreement five days later, they took with them more than 30 captured soldiers and policemen and a large quantity of looted arms and ammunition. However, the assault on Arsal could have had much graver consequences.
Another group of militants split from the main force to launch an attack on Ras Baalbek, 8 kilometers north of Arsal. The attack ground to a halt when the militants stumbled across a watchtower, Tower 10, on a small hill at the entrance to a serpentine valley that leads directly to Ras Baalbek, 3 kilometers to the west. Construction on the fortified base and watchtower had only ended days earlier and apparently the militants were unaware it existed. If the attack on Ras Baalbek had been successful, it would greatly have inflamed tensions across the country.
“The Lebanese Army took a hit [in Arsal], but they held the line and I’m sure that U.K. training and the towers was part of that,” said Fletcher, the British envoy.
Still, since August, there has been a steady rate of attacks in the Ras Baalbek-Arsal area, much of it unreported. Militants probe the Army defenses at night by firing heavy machine guns at the towers or attempt to plant roadside bombs on patrol routes. A 20 kilogram roadside bomb was discovered by an Army patrol Saturday morning alongside a track leading to Tower 12, under construction at Aaqabet al-Jourd. An anti-tank mine also was uncovered nearby.
“We have every day some troubles. When they come to us, we shoot at them,” said Brig. Gen. Ali Murad, the commander of the 2nd Land Border Regiment. Murad added that the situation was generally calm for now, but assessed that the onset of winter could force the militants in the mountains to attempt to move closer to Arsal, bringing them into contact with the Army.
“If any terrorists try to come here with a big number of people we can repel them,” he said.
As a convoy of Army vehicles headed east from Ras Baalbek, Murad received a call that seven potentially armed men had been spotted in the craggy heights above the valley leading to Tower 10. The convoy halted while two Humvees with machine gunners raced ahead to check. It later turned out that the men, who were armed, were likely members of Ras Baalbek’s local civilian defense force on patrol.
Tower 10 is an imposing bastion with sweeping views over an expanse of flat ground leading to the hills and mountains to the east. It is protected by two levels of Hesco blast barriers, huge boxes each packed with 20 tons of earth and rock. The soldiers manned firing positions along the walls. In front of the base were 81mm mortar pits and two armored personnel carriers mounted with 23mm and 14.5mm anti-aircraft guns.
“We are attacked about once a week here,” said 1st Lieutenant Hasan Dirani, the base commander. He added that he was doubtful the militants would attempt another assault on Ras Baalbek.
“We are strong and ready for them and they know that we are here,” he said.
Observation is carried out from a cramped room at the top of a fortified tower. Long-range reconnaissance cameras with night-vision capabilities constantly scan the surrounding landscape. The British government has also provided the Lebanese Army with several mobile observation platforms which can be towed to hilltops for temporary reconnaissance missions. Visible 6 kilometers to the south of Tower 10 is Tower 11, a squat square dimple on a hill above Arsal.
The goal is to build towers down the entire length of Lebanon’s eastern border to Shebaa on the edge of the UNIFIL area of operations. The next phase of tower installation will be between Arsal and Masnaa which will become the operational area of the new 3rd Land Border Regiment.
Unknown gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead a Lebanese man in the Ashrafieh area of Beirut Saturday, the state-run...
BEIRUT: Residents across Tripoli, Sidon, Beirut and Tyre gathered near Lebanon's coast Sunday as an NGO that calls itself Beirut Celebrations attempted to form a human chain stretching from the northern city of Tripoli down to the southern city of Tyre.
In Beirut, a mass of people gathered near the Al Hammam Al Aaskary on the capital’s seaside road. Tourism Minister Michel Pharaon, who attended the event alongside local officials, said that “the Lebanese should have faith in the civil society [sector] despite the deadlock in [state] institutions.”
Lebanon’s Civil Defense, Internal Security Forces, and Lebanese scouts were also a part of the Beirut chain that stretched across the Manara coastal road.
According to Beirut Celebration’s website, the "Holding Hands" campaign serves to “unite the Lebanese at large,” as people from coast to coast come together.”
In an interlocked stretch, a throng of citizens gathered along the length of Tripoli’s seaside road, from near the Mina municipality to the Arab University campus which is over 8 km away.
The attendees launched a march near Tripoli’s municipality towards the Rashid Karameh exhibit as people raised their flags and held up banners.
The crowd also started singing the Lebanese anthem in unison before a member of Tripoli’s municipal council Omar al-Hoz delivered a speech in which he said that “there was no difference between one region and the other or between one sect and the other.”
