Syria still meddling in Lebanon after pullout-US

Source: Reuters
By Ibon Villelabeitia

DEAD SEA, Jordan, May 20 (Reuters) - The United States said on Friday Syria was still meddling in Lebanon despite pulling out its troops last month, and accused Iran of funnelling "millions of dollars per month" to Hizbollah guerrillas.

"We still remain deeply concerned about the level of interference and continued manipulation (by Syria) on the part of the security and intelligence services within Lebanon," said Scott Carpenter, deputy assistant secretary of state.

"We will continue, as the international community, to put pressure to make sure those connections are also withdrawn or suspended," Carpenter said.

Carpenter, speaking during a World Economic Forum regional meeting in Jordan, made his remarks as Lebanon prepares to hold parliamentary elections starting on May 29, the first in 33 years without Syrian troops present in the country.

Aoun: Lebanon political class corrupt

By ZEINA KARAM

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- The Lebanese general who fought the Syrian army in the 1980s sharply criticized the anti-Syrian opposition Thursday and warned that upcoming elections could return to Parliament the same politicians that long followed the lead of Damascus.

Gen. Michel Aoun came back to Lebanon nearly two weeks ago after 14 years in exile in the wake of Syria's military withdrawal, hailed by his supporters and vowing to use his stature to help build a broad opposition alliance. But opposition figures have been putting together their own election deals that leave him out in the cold.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Aoun called the entire political class corrupt, accusing opposition politicians of betraying their popular base and of coming only recently to their anti-Syrian stances.

"This is an old habit. They (politicians) are looking for their own interests ... there is a big difference between the people's wishes and the interest of the political class," he said.

U.S. report praises Lebanon's investment climate but slams bureaucracy

By Will Rasmussen

BEIRUT: A report by the U.S. Commerce Department praised Lebanon's liberal economy and attractive investment climate but slammed the country's excessive bureaucracy. The 2005 Country Commercial Guide for Lebanon listed red tape and corruption, arbitrary licensing decisions, complex customs procedures, an ineffectual judicial system, and lack of adequate protection for intellectual property as main impediments for attracting foreign investment.

"Some foreign companies have left the market or relocated their regional offices to neighboring countries, or refrained from investing in Lebanon at all, because of frustration resulting from these impediments," the report read.

Yet the U.S. Commerce Department, which is charged with promoting economic growth, praised Lebanon's "free market, highly dollarized economy, the absence of controls on the movement of capital and foreign exchange, a highly educated labor force, good quality of life and limited restrictions on investors."

Lebanon's potential for growth in the IT sector, according to the report, is strong.

OPINION

On arms, Hizbullah accepts nonnegotiable dialogue

By Amal Saad-Ghorayeb

Following the withdrawal of Syria's military and intelligence services from Lebanon, attention was riveted on the fate of Hizbullah's armed wing, the Islamic resistance. Bereft of the political cover its military activity received from the Assad regime, the party now finds itself in the position of having to persuade its compatriots of the advantages of what it calls the "unique formula of resistance and army" that Lebanon has at its disposal to combat Israel.

While Hizbullah can count on domestic support for its resistance in the short to medium term, it may not be able to do so it in the long term, once Israel evacuates the Shebaa Farms and a regional settlement is reached. In post-Syria Lebanon, where sectarianism has resurfaced with a vengeance, the question is no longer one of "Why do we need a resistance?" but "Why do the Shiites get to keep their arms?" International pressure from the United Nations, the European Union and the United States in particular could feed on such sensitivities, obliging the Lebanese government to work toward disarming the party.

Hizbullah may find itself cornered domestically, having to choose between backing down at the last minute and giving up its weapons or fighting a losing battle to retain its arms. If it chooses the first option, it will become an emasculated shadow of its former self, operating in a political space demarcated by the very forces which brought about its demise. If it goes for the second, it will find itself isolated domestically and delegitimized.

Hizbullah is attempting to avert the likelihood of such a dilemma by rationalizing its resistance role and underscoring the need for strategic defense. It has been both constrained and galvanized by the U.S.-led campaign to disband its armed resistance. It regards this and the wider U.S. regional goal to militarily constrain Iran, Syria and Palestinian Islamists as part of a "neoimperialist strategy." It also considers the "democratizing" thrust of the Bush administration a flimsy pretext to shape the Middle East to its own benefit, and that of Israel.