Solidere says share value is "secure" * Real estate projects continuing * Demand not falling, property prices to rise * Company has no liquidity, debt problems * Continue to build on profits for 2009 By Yara Bayoumy BEIRUT, April 3 (Reuters) – Lebanon’s largest company real estate developer, Solidere (SOLA.BY)(SOLB.BY), remains confident about the future of the company, in spite of recent falls in its share price, a top company official said. Solidere’s A-share traded at $15.50 on Friday, a fall of 60 percent since its July 2008 peak of $40. "There is no doubt that Solidere’s share, in spite of the share drop… its value is secure," Mounir Douaidy, Solidere’s general manager and chief financial officer said in a speech at an economic conference in Beirut. "And it will definitely bounce back in the coming period to reflect the real value of assets." Douaidy also said that Solidere’s projects outside of Lebanon are continuing. Solidere International, partly owned by Solidere, and the UAE emirate of Ajman are jointly developing the $60 billion Al Zorah project. "We have no liquidity problems, we have no debt problems, we have very sound portfolio of sound receivables. We have a solid balance sheet," Douaidy said on the sidelines of the conference.

The real estate sector in the Gulf, especially Dubai, has been hit by falling property prices, and developers have slowed or canceled projects. Thousands of redundancies have already been slashed in the once-booming sector in Dubai. Douaidy, however, said Solidere had not been hit by falling demand in real estate in Lebanon. "The element of demand basically comes to a large extent from inside Lebanon, or from Lebanese expatriates… Therefore the demand is there and permanent." Goldman Sachs said on Wednesday that the UAE real estate market is likely to remain under pressure in the near term due to weaker economic activity, slower population growth and tight liquidity

Malek, Khazen; Reading the news these last 2 weeks in regards of the visit of His Holiness the Pope to Africa all what I find are extreme articles carrying hidden agenda against Catholics and clergy positions. You might be surprised and wonder is there new positions about condom use from the Catholics Church that we are not aware of? No they are not!! This is the disturbing part of it. These are ideological, spiritual believes that never changed and the Church has always argued against the use of condoms.

I will cite some titles of articles that were posted only during the days between Mach 26th and March 30th. The purpose of me citing these articles is to outline the extremism in most of the media thoughts:

سروان و«الصمت المعطّل» بخلاف سمير جعجع الذي لا يفهم سر البطء في حركة الفريق القريب من 14 آذار في إطلاق المعركة الانتخابية في هذه الدائرة، فإن المرشحين الجديين كافة، من الوزير السابق فارس بويز إلى فريد هيكل الخازن ومنصور غانم البون وغيرهم، لا يهتمون بأمر «القوات» ولا لغيرها من قوى الموالاة، ذلك أنهم لا يشعرون […]

النائب فريد الياس الخازن "للأنباء" :

ـ الإنفتاح على سوريا يشير الى بدء مرحلة جديدة في السياسة الدولية تجاه المنطقة

ـ المحكمة الدةلية أصبحت مستقلة ولن تتأثر بالمعطيات الإقليمية والدولية الجديدة

ـ مهما كانت نتائج الإنتخابات النيابية لن يكون بمقدور أي من الفريقين التفرد بالحكم دون مشاركة الفريق الآخر به

بيروت ـ زينة طبّارة

رأى عضو تكتل "التغيير والإصلاح" النائب د. فريد الخازن أن ما تشهده الساحة العربية من تحوّلات ومتغيرات إيجابية يأتي إستكمالا لمساعي المصالحات العربية ـ العربية التي بدأت في قمة الكويت إنما بوتيرة ملفتة بسرعتها في التنفيذ، معتقدا أن ما سبق يأتي بشكل خطوات إستباقية لمرحلة جديدة ستبدأ في السياسة الخارجية الأميركية بشكل عام وعلى مستوى المنطقة بشكل خاص، لافتا الى أن التوصيف بين ما يسمى بعرب الإعتدال وعرب الممانعة أو التطرف كان إنعكاسا للوضع المتأزم العربي ـ العربي خلال المرحلة السابقة وهو اليوم في طور فتح صفحة جديدة من العلاقات الإيجابية بين الصفين العربيين المعتدل والممانع .