”Tripoli was and will remain the city of coexistence and the second capital of the Lebanese state,” he added.
In the city of Sidon, students, civil society representatives, and the Lebanese scouts gathered near the city’s coast.
The crowed was joined by Sidon Governor Mohammad al-Sououdi and a number of municipal council members.
“Sidon represents everyone on Lebanese territory, it represents Lebanese and Palestinians, and it reprints all sects and religions, be it Christian, Muslim, Sunni or Shiite, and we are all hand in hand for Lebanon,” the governor said.
The gathering was decorated with painted portraits, folklore and other displays presented by the city's students who also raised a large Lebanese flag.
The departed Lebanese Diva Sabah, who died on Wednesday, remained in the thoughts of many of the attendees who played some of her old songs, especially one she had dedicated to the capital of the south.
In Tyre, hundreds of students, area residents and UNIFIL forces raised their hands in a gesture of unity and solidarity as military helicopters circled above them.
“This stand is meant to express out rejection of sectarianism and division between Lebanon, as we call for unity and cohesion,” Tyre Municipal head Hasan Dbouq said.
Sunday’s event is the third in a spate of initiatives organized by Beirut Celebrations in commemoration the 71st anniversary of Lebanon’s independence.
The first event, United Hands across the Web, took place in October, and used Google maps to join Lebanese from across the world.
In the second event, nearly 2,000 people gathered in Martyrs Square in Beirut on Nov. 22 to form a big letter “U” for united.
BEIRUT: Hezbollah supports the presidential candidate who enjoys the widest popular base, party MP Hassan Fadlallah said in a speech Sunday.
“Our stand has become clear on this file, and it is derived from our vision to national interest and not only from our loyalty,” Fadlallah said in a memorial ceremony for one of his party’s fighters in south Lebanon. “National Interest dictates that the president be a person that enjoys real popularity in his environment and on the national level.”
Fadlallah’s comments hinted that Hezbollah insists on supporting its ally, the head of the Free Patriotic Movement Michel Aoun, for the presidency. They came in light of serious talks about a possible dialogue soon between the party and its political rival, the Future Movement.
Future chief and former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said in a TV interview Thursday that he was ready to discuss the presidency in the dialogue with Hezbollah, stressing that only a consensus candidate can reach the post and save the country from further vacuum.
Fadlallah said the new president must be able to lead Lebanon out of the crisis and rehabilitate the state’s institutions in a healthy manner. He said the next head of state should also be able to contribute to building the state “with standards that suit our people, and the sacrifices of our Army and resistance.”
“Hezbollah insists on its stand towards presidency file,” he said, calling on all political factions to share his party’s vision.
But the MP also underlined that giving priority to political or security concerns does not mean the state has the right to neglect the matters that touch the livelihoods of citizens.
He said water and electricity shortages, inflation and unemployment are not phenomena that could be tolerated, highlighting the need for Cabinet policies that provide the basic socio-economic rights to the Lebanese families.
BEIRUT: The military general who served as the head of operations during Israel’s 2006 assault on Lebanon has been named as the next military chief of staff, local media reported over the weekend.
Maj. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, who was behind the so-called “Dahiyeh doctrine” - carpet bombing densely populated urban areas, will replace Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, whose four-year term ends in February 2015.
Dahiyeh refers to Beirut’s southern suburbs which were reduced to rubble during Israel’s 34-day-long attack on Lebanon, which killed more than 1,200 people, the overwhelming majority of them civilians.
In a 2008 interview, Eisenkot declared that if a new war with Hezbollah was to erupt, “what happened in the Dahiyeh quarter in Beirut in 2006 will happen in every village from which Israel is fired on.”
“We will apply disproportionate force on it and cause great damage and destruction there,” he was quoted as saying by Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
Eisenkot said that the abovementioned strategy "is not a recommendation. This is a plan. And it has been approved," while noting that from his standpoint, “these are not civilian villages, they are military bases."
Eisenkot was put in charge of the northern command, which is responsible for the border with Lebanon, after the end of the 2006 war, during which he demonstrated “level-headedness,” according to colleagues.
The appointment is subject to government approval.
Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon called Eisenkot the best choice to face Israel's "complex security challenges."
Replacing him as new deputy chief of staff will be Major General Yair Golan, currently head of the northern command, Yaalon added.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Eisenkot was "selected from an excellent group of generals" and wished him luck.
The 54-year-old began his military service as an infantryman in the Golani Brigade, rising through the ranks to command it.
