How Houthis control Sanaa, alarm the West
It was Waddah al-Hitari’s beard that killed him. Militiamen on the streets of Yemen’s capital shot him dead one Friday...
Wednesday, 10 December 2014
Lebanon ponders one-basket swap: committee source
BEIRUT: Lebanon appears to be headed toward “all in one basket” swap deal to end the hostage crisis with Islamist militants holding 25 soldiers and policemen hostage, a Muslim Scholars Committee member said.
“I felt that the government is inclined toward all in one basket swap and not a broken [agreement],” Committee member Adnan Amama told local daily An-Nahar in remarks published Thursday.
Likewise, Amama said, ISIS and Nusra Front jihadists – the two extremist groups holding the hostages since early August – were eager to end the crisis.
"They are also troubled by the crisis and want to get over the problem,” he said, adding that the captors have drawn “red lines” in their swap deal.
But Amama quickly adds that the militants showed flexibility toward the numbers and names of prisoners they seek to exchange for the hostages.
“It is important today to build trust and to cool down the tense situation,” he said.
On the issue of the wife and ex-wife of Islamist leaders being held by Lebanese authorities, Amama said the Committee is hopeful of a happy ending.
“Abu Ali Shishani’s wife, Ola Oqaily has been handed over to General Security ... and she could soon be released,” he said. “As for [ISIS leader Baghdadi’s ex-wife Saja] Dulaimi, we took a promise [from authorities] that her status will be settled allowing her release.”
Amama stressed that Shishani had nothing to do with either ISIS or Nusra Front.
“Nusra’s demands are not limited to its members,” he explained. “Nusra sees in women’s detention a big issue.”
Advertisement
This Day in History: Four Presidents – and a VP – Received the Nobel Peace Prize
This Day
jul
4
In History
div.history { text-align: center; } div.history div.history-text { display: inline-block; font: 28px/30px 'Courier', monospace; margin: 14px; color: #369; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: top; border-top: 3px solid #369; border-bottom: 3px solid #369; width: 180px; text-align: center; } div.calendar-block { display: inline-block; margin: 0 auto; text-align: center; -moz-box-shadow: 1px 2px 2px 0 #eee; -webkit-box-shadow: 1px 2px 2px 0 #eee; box-shadow: 1px 2px 2px 0 #eee; } div.month { background-color: #800; color: #fff; text-transform: uppercase; font-size: 14px; line-height: 24px; } div.day { border: 1px solid #ddd; color: #036; font: 32px/36px 'Georgia', serif; padding: 3px 18px 9px 18px; }
$(document).ready(function() { var parent = $('#this-day-in-history').parents('.content-inner').parent(); var date = parent.find('.post-info-user').html().split('
')[1].split(',')[0].split(' '); var month = date[1].substr(0, 3), day = date[2]; $('#this-day-in-history').find('div.month').text(month); $('#this-day-in-history').find('div.day').text(day); })
As we reminisce on our rich history here at the White House, this post is unique -- as we are looking back at not just one but five separate years.
Since the creation of the Nobel Peace Prize, four U.S. Presidents and one Vice President have received the award, which is presented each year on December 10.
Keep reading to find out more about the history of Nobel Peace Prizes here at the White House.
What’s the Nobel Peace Prize?
Alfred Nobel was a man of many disciplines -- including science, invention, entrepreneurship, literature, and peace. When he passed away in 1896, he dedicated his will to award those who have been outstanding figures in these fields. As a result, in 1900, the Nobel Foundation was established and became the organization responsible for awarding the Nobel Prizes.
According to Alfred Nobel’s will, the Nobel Peace Prize shall be awarded to those who have “done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."
The Nobel Peace Prize is an international award that is awarded every year by the Norwegian Nobel Committee. The prize ceremony takes place annually on December 10, the date on which Alfred Nobel passed away. The prize usually includes a medal, personal diploma, and award money.
Woodrow Wilson's Nobel Peace Prize Medal. Picture provided by the Library of Congress.
From Potatoes To Salty Fries In School: Congress Tweaks Food Rules
When it comes to salty french fries or pizza served at lunch, schools may get more time to dial back sodium content, thanks to a provision in the federal spending bill headed for a vote on Capitol Hill. Joe Raedle/Getty Images hide caption
itoggle caption Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The gargantuan budget bill that lawmakers on Capitol Hill are expected to vote on Thursday does more than dole out federal dollars to keep the government running.
It also tweaks federal nutrition rules.
For starters, the bill — aka, the 2015 Omnibus Appropriations Bill — includes a provision that will give school food directors more flexibility when it comes to adopting 100 percent whole grain items, such as pasta and biscuits, in school breakfast and lunch meals.
