Obama told me so: 12/28/14

Sunday, 28 December 2014

Future hopes talks will fill the vacuum

BEIRUT: The Future Movement hopes that its dialogue with Hezbollah will lead to a breakthrough in the 7-month-old presidential deadlock, former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said Sunday.

“We hope that the dialogue with Hezbollah will produce progress and a breakthrough in the presidential vacuum,” he told The Daily Star.

Future MP Samir Jisr, who participated in the first session of dialogue with Hezbollah that kicked off last week, also said the talks between the two influential rival parties might lead to a breakthrough in the presidential stalemate.

“Perhaps dialogue [with Hezbollah] will create a loophole to halt the vacancy in the presidency,” Jisr said in an interview to be published by Al-Liwaa newspaper Monday.

“The dialogue is not [meant] to establish a four-party alliance and does not target the Christians,” he said, referring to an alleged alliance grouping in addition to the Future Movement and Hezbollah, the Free Patriotic Movement and the Progressive Socialist Party.

Jisr said the first round of talks sponsored by Speaker Nabih Berri at his residence in Ain al-Tineh was frank and covered all divisive issues. “We talk to Hezbollah with whom we disagree on many issues in order to prevent their dangerous repercussions on the country,” he said.

Divisive issues such as Hezbollah’s military intervention in Syria, the party’s arsenal and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which is investigating the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, are not on the dialogue agenda.

Jisr said the second round of talks would be held on Jan. 5.

A source close to Berri said all dialogue sessions would be held at Ain al-Tineh as demanded by the two sides. The source voiced optimism about the next sessions based on the atmosphere that prevailed in the first session.

“All members of the two delegations have spoken positively as if they are speaking one language and no negative stance was issued by any member,” one of the participants said. “All [members] spoke positively, expressing desire for the dialogue to reach the required results.”

“Furthermore, this dialogue is significant because it constitutes an incentive for others to talk to each other, particularly in the Christian arena,” the source said, clearly referring to the planned talks between FPM leader MP Michel Aoun and Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea.

The source called on rival Christian leaders to unify their options over the presidential issue in order to facilitate the election of a new Lebanese president.

Referring to Saturday’s meeting between Berri and Prime Minister Tammam Salam at Ain al-Tineh, the source said: “There was an identity of views on the oil issue and on the importance of the government to quickly issue two decrees related to outlining the marine blocks and licensing [offshore] gas and oil exploration with the aim of pushing this file forward.”

Asked whether 2015 could be the year of the oil and gas drilling for Lebanon, Berri was quoted by visitors as saying: “I will continue to work with this file. If anyone has another investment that can bring money to Lebanon, let them tell us about it.” Officials from the Future Movement and Hezbollah have said the dialogue was primarily aimed at reducing Sunni-Shiite tensions fueled by the war in Syria, facilitating the presidential election, boosting efforts to combat terrorism, promoting a new electoral law and energizing stagnant state institutions.

Siniora, who heads the parliamentary Future bloc, defended his party’s decision to enter into talks with Hezbollah, saying that the alternative to dialogue was “frightening.”

“They ask us why we agreed to launch this dialogue with Hezbollah and [said] that it would be futile like previous ones. ... This does not justify refraining from trying and honestly seeking progress on the dialogue path with the aim of achieving national gains that benefit all the Lebanese,” Siniora said in a speech Saturday commemorating the first anniversary of the assassination of former Minister Mohammad Chatah.

“The other alternative is frightening and only strengthens failure and stagnation,” he added.

Chatah, who served as a political adviser to former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, was killed along with seven others in a car bomb explosion in Beirut on Dec. 27 last year. During the memorial ceremony attended by Cabinet members and March 14 MPs, a square in Beirut, the site of the bombing, was named after Chatah.

“There is no other road except the dialogue road to search for means to strengthen our unity and civil peace,” Siniora said.

He added that the dialogue with Hezbollah was designed to search for a consensus to end the presidential vacuum deadlock. “The Lebanese need to make a breakthrough with regard to reaching the election of a strong consensus president who has the characteristics of leadership, a sharp vision, wisdom and foresight,” Siniora said.