ولفت النائب الخازن في تصريح "للأنباء" الى أن ما يجري على المستويين العربي والدولي من تطورات إيجابية والمتمثل بالإنفتاح على سوريا، يشير من جهة الى حسن تملص هذه الأخيرة من عزلتها العربية والدولية، وقد يكون من جهة ثانية ردّ إعتبار لها ولدورها وموقعها الإقليمي والعربي والدولي، وذلك مع إحتفاظ الدول المنفتحة على سوريا بأسبابها وإعتباراتها الخاصة التي أدت الى إرتسام الصورة الأقليمية الحالية والمسار العربي الجديد، مؤكدا أنه أيا تكن أسباب وأهداف الإنفتاح المشار اليه، فمما لا شك فيه أن تاريخا جديدا من المسارات العربية قد بدأ وقد ينعكس إيجابا على الداخل اللبناني .

وردا على سؤال حول إمكانية عودة الهيمنة السورية سياسيا على لبنان بناء على المعطيات العربية والدولية الجديدة أعلاه، أكّد النائب الخازن أن لبنان قد خرج نهائيا من دائرة المقايضات الداخلية والإقليمية والدولية، وذلك لإنتفاء عناصر تلك المقايضات التي كانت سائدة منذ منتصف السبعينات حتى العام 2005، حيث كانت هناك على المستوى العربي ـ العربي والعربي ـ الإسرائيلي حاجة إقليمية ودولية لدور سوري في لبنان لاسيما خلال الوجود الفلسطيني فيه حتى أوائل الثمانينات، وحيث إستمدت سوريا خلال التسعينات، أثناء الحرب الباردة وبعدها، غطاء أميركيا ودوليا حيال وجودها وهيمنتها على قراره السياسي، مؤكدا عدم رغبة كافة الفرقاء اللبنانيين وكذلك سوريا في عودتها الى لبنان بعد الحدث الكبير المتمثل بإنسحاب جيشها منه في العام 2005، معتبرا أن مرحلة جديدة من العلاقات اللبنانية ـ السورية قد قامت بعد ذلك الحدث وستُبنى ليس فقط على رفض عودة الوصاية وليس أيضا على النموذج الذي برز مؤخرا والداعي الى شن الحروب على النظام السوري، إنما على علاقات طبيعية ضمن إطار إحترام كل من الدولتين لسيادة الآخر .

Aoun: Election Going to be Head-to-Head Battle between 2 Schemes, 2 IdeasFree Patriotic Movement leader Gen. Michel Aoun said Saturday that upcoming election is going to be a head-to-head battle between two schemes and two ideas. "Upcoming election is going to be a head-to-head battle between two schemes and two ideas – one that calls […]

The March 14 majority leaders held Saturday in Beirut their second annual conference set to launch the parliamentary elections campaign under the title "June 7 – crossing over to a state," Future TV reported. March 14 Secretariat General Coordinator Faris Soaid read the charter of the group which he said is "committed to protecting Lebanon […]

By Daniel Bases, NEW YORK, March 2 (Reuters) – Lebanon’s bank deposit base should grow by at least 7 percent this year despite a possible decline in remittances, central bank governor Riad Salameh forecast on Monday. The governor told reporters in New York that, even if in a "worst case scenario" remittances were to drop […]

(Reuters) – A special United Nations tribunal set up to try suspects in the 2005 killing of Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri began work in The Hague on Sunday. Here are some questions and answers about the tribunal:

HOW WAS IT SET UP? A suicide truck bomber killed Hariri and 22 others in Beirut on February 14, 2005. Anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians said Syria was behind the attack, a charge Damascus denies. An outcry over the killing forced Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon. The Lebanese government, led by an anti-Syrian alliance, asked the United Nations to investigate the crime, along with 20 other political attacks that may have been connected. The U.N. Security Council established the tribunal in 2007.

WHO ARE THE SUSPECTS? No indictments have been issued. The Lebanese authorities hold four generals in connection with the Hariri killing. A Lebanese judge freed three other detainees on bail last week. Detlev Mehlis, the first U.N. investigator, implicated senior Syrian officials whose names appeared in a draft report but were removed in the final version. Reports by Mehlis’s successors, Serge Brammertz and Daniel Bellamare, who is now the prosecutor, have refrained from naming top suspects. "We will go wherever the evidence leads us," Bellemare wrote in an open letter to the Lebanese people last week.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? Investigations will continue. Bellemare has 60 days to ask Lebanon to transfer people, such as the four generals, and evidence to The Hague. In theory, the tribunal is above politics, so indictments could come at any time. However, the court might decide to wait until after Lebanon’s June 7 parliamentary election to avoid sparking instability.