And when it comes to salty french fries or pizza, schools may get more time to dial back the sodium content, thanks to a provision that could postpone a mandate on sodium reduction that's scheduled to take effect in 2017. Lawmakers say further reductions on salt should be predicated on the latest scientific evidence.
The School Nutrition Association, which represents 55,000 school cafeteria professionals around the country, released a statement supporting these "flexibility" measures. The association has been lobbying for changes, as complaints have piled up that some kids have rejected the move to healthier fare.
The SNA says that since the nutrition standards mandated by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act took effect in 2012, school lunch programs have lost at least 1 million student customers. And some schools are losing money.
"SNA greatly appreciates Congress' recognition of the challenges school nutrition professionals have faced as they work to meet new nutrition standards while ensuring students continue to eat healthy school meals," Patricia Montague, the group's CEO, wrote in the statement.
Earlier this year, a political food fight ensued after the SNA backed a proposal that would have allowed some school districts that were operating at a net loss to temporarily opt-out of the nutrition standards.
But the opt-out waiver was dropped after first lady Michelle Obama and nutrition advocates made a stink about the proposed rollbacks. Nutrition advocates say they're relieved by the compromises in the final spending bill.
"We're pleased that Congress didn't waive all school lunch standards," Margo Wootan of the Center for Science in the Public Interest wrote to us in an email.
But she adds that lawmakers should stay out of the way when it comes to implementing the nutrition standards.
"It's best for kids if school nutrition is based on science, not politics," Wootan wrote.
And going forward, she says, schools should be able to find the whole grains they need to meet those standards, as food companies reformulate and make more whole grains available.
And when it comes to sodium reduction, Wootan says the Dietary Guidelines Advisory committee will likely confirm that the science is strong. There are a lot of published studies on the harmful effects of too much salt in our diets.
The first round of sodium reductions is now being implemented in the school lunch program. The law requires another reduction in 2017. The American Heart Association says any move to delay the further reductions of sodium in school meals - whether it be in a salty slice of pizza, an order of fries or even a salty condiment — will harm kids' health.
"If Congress hits the pause button now on the sodium reduction, it's possible that more children could develop high blood pressure and be at risk for heart disease or stroke before they even become adults, " Nancy Brown, CEO of the American Heart Association, wrote in a statement released last night.
Critics also jumped on a provision in the bill that would permit white potatoes to be included as part of the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) nutrition program, which serves low-income mothers and their children. WIC vouchers can be used to buy fresh fruits and vegetables — but not potatoes. And that's because at 112 pounds per capita, most Americans already include plenty of spuds in their diet.
Nonetheless, the industry has lobbied to let potatoes in — and it looks like the omnibus bill has finally granted that wish.
Last year, when this issue heated up, a post on the National WIC Association blog quipped "conflicts abound in Congress, but this one takes the cake, or should I say the potatoes."
Government must act to end siege of Arsal: Hariri
BEIRUT: Lebanon must step in to lift the “siege” on the northeastern border town of Arsal by relatives and supporters of a Lebanese captive killed last week, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Muslim Scholars Committee said it received promises from Islamist militants that they would send a written commitment to refrain from killing any of the remaining 25 Lebanese captive servicemen, a member of the committee told The Daily Star.
“The government is responsible for ending this blockade and tasking the Army with restoring the state’s prestige,” Hariri wrote on Twitter.
He said the government should also work toward defusing tensions between rival towns in reference to the predominately Sunni Arsal and the mostly Shiite nearby villages of Labweh and Bazzalieh.
“The government must take speedy measures in this regard,” he said. “Similarly,” Hariri added, the government “must make a firm decision that would put an end to the [Lebanese] captives’ crisis and bring [them] back safely.”
Hariri said the killing of Lebanese hostage Ali Bazzal, announced by the Nusra Front Friday, “is a crime all Lebanese should condemn.”
“Arsal’s siege and taking revenge on it serve the captors,” he stressed.
Masked gunmen from Bazzalieh have set up roadblocks and checkpoints on the roads leading from Labweh and Bazzalieh to Arsal during the 48 hours which followed the announcement of Bazzal’s killing.
But although these measures were reduced Tuesday and all checkpoints were removed, some residents of Bazzalieh could still be spotted in cars with tinted windows parked on either side of the road, watching traffic.
The Muslim Scholars Committee also said it would launch an initiative to win the freedom of the captives once it was formally commissioned to do so by the government and after authorities announce accepting in principle a swap-deal to solve the issue.Speaking to The Daily Star, Sheikh Adnan Amama, the spokesperson of the committee, said the captors had promised to send a written commitment to the committee not to kill any of the remaining hostages.
“We asked for a signed written commitment to be presented to media outlets so that we start a new phase,” Amama added.
But he said he was not optimistic that premier Tammam Salam, whom the committee will visit after he returns from an official visit to France, would meet the committee’s two conditions to begin mediations. “Still, we will make efforts to win the freedom of the captives. But we should not be blamed for failure if we haven’t been formally commissioned by the government.”