Parliament has repeatedly failed since April over a lack of quorum to choose a successor to former President Michel Sleiman, whose six-year tenure ended on May 25. A new Parliament session to elect a president has been set for Jan. 7.

Siniora said the talks with Hezbollah were aimed at “paving the way to revive the idea of a Lebanon as a nation, as a strong, just state that has exclusive rights over all of its territory” and its borders.

Implicitly criticizing Hezbollah’s involvement in the Syrian war, he said: “It is no longer acceptable for a single party to threaten civil peace in the country by involving themselves and others and the entire country in uncalculated internal or external adventures that reflect negatively on all the Lebanese.”

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FPM-LF blueprint calls for electing president, improving Christian role

As efforts have been intensified to arrange a rare meeting between the two Maronite rivals, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun and Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea, The Daily Star has obtained a copy of a joint working blueprint to be discussed by the two sides. The blueprint underscores the importance of electing a president and improving Christian participation in the public administration.

Political sources following up reconciliation efforts between the FPM and LF said the planned meeting between Aoun and Geagea could be held before New Year’s Day after the two sides have agreed on the main items for discussion which constitute common goals of various Christian groups and reflect their concerns.

These common goals were outlined during a meeting between MP Ibrahim Kanaan, secretary of Aoun’s parliamentary Change and Reform bloc, and Milhem Riyashi, head of the LF’s media and communication section.

The two sides have agreed on a joint working paper to be discussed during the upcoming meeting between Aoun and Geagea, expected to be held at the FPM leader’s residence in Rabieh, north of Beirut.

Among other things, the blueprint emphasizes first of all the need to hold the presidential election in order to restore balance to the work of the executive and legislative branches of power, while stressing that the next president should be strong and capable of steering the country to safe shores.

Second, the blueprint calls for the approval of a modern electoral law that takes into account Christian concerns over a fair representation in Parliament.

Third, the working plan calls for holding parliamentary elections on the basis of this law, while Parliament’s extended mandate can be shortened following an agreement with the country’s Muslim leaders on this matter.

Finally, the blueprint calls for improving the Christians’ status in Lebanon by energizing the community’s participation in the state and public departments. This can be achieved through several means, such as the adoption of administrative decentralization and encouraging Christians to enter some of the state’s administrative, security and diplomatic agencies, according to the blueprint.

Hence, an agreement on the agenda for the proposed Aoun-Geagea meeting has become easy, while topics to be discussed by the two leaders would be followed up by joint committees from both sides, the political sources said.

The sources added that these topics constitute a road map to expand the two-party Christian meeting into an all-embracing gathering that would include the Kataeb Party, the Marada Movement and some independent Christian organizations.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai is pinning great hopes on the expected Aoun-Geagea meeting in a bid to break the 7-month-old presidential deadlock, sources at the Maronite Church in Bkirki told The Daily Star.

The inter-Christian meeting will reaffirm the need to elect a president, the sources said, while expressing regret over certain alleged remarks that suggested the Maronite president could be dispensed with.

On the prospect of Rai bringing the four top Maronite leaders – Aoun, Geagea, Kataeb Party leader Amine Gemayel and Marada Movement chief MP Suleiman Frangieh – together in a bid to break the presidential stalemate, the sources said this depended largely on the outcome of meetings the patriarch was holding separately with each of the four leaders.

The political sources said a meeting of the four rival leaders would definitely leave a positive impact on the entire situation in the country, at both the national and Christian levels.

“Matters are taking a positive path and have become more favorable concerning the election of a president,” the sources said.

Despite the conflicting interpretations of the planned Aoun-Geagea meeting, a source close to Aoun said the FPM leader was attaching great importance to this meeting in order to bridge the gap among Christian parties and regain the initiative after these parties were beset by divisions.

Furthermore, a meeting between Aoun and Geagea has been backed by the Vatican, the United States and France after a delegation of archbishops that visited Lebanon recently signaled its support for such a meeting in view of the changes in the region.

