July 2007 – Khazen

Lebanon festival still on the cards but fewer stars

adminJuly 28, 2007UncategorisedComments are off for this post

BEIRUT (AFP) – Lebanon’s Byblos Festival will still go ahead this weekend despite continuing political tensions and security worries in the country, the organisers said on Friday. The Mediterranean country’s usually vibrant cultural scene has been massively curtailed since last year’s devastating war

But in Byblos, the show will go on, albeit with fewer stars on the bill than originally planned."We have decided to go ahead with the festival, having considered cancelling it like the other festivals, because of the uncertain atmosphere," festival communications director Mona Hakim told AFP.Festivities kick off on Saturday with a concert by French rockers Nouvelle Vague in the ancient Phoenecian fortress of Jbail, 38 kilometres (24 miles) north of Beirut Italian tenor Alessandro Safina will give two recitals on August 2 and 3, while a Lebanese opera about Zenobie, the legendary queen of Palmyria, will be shown from August 15 to 19.

على اللبنانيين ا

adminJuly 19, 2007UncategorisedComments are off for this post

على اللبنانيين اخراج وطنهم من سياسة المحاور الاقليمية والدولية"
الخازن: مؤتمر سان كلو اعاد التواصل وخلق اجواء ايجابيـــــة
والحـــــل الامثل حكومــــة وحدة تمهد للاستحقاق الرئاسي

المركزية – اعتبر عضو تكتل "التغيير والاصلاح" النائب الدكتور فريد الخازن ان "مؤتمر سان كلو خلق الاجواء الايجابية واعاد التواصل بين الاطراف"، داعياً الى "ضرورة دعم المبادرات لحل الازمة". وشدد على "اهمية قيام حكومة وحدة وطنية تمهد للانتخابات الرئاسية".
ولفت الى ان "الحل الامثل للازمة ككل هو عمل اللبنانيين على اخراج وطنهم من سياسة التجاذب والمحاور الاقليمية والدولية".
كلام النائب الخازن جاء في حديث الى اذاعة "صوت لبنان"، حيث قال: "سان كلو خلق مناخا حواريا وتواصلا والسقف الذي كان موضوعا كان واضحا قبل المؤتمر وبحدود معينة ادى واعطى هذه النتيجة الايجابية وخلق هذه الاجواء، لإعادة التواصل بين الاطراف اللبنانية لكن الموضوع الاساسي هو كيف يمكن البناء على ما حصل في سان كلو وكيف يمكن متابعة الحوار والمبادرات التي تتقاطع مع سان كلو خصوصا الدور الفرنسي في هذا الموضوع".
اضاف: "عمليا، هناك جانب لبناني– لبناني في سان كلو، وهناك جانب فرنسي بالنسبة الى الدور الفرنسي في متابعة الحوار وايجاد الحلول للأزمة اللبنانية. ولم يكن متوقعا ان تأتي الحلول من سان كلو لكن اليوم فرنسا مسلحة باللقاء وتواصل المبادرة، والسفير كوسران سيكمل جولاته في سوريا ومصر والسعودية، وهناك تواصل مع الجامعة العربية. ومن هذا الباب بالذات المتابعة الفرنسية اليوم بعد لقاء سان كلو سيكون لها وزن وربما تأثير اكبر عما كانت عليه قبل اللقاء".
واشار الى "ان موضوع المبادرات سواء كانت فرنسية او مبادرة الجامعة العربية تتواصل، لأن الازمة في لبنان متواصلة ولأن هناك حاجة لإيجاد الحلول لها والتمهيد لوضع طبيعي يرافق الانتخابات الرئاسية بعد شهرين او ثلاثة. وهذه هي المسائل المطروحة امامنا اليوم، والحلول والطروحات معروفة سواء كان بالنسبة الى حكومة انقاذ وحكومة وحدة وطنية او بالنسبة الى موضوع الرئاسة ومن البديهي ان تتم المعالجة سواء في لبنان او في بلد آخر في العالم يواجه ازمات من هذا النوع وهي ازمة كبيرة خصوصا على خلفية الوضع الامني المتردي والتحديات الامنية المرتقبة".