Health Minister Wael Abu Faour said that a crisis cell tasked by the government had already approved the principle of a swap deal.
“But still there are some parties who are hesitant to pay the price [required by a swap deal],” Abu Faour said during an interview with MTV.
“Usually the strong party procrastinates. But the Lebanese government is the weak party here, the kidnappers have the upper hand in this case,” he added.
Salam urges France to expedite delivery of much-needed arms
BEIRUT: Prime Minister Tammam Salam pleaded with France Wednesday to expedite the delivery to the Lebanese Army of arms paid for by a $3 billion Saudi grant, to help Lebanon face Islamist militants who are threatening the country’s security and stability.
Speaking in Paris at the start of a four-day official visit to France, Salam warned that Lebanon was going through one of the most dangerous periods in its history, due to the accumulation of political and socioeconomic crises, aggravated by the flow of more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees into Lebanon.
Salam also said former Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Future Movement had decided to engage in dialogue with Hezbollah to reduce Sunni-Shiite tensions in Lebanon. Hariri is “a major player in Lebanese politics and represents nearly 90 percent of one of the major Lebanese sects,” he said.
A preliminary session of the planned dialogue between the Future Movement and Hezbollah will be held before the end of this month, while serious talks will begin early next year, a Future MP said.
“Preparations are underway to get the Future-Hezbollah dialogue off the ground early next year. But a preliminary session between the two sides will be held before the end of the month,” Future MP Atef Majdalani told The Daily Star.
He said the Future-Hezbollah talks were primarily aimed at defusing Sunni-Shiite tensions stoked by differences over the conflict in Syria.
“[Former] Prime Minister Saad Hariri has drawn up an agenda for this dialogue by excluding strategic matters, such as Hezbollah’s arms and the party’s intervention in the Syrian fighting,” Majdalani said. “An inter-Lebanese dialogue is designed to pave the way for the election of a presidents.”
Speaker Nabih Berri said he was still optimistic about the outcome of the Future-Hezbollah talks. “Matters are on the right track,” MPs who met Berri at his Ain al-Tineh residence quoted him as saying.
Parliament failed for the 16th time Wednesday to elect a president due to a lack of quorum, prompting Berri to postpone the session until Jan. 7. Wednesday marked 200 days since former President Michel Sleiman’s six-year term ended on May 25 and Lebanon was left without a president.
Only 59 lawmakers showed up for the session, well below the two-thirds majority of Parliament’s 128 members needed to convene the session.
Salam said France would provide its final signature to activate the Saudi-funded $3 billion military aid package for the Lebanese Army in three days.
“On the 13th of this month, the final papers between France and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will be signed, so that France could start delivering the weapons to Lebanon,” Salam told reporters during a flight to Paris.
The aid package was announced last December by Sleiman. The $3 billion deal will be used to buy French weapons, equipment and vehicles for the Lebanese Army and to pay for military training.
Speaking before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the French National Assembly after his arrival in Paris, Salam called on France to speed up the arms deliveries, especially the helicopters and missiles, as he said they were critical in the Army’s confrontation with jihadis on Lebanon’s eastern borders.
Referring to repeated clashes between the Army and ISIS and Nusra Front militants who are still holding 25 Lebanese soldiers and policemen hostage, Salam said: “There are attacks on the eastern border and there are kidnapped soldiers. We need weapons and military aid to confront those extremists.”
He warned that Lebanon faced an accumulation of political and socio-economic crises.
“There is a political and institutional crisis that we are trying to control by maintaining Cabinet unity,” Salam said, referring to the deadlock that has left Lebanon without a president for more than six months. “This crisis is accompanied by economic and social difficulties brought on by the huge flow of more than 1.5 million Syrian refugees, who make up more than one third of the Lebanese population.
“The challenges facing Lebanon transcend the economic, political and security framework, taking an existential character and threatening the foundation stone of the country, which is considered as a model of [sectarian] coexistence.” He called on the rival political factions to elect a new president as soon as possible.
Salam, accompanied by Defense Minister Samir Moqbel and Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, is scheduled to hold talks with French President Francois Hollande and other senior officials.
Meanwhile, Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Ali Awad Asiri stressed that a consensus among rival Christian leaders was the key to ending the presidential deadlock.
“The election of a president is a national responsibility. The most effective way to achieve that is through a consensus among Christian leaders on the name of a candidate who would then be proposed to Parliament,” Asiri said after receiving a delegation from the Maronite League who visited him at the embassy.
Asiri contended that Lebanon is need of dialogue among its different political components, “including inter-Christian dialogue that would narrow divisions among Christian groups and help achieve the overall national interest.”