He was military secretary to premier and defense minister Ehud Barak between 2009 and 2011, during which Israeli media reported he was involved in negotiations with Syria.
Eisenkot was later appointed commander of the occupied West Bank, before becoming head of the operations directorate and eventually northern command chief from 2006 to 2011. -With agencies
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BEIRUT: Iraqi Vice President Nouri Maliki met with Lebanese former Prime Minister Salim al-Hoss Sunday, a day after he arrived in Beirut to discuss terrorism with local officials.
“The Iraqis will eventually win due to their unity and cohesion,” Hoss said after the meeting at his residence in the Malla area, saying he had confidence in the Iraqi state and people who are confronting the rise of terrorism.
Maliki had arrived at Beirut’s Saturday, and was welcomed by Hezbollah and Amal Movement MPs at Rafik Hariri International Airport.
Maliki, a former prime minister who was ousted earlier this year under international pressure after being blamed for marginalizing Iraqi Sunnis and helping give rise to ISIS, said he was in Lebanon to discuss the isssue of terrorism.
Maliki updated Hoss on the situation in Iraq and the battle against ISIS, according to the National News Agency. Hoss offered wishes to the Iraqi people, wishing them success against terrorism, and hoping that the “murky” cloud will leave Lebanon, Syria and Palestine.
Maliki was accompanied by the Iraqi Ambassador to Lebanon Raad al-Allousi during the visit.
Although warmly received by Hezbollah, Maliki’s visit was criticized by many politicians, due to the Iraqi official’s controversial image and the accusations levelled against him of discrimination and corruption.
After being forced out as Iraq's prime minister in August, Maliki was given the largely ceremonial role of vice president.
Meanwhile, a Lebanese lawyer filed a complaint with the public prosecutor's office, asking the judiciary to detain Maliki at the airport over his alleged role in the 1981 Iraq Embassy bombing in Beirut that killed 60 people, according to Anadolu news agency.
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BEIRUT: An influential sheikh acting as an unofficial liaison between the relatives of 26 the Lebanese hostages and their jihadi captors denied Sunday that he had been appointed as an official mediator in negotiations.
Sheikh Mustafa Hujeiri used to mediate between the Lebanese government and jihadis from ISIS and the Nusra Front until authorities accused him of belonging to the latter group, and issued an arrest warrant against him.
But he still meets with the captors and the families, arranges for visits, and has been credited with helping stop executions.
In comments published by Ash Sharq Al Awsat newspaper Sunday, Hujeiri denied a report that the government had appointed him to negotiate.
The remarks came in response to an Al-Akhbar report published Saturday that said the Lebanese government will negotiate directly with the militants through the Arsal sheikh.
Hujeiri also said that the Nusra Front had updated the list of names of Roumieh prisoners it is demanding in return for the release of 26 hostages.
“The Lebanese government has received a number of names from the Nusra Front in order to launch negotiations and [achieve] a swap-deal,” he added.
The captors first handed negotiators a list of demands on Nov. 1, the Nusra Front had announced at the time.
According to the former mediator, negotiations over a potential swap deal must start as soon as possible in order for The Nusra Front to issue a second list of names.
The Arsal aheikh warned that this was the government's "last chance" to launch serious negotiations and agree on a trade off with the captors, otherwise the hostages would be killed.
The jihadi group is requesting the release of five Lebanese inmates detained in Roumieh and 50 female prisoners in Syria in return for each of the 26 captives.
The Nusra Front announced Thursday that it was demanding the release of female terror suspect Joumana Hmeid, who was arrested for driving a car rigged with 50 kg of explosives on the Arsal-Labweh road earlier this year.
Hujeiri confirmed that he had helped avert the execution of one of the captives over the weekend, after the Nusra Front issued a threat Thursday to execute Ali Bazzal in 24 hours if the Lebanese government didn’t release Hmeid.
“The [deaths] would not have been limited to Ali Bazzal,” Hujeiri said.
According to the sheikh, the captors were set to execute several soldiers due to a stalemate in negotiations, noting that his intervention involved “great efforts to prevent the dramatic escalation of events.”
The Arsal figure also noted that his intervention compelled the Nusra Front to give the Lebanese government "a final chance" to put negotiations back on track.
Ali Bazzal’s wife, Rana Fliti, had told The Daily Star that Hujeiri had left to the outskirts of Arsal on Friday to meet with the captors and convice them not to kill him.
The effort also involved intervention by Health Minister Wael Abu Faour, and MP Jamal Jarah, Hujeiri said.
General Security Head Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim also negotiated through mediators in an attempt to persuade the captors to call off the killing.
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