Khazen

Tide of history will again break over Martyrs’ Square

Tide of history will again break over Martyrs’ Square


The Sunday Independent , May 22, 2005


By Robert Fisk


In Beirut last week they announced the winners of a competition to redevelop Martyrs’ Square, which had once been Lebanon’s civil war front line and on the edge of which stands the tomb of the murdered ex-prime minister, Rafiq Hariri.


There were two remarkable things about this event. The first was the brilliant decision by the redevelopment firm Solidere – in which Hariri held 10 percent of the shares – to announce the results not in one of Beirut’s swank hotels, but in a war-ruined shopping centre and cinema complex that still lies next to the square.


The great cone-shaped wreckage – known as the “egg” to Beirutis – was washed out, shored up and carpeted so that when we arrived to hear the winners we had to walk between walls torn up by so many bullets they looked like Irish lace. Amid the literal ruins of war, we were invited to contemplate a new future.

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Lebanon: A Dispute Over Sizes

OPINION


Lebanon: A Dispute Over Sizes


Walid Choucair  ,  Al-Hayat , May 20 2005


It is natural for the Lebanese to disagree over the size and magnitude of the different factions’ alliances, which are subject to negotiations in light of the upcoming parliamentary elections (scheduled on May 29th) . The previous stage, not to say the previous decades, distorted weights and sizes, positively and negatively, which was reflected in marginalizing some forces, while empowering others.


If external interference has always been the reason for such distortions, it has caused reactions and political confrontations that played a role in extending the Lebanese war, over and above the external factors that rained arms and weapons down on the Lebanese.

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Candidates declare for Lebanon election

Candidates declare for Lebanon election


By UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL , May 21, 2005


Related article : Two more seats clinched days before Lebanon poll


BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanon’s Interior Ministry says 51 candidates will be competing to win 21 seats representing south Lebanon in the 128-member Lebanese parliament.

The Saturday announcement was made after the midnight deadline for candidates to submit their applications.


Two candidates, notably Bahiya Hariri, the sister of slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and Osama Saad, a member of the Popular Nasserite Party, were uncontested, leaving 21 seats for competition.

So far, 11 candidates have won uncontested seats, including nine representing Beirut and figuring on the electoral list of Saad Hariri, the son of the slain premier.

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Hariri’s Son Emerges As Lebanon Kingmaker

Hariri’s Son Emerges As Lebanon Kingmaker


By SAM F. GHATTAS, Associated Press Writer


Related Article : Beirut, Lebanon Airport named after Hariri


BEIRUT, Lebanon – At 35 and presiding over a multibillion dollar business empire, Saadeddine Hariri was a stranger to Lebanon’s intricate and sometimes violent politics. But the massive bombing that killed his father and shook a nation to its core three months ago also thrust him to the political forefront.


For Saad, as he’s better known here, it has been a crash course in politics since the Feb. 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri

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Lawyer calls to boycott polls to spur Geagea’s release

Lawyer calls to boycott polls to spur Geagea’s release


By Maroun Khoury , Daily Star , May 21, 2005


BKIRKI: The attorney representing disbanded Lebanese Forces (LF) leader Samir Geagea said the only way to ensure the release of his client from prison before the May-June parliamentary elections is for LF candidates to boycott the elections unless Geagea is released.


Following a meeting with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, attorney Assad Abi Raad said: “The LF asks its partners in the Qornet Shehwan Gathering, as well as General Michel Aoun, to follow in its footsteps; this way the elections will not be held without the participation of the LF, the gathering and the Free Patriotic Movement.”


He added: “It is the last chance; do not miss it because if Geagea is not freed before the elections, then when?”


Western Bekaa-Rashaya MP Faisal Daoud, who also met with Sfeir, denounced the 2000 electoral law as contributing to the squandering of $40 billion of public funds and violations of the legal system to serve personal interests.


Daoud said the 2000 electoral law allowed warlords and sectarian leaders to steal large amounts of money in the name of the law.

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Beirut, Lebanon Airport named after Hariri

Beirut, Lebanon Airport named after Hariri May 21 2005 Nazek Hariri, widow of the slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri sent a letter to Prime Minister Najib Mikati, thanking him for the thoughtful gesture. The decision to name the Beirut International airport as “Martyr Rafik Hariri International Airport ” was taken during a recent government […]

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Have outside powers manipulated Lebanon’s Christians?

Analysis


Have outside powers manipulated Lebanon’s Christians?


By Adnan El-Ghoul , Daily Star ,  May 21, 2005


BEIRUT: Following his visit to Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, former Lebanese Ambassador to Washington Abdullah Bou Habib said that, instead of Bkirki crying for help, “We see the world’s greater powers asking Sfeir to help them.”


One couldn’t agree less with Bou Habib’s statement, nor help but wonder how he could see this type of relationship as anything other than a one-way street opposite the give-and-take principle, telling the Christian opposition to accept indefinite marginalization.


After being forced to send the Bishops’ Council a “strong warning,” Sfeir was further forced to ask Qornet Shehwan members to accept a “waiting list” status while the big electoral coalitions vacated a seat here or there. These coalitions, which “borrow” a Christian candidate from the opposition and sacrifice one of their own, can satisfy the Christians neither ethically nor substantially.


Moreover, Saad Hariri’s Future Movement cannot repeat its sacrifice of Ghattas Khoury for the controversial Solange Gemayel in Beirut by sacrificing Jean Obeid in Tripoli without risking serious a Sunni backlash.


Despite asserting their neutrality in the elections, it was thanks to France, the U.S. and even Saudi Arabia that Lebanon was “cornered by time limits” to accept the 2000 electoral law designed to keep pro-Syrian politicians in power.


This policy seemed puzzling.

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