Hezbollah, Rafik Hariri were readying alliance: STL defense
BEIRUT: Hezbollah and former Premier Rafik Hariri were preparing to form a broad, powerful Sunni-Shiite coalition in Lebanon before he was killed, defense lawyers at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon said Wednesday, pushing back against claims that the relationship was tense in the run-up to the assassination.
In his seventh day of testimony in The Hague, Hariri’s former adviser and Economy Minister Marwan Hamade also revealed that Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah told him in a secret meeting in the spring of 2005 that he “did not know” if Syria had anything to do with an attempt on his life in late 2004, the first in a string of attacks targeting anti-Syrian political figures in Lebanon.
Hamade survived the car bombing that targeted him in October days after his bloc in Parliament opposed the re-election of the deeply unpopular pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, which passed after alleged threats from Syrian President Bashar Assad in a meeting with Hariri.
“I asked him, ‘Sayyed, did you target me last October?’ And he said absolutely no,” Hamade testified, referring to the secret meeting with Nasrallah and Hezbollah MP Nawwaf Musawi, which he said was either in late April or early May.
“I followed up with a quick question, ‘Did the Syrian brothers have a role?’ he continued. “He told me ‘I do not know.’”
If the details of the meeting are accurate, it would be the first time Hezbollah has expressed ambivalence regarding Syrian involvement in the string of political assassinations in Lebanon that began with the attempted killing of Hamade.
Hezbollah publicly says that accusations against Syria are politically motivated. It has blamed Hariri’s killing on Israel despite the widespread belief at the time that Syria was behind the attack.
The STL is trying in absentia five Hezbollah members accused of complicity in the Valentine’s Day bombing in 2005 that killed Hariri and 21 others and led to massive demonstrations that forced the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.
But the other intriguing parts of the hearing were the questions posed by Antoine Korkmaz, the defense lawyer for Mustafa Badreddine, a senior Hezbollah operative accused of being the apex of the conspiracy, implying that the alliance between Hariri and Nasrallah was broader than previously believed.
In his questions, Korkmaz asked Hamade if he was aware that Hariri and Nasrallah had formed a joint, permanent committee of Future Movement and Hezbollah cadres to prepare for the 2005 parliamentary elections, holding meetings every 10 days including secret sessions in Paris.
Korkmaz claimed the frequent meetings between Hariri and Nasrallah and the creation of the parliamentary committee were precursors to what he described as a “comprehensive” Sunni-Shiite alliance that was set to be announced in 2005.
If true, the claims point to a much broader rapprochement and budding political alliance drawing together Hariri and Nasrallah that went far beyond their public cordiality at the time, and hinted at a possibly far-reaching settlement that would have brought together Lebanon’s Sunni and Shiite communities, now at loggerheads over the Syria war.
Korkmaz pointed out that the Future Movement and Hezbollah ran in joint parliamentary lists in some districts in 2005 and Nasrallah ordered his party’s supporters in an edict to vote for the March 14 candidates in the Aley/Baabda district.
Hamade said that Hezbollah had sought the electoral alliance in 2005 after Hariri’s assassination because they realized there was a change in the balance of power with the withdrawal of Syria’s troops.
Korkmaz also asked whether Hamade was aware that Hezbollah had launched its own investigation into the Hariri case and had shared its results with the Hariri family and Gen. Wissam al-Hasan, who would later become the Lebanese intelligence chief, in addition to pledging to take “all necessary measures” to find and apprehend Hariri’s killers.
Hezbollah’s investigations at the time had revealed that a bomb with a size in excess of 1,000 kg and was above ground had destroyed Hariri’s motorcade, before U.N. investigators had drawn their own, matching conclusions.
Korkmaz asked Hamade if he thought Nasrallah was being truthful when he expressed his sorrow for Hariri’s assassination and condemned the crime during the March 8 rally after the attack, recalling how he visited Qoreitem Palace personally to offer condolences.
“You ask me about the credibility of these words – at that moment, we were seriously thankful to him for those statements,” Hamade said. “On the other hand, we were frustrated and surprised at the [March 8] festival, what became a festival to defend the Syrian regime and its tools in Lebanon.”
Korkmaz also offered up a surprise revelation, showing that an individual who had called Hamade’s telephone in late 2004 had also called a telephone belonging to Sami Issa, an alias of Hezbollah commander Mustafa Badreddine, on a telephone that was allegedly used only to contact other members of the conspiracy.
Hamade said he did not know who used his cellphone at the time since he had lost it in the car bombing that targeted him in October 2004, but suggested it may have been a ploy by the assassins to mislead investigators.
Korkmaz also read out newspaper columns written by Hamade in the late 1990s and in 2000 praising Syrian presidents Hafez and Bashar Assad, in an attempt to discredit his statements on Syria’s growing domination and oppression of the Lebanese before the assassination.
