Lebanese hostages in Joulani’s hands: report
Lebanese hostages held by Nusra Front were now under the authority of Abu Mohammad Al-Joulani, local newspaper...
Monday, 8 December 2014
Lebanon does not negotiate partial swap deal: Minister
Lebanon does not negotiate partial swap deal: Minister
Lebanon negotiates a comprehensive agreement that would end the hostage crisis, Environment Minister Mohammad Machnouk...
New Entry Program Reunites Some Immigrants With Their Children
A woman walks on a Suchiate River bridge connecting Guatemala and Mexico. A State Department program allows some immigrants to bring their children to the U.S. from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. Eduardo Verdugo/AP hide caption
itoggle caption Eduardo Verdugo/AP
A woman walks on a Suchiate River bridge connecting Guatemala and Mexico. A State Department program allows some immigrants to bring their children to the U.S. from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.
Eduardo Verdugo/AP
The State Department launched a program this month that creates a safe passage to the United States from Central America. It would give some U.S.-based Latino parents the chance to bring over children they left in their home countries.
More than 57,000 child migrants made the trip across the U.S.-Mexican border this year. Many report being physically and sexually abused along the harrowing journey.
The new program could benefit immigrants like Wilfredo Díaz, who left Honduras 16 years ago just before the birth of his third child. As they've grown, his kids have begged him to bring them to the United States to live with him in Brooklyn.
"I feel really bad, really bad, when they say to me, 'Dad, take us, take us,' " Díaz says.
What makes it harder for Díaz is that his son in particular has been targeted by gangs.
But Díaz decided long ago that he wouldn't allow his children to cross the border.
"Some girls are used as prostitutes," Díaz says. "I don't want that to happen to my two daughters."
Wilfredo Díaz left Honduras 16 years ago before his third child was born, and he hopes to bring his children to the U.S. under the State Department's new program. Alexandra Starr hide caption
itoggle caption Alexandra Starr
Wilfredo Díaz left Honduras 16 years ago before his third child was born, and he hopes to bring his children to the U.S. under the State Department's new program.
Alexandra Starr
Now there may be a safer way for Díaz's children to join him. Under the new State Department program, the mother or father has to be in the U.S. legally, and their kids must be living in Honduras, El Salvador or Guatemala.
The program will allow parents to request interviews for their children to see if they can qualify as refugees. Qualifying as a refugee puts you on a path to citizenship.
"The definition for refugee status is relatively narrow, and it's a high bar," says Catherine Wiesner, a deputy assistant secretary at the Department of State.
One of the major reasons child migrants have given for fleeing to the U.S. is to escape gang violence. That is often not sufficient to get refugee status.
But applicants who don't meet the refugee bar still may be able to come to the U.S. If they can show they face imminent danger, they might qualify for something called humanitarian parole.
Getting parole does not put you on a path to citizenship, but as Wiesner points out, it could provide a way to come to the U.S. safely.
"You know, one of the most important things about doing this program in country, to allow children to make these humanitarian claims in country, is that it avoids them taking this incredibly dangerous journey," she says.
The Obama Administration has unfurled this program quietly. Parents who want their children to interview to come to the U.S. will have to submit the requests through organizations like Catholic Charities.
Mario Russell, with Catholic Charities in New York, says he thinks this new program acknowledges how bad things are in some Central American countries.
"The old models, I think by which families were divided, that is to say that some children stayed in the home country were raised by a grandparent, just don't work anymore because the conditions have become really unsustainable, and that's why I think they're leaving in large measure," Russell says.
There are a lot of children in Central America who could show they are in danger. The fact that they need to have parents with legal status in the U.S. will cut down on applications.
In this sense, Díaz is lucky. Sixteen years ago, he became eligible for something called Temporary Protected Status or TPS.
TPS is for immigrants who are already residing in the U.S. when a natural or humanitarian disaster hits their country. Hurricane Mitch devastated Honduras just a couple of months after Díaz arrived, so he's been able to live and work in the U.S. legally ever since.
But he still wasn't allowed to bring his kids over. When he contemplates reuniting with them, he gets emotional.
"It would be an enormous happiness to have my children here," he says.
The State Department launched the program earlier this month. Díaz says he will request asylum interviews for his kids before the end of the year.
Art Basel Protester Arrested for Brandishing Fake Penis Has the Happiest Mugshot Face Ever
Miami's Art Basel is the art world's gaudiest, most over-the-top spectacle of the year. The weeklong event is seen by some as nothing but a hollow celebration of everything deplorable about the culture of the super-rich. And this year seems have been crazier than ever. For starters, Usher charged his phone in a woman's vagina, Diddy allegedly punched Drake, and Leo DiCaprio was reported to have corralled some 20 women before exiting a South Beach club on Saturday night. The funniest story to come out of Miami so far, though, is that of performance artist Kalan Sherrard, who might have become the happiest person to ever be taken into custody after he was arrested for brandishing a fake penis in an effort to protest Art Basel's aforementioned gaudiness.
According to the Miami Herald , Sherrard, a renowned New York City street performer, was part of "a group of 30 people protesting the wealthy." When confronted by police, Sherrard tried to fight them off before leading them out of the building and whipping out the fake penis. He was taken into custody and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest without violence, leading to one of the best mugshots we've ever seen. But what happened to the dildo, you ask? "The item was impounded," wrote Miami Beach Police Officer Alex Delgado.