Kaslik businesses feel effect

adminJuly 17, 2007UncategorisedComments are off for this post

By Nour Samaha , Daily Star staff, KASLIK: Employees of stores and restaurants in Kaslik voiced concern on Tuesday that business in the area would fail to pick up following a year of explosions and internal political strife. The last month has witnessed several explosions in commercial and tourist areas in Lebanon, in addition to continual fighting between the Lebanese Army and Fatah al-Islam militants in the North. The violence has increased fears that further trouble may ensue.

"I’m worried about everything," said Elie Khalil, an employee at clothing store Oxygene. "The situation with Fatah al-Islam, the upcoming presidential elections, some are even saying there might be another war this summer … this is not good for business at all. "The thing is people want to go out and go shopping, but they are afraid. Business has been steadily going down." Mischa Kahwagi, manager of a neighboring clothes store, painted a similar picture of muted economic activity during normally bustling summer months.

"Business has not been good at all over the last month because the customers are afraid of the bombs," Kahwagi said. "Both the Lebanese and the tourists are afraid of the situation and fear another war breaking out." One of the larger explosions that rocked the country occurred last month in an industrial area in Zouk, a few hundred meters away from the commercial center of Kaslik. The blast resulted in the death of one man and in several hundreds of thousand of dollars worth of damage.

Lebanese soldier killed as commandos close in on Islamists

adminJuly 17, 2007UncategorisedComments are off for this post

NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon (AFP) – A Lebanese soldier was killed on Tuesday in clashes with Islamist fighters as the army closed in on the extremists’ positions in a bombed-out refugee camp, a military spokesman said. We have a martyr today. He was killed in the confrontations" with militiamen of the Islamist group Fatah al-Islam in Nahr al-Bared in north Lebanon, the spokesman who did not wish to be identified told AFP."We are continuing the operation. The army is extending its deployment to new positions in the camp where we are further tightening the noose on the gunmen to force them to surrender," he said.

The battle which broke out on May 20 has now cost the lives of 101 soldiers, out of a total death toll of about 200. Dozens of militants have been killed, but the exact number is unknown as the group cannot be contacted. A military spokesman said three soldiers were killed in Monday’s fighting with the Al-Qaeda-inspired Sunni extremists around Nahr al-Bared.

Lebanese rivals meet in France

adminJuly 14, 2007UncategorisedComments are off for this post

PARIS (Reuters) – Rival Lebanese politicians met at a state-owned chateau near Paris on Saturday in a French-sponsored attempt to discuss ways of ending the 8-month-old political crisis gripping their country. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, hosting the closed-door two-day meeting at the Chateau de Celle-Saint Cloud, first addressed the gathering with a few words in Arabic.

"The minister made an opening statement and then there was a round during which everybody expressed their point of view," a ministry spokeswoman said.The delegates will dine together and resume their talks on Sunday, ending with a news conference in the evening.

About 30 politicians representing parties across Lebanon’s broad political spectrum are at the meeting as well as some civic society leaders. Among the guests are representatives of Hezbollah, making its first official visit to France. "At first we planned to renounce going to Paris because such comments are biased. But a clarifying statement by the French authorities has since rectified things," Hezbollah delegation leader and former Energy Minister Mohammed Fneish told Le Figaro newspaper. The talks could only succeed if all parties accepted the others as partners, he said. "It is exceptional to be meeting again, after all the obstructions," said Ibrahim Kenaan representing General Aoun. The meetings Saturday and Sunday at La Celle Saint Cloud west of Paris mark the first time the 14 parties are meeting since a national dialogue conference in November that failed to resolve the tensions.