Hamade said he had changed his views on the relationship with Syria with the growing clampdown and control exerted by Assad over Lebanon after the Israeli withdrawal in 2000.
Signs of flexibility over Lebanese presidential election
The 6-month-old presidential election issue has moved from a stalemate to a more flexible phase amid expectations to bring this crisis out of a deadlock after influential regional powers became convinced of the need to insulate Lebanon from regional conflicts, according to sources familiar with a senior French official’s recent visit to Beirut.
The sources underlined the importance of disengaging Lebanon from the Syrian crisis, Saudi-Iranian relations and the fate of the negotiations between Western powers and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear program.
Jean-François Girault, head of the French Foreign Ministry’s Middle East and North Africa Department, Tuesday ended a two-day visit to Lebanon during which he prodded the country’s top leaders and rival politicians to hasten the election of a president. He also said France was ready to promote an agreement on the election of a successor to former President Michel Sleiman, whose six-year term ended on May 25.
While they cautioned against overoptimism regarding the date of electing a president or his name, the sources attributed the reasons for signs of a solution to the presidential crisis to what Girault had heard during his recent fourth meeting with Iranian officials in Tehran.
Girault, according to the sources, was told by Iranian officials that Tehran supported the idea of distancing Lebanon from the region’s problems after the Iranians said they considered the presidential vote a Lebanese affair that should be discussed with their allies in Lebanon.
After his talks in Beirut, the French official has set up an “information data” about the attitudes and proposals of Lebanese political leaders on ways to break the deadlock that has left Lebanon without a president for more than six months, the sources said.
They added that Girault was expected to present these proposals first to his government and later to the countries concerned with the Lebanese crisis, namely the Vatican, Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The French envoy, who sees that a Lebanese compromise over the presidential crisis requires a joint Western-Iranian-Saudi approval, might visit Riyadh soon to be informed about the real Saudi stance on the Lebanese presidential vote, political sources told The Daily Star.
Saudi Arabia, which wields great influence in Lebanon, is today in a state of integration and alliance with France, the proof of which was a Saudi $3 billion gift last December to purchase French weapons for the Lebanese Army.
The sources familiar with Girault’s visit to Beirut said France was concerned about the security situation in Lebanon that has been exacerbated by the 4-month-old ordeal of Lebanese servicemen held hostage by ISIS and the Nusra Front.
Girault had felt a similar concern from Tehran about the deteriorating security situation and sectarian tensions in Lebanon that might hit its Lebanese allies, the sources said.
On this basis, Iran is seeking with France to accelerate the election of a president in order to restore life to Lebanese institutions because chaos would harm its key ally, Hezbollah, they added.
According to the sources, the Vatican, which is standing behind the French political activity, is displeased with some Maronite leaders who did not respect the pledge they had made during their meeting with Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai in Bkirki, thus causing the country to fall into a presidential vacuum.
During their meeting with the patriarch earlier this year, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun, Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, Kataeb Party leader Amine Gemayel and Marada Movement leader MP Sleiman Frangieh pledged to secure a quorum in Parliament to elect a president.
Although Rai has expressed his resentment over the Maronite leaders’ stances on the presidential vote, the patriarch has not closed Bkirki’s gates to contacts made by some Maronite factions to find a solution aimed at electing a new president.
Rai is also taking into account the possibility of the planned dialogue between the Future Movement and Hezbollah reaching an agreement on a consensus president, who would subsequently need to gain the support of the Maronite Church.
Meanwhile, a Western diplomatic source in Beirut said that a climate of breakthrough in the Lebanese crisis was not fabricated and was in fact based on concrete information.
The source referred to the flurry of political activity undertaken in Beirut by Girault, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and Federica Mogherini, the high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy, aimed at breaking the presidential impasse.
The source called for reading the dimensions of the messages contained in Bogdanov’s stance on the importance of the “Baabda Declaration,” reflecting Russia’s support for non-interference by Lebanese factions in other nations’ affairs and the need to distance Lebanon from the Syrian crisis.
Disagreements mar electoral law committee meetings
BEIRUT: Disputes lingered Wednesday during the sixth meeting of a parliamentary subcommittee tasked with drafting a new election law, with electoral districting emerging as the major point of contention.
Speaking after chairing the session, MP Robert Ghanem said members of the subcommittee had begun implementing a mechanism they agreed on in their last meeting to study the proposed draft election laws.
One of the draft laws was presented by MP Ali Bazzi, from Speaker Nabih Berri’s parliamentary bloc.
According to the bill, half of the lawmakers would be elected based on proportional representation and the other half according to a winner-takes-all system.
Another voting system proposed by the Future Movement, the Progressive Socialist Party and the Lebanese Forces, stipulates that 60 lawmakers would be elected under a winner-takes-all system and the remaining 68 based on proportional representation.