U.N. envoy warned late Hariri to leave
BEIRUT: A senior U.N. envoy advised former Premier Rafik Hariri to leave Lebanon three days before he was assassinated, after Syrian President Bashar Assad used “angry and threatening” language to describe the Lebanese leader, judges at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon were told Monday.
“According to Hariri, [U.N. envoy Terje Roed-]Larsen said that the language of Assad toward Hariri was very angry and very threatening and he advised him, as we did before, that he should leave Lebanon,” former Economy Minister and Hariri adviser Marwan Hamade told the U.N.-backed tribunal during his fifth day of testimony.
Hamade said Hariri informed him of the conversation with Roed-Larsen on the eve of his assassination.
Roed-Larsen, a Norwegian diplomat, was appointed U.N. representative in 2004 to ensure compliance with Security Council Resolution 1559, which ordered the departure of foreign troops from Lebanon. Syria had a substantial troop presence at the time.
He had met with Assad before arriving in Lebanon, and insisted on meeting Hariri before flying out of the country, Hamade said.
Hamade, who survived a car bombing in October 2004, also told judges in The Hague that Syria had ordered the probe into his assassination attempt shut down. He described the broad intimidation campaign against Hariri in the run-up to his assassination as a “gradual descent to martyrdom.”
The STL is trying in absentia five members of Hezbollah in connection with the Valentine’s Day bombing in Downtown Beirut in 2005 that killed Hariri and 21 others and led to street protests that ended Syria’s tutelage over Lebanon two months later.
But prosecutors have increasingly focused in recent days on Syria’s role in the run-up to the assassination, in a surprising change of tack after years of abandoning the Syria angle.
At the hearing, Hamade blamed Syria’s military intelligence chief in Lebanon for shutting down the inquiry into his own assassination attempt, which happened days after his bloc opposed the extension of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud’s term, a key demand in 2004 by Damascus.
Hamade described a conversation he had with Gen. Marwan Zein, Lebanon’s ISF head at the time, who informed him that Syrian intelligence chief Rustom Ghazaleh had ordered the Lebanese official to end the probe into Hamade’s car bombing.
“He told me that Brig. Gen. Rustom Ghazaleh called him and told him this investigation is not needed,” Hamade said. Ghazaleh reportedly told Zein that the investigation was a waste of time because either Israel was responsible or Hamade had orchestrated the bombing himself.
Zein was removed from his post as ISF director shortly after Hariri’s resignation from government in September 2004 and made Lebanon’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Hamade said the official Lebanese investigation into the bombing that targeted him only consisted of a five-minute statement to a police investigator, after which the investigation abruptly stopped, highlighting the fearful atmosphere that prevailed in Lebanon when it came to investigating political assassinations.
This was despite being told by then-Defense Minister Elias Murr that CCTV footage depicting the vehicle used in the attack had been obtained, and investigations pointed to a garage in the southern suburbs of Beirut as the source of the fake car plate used on the vehicle.
A sketch of the man who spied on Hamade’s residence before the attack was also prepared and cigarette butts that he had supposedly used were found in the vicinity.
Hamade said that Hariri as well as his ally, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, had interpreted the assassination attempt as a warning to them to avoid an increasingly independent track from Syria.
But the MP said Hariri believed his clout in international and Arab arenas would protect him from outright assassination. “He used to believe and say that they will not dare to do something like that,” Hamade said. “Such an act is too big and too dangerous for them.”
Hamade said that Jumblatt and Hariri feared for their own security, though “not enough,” adding that Hariri’s security detail had been reduced from 40 personnel to eight in the aftermath of his resignation.
“Prime Minister Hariri told Jumblatt: ‘Which one of us do you think will be targeted first?’” Hamade said.
Hamade described the assassination attempt against him and the wounds he sustained in the attack, including two brain hemorrhages, burns and wounds in his face, chest and leg. Prosecutors showed a grisly photo of a bloodied Hamade immediately after the bombing.
Hamade’s testimony has focused on two meetings between Hariri and Assad in which the Syrian leader ordered the Lebanese premier to acquiesce to the controversial Lahoud extension, as well as on the fallout from Resolution 1559 and the formation of the anti-Syrian opposition in Lebanon.
Assad had allegedly threatened to “break” Lebanon over Hariri and Jumblatt’s heads if they did not accept Syria’s demands.
Hariri believed that Syria would allow him to form a national unity government after the Lahoud extension to calm tensions in the country, Hamade said. But Syria repeatedly blocked efforts to form such a government, leading to Hariri’s resignation and a vicious campaign accusing the former premier of betraying Syria and the “resistance,” Hamade said.
Hamade said the campaign, orchestrated by Syria and its allies in Lebanon, continued to target Hariri despite his acquiescence to the Lahoud re-election because he had his sights on the 2005 parliamentary elections.
He said that Hariri was confident his bloc would gain a majority in the polls, ousting the pro-Syrian bloc in Parliament.
Muslim Scholars Committee offers to take on hostage case
BEIRUT: The Muslim Scholars Committee said Monday it was ready to take the lead in negotiations to release 25 captive servicemen held by Islamist militants, but a source in contact with ISIS and the Nusra Front said that Qatar’s withdrawal would actually undermine any future talks.
Meanwhile, three Lebanese were killed and two others wounded in a Syrian airstrike which targeted a house on the outskirts of Arsal, the National News Agency and media reports said.
The Lebanese Army also pounded militant hideouts in the town’s outskirts and blocked main channels used by militants for access.
Head of the committee Sheikh Salem al-Rafei expressed his association’s readiness to act as mediators on the condition it was formally commissioned by the government and that officials agreed in principle to a swap deal involving the release of Islamist detainees in Roumieh Prison.