The U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon David Hale has also advised Maronite leaders to hold such a meeting quickly to conform with efforts underway to facilitate the presidential election.

Therefore, the same political sources said that in light of the inflammable situation in the region and the inter-Muslim dialogue that kicked off last week between the Future Movement and Hezbollah, the need has become urgent to revive the work of state institutions with the election of a president in the first place.

STL looks to maintain trial momentum in 2015

BEIRUT: With the trial in full swing and testimony implicating Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime in destabilizing Lebanon ahead of former premier Rafik Hariri’s assassination, 2014 was a banner year for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

The court that struggled to bring the devastating assassination to trial nearly a decade after it happened has seen its momentum revived in recent months, pressing forth with political testimony that has refocused attention on the Assad regime’s alleged role in the attack.

That refocus will endure in 2015, though the court’s supporters are likely to be disappointed if they hoped to see its mandate expand to a broader range of political assassinations in Lebanon.

The STL is expected to resume hearing political testimony in January. Senior Lebanese politicians are slated to testify in The Hague, including former Prime Minister Fouad Siniora as well as the charismatic Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, a close ally of Hariri who endured alleged threats emanating from the Assad regime.

So far, only former Minister and Hariri adviser Marwan Hamade has testified on the political context of the assassination, detailing the breakdown in relations between Lebanon’s billionaire premier and the Syrian president.

Prosecutors also plan on showcasing the breakdown in other means – some of the witness testimony will focus on Yahya al-Arab, Hariri’s top security officer and intermediary with Syrian officials who died with him in the attack.

According to court documents, the testimony will show how Arab’s behavior changed in the tense weeks and months leading up to the devastating attack.

Prosecutors are also expected to begin delving into the reams of telecommunications data that form the core of their case, and which they claim shows a concerted campaign by the suspects to track and ultimately assassinate Lebanon’s former premier.

It is unclear, however, if prosecutors may seek to amend the indictment yet again to include additional suspects who are uncovered during, or in parallel with, the trial.

There are numerous other unidentified telephones that form part of the networks used by the assassins. Investigators have only been able to identify publicly five members of Hezbollah who are among the alleged users of the telephones, and all five have been indicted by the court.

But sources suggest that investigators have in fact identified some of the other users but do not have sufficient evidence to add them to the indictment.

Such a step would also mean a delay of unknown length to the trial – one that would frustrate the tribunal’s political and financial backers given the trial is taking place nearly a decade after Hariri’s killing.

Prosecutor Norman Farrell is also expected to finally decide whether or not to shelve the investigations into the “connected cases” – other political assassinations and attempts on the lives of anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians and journalists.

The STL’s founding charter allows it to prosecute the perpetrators of terrorist attacks in Lebanon between October 2004 and December 2005 that are “connected” to the Hariri assassination – for instance if the attacks target the same group, use the same modus operandi or have the same perpetrators.

But in August 2011, the STL claimed jurisdiction only over the attempted killings of MP Marwan Hamade and former Defense Minister Elias al-Murr, as well as the assassination of former Lebanese Communist Party chief George Hawi.

The act gave the STL sole authority to investigate the three cases, but there was little progress in the ensuing years. Farrell pledged before the start of trial to determine once and for all if he would seek indictments in the cases of Hamade, Hawi and Murr by the end of the year, a timeline that probably extends to the end of the tribunal’s fifth year in late February 2015.

The STL has not asked since then for authority to try any of the other political assassinations in Lebanon since Hariri’s killing, a source told The Daily Star.

But whether or not the court issues indictments in those three cases,other connected cases will remain a key failing in the work of the U.N.-backed tribunal.

That is because nearly 10 years after those attacks, including killings that shook Lebanon like the assassinations of journalists Samir Kassir and MP Gebran Tueni, many of the bombings now go unsolved with no progress in the Lebanese investigation.

Even a figure like Capt. Wissam Eid, a top Internal Security Forces investigator assassinated in 2008 and whose killing at first glance appeared directly linked to his work on the Hariri investigation, would likely not have his case brought to trial.