“We began implementing the mechanism which stipulates that we agree on districting, whether in areas where a winner-takes-all system will be implemented or districts where proportional representation will be adopted,” said Ghanem, who chairs Parliament’s Administration and Justice Committee.
He added that issues on which agreement was not possible now were put aside and would be tackled in later sessions.
“But we also agreed on several points in the draft law presented by colleague Ali Bazzi,” Ghanem said. “We have made progress and discussions were objective and serious.”
Ghanem explained that the election draft laws under discussion took into consideration the particularity of all Lebanese sects.
He said that members of the subcommittee wanted the new election law to provide fair representation to all sects in line with the Taif Accord, which ended the country’s 1975-90 Civil War.
Unlike the last meeting, the Kataeb Party attended the talks, and were represented by MP Elie Marouni.
In addition, MP Alaaeddine Terro represented the PSP instead of MP Marwan Hamade.
Sources familiar with the talks said that there was still disagreement among political parties over electoral districting.
The panel, which represents most political parties in the country, was given a one-month deadline that expires at the end of December to agree on a unified electoral draft law to replace the one based on the 1960 law, which was adopted in the last parliamentary elections in 2009.
The current law is deemed unfair by the Christian community.
Ghanem said that Lebanese Forces MP George Adwan reiterated during the meeting that he discussed with Berri the possibility of holding a Parliament session at the beginning of next year to put all election draft laws to a vote in case the subcommittee failed to agree on one.
Speaking to The Daily Star, Adwan said that in case a Parliament session was not scheduled for early next year, this would encourage the subcommittee to drag on with discussions.
But hitting back, MP Qassem Hashem, from Berri’s bloc, said a Parliament session to endorse a new election law would only be held after the election of a new president.
He said this was stipulated in the law which the legislature passed last month to extend its term for two years and seven months and also reflected Berri’s view. The extension was the second in less than two years.
The subcommittee is set to hold three sessions next week.
EU ambassador: Lebanon is top priority
BEIRUT: The EU High Representative’s visit to Beirut this week underscored Lebanon’s importance to European actors, according to Angelina Eichhorst, the EU’s ambassador to Lebanon.
High Representative Federica Mogherini’s trip was “very unusual,” given that the current European Commission took office only last month, Eichhorst said.
Her swift trip to Lebanon shows the country “is a top priority for her, as the High Representative but certainly for the European Union [as a whole],” Eichhorst said.
In meetings with high-ranking politicians Tuesday, Mogherini described Lebanon as “at a crossroads,” she said, adding that the High Representative had insisted on the importance of functional state institutions.
“The only thing that can really manage the crossroads is the traffic lights. And the traffic lights are the institutions,” Eichhorst recounted her as saying.
Mogherini also emphasized the “urgent” need for Lebanon to elect a president without outside interference from outside, she added.
No new aid pledges were announced during Mogherini’s visit to Lebanon.
“There were no grand announcements made, as yet, because it takes some time for us to prepare what we can do,” Eichhorst said. “We have to try ... to meet the expectations and the expectations are high, we understand that.”
Mogherini’s trip comes as Lebanese politicians, notably Prime Minister Tammam Salam, have been shuttling between European capitals raising awareness about the country’s current situation.
Salam met Mogherini and EU President Jean-Claude Juncker two weeks ago in Brussels, and he is currently in Paris in what Eichhorst called “a very important visit.”
Moreover, Eichhorst said Lebanon will definitely be discussed at meeting of EU foreign ministers this Sunday. “There will be a very clear, clear reference made to what is happening in Lebanon,” she said.
The EU and Lebanon are also working together on a new “mobility” plan. The new program “has to do with visas, and it has also to do with readmission ... It has to do with security and migration.”
Eichhorst hinted that more high-ranking EU officials would come to Lebanon in the near future and Lebanese authorities would be invited to Brussels.
“It’s through these visits and these very thorough exchanges that we can even cement further our partnership,” she said.
Spending Bill Provision Would Provide Big Boost To Party Fundraising
The 1,600-page omnibus spending bill includes language that raises contribution limits to the national party committees, bringing them above the realm of merely wealthy donors. Under the provision, donors can give a party a total of $778,000 — each year, an eight-fold increase.
Copyright © 2014 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.
Copyright © 2014 NPR. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to NPR. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.
President Obama Is the First President to Write a Line of Code
On Monday afternoon, President Obama became the first president to write a line of code.
As part of the "Hour of Code" -- an online event to promote Computer Science Education Week -- the President and Vice President joined middle-school students from New Jersey for a computer coding exercise.
President Obama spoke about the importance of strengthening STEM education, especially for girls and students underrepresented in STEM fields: "Part of what we're realizing is that we're starting too late when it comes to making sure that our young people are familiar with not just how to play a video game, but how to create a video game."