“We want to have the government’s permission before making any offer to the gunmen,” he said, after a committee delegation met with Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian.
Speaking to The Daily Star, Rafei said the committee would meet with Prime Minister Tammam Salam this week and that there was “optimism in the atmosphere.”
But a source in contact with the militants in Arsal, who requested anonymity, said Qatar’s withdrawal would further impede negotiations.
“In the absence of Qatar, it [the hostage crisis] cannot be solved, because the country [Qatar] wields great influence over these groups,” the source said, adding that Qatar’s mediation efforts had been fruitless due to “the lack of a decent negotiating partner” from the Lebanese government’s side. “Every figure would tell them [the Qatari-appointed mediator] something different.”
Qatar announced Sunday that it ended its mediation efforts to release the hostages after they hit a dead end.
Rafei denied that Qatar’s absence would work against local mediation efforts, arguing that the main hurdle remained Lebanon’s ambivalent approach toward a swap, which could be resolved without the Gulf country’s help.
Rafei called for the unconditional release of Saja al-Dulaimi, the ex-wife of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, and Ola Mithqal al-Oqaily, the wife of a Nusra Front leader, as a show of good will to mitigate militant threats to execute more hostages. The women and their children were apprehended separately last month.
“There is no obvious judicial order to detain them [Dulaimi and Oqaily], but they were arrested to be used as bargaining chips,” Rafei alleged, blasting their detention as unethical and illegal.
Salam denied that the wives were detained to improve Lebanon’s position in the negotiations, telling AFP ahead of a visit to France this week that “they were being followed for some time” because of suspected links to terrorist cells.
Salam said Lebanon required more international support to help combat the threat of Islamist militants.
The families of the captive servicemen being held on the outskirts of the border town of Arsal called earlier Monday on the committee to help negotiate their release, after Qatar ended its mediation with the captors.
A gathering of Salafist sheikhs, the committee was involved in negotiations with the militants shortly after they snatched more than 30 troops and policemen during a five-day battle with the Army in Arsal in August.
In Arsal Monday, the Army imposed a siege on the outskirts of the town by blocking most roads leading to the area, security and local sources said. The military left only two channels open to allow residents to move freely.
Troops have also been pounding the outskirts with heavy artillery.
Also Monday, a bomb planted in an SUV in Arsal wounded a local resident in an apparent personal dispute, an Army source said.
An Army statement said the blast wounded Hasan Ezzeddine, while the source dismissed reports that Hasan and his brother Jihad were wanted militants. The source said the attack was the result of a personal disagreement.
The Army has also closed off several roads connecting the town of Ras Baalbek, north of Arsal, to its outskirts. The roads linking Ras Baalbek to Arsal and Labweh were also closed. – Additional reporting by Edy Semaan
Army ready to repulse militant attacks during holiday season
Islamist militants holding 25 servicemen hostage and holed up in the rugged mountains of the northeastern town of Arsal might launch attacks on Lebanese troops stationed in the area in the next few days or weeks, especially during the Christmas and New Year holidays, political sources said Monday.
However, the Lebanese Army is fully prepared to confront these attacks and is ready for sacrifices in order to ward off the specter of fighting in Lebanon and to prevent the country’s territory from being turned into a battlefield, said the sources, who are following up the military situation in Arsal.
They added that the more severe the weather becomes, the closer the date of a confrontation between the militants and the Lebanese Army.
Describing the Army’s latest measures around Arsal as a clear response to the Nusra Front’s killing of captive policeman Ali Bazzal last Friday, one of the sources said: “The Lebanese security forces, including the Army, the Internal Security Forces, State Security and General Security, are in an open but undeclared battle against the terrorists.”
The Army blocked all roads linking Arsal to the surrounding rugged mountains.
According to the sources, measures and wide-scale precautions have been taken to defend state institutions and military personnel against possible terrorist attacks in all areas of Lebanon.
The military is behaving as if the “terrorists” – a reference to ISIS and Nusra Front militants holding the 25 servicemen hostage – do not want a solution for the four-month-old hostage crisis, and are instead bent on blackmailing the state, the Army and the families of the captive soldiers, the sources said. They added that the militants did not even show any good intentions regarding the release of some of the hostages.
Noting that the Army’s military position is excellent, the sources said that from now on if the militants harmed any soldier, they would be met with tough measures that would make their lives hell. The sources did not elaborate.
According to the sources, the Lebanese state is sure and has compelling evidence that one of the two women recently arrested by authorities, Saja al-Dulaimi, is the ex-wife of ISIS commander Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who is the father of her daughter Hajer. Baghdadi is better known among his followers as Abu Hajer.
Baghdadi was constantly in contact with Dulaimi and seized written documents, including a letter from the ISIS commander himself, have proved this, the sources said.
They added that the Lebanese Army has purchased weapons from several countries, including France, worth nearly $300 million, using a $1 billion Saudi grant, after the military had presented a list of its needs to former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, who approved it.
The sources said the Lebanese Army Command did not receive a cent to purchase weapons or negotiate over arms deals, which categorically refutes reports about alleged commissions.
Elsewhere, the Cabinet will not discuss an Iranian military gift to the Army, in order to avoid a row among ministers, as well as a problem with Western states since Washington considers the acceptance of the gift to be a violation of Security Council resolutions imposing sanctions on Iran.