Eid was a key figure in studying the telecommunications data that would eventually be used to indict the suspects.

The STL will, however, begins a different trial in the spring – one in which the defendant is a Lebanese journalist accused of contempt of court and undermining the trial.

The trial of Karma al-Khayyat, the deputy head of news at Al-Jadeed TV, and the station’s parent company New TV S.A.L., is set to begin on April 16 after a lengthy inquisition by a special prosecutor charged them with deliberate obstruction of justice.

The accusations center around TV reports aired by Al-Jadeed that allegedly disclosed the personal details of confidential witnesses in the Hariri case.

Critics of the tribunal say the trial will stifle freedom of speech in Lebanon and urge the court to focus on its core mandate of bringing Hariri’s killers to justice. They also point out that the tribunal has never pursued Western media outlets that published leaked, sensitive details of the investigation.

The STL argues the trial must go on in order to protect witnesses from intimidation.

Rai decries ‘shameful’ lack of security in Bekaa

BEIRUT: Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai decried Sunday the failure of the state to provide safety to Bekaa Valley residents, renewing calls for the arrest of members of the powerful Jaafar clan behind the killing of a couple in the Christian town of Btedaai last month.

“It is very shameful for the Bekaa to become an open land for the road blockers, the thieves stealing citizens’ money and those attacking people’s souls,” Rai said in his Sunday sermon, delivered this week in Btedaai to commemorate the 40th day since the incident in which gunmen shot dead Sobhi Fakhri and his wife Nadimeh in their home.

“It’s really painful that some officials who are responsible for citizen safety are being bribed to overlook the evil the road blockers are committing,” he said. “Has the dear Bekaa become the land of gangs?”

Rai has repeatedly accused authorities of deliberately evading the arrest of the culprits, who were running from the Lebanese Army in the Dar al-Wasaa area when they broke into the Fakhri family home and shot dead the couple and wounded one of their sons. “I call on the Jaafar family, for the honor of their clan, to hand over the murderers so that the door of reconciliation opens before them,” the patriarch said. “There is no reconciliation without justice.”

A major part of Rai’s mass was a message addressed to the children of the Fakhri couple.

“You have defeated the experience of vengeance, and Jesus’ peace has settled in your spirits,” Rai said. “You and we are addressing the state to practice justice ... in order to protect the citizens’ lives, their rights and their properties in this area, and to safeguard the state’s prestige and authority.”

Earlier, Rai visited the families of the servicemen killed by jihadis who were keeping them captive on the outskirts of Arsal, during which he hailed the Army and the resistance.

“We must preserve coexistence and transcend above all conspiracies and difficulties,” Rai said, addressing the people of the Bekaa Valley from the house of soldier Mohammad Hamieh in Taraya, who was shot dead by Nusra Front in September.

Rai’s visit was warmly welcomed by area officials, including a number of MPs and ministers from Hezbollah, Amal Movement and the Future Movement.

“In such difficult times, we cannot but support the state and all its institutions, especially the military institutions that are working to protect us,” Rai added, calling on the Bekaa residents to provide an example of civil peace and national unity.

During a visit to the house of martyred soldier Abbas Medlej, Rai stressed the need to support the Army, security forces and the resistance in the face of conspiracies plotted against Lebanon.

Rai recalled a quote from Pope Francis’ Christmas message to the Mideast, delivering the pontiff’s condolences to the families of all martyrs.

His tour in east Lebanon Sunday included Bazzalieh, the village of martyred policeman Ali Bazzal, Ansar and Younin.

ISIS and the Nusra Front, who together hold 25 Lebanese servicemen as hostages, have also killed soldier Ali al-Sayyed besides Hamieh, Medlej and Bazzal.

The murders have sparked a wave of anger in many Lebanese areas and especially in the Bekaa Valley, where residents have attacked Syrian refugees in “retaliation,” forcing many of them to relocate. A wave of kidnappings also emerged in east Lebanon after the killing of Hamieh.