War in The Middle East

[Armenian]

Re: War in The Middle East

Gemayel tries to make peace with Armenians



Hizbullah showed support for the Armenian community on Wednesday as former President Amin Gemayel attempted to control the damage of his weekend comments that angered many Armenians. Gemayel Wednesday visited Armenian Catholicos Bishop Aram I Keshishian at his summer residence in Bikfaya.

The Catholicos called for a return of "conviviality and openness" in the Metn following the by-election. Banners of Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader MP Michel Aoun have been seen side-by-side with Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah around Bourj Hammoud following Aoun's electoral victory. Speaking to reporters after his meeting, Gemayel stressed his firm political, economic, social and cultural bonds with the Armenian community, which he said is dear to his heart. The former president pointed to a long and shared history of joint struggle between Lebanese Armenians and his Phalange Party.

"Let us not forget that the memorial to Armenian martyrs in Bikfaya is right next to the statue of [Phalange Party founder, the late] Sheikh Pierre," Gemayel said, rejecting accusations that anything he said was improper or offensive to the Armenian community. "Some people confused what I said with what others said, this is not my problem."

Gemayel had on Sunday accused his opponents of vote rigging during the polls and singled out the predominantly Armenian suburb of Bourj Hammoud. Gemayel said Wednesday that he was clear in pointing to certain irregularities and errors that occurred at polling stations in Bourj Hammoud, adding that a formal complaint had been filed at the local police stations regarding these irregularities. Tashnag Party MP Hagop Pakradounian, clarified on Wednesday that a criminal law suit to be filed by Armenian deputies is not directed against Gemayel but only against March 14 politician Gabriel Murr for comments that he made. Pakradounian on Wednesday received a Hizbullah delegation at Tashnag Party headquarters in Bourj Hammoud headed by politburo member Ghaleb Abou Zeinab.

Pakradounian told reporters after the meeting that Gemayel's visit to the Catholicos was a good move, and welcomed all initiatives aimed at clearing the air. Abou Zeinab said after the meeting that he hoped what was said Sunday by some members of the majority was just "a slip of the tongue in a moment of anger," adding that no one has the right to question the national identity of any Lebanese. Abou Zeinab expressed apprehension at certain political figures' comments, which he said showed that the Lebanese have not learned from past tragedies, which should prompt them to fortify national unity and reject political racism. "The Armenians deserve the right to make their own political choices, because they are not an isolated group as some would like to portray them to be. Every political party has the right to choose a political path, this is democracy," Abou Zeinab said.

The Loyalty to the Resistance bloc on Wednesday expressed regret over the decline in the standard of political debate, as well as the racism and misrepresentation of the facts committed by the ruling majority whenever anyone disagrees with them. The comments came in a statement issued following a meeting of the bloc on Wednesday chaired by MP Mohammad Raad. The bloc called on the ruling majority to "deal realistically" with the wide popular support enjoyed by the FPM. Baalbek-Hermel MP Nader Sukkar, speaking to the Lebanese News Agency Wednesday, decried what he called a new political rhetoric that has begun to classify Christians, and warned against such practice. He said the split in the Christian vote and their distribution is political, not religious.

[...]

Source: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article....ticle_id=84442

Lebanon polls: Armenians back pro-Syrian candidate to victory



Bikfaya - Camille Khoury, the candidate backed by opposition leader Gen. Michel Aoun beat by a narrow margin former President Amin Gemayel in the crucial Metn by-election, but the anti-Syrian runner reaped a vast majority of the Maronite vote.

Gemayel, a prominent leader of the pro-government ruling majority, had been vying to replace his son Pierre Gemayel who was killed last November in one of a series of attacks blamed by the majority on Syria. Damascus has rejected the accusations. Khoury won 39,534 votes, against 39,116 votes for Gemayel, whose representative has lodged a "complaint on the results," Interior Minister Hassan Sabaa said in a press conference before dawn Monday. He gave no other details.

Both sides declared they had won a few hours after the polls closed Sunday. The daily An Nahar on Monday said the Armenian community in Lebanon played a key role in the Metn by-election victory. It said that while Khoury obtained 8,400 Armenian votes, Gemayel got only 1,600. The Armenian vote shocked the Lebanese community, since the Armenians traditionally vote for the ruling majority. Many of the Armenians immigrated to Lebanon from Syria. The fact that the Armenians voted for a candidate that is strongly allied with the pro-Syrian Hezbollah militants was the big surprise of the by-election.