On Saudi Arabia’s gift of $3 billion that was pledged last December to fund the purchase of weapons from France to bolster Lebanon’s military, the sources said French experts are holding meetings with Army officers at the Defense Ministry in Yarze to put the final touches to the military’s needs, before submitting them to the French authorities, who would then forward them to the Saudis for payment.
Israel set to keep targeting game-changing Hezbollah arms
BEIRUT: Israel’s airstrikes in the Damascus area Sunday marked the eighth separate sortie against suspected advanced weapons systems destined for Hezbollah since January 2013, when Israel launched its policy of pre-emptive raids against stockpiles of what it considers “game-changing” weapons.
They also were the first to be acknowledged by the Syrian authorities since May 2013, when Israeli aircraft staged two attacks on Damascus airport and military facilities to the west of the capital. Some three weeks after those attacks, which were reportedly against consignments of Fateh-110 guided surface-to-surface missiles, President Bashar Assad told Al-Manar TV that if Israel attacked again there would be a retaliation.
In the months that followed, however, Israel is believed to have struck another three times against targets in Syria, all of them in the northern coastal area near Latakia. The Syrian authorities either ignored the attacks or played them down as stray explosions from fighting against rebel forces in the area.
On Feb. 24 of this year, Israel staged its seventh airstrike, this time on Lebanese soil. The target was a building in a Hezbollah military zone south of Janta in the Bekaa Valley suspected of being used for the transfer of weapons from Syria.
Hezbollah admitted that one of its facilities had been attacked and promised retaliation. It came over the course of the next two weeks with four small-scale attacks, or attempted attacks, all of which, bar one, occurred in the Golan Heights.
The exception was a roadside bomb ambush in the Shebaa Farms – the first since the end of the 2006 war – which was subsequently acknowledged by Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s secretary-general.
With its retaliatory attacks, Hezbollah had set a precedent that it would not follow Damascus’ example of ignoring Israeli airstrikes but instead would hit back if its facilities on Lebanese soil were targeted.
Following Sunday’s airstrikes in the Damascus area, there has been the usual speculation about what weapons were targeted. Some reports suggested more Fateh 110 missiles were destroyed, others claimed the targets were Hezbollah pilotless drones or air defense systems which were to be delivered to Lebanon.
The locations of the attacks were a section of Damascus airport and a military base near Dimas on the highway between the Syrian capital and the border with Lebanon. It is unclear which base was hit near Dimas. Most military facilities in the area are related to air defense or artillery rather than weapons storage.
There is a sizeable military facility some 3 kilometers east of the town. A Google Earth image dated Aug. 8, 2013, shows a number of missiles on the back of trucks at the base which the London-based IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly has identified as SA-6 “Gainful” anti-aircraft missiles.
Sunday’s air raid was strikingly similar to a previous bombing raid on May 2, 2013, when Israeli aircraft also attacked a military base in the Dimas area and facilities at Damascus airport. The attacking aircraft, on both occasions, used Lebanese airspace as a corridor to get close to their targets. Israeli aircraft have in the past launched their missiles from Lebanese airspace to hit targets between Damascus and the border with Lebanon, a relatively close distance, to avoid Syria’s dense air defense network around the Syrian capital. Damascus airport, however, lies to the southeast of Damascus, about 50 kilometers from the Lebanese border.
Jeremy Binnie, the Middle East editor of IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly, speculated to The Daily Star that the airstrikes around Dimas may have been intended to destroy air defense systems to pave the way for the main attack on suspected Hezbollah weaponry at Damascus airport.
“[Damascus] airport is actually a little further from the Lebanese border than other airstrikes that have hit targets west of Damascus, where Israeli aircraft can probably safely launch their weapons from inside Lebanese airspace,” Binnie said. “So one speculation is that the [Dimas] strikes are serving to suppress air defenses ... thereby punching a small hole in Syria’s air defenses that other Israeli aircraft can use for a low-level run on the airport.”
The question now is whether there will be any retaliation for Sunday’s airstrikes and if so by whom and how. Syria, despite acknowledging the air raids, is unlikely to respond directly. Its military capabilities are overstretched in confronting rebel forces and it cannot afford to risk an escalation with the powerful Israeli military.
On the other hand, Hezbollah in the past year and a half has demonstrated a shade more assertiveness toward Israel compared to the seven-year hiatus in attacks against Israeli troops following the 2006 war.
In August 2013, Hezbollah ambushed Israeli soldiers infiltrating Lebanese territory at Labboune on the southern border and this year has launched two roadside bomb attacks in the Shebaa Farms.
Hezbollah is acutely sensitive to claims that it has taken its eye off the Israeli ball because of its preoccupation with the war in Syria. The Labboune ambush and the two bomb attacks in the Shebaa Farms this year were intended to signal to Israel that Hezbollah remains focused on the southern front and will not allow the Israelis to try and take advantage of the party’s intervention in Syria to alter the rules of the game between the two sides.
If Hezbollah was to retaliate to Sunday’s strikes, its options are fewer than earlier in the year. The Syrian regime has lost ground in the Golan Heights to rebel forces in the past three months which has reduced Hezbollah’s ability to use the area as an alternative theater of retaliation to the United Nations-delineated Blue Line.
Israel’s policy of attacking “game-changing” weapons systems will likely continue as long as targets can be identified, irrespective of whether they are in Syria or Lebanon. Hezbollah, which 24 hours after the Israeli air raids has yet to offer any official comment on them, will probably refrain from action this time and keep its powder dry for the next time Israel hits a target inside Lebanon.
France offers to facilitate presidential election accord
BEIRUT: France offered Monday to help rival Lebanese factions reach an agreement on a president, in the latest attempt to end the political deadlock that has left Lebanon without a head of state for over six months.