WHAT ABOUT SUSPECTS NOT IN CUSTODY? If indictments are issued, suspects can surrender voluntarily, the tribunal can ask the Security Council to press states to hand them over, or it can try them in absentia. Syria has said it will not hand over any of its nationals to the court, but will try them and execute them itself if they are proven guilty. The tribunal is unlikely to accept this or to share its evidence with the Syrian authorities. Lebanon has cooperated fully with the tribunal, but an election win for Syria’s Lebanese allies might alter its stance. Pro-Syrian groups such as Hezbollah say they back the tribunal, but fear it could be used politically against them and Syria.

HOW LONG WILL IT ALL TAKE? The tribunal’s registrar, Robin Vincent, said last week he expected the court to complete its work in three to five years. It will employ seven international and four Lebanese judges, and will apply Lebanese law, excluding penalties such as death and forced labor. Life imprisonment will be the maximum sentence.

WHAT ARE THE DIPLOMATIC IMPLICATIONS?The United States, other Western countries and anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians initially viewed the tribunal as a potent weapon against Damascus. Syria displayed corresponding anxiety. But as investigations proceeded at a deliberate pace, the tribunal has appeared more independent and less politicized. U.S. President Barack Obama is exploring a possible detente with Syria, raising fears among anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians that the tribunal might lose its teeth as part of a deal with Damascus. However, Obama marked the anniversary of Hariri’s assassination by reaffirming U.S. support for the tribunal in bringing justice to those behind "this horrific crime."

Magdi has spent 15 years on death row, waiting for his execution in an airless, overcrowded prison cell. The jail where his life is supposed to end is wrapped in miles of barbed wire, surrounded by checkpoints and perched on top of the mountain that overlooks the Mediterranean.  Roumieh Prison is Lebanon’ s biggest high-security jail, notorious for bloody riots and terrible conditions, and home to some of the country’s most dangerous criminals.  But Magdi, a thin, greying man, says he never committed the murder he was charged with, and that the trial that put him on death row was rushed and unfair.  Over the years, he says, he has written countless letters to the authorities begging them to review his case, but he never received a reply.  Then one February afternoon in 2009, he suddenly had a chance to tell his story face to face, to some of the country’s most senior officials.  "I was so nervous," Magdi recalls. "Just imagine – the prosecutor general, the minister of the interior, high ranking generals – they were all right here."  Magdi, along with his fellow inmates, was on the stage while the officials were the guests of honour at the opening of the Twelve Angry Lebanese, a theatre play of a kind the Arab world has never seen before.

Role reversal  For two hours, seated just inches away from the improvised stage, the representatives of Lebanon’s government listened as inmates questioned the country’s judicial system, talked about prison conditions and told personal tales through their adaptation of Twelve Angry Men, a play by Reginald Rose in which a jury of 12 men meets to decide the fate of a boy who is accused of murder. The performance was, the prisoners recall, a mind-boggling role reversal.  For Zeina Daccache, a young Lebanese actress and director with a passion for drama therapy, it was also a real triumph. "The problem was that no-one believed in the project, in fact everyone thought I was crazy," she said.  Lebanese prisons are closed to the public and the media, and Zeina Daccache’s proposal of drama therapy was turned down twice.  But eight months after being rejected she secured funding from the EU she managed to gain access to the jail.  Prison authorities agreed to turn a former prayer room into an improvised theatre, and soon the 200 prisoners who applied to take part in the project began attending daily drama therapy sessions.  Within months of workshops and play sessions the group shrank to 45 inmates with whom Zeina began working on the actual play.  "I picked Twelve Angry Men because it’s the perfect play for this situation. It gives the inmates a chance to reverse roles, to be the jury, which is therapy in itself," she says.  The group was diverse. The crimes of the inmates ranged from drug dealing to rape and murder. The sentences varied from a few years to life, and death row.