The President highlighted our country's tradition as innovators, noting that "one of the great things about America is that we invent and make stuff, not just use it."
And what did the Coder-in-Chief write for his first line of code?
moveForward(100);
Excerpts from President Obama's BET Interview on Race Relations, and the Progress We Still Have to Make
President Barack Obama interviews with Jeff Johnson of BET in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Dec. 5, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
In light of the unrest across the country following the recent police-involved deaths of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, and others, President Obama sat down with BET's Jeff Johnson to share his thoughts on race relations in America, and our next steps forward as a country.
Israel considers security cooperation with Lebanese Army
TEL AVIV: Israel's military said on Wednesday it was exploring the possibility of cooperating with the Lebanese army to counter jihadi militants, even though the two countries remain technically at war.
But any coordination is almost certain to be rejected in Lebanon, where Israel is by and large considered an enemy among all religious groups, and where dealing with Israel is a crime.
But a senior Israeli military officer noted that the U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS jihadis in Iraq and Syria had brought together disparate forces, and said Israel might similarly expand on its current security ties with Egypt, Jordan and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority.
"If you all have a common enemy, it should be very easy to find common opportunities to try to fight it," the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told foreign reporters in a briefing.
"And I am looking and asking myself: Will the Lebanese Armed Forces play a positive or negative role?"
Asked if he was suggesting there could be cooperation, perhaps mediated, with Lebanon's armed forces, he said "Yes".
He declined to spell out whether contacts were under way, however: "I can't be too specific about that. I have to be very cautious about it, so I won't say any more than that."
Lebanon has been battling Syrian Sunni radicals in areas adjacent to its border with Syria.
At the same time as advocating cooperation with the Lebanese army, the Israeli officer voiced concern that advanced European weaponry destined for Beirut under a $3 billion Saudi aid package might "proliferate" to non-state forces, alluding to Hezbollah.
Lebanon health minister says civil society's stance on food safety 'unfortunate'
Geagea says ready to meet Aoun over presidency
Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea said Wednesday he was ready to accept political rival Michel Aoun’s invitation to...
Police arrest 3 snatch and scoot thieves in Beirut
Senior US defense official arrives to Beirut
Matthew Spence, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East Policy, arrived to Beirut Wednesday in an...
Christian unity could end Lebanon presidential vacuum: Saudi envoy
Presidential elections needed now more than ever
The next phase of Lebanon’s epic struggle through its current political quagmire will see a number of visits by Arab...
Health minister seeks closure of E. Lebanon dairy factory, supermarket
BEIRUT: Health Minister Wael Abou Faour asked Wednesday the Interior Ministry to temporarily close a dairy factory and a supermarket in the Bekaa Valley over health violations.
Abu Faour asked Minister Nouhad Machnouk to close the Mustafa al-Chamouri dairy factory in the Marej area of the Bekaa for at least one week, and the Cham Mart supermarket in the town of Bar Elias.
The time should allow the dairy factory administrators to address its violations, a statement by the ministry said.
Abu Faour’s decision was based on a report by a health inspector who described the factory’s conditions as “very bad and not qualified for food production.”
Abu Faour also asked Industry Ministry Hussein Hajj Hassan to take measures against the factory, and called on the Bekaa Valley attorney general to follow up on the case “to protect the safety of citizens.”
A report of Cham Mart stated that the content of the shop's warehouses revealed that the establishment has been producing, importing and packaging food products without an industrial license, while manipulating production and expiration dates.
The market was closed until it meets legal and health standards. Abu Faour referred the file to the state prosecutor.
Comments
Your feedback is important to us!
We invite all our readers to share with us their views and comments about this article.
Disclaimer: Comments submitted by third parties on this site are the sole responsibility of the individual(s) whose content is submitted. The Daily Star accepts no responsibility for the content of comment(s), including, without limitation, any error, omission or inaccuracy therein. Please note that your email address will NOT appear on the site.
Alert: If you are facing problems with posting comments, please note that you must verify your email with Disqus prior to posting a comment. follow this link to make sure your account meets the requirements. (http://bit.ly/vDisqus)
East Lebanon drug trafficker arrested after gunfight
Army arrests 10 Syrian Turkmen near Baalbek
A Lebanese Army unit raids on a Turkmen’s camp in east Lebanon, arresting 10 people of Syrian origins and confiscating...
Lebanon Parliament speaker vows to stop Israel from stealing oil and gas
Lebanon postpones presidential vote to Jan. 7
Speaker Nabih Berri Wednesday postponed to Jan. 7 Lebanon's presidential election after Parliament failed for a 16th...
Senior US defense official arrives to Beirut
BEIRUT: Matthew Spence, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Middle East Policy, arrived to Beirut Wednesday in an unannounced visit, a source at Beirut's international airport told The Daily Star.
The source said Spence arrived from Kuwait.