“The Lebanese must make a final decision and choose a president for their state without foreign intervention,” Jean-François Girault, head of the French Foreign Ministry’s Middle East and North Africa Department, told reporters following talks with Prime Minister Tammam Salam at the Grand Serail.
“They must reach an understanding on the name of the [presidential] candidate and there should be an agreement. France proposes facilitating the agreement if Lebanon wants that,” he said.
While Girault was in Beirut, French President Francois Hollande spoke by telephone with former Prime Minister Saad Hariri Monday night, according to a statement released by Hariri’s office. It did not give details of the conversation.
Girault arrived here Sunday on a few days’ visit for talks aimed primarily at prodding the feuding Lebanese parties to speed up the election of successor to former President Michel Sleiman, whose six-year term ended on May 25.
He said France and several of its partners were concerned over the presidential vacuum, which has entered its seventh month.
A longtime Middle East envoy who has served as the ambassador to Syria and Iraq and worked as a diplomat in Iran, Girault stressed that France did not support any specific presidential candidate. “The presidential vacuum, which is entering its seventh month, is worrying France and many of its partners,” he said.
“In order to face this impasse, France is acting objectively and putting itself and its energy to serve Lebanon,” Girault said, adding: “But we should be clear that the Lebanese presidential election is a Lebanese national issue and France does not have any candidates or a veto [on any candidate]. It supports the Lebanese state and the work of institutions.”
Declaring that France is “Lebanon’s faithful friend,” Girault said: “France is committed to [Lebanon’s] unity, safety and sovereignty. The gravity of the regional situation, particularly the conflict in Syria, is having its weight on Lebanon through unbearable challenges and uneven burdens.”
Girault, accompanied by French Ambassador Patrice Paoli, later met with Speaker Nabih Berri with whom he discussed the presidential crisis and developments in the region.
He held talks with Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil before meeting with Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and MP Walid Jumblatt. He also met separately with former premiers Najib Mikati and Fouad Siniora.
During his meeting with Geagea in Maarab, Girault stressed that “the Lebanese presidency is an internal Lebanese affair and France will do what it can to facilitate the election without interfering in names and candidates,” according to a statement released by the LF chief’s office.
Girault also told Geagea that equipping the Lebanese Army with French weapons under the Saudi $3 billion gift was underway and that only “some practical steps” were left.
Girault’s visit comes after Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov ended a two-day trip to Beirut during which he held talks with rival Lebanese leaders on the presidential impasse and the Syrian crisis.
The French official’s talks came a day before Federica Mogherini, the high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, was due to arrive in Beirut for talks with Lebanese leaders on the presidential deadlock, the Syrian refugee crisis and cooperation between the EU and Lebanon.
Berri sounded pessimistic about the election of a president soon. He said Wednesday’s Parliament session, the 16th attempt to elect a president, is destined to fail like previous ones over a lack of quorum.
Meanwhile, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn met separately with Berri, Salam, Bassil and Jumblatt for talks on political developments in Lebanon and the region.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Bassil at the Foreign Ministry, Asselborn praised Lebanon’s democracy, saying it should be safeguarded and supported by the EU.
“The EU is ready to support and help Lebanon in its current situation. The biggest problem now is the problem of accommodating [Syrian] refugees who constitute ... a third of Lebanon’s population,” he said.
France offers to facilitate presidential election accord
BEIRUT: France offered Monday to help rival Lebanese factions reach an agreement on a president, in the latest attempt to end the political deadlock that has left Lebanon without a head of state for over six months.
“The Lebanese must make a final decision and choose a president for their state without foreign intervention,” Jean-François Girault, head of the French Foreign Ministry’s Middle East and North Africa Department, told reporters following talks with Prime Minister Tammam Salam at the Grand Serail.
“They must reach an understanding on the name of the [presidential] candidate and there should be an agreement. France proposes facilitating the agreement if Lebanon wants that,” he said.
While Girault was in Beirut, French President Francois Hollande spoke by telephone with former Prime Minister Saad Hariri Monday night, according to a statement released by Hariri’s office. It did not give details of the conversation.
Girault arrived here Sunday on a few days’ visit for talks aimed primarily at prodding the feuding Lebanese parties to speed up the election of successor to former President Michel Sleiman, whose six-year term ended on May 25.
He said France and several of its partners were concerned over the presidential vacuum, which has entered its seventh month.
A longtime Middle East envoy who has served as the ambassador to Syria and Iraq and worked as a diplomat in Iran, Girault stressed that France did not support any specific presidential candidate. “The presidential vacuum, which is entering its seventh month, is worrying France and many of its partners,” he said.
“In order to face this impasse, France is acting objectively and putting itself and its energy to serve Lebanon,” Girault said, adding: “But we should be clear that the Lebanese presidential election is a Lebanese national issue and France does not have any candidates or a veto [on any candidate]. It supports the Lebanese state and the work of institutions.”
Declaring that France is “Lebanon’s faithful friend,” Girault said: “France is committed to [Lebanon’s] unity, safety and sovereignty. The gravity of the regional situation, particularly the conflict in Syria, is having its weight on Lebanon through unbearable challenges and uneven burdens.”
Girault, accompanied by French Ambassador Patrice Paoli, later met with Speaker Nabih Berri with whom he discussed the presidential crisis and developments in the region.
He held talks with Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil before meeting with Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and MP Walid Jumblatt. He also met separately with former premiers Najib Mikati and Fouad Siniora.
