BEIRUT —  Rival Lebanese factions face off this weekend in disputed elections to replace two slain MPs, in a showdown seen as a test for the country’s divided Christian factions ahead of presidential polls.  Sunday’s by-elections are being held to replace two  MPs killed earlier this year in attacks blamed by the Western-backed ruling majority on former powerbroker Damascus, which backs the Lebanese opposition.

The two MPs being replaced are industry minister Pierre Gemayel, a Christian member of parliament who was gunned down in a Beirut suburb November 21, and Sunni Muslim MP Walid Eido, killed in a car bombing in the capital June 13. Although the elections to replace Eido in Beirut are virtually guaranteed to be won by the candidate of the ruling majority, the vote in the Metn region, a Christian stronghold northeast of the capital, has the country in suspense.  Former president Amine Gemayel is vying to replace his son, Pierre, while the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) of Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun has presented Camille Khoury, a doctor, as its candidate.

Observers say that the election outcome will be an indicator as to which way the Christian camp is leaning ahead of presidential elections to replace pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud by a November 25 deadline.
Parliament elects the president, traditionally a Maronite Christian, while the prime minister is a Sunni Muslim and the speaker of parliament a Shiite Muslim. "Aoun wants to prove that he is the only representative of the Christians and therefore the candidate for the presidential elections," Joseph Abu Khalil, an aid to Gemayel, said.

But Antoine Nasrallah, spokesman for the FPM, said that the vote will set the record straight as to which leader is more popular and where the presidential elections are headed. "If Gemayel fails, he will lose any chance for the presidential elections … and if Gemayel wins, he will kill any ambition for Aoun to become president," Nasrallah said. He added that he was confident that his camp will win Sunday "by a good margin."

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States on Thursday moved to freeze US assets of anyone considered a threat to the Lebanese government, saying the country’s sovereignty and democratic institutions "are increasingly under attack." President George W Bush included in the freeze order announced Thursday anyone pushing to reassert Syrian control in Lebanon. and anyone judged contributing to the breakdown of the rule of law in the country.

"The president signed this executive order because Lebanon’s sovereignty and democratic institutions are increasingly under attack," said US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe.Johndroe cited recent assaults by "extremist" armed groups on the Lebanese army, the June 13 assassination of Judge Walid Eido, and reports that Syria’s allies and proxies in Lebanon may be preparing an alternate government, as signs of the threat.

The executive order to freeze the assets, dated August 1, said that threats against Lebanese stability and moves to restore Syria’s former dominant influence in Lebanon would "contribute to political and economic instability in (Lebanon) and the region and constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States."

Aug 3, NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon (AFP) – Lebanese soldiers fought fierce battles on Friday with Islamists holed up inside a Palestinian refugee camp  with eyewitnesses reporting fires raging in a small area still controlled by the militants. An AFP correspondent saw two Katyusha  rockets  being fired from within Nahr al-Bared camp north of Tripoli by the militants, with one projectile hitting a nearby power station.

Deir Ammar, one of the main power stations in northern Lebanon, had already been hit by several rockets on Thursday, causing damage and forcing the facility to shut down."The station is still out of service and a new rocket hit the facility today," Marie Tawk, a spokeswoman for the state-owned electricity company, told AFP.

جمعية"مبادرات للانماء"اطلقت موقعها الالكتروني من بيت عنيا-حريصا

النائب الخازن:تهدف الى المساهمة في التنمية الاجتماعية والاقتصادية

وطنية-1/8/2007(متفرقات) عقدت "جمعية مبادرات للانماء" مؤتمرا صحافيا في مركز بيت عنيا-حريصا,أطلقت خلاله الموقع الالكتروني للجمعية، وتولى الدكتور شارل رزق الله ادارة الندوة بمشاركة ممثلين عن الوكالة الاميركية للتنمية الدولية ومؤسسة اميديست وحشد من المهتمين بالتنمية الاجتماعية والاقتصادية.

افتتح المؤتمر بالنشيد الوطني اللبناني، ثم القى النائب الدكتور فريد الخازن كلمة بصفته رئيسا للجمعية قال فيها:" ليس بالسياسة وحدها يحيا الانسان في لبنان ولا بالانتخابات ولا بالمواقف الوطنية من اي طرف اتت. وليس بالسياسة وحدها يزدهر ويتقدم الانسان في هذه المنطقة بالذات، في كسروان الفتوح وجبيل، وهي من المناطق المحرومة فعلا على رغمك الانطباع الخاطىء السائد عند البعض وفي اوساط المؤسسات الدولية المانحة ان المنطقة تعيش في نعيم الازدهار الدائم والبحبوحة المفرطة, فالقطاعات الاساسية في كسروان الفتوح وجبيل من شبكات الطرقات الى الصرف الصحي الى المدرسة الرسمية الى البيئة الى القطاع السياحي تعاني ازمات كبيرة وكبيرة جدا ومنذ زمن طويل".

اضاف:"ان فكرة انشاء مبادرات للانماء وهي جمعية غير حكومية لا تتوخى الربح، تأسست بعلم وخبر صادر عن وزارة الداخلية في 2006، راودتني منذ زمن طويل، اي قبل دخولي المجلس النيابي في انتخابات 2005, الا ان اهتماماتي الاكاديمية والبحثية، فضلا عن متابعتي لقضايا الشأن العام لا سيما على المستوى الوطني، حالت دون اهتمامي المباشر والمركز بقضايا الانماء في هذه المنطقة العزيزة. الا ان حاجات المنطقة ومراجعات الناس في شتى الشؤون الحياتية والخدماتية والانمائية وتشجيع عدد كبير من المهتمين من ابناء المنطقة باعتماد مقاربة جديدة للعمل في الشأن العام بشفافية وبتخطيط وبمثابرة، ساهمت في انجاز هذا المشروع ومن عناصره الحيوية الموقع الالكتروني للجمعية الذي نطلقه اليوم, في حضور اعضاء الجميعة والاصدقاء ووسائل الاعلام".

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 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".

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.

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.

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