Details of the visit were not revealed.
Advertisement
Geagea says ready to meet Aoun over presidency
Geagea says ready to meet Aoun over presidency
Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea said Wednesday he was ready to accept political rival Michel Aoun’s invitation to...
Lebanon charges 4 doctors with stealing public funds
Beauty parlor investigated for cosmetic blunder
Health Minister Wael Abu Faour Tuesday referred to the judicial authorities the case of a 20-year-old girl who claimed...
Sami Gemayel: Welfare and jobs can bring back expats
Sami Gemayel: Welfare and jobs can bring back expats
Lebanese expats would return to their homeland if the government could provide them with jobs and social welfare, MP...
Britain's House Of Lords Still Seems As Elitist As The Name Suggests
The unelected legislative body recently refused to merge its catering services with those of the House of Commons, out of concerns for the quality of the chamber's champagne selection.
Copyright © 2014 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.
Copyright © 2014 NPR. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to NPR. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.
France, Russia support Lebanon consensus president: report
Russian PM Medvedev says Crimea is Russia's destiny
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday the return of Crimea, annexed from Ukraine earlier this year, was...
Lebanon postpones presidential vote to Jan. 7
Future wants to expedite dialogue with Hezbollah
The parliamentary Future bloc called Tuesday for starting a long-awaited dialogue with Hezbollah with the aim of...
Senate May Need Every Minute To Meet Government Funding Deadline
The House appears to have reached a trillion-dollar deal to keep the government running, but leaves the Senate just hours to speed the bill through — and some senators may prefer to take their time.
Copyright © 2014 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.
Copyright © 2014 NPR. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to NPR. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.
Ex-CIA Lawyer Says No One Was Misled On Torture, Abuses Were Reported
John Rizzo, who spent six years as acting general counsel for the CIA, says that while he believes intelligence gains justified the agency's interrogations, he understands those who feel otherwise.
Copyright © 2014 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.
Copyright © 2014 NPR. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to NPR. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.
Representatives Laud A Departing Dean, 59-Year Veteran John Dingell
Leading Democrats and even some Republicans had kind words Tuesday for the Michigander, who was first elected to the House when Eisenhower was president. His wife was elected to his seat in November.
Copyright © 2014 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.
Copyright © 2014 NPR. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to NPR. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.
Report Reveals Deeply Misguided Interrogation Tactics, Feinstein Says
The Senate's "torture report" finds that the CIA conducted brutal interrogations of detainees in the years after 9/11, misled elected leaders, and got little useful information from the harsh tactics.
Copyright © 2014 NPR. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.
Copyright © 2014 NPR. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to NPR. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.
Lebanon must end 'siege' on Arsal: Hariri
Lebanon must end 'siege' on Arsal: Hariri
Lebanon must lift the siege of the northeastern border town of Arsal, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri pressed...
ISIS commander urges fight against Hezbollah inside Lebanon
BEIRUT: An ISIS commander whose wife was recently arrested by the Lebanese Army has called on jihadi militants to fight Hezbollah inside Lebanon, accusing the Lebanese government of being an accomplice to the powerful movement.
Anas Sharkas, better known by his nom de guerre Abu Ali al-Shishani, said in an interview published Wednesday in daily Al-Akhbar that Hezbollah “has taken Iran as its god,” and had entered Syria to massacre its men and harass its women.
“I call upon all the jihadis to move (the battle) to Lebanon to break Hezbollah because it is massacring our women, children and men, while its women and children enjoy security,” Sharkas said.
“If we want to succeed, we have to fight the kin of those who are killing us in Lebanon,” he added.
Sharkas, a Circassian Syrian from the town of Qusayr where Hezbollah fought alongside the Syrian army in fierce battles against the rebels last year, said the Lebanese government was unfit to govern, “and in the worst case, a subordinate of Hezbollah.”
Sharkas said he had worked in Lebanon as a pastry chef before the war erupted in Syria, but returned home to carry out jihad for the sake of establishing an Islamic caliphate.
He had sworn allegiance to ISIS recently and is now leading a 30-man-strong battalion called “the Shield of Islam.”
Sharkas said he would sacrifice his life for both the Nusra Front and ISIS, calling upon the two jihadi groups to end their strife and unite under the single banner of Islam.
Al-Akhbar said it conducted the interview two months ago on the outskirts of the border town of Arsal, in east Lebanon.
The militant appeared in a video last week in which he threatened to attack Lebanon and to start kidnapping women and children in retaliation for the arrest of his wife, Ola al-Oqaili, and two children by the Lebanese Army.
Oqaili was apprehended in a Syrian refugee gathering in north Lebanon two weeks ago.
She was handed over to the General Security on Tuesday, after the Military Prosecutor had cleared her of any major offenses. The move indicates that her release has become imminent.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)