During his meeting with Geagea in Maarab, Girault stressed that “the Lebanese presidency is an internal Lebanese affair and France will do what it can to facilitate the election without interfering in names and candidates,” according to a statement released by the LF chief’s office.
Girault also told Geagea that equipping the Lebanese Army with French weapons under the Saudi $3 billion gift was underway and that only “some practical steps” were left.
Girault’s visit comes after Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov ended a two-day trip to Beirut during which he held talks with rival Lebanese leaders on the presidential impasse and the Syrian crisis.
The French official’s talks came a day before Federica Mogherini, the high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, was due to arrive in Beirut for talks with Lebanese leaders on the presidential deadlock, the Syrian refugee crisis and cooperation between the EU and Lebanon.
Berri sounded pessimistic about the election of a president soon. He said Wednesday’s Parliament session, the 16th attempt to elect a president, is destined to fail like previous ones over a lack of quorum.
Meanwhile, Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn met separately with Berri, Salam, Bassil and Jumblatt for talks on political developments in Lebanon and the region.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Bassil at the Foreign Ministry, Asselborn praised Lebanon’s democracy, saying it should be safeguarded and supported by the EU.
“The EU is ready to support and help Lebanon in its current situation. The biggest problem now is the problem of accommodating [Syrian] refugees who constitute ... a third of Lebanon’s population,” he said.
Some Liberals And Tea Partiers Unite To Oppose Trade Deals
Environmentalists from the Sierra Club, union members with the Communications Workers of America and even a few members of Code Pink gather to protest the Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations in Washington, D.C., on Monday. James Clark/NPR hide caption
itoggle caption James Clark/NPR
Environmentalists from the Sierra Club, union members with the Communications Workers of America and even a few members of Code Pink gather to protest the Trans-Pacific Partnership Negotiations in Washington, D.C., on Monday.
James Clark/NPR
When it comes to environmental regulations, taxes and the minimum wage, business groups generally object to President Obama's positions while liberals support him.
But one issue blurs the usual political lines: trade.
Just last week, Obama told the Business Roundtable he would push to complete massive trade deals with both Asian and European nations. "If we can get that done, that's good for American businesses," he said.
On Monday, as negotiators from Pacific Rim nations assembled in Washington to advance the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), they were met by protests from liberal groups — including environmentalists, union members and consumer advocates.
Outside of the U.S. Trade Representative's office near the White House, the protesters carried signs saying "TPP = Polluters' Bill of Rights" and "Save Our Jobs."
Shane Larson was among them. He objects to the way trade negotiations are conducted, which is in private. "The people are completely shut out of having input in what the trade agreement should look like," said Larson, the legislative director for Communications Workers of America, a union that strongly endorsed Obama's election.
Earlier in the day, several liberal lawmakers spoke with reporters, raising objections to the trade pact that would tie together the U.S. economy with 11 others around the Pacific Rim, including Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam and Australia.
"The administration refuses to change its approach to secret negotiations and is pushing to send a final package to Congress with almost no ability for us to scrutinize it," Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) said.
In a political twist, many Tea Party Republicans agree with the liberals.
Nineteen Republican congressmen last week sent House Speaker John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, a letter saying they would not support having this Congress give Obama "fast-track" authority to complete TPP negotiations.
Such authority allows the president to have his representatives settle a deal with negotiators from other countries. The completed trade package then is brought before Congress for a straight yes-or-no vote, with no amendments.
Supporters say it would be virtually impossible to complete a trade agreement if Congress were to keep changing the details by tacking on amendments.
Protesters of varied stripes and political affiliations gathered outside the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative where negotiators from 12 nations were meeting to discuss the Trans-Pacific Partnership. James Clark/NPR hide caption
itoggle caption James Clark/NPR
Protesters of varied stripes and political affiliations gathered outside the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative where negotiators from 12 nations were meeting to discuss the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
James Clark/NPR
Historically, trade negotiations have been conducted in closed meetings where officials can go over arcane details and work out disagreements. Once the ink is dry, then the completed agreement, which might fill hundreds of pages, is opened up for Congress to examine before voting.
Congress first approved "fast-track" legislation in 1974, but the authority has expired. Obama wants the new Congress to renew it early in 2015 so that he can wrap up both TPP and a similar trade package involving the European Union.
The president said last week he would work harder to help Democratic lawmakers and voters to understand "why trade is good for America, good for American businesses and good for American workers."
Business groups such as the Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable strongly support that effort.
But the Republicans who wrote to Boehner say Obama cannot be trusted with the same powers that Congress has given to previous presidents. "The habitual abuses of power by this president have eroded the faith of the American people, who no longer trust his judgment or leadership," the letter said.
The economic stakes in this debate are high, and the lobbying will be intense. Agricultural trade is sure to be among the key issues.
The U.S. Trade Representative's office estimates U.S. exports of agricultural products to the 11 other countries are worth nearly $60 billion. Opening up those markets to more U.S. grown rice, pork, chicken and other foods could be big boost to many U.S. farmers. For example, in Malaysia, U.S. poultry faces a 40 percent tariff, which would be eliminated under TPP.
But other farmers and ranchers have joined the Coalition for a Prosperous America, a broad group that — for various reasons — objects to the way trade pacts are put together.
Despite any political obstacles, Obama said he is upbeat about the prospects for trade. "In Asia, there is a great hunger for engagement with the United States of America, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership is moving forward," he told the Business Roundtable. "We are optimistic about being able to get a deal done and we are reinvigorating the negotiations with the Europeans on a transatlantic trade deal."