The talks have no set agenda. Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and other French diplomats were there, but as observers, not mediators.France, Lebanon’s former colonial ruler, is playing a delicate diplomatic game in the volatile region. French envoys discussed plans for the meetings with American and Iranian counterparts

Brammertz warns political crisis in Lebanon likely to hurt Hariri probe

adminJuly 13, 2007UncategorisedComments are off for this post

AFP, Lebanon’s worsening political and security situation is likely to have a negative impact on the UN probe of the 2005 murder of Lebanese former Premier Rafik Hariri, according to a UN report released Thursday. The 20-ipage document, which reviews progress made by the enquiry commission led by Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz since its March report, expressed concern about the deteriorating environment in Lebanon over the past few months. "Although the commission – in close cooperation with the Lebanese authorities – has put in place mitigating measures to protect its staff and premises, the deterioration in the political and security environment is likely to have a negative effect on the Commission’s activities in the coming months," the report warned.

The report, which was made available to the 15 members of the UN Security Council, pointed to the ongoing fighting between the Lebanese Army and Islamic militants as well as to the assassination of March 14 MP Walid Eido and the attack on a convoy of UN peacekeepers that left six of them dead in South Lebanonlast month. The report also takes note of the coming into force of the international court to try suspects in the Hariri murder in line with a Security Council resolution adopted May 30.

General sees own candidacy as only hope for Lebanon

adminJuly 13, 2007UncategorisedComments are off for this post

RABIEH, Lebanon (AFP) – Retired General Michel Aoun with less than 11 weeks to go before presidential elections, sees his candidacy as the only way out for a Lebanon deep crisis. "Maybe I am the key because I am independent, love Lebanon, and am a free man, with no foreign capital behind me … I can be the bridge between all sides," he said. "I can’t guarantee anybody else. I know my country, our politicians … I don’t want a mistake," Aoun told AFP in an interview at his villa headquarters in the affluent mountain resort of Rabieh, northeast of Beirut

The Maronite Christian opposition leader said he was opposed to a "weak" consensus candidate coming forward in a bid to break the deadlock, warning that such a scenario could spark further instability and "destroy the country."All-party talks taking place near Paris this weekend were "an opportunity for all parties to expose their points of view … and for a possible initiative born of a synthesis," Aoun said."If we are not optimistic, why go to Paris? We have to give a chance to all initiatives," he said.Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement won a vast majority of the Christian vote in 2005 legislative elections, after Syria ended its almost three decades of military domination of Lebanon under international pressure following former premier Rafiq Hariri’s murder.

Lebanon bombards refugee camp militants

adminJuly 13, 2007UncategorisedComments are off for this post

By SCHEHEREZADE FARAMARZI, Associated Press Writer, TRIPOLI, Lebanon – Under constant artillery fire from the Lebanese army, Islamic militants holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon shot back with rockets on Friday. Regular artillery and tank fire fell on Nahr el-Bared, sending plumes of black smoke rising in the air over the refugee camp’s bullet-punctured buildings.

Apparently trying to ease the military pressure and expand the battles outside the camp, the al-Qaida-styled militants unleashed a volley of Katyusha rockets at the army. A total of nine rockets crashed into nearby villages, as well as in orange and grape groves, security officials and the state-run National News Agency said. The rockets caused some damage but no casualties, said the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media."It has more a psychological effect than a military effect," said Elias Hanna, a retired Lebanese army general.Fatah Islam gunmen also traded heavy fire with the troops circling them in the refugee camp, soldiers said. "They shot back with rocket-propelled grenades and machine-guns," said a soldier sitting in a military jeep a few hundreds meters from the camp. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

The army had reported four soldiers died in the previous day’s fighting, but a senior military official raised the death toll to six on Friday.The six soldiers, including an officer, were killed by shrapnel or gunfire during the fierce fighting Thursday when the army unleashed one of its heaviest bombardments against the Fatah Islam militants, said a military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make statements.