NPR intern James Clark contributed to this report.
How Washington's Odd Couple Transformed Welfare
Moynihan, right, Nixon are seen discussing the progress of work at the U.S. Capitol Building in 1970. AP hide caption
itoggle caption AP
Moynihan, right, Nixon are seen discussing the progress of work at the U.S. Capitol Building in 1970.
AP
Most books about President Richard Nixon focus either on his foreign policies or on the crimes and misdemeanors that forced his resignation under threat of impeachment.
Not Stephen Hess's new book, The Professor and the President.
Hess, who has been writing about government for decades out of Washington's Brookings Institution, was witness to a rare partnership inside the White House.
The president – Richard Nixon — was a Republican who felt obliged to do something about welfare.
"Government can do a lot of things for men. It can provide a man shelter, and it can provide him food, and it can provide him a house. It can provide him clothing, but it can't provide him dignity," Nixon had said.
The professor — Daniel Patrick Moynihan — was a Democrat, a Harvard sociologist, whom Nixon recruited to the White House staff.
Moynihan went on to be a four-term senator from New York, and Hess says he managed to persuade Nixon to embrace a much more liberal approach to welfare than most of his White House team would ever have done. He gave NPR's Robert Siegel a peek into Nixon and Moynihan's relationship, which he refers to as "the oddest couple that you could imagine."
Interview Highlights
On appointing Moynihan to White House staff
It was really quite fascinating because after he appointed Moynihan, the liberal Harvard Democratic social scientist, he appointed Arthur Burns, the Columbia conservative economist. And they went at it at the highest level in the highest fashion for the mind and the heart of Richard Nixon.
On Nixon giving Moynihan a blank slate
When Pat Moynihan came to the hotel Pierre, where the transition was, in New York and met with the president-elect and then came downstairs to have dinner with me, he said, "he's ignorant!" Meaning, he doesn't know anything about domestic affairs. I knew Richard Nixon; I had been his speech writer when he ran for governor. I said, "Oh no, he's disinterested. He is fascinated and overwhelmed in his interest in international affairs and our place in the world." But what it meant for Pat Moynihan was he had an open slate to write upon.
On treating Nixon as an intellectual, and some artful flattery
The next thing [Moynihan] found out was that Richard Nixon was very smart. Once he could get to him, they developed an interesting relationship, because, almost from the get-go, Richard Nixon started to be treated by Pat Moynihan as an intellectual. Nobody had ever treated him as an intellectual before, and Nixon was fascinated by it.
What Pat was doing was trying to convince Nixon to be a great president. You don't go in and say, "you should be a great president." You could say a "great athlete," a "great actor" — you don't say a "great president."
So the word he used was "historic." Everything that Nixon was doing, even some little thing about moving the boundaries of regional agency – "historic!" No president had ever done it before. And that's what he was trying to do. Remember, Pat Moynihan was born in 1929. All of his youth was FDR, Franklin Roosevelt. That was the model of a president. And that's what he was trying to sell to Richard Nixon.
On Nixon leaving his feelings aside
August 8, 1969, [Nixon] went on television to announce his [welfare] program and said to the American people, "this is gonna cost more than the present program." For a president to say that? And, of course, that was very offensive to Arthur Burns, whose whole theme was to bring down the cost of government.
Republicans Call Ongoing 'Bridgegate' Investigation A Political Witch-Hunt
A new report says there's no evidence that Gov. Chris Christie knew about lane closures at the George Washington Bridge in advance. But Democrats say there are still unanswered questions about what the governor knew.
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U.S. Boosts Security At Facilities Ahead Of Torture Report's Release
The U.S. has increased security of its facilities around the world ahead of the release Tuesday by the Senate of the executive summary of its report on the CIA's interrogation practices in the war on terrorism, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said today.
"The administration has for months been preparing for the release of this report. There are some indications that the release of this report could lead to a greater risk that is posed to U.S. facilities and individuals all around the world," Earnest said. "So the administration has taken the prudent step to ensure that the proper security precautions are in place at U.S. facilities around the globe."
He said the Senate Intelligence Committee had informed the White House that the executive summary will be released on Tuesday, adding that the White House supported the move.
"The president believes that on principle it's important to release that report so that people around the world, and people here at home, understand what exactly what transpired," he said.
The Senate Intelligence Committee voted in April to release the 480-page executive summary of the report on the CIA's interrogation policies during the presidency of George W. Bush
It's worth noting here that many people are calling the document the Senate's report. It is, in fact, the executive summary of the full 6,200-page report.
Criticism began even before its details were made public.
Secretary of State John Kerry called Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif, chair of the Senate intelligence panel, last week on behalf of the White House, asking for a delay. NPR's Lauren Hodges reported there were fears in Congress the report would put "American personnel in danger overseas and incite further violence from extremists."
But lawmakers such as Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said it was essential the executive summary was released.
"This report would never happen in North Korea or China or Russia," she told CBS on Monday. "But in the United States, we hold our government accountable. And, I think, that process is so important, so fundamental to our democracy, that it's essential that this report comes out."
Bush, speaking on CNN over the weekend, said he hadn't read the report, but called those in the CIA "patriots."
"And whatever the report says, if it diminishes their contributions to our country, it is way off base," he said. "And I knew the directors, I knew the deputy directors, you know, I knew a lot of the operators. These are good people, really good people and we're lucky as a nation to have them."
The New York Times reported that the former president's team "has decided to link arms with former intelligence officials and challenge its conclusions."
Here are some NPR stories on the politics behind the release of the executive summary:
Senate 'Torture Report' Findings Expected This Year
Senate Torture Report Takes A Step Closer To Becoming Public
Chris Pratt on His Son's Premature Birth
Chris Pratt has had an amazing year. He's gone from Parks and Recreation funny guy to genuine leading man in movies like Guardians of the Galaxy. But for Pratt, it doesn't compare to 2012, when he and wife Anna Faris became parents.
"I've done all kinds of cool things as an actor — I've jumped out of helicopters and done some daring stunts and played baseball in a professional stadium, but none of it means anything compared to being somebody's daddy," he said during a touching recent speech benefiting the March of Dimes, Variety reports.
But becoming a dad had a bumpy start, as little Jack was born nine weeks premature, only weighing 3 pounds, 12 ounces. "That's a decent-sized bass," Pratt joked.
When he was cradling his son, skin-to-skin, in the NICU, he had a turning point as a man. "I made promises in that moment about what kind of dad I wanted to be and I just prayed that he'd live long enough that I could keep them."
Pratt and Faris took their son home after about a month, and were told he may have special needs and would require cosmetic surgery on his eyes. But now, little Jack is a healthy, fun-loving two-year-old. "Our Jack went from a small, helpless little squirt to a strong, smart, happy, funny, beautiful boy who loves monster trucks and 'Daniel Tiger,' and, believe it or not, loves vegetables."
Pratt has previously said that he and Faris were terrified at first, but now admire little Jack's perseverance. "He is such a fighter, he's amazing," he said. "He's so open and there's no fear in him no matter what. He is so charming that my plan is to just let him take care of us as soon as he's old enough."
The actor, who is a "March of Dimes Mission Dad," helped the charity raise $1.1 million at their annual Celebration of Babies luncheon. The event brings together famous new parents to raise money to promote the health of pregnant women and newborns.
This article was originally published by Redbook.
Lebanon, Luxembourg FMs discuss security, refugees
BEIRUT: Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil discussed the Syrian refugee crisis and Lebanon’s security situation Monday with his counterpart from Luxembourg.
“We are counting on your support in mobilizing the international community to stand by” Lebanon as it confronts terrorism, Bassil said in a joint news conference with visiting minister Jean Asselborn after the meeting.
Bassil added that it was unfortunate that his visit coincides with the killing of captive Lebanese policeman Ali Bazzal, who was shot dead by the Nusra Front Friday.
With regards to the refugee crisis, Bassil called on the international community to share the burden by increasing humanitarian aid for the more than one million Syrians inside Lebanon.
Asselborn acknowledged the efforts undertaken by Lebanese host communities to accommodate the massive influx of refugees fleeing Syria's war.
“The international community should not just thank you but should help you as well,” Asselborn said.
Asselborn also noted that Luxembourg’s peacekeepers stationed across Lebanon’s southern border will have to leave their posts after the Belgian delegation, into which they were integrated, left last month.
But he expressed his country’s readiness to train Lebanese soldiers in mine sweeping and detection.
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A Fleeting Peek At The Prince And The President
The White House said the president was looking forward to "thanking The Duke of Cambridge for the hospitality shown to him by the Royal Family during the President's recent visits to the United Kingdom." Jacquelyn Martin/AP hide caption
itoggle caption Jacquelyn Martin/AP
The White House said the president was looking forward to "thanking The Duke of Cambridge for the hospitality shown to him by the Royal Family during the President's recent visits to the United Kingdom."
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
The visit of Britain's Prince William to Washington, D.C. has been greeted with the excitement reserved for celebrities in a town starved of real famous people (I mean, spotting Sen. Chuck Schumer at a restaurant can lead to breathless "spotted" tweeting). Folks are disappointed his wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, didn't make the trip down from New York City with him. But, this is D.C., and we'll take what we can get on an otherwise slow news morning.
So, the press gathered a little early in the White House briefing room to get into position for a brief "pool spray" before Prince William's Oval Office meeting with President Obama.
Meanwhile, Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, met with New York City first lady Chirlane McCray at the Northside Center for Child Development in New York. John Minchillo/AP hide caption
itoggle caption John Minchillo/AP
Meanwhile, Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, met with New York City first lady Chirlane McCray at the Northside Center for Child Development in New York.
John Minchillo/AP
Reporters were ushered into the Oval Office, where the prince and the president sat in the traditional chairs used for such dignitary meeting. And literally 20 seconds later, the White House press wranglers started saying "thank you pool." That's the cue to leave. After just 20 seconds! Often in cases like this leaders will say at least a little something like "I'm so glad to welcome..." or something. But this time, there were no remarks. The president and prince made small talk that was largely inaudible to reporters.
A White House advisory setting up the meeting said, "The President looks forward to thanking The Duke of Cambridge for the hospitality shown to him by the Royal Family during the President's recent visits to the United Kingdom. This visit underscores the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom."
Undeterred, reporters started shouting questions, as reports often do during pool sprays. But Obama and Prince William didn't take the bait. "Thank you very much," Obama said. In response to an inaudible question, presumably about Prince William's United for Wildlife organization and efforts against the illegal wildlife trade, Obama said "very important work."
As the press is slowly eased out of the room, the president added "good to see you, though."
Finally, in response to a question from radio pooler Bob Costantini of Westwood One News about his throat, Obama said "I'm fine. I was completely fine." Obama received a CT scan over the weeked to check out a persistent sore throat. The physician to the president said in a statement Saturday that Obama was suffering from "soft tissue inflammation related to acid reflux."
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