الأسبابُ الموجِ&

adminJuly 11, 2007UncategorisedComments are off for this post

الأسبابُ الموجِبة لبيان المطارنة

– Sejean Azzi, جريدة "النهار" في 11 تموز 2007

مَن لم يُسلِّم بأن "مجدَ لبنان أعطي له" ومَن يَسْعَ لنقلِه إلى مكانٍ آخرَ حديثٍ أو مُستَحدَث، فليُسَلِّم، على الأقل، بأن نقدَ بكركي الحكمَ حقٌّ باقٍ لها…والأقربون إلى بكركي، وهم تيّارُ السيادةِ والاستقلال، أَوْلى بالنقدِ حين يُخطِئون أو يَغضُّون الطرْفَ (لعلَّ وعسى).

لكنَّ نقدَ الأقربين لا يُخفِّفُ من أخطاءِ غيرِهم ولا يُعفيهم من مسؤوليةِ تعليقِ "مبادئِ المنفى" وتغطيةِ أسلمةِ لبنان من نافذةٍ أخرى. نعم، هناك مشاريعٌ لا مشروعٌ واحدٌ لأسلمةِ لبنان، وقد بدأت منذ اليومِ الأوّل لتطبيقِ اتفاقِ الطائف بإشرافِ الاحتلالِ السوري والحكمِ اللبناني والحكوماتِ والمجالسِ النيابيةِ المتعاقِبة.

وإذا كانت الوقايةُ خيرَ عِلاجٍ، فالتحذيرُ أفضلُ وقايةٍ من الأعظم الذي يَخشاه البطريركُ الماروني. والمفارَقةُ أنَّ مَرجِعاً دينياً (مجلس المطارنة الموارنة) يدعو إلى دولةٍ مدنيةٍ من خلالِ رفضِ مشاريعَ قوانين تُؤججُ الطائفية، بينما مَرجعاً مدنياً (الحكومة) يَعمل لمضاعفةِ الحالة الدينية. غير أنَّ هذا المرجعَ الديني، الذي أعطى مؤسسةَ قوى الأمن الداخلي مثلاً لاختلالِ التوازنِ الصيغوي، كان أصاب أيضاً وأكثر لو أعطى أمثلةً أخرى كـ مؤسسات الأمنِ العام والجيشِ والحرسِ الجمهوري وشرطةِ مجلسِ النواب والجمارك وبلديةِ بيروت وعددٍ من الوزاراتِ والإداراتِ الرسمية، ناهيكم عن الحالاتِ العسكريةِ الخارجةِ عن سلطةِ الدولةِ كحزبِ الله والمخيمات الفلسطينية.

Shakira stays away as Lebanon summer festivals called off

adminJuly 9, 2007UncategorisedComments are off for this post

BEIRUT (AFP) – Lebanon’s main summer festivals have been called off for a second straight year — with a Shakira concert cancelled — because of security fears and political tensions, organisers said on Thursday. Wafa Saab, a spokeswoman for the Beiteddine Festival near the capital, said international performers, like most tourists, had refused to travel to Lebanon, Security would have been a major headache, she acknowledged.

The Baalbek Festival in the Bekaa Valley of eastern Lebanon has also been called off, Maya al-Halabi said, although no decision has been taken yet on a third festival in Byblos, to the north of Beirut. Shakira, the Colombian superstar with Lebanese roots, was to have performed in the capital as part of the Beiteddine events.He was to have conducted his orchestra at the Roman temples in Baalbek

Last summer, instead of droves of culture vultures descending on the country, tens of thousands of foreigners fled in a massive evacuation from a war that killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians.Tourism Minister Joseph Sarkis had announced only two months ago that the festivals would go ahead despite a political crisis that has gripped the country since November. But the army has since been locked in a deadly battle with Islamist militants in northern Lebanon and a string of bomb blasts have struck Beirut and tourist areas."We want to change the image of Lebanon with an international media campaign in order to attract tourists again," Sarkis said in May, recalling that Lebanon had been banking in 2006 on a record year in tourism revenues.