Several Lebanese newspapers on Monday said that although Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement emerged the winner in the weekend poll, the party had nonetheless been weakened politically as it only clinched a narrow victory, thanks only to the Armenian vote. The pro-government French daily L'Orient Le Jour said that had it not been for the support of the Armenian community in one district, where Gemayel alleged vote-rigging, Aoun's party would have been xxxxxled in the polls.

The other surprising factor in Khoury's victory is the vote of the the naturalized Syrian- Lebanese. They crossed the border from Syria to vote for Hezbollah's Nasrallah, but when told by reporters Nasrallah is not running , they said they will then vote for Aoun. It was Michel Murr that naturalized the Syrian -Lebanese and allocated them to his Metn constituency and they came to pay him back. Sabaa earlier told reporters that the ruling majority candidate, Mohammed al-Amin Itani, had won as expected a landslide victory in another by-election which was also held on Sunday in Beirut. The by-elections were held to replace two anti-Syrian lawmakers killed in attacks blamed by the anti-Syrian March 14 majority on former powerbroker Damascus, which supports the Hezbollah -led opposition.

The two murdered MPs were Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, a Christian who was gunned down in a Beirut suburb on November 21, 2006, and Sunni Muslim Walid Eido, who was killed in a car bombing in Beirut on June 13. After the end of the by-elections, the two camps immediately called for self-restraint, as hundreds of supporters from both sides gathered in public squares amid a heavy deployment of army and security forces backed by armored vehicles. One person was slightly injured by youths throwing stones in Beirut's northern suburb of Jdeideh where supporters of the two camps had gathered in the same public square, an AFP photographer witnessed. In a televised speech Aoun had announced Khoury's victory over Gemayel, and appealed for calm. But Gemayel had refused to admit defeat until official results were announced and demanded a rerun of the vote in one mainly Armenian region where he claimed voter fraud.

"We want elections to be repeated in the Burj Hammoud district," Gemayel told his supporters gathered in his hometown of Bikfaya. He said there were reports from that area of people not living there or deceased casting votes as well as irregularities with voting cards. The Metn by-election has deeply split Lebanon's Christians ahead of polls to elect a new head of state. The outcome of the poll is expected to set the tone for presidential elections due to be held in September. Traditionally, the president is chosen from the Maronite Christian community in Lebanon. "The legend of Michel Aoun as the sole Christian leader has crumbled," Walid Jumblatt, a prominent leader of the ruling majority, told Lebanese television.

"Amin Gemayel has won the political battle. Michel Aoun has fallen politically despite all his alliances," he said. Following the by-elections, parliament's challenge will still be to elect a new president to succeed pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud by a November 25 deadline. While the majority controls enough seats to elect a president, it needs the opposition to take part for the two-thirds quorum required for parliament to convene. The by-elections came amid heightened political and security tensions in the deeply divided country as a deadly showdown between the army and Islamist extremists in the northern Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr al-bared continues to rage after 11 weeks.

Source: http://yalibnan.com/site/archives/20..._polls_a_1.php

[Armenian]

Re: War in The Middle East

Another serious political blow to Zionist and Globalist aspirations in Lebanon. The Syrian-backed opposition claims victory in the paliamentary elections in Lebanon. The margin of victory of the election, which essentially split the Christian vote, is said to have been small. Interestingly, Armenians of Lebanon under the leadership of the Dashnak party have played a pivotal role in helping elect the pro-Syrian Christian candidate, Michel Aoun, by not participating in the elections. As a result, the Western/Israeli-backed Phalage party leadership has resorted to blaming the Armenians of Burjhamud, an Armenian enclave in Beirut, for loosing the election. Once again, Armenians of Lebanon, specifically the Dashnaktsutyun, have show political maturity by not falling victim to Western and Zionist manipulations. And I'm sure that this is welcome news both in Damascus and Tehran.

Armenian

Syrian-backed opposition claims victory in Lebanon poll



Lebanon's Western-backed ruling majority was dealt a blow on Monday in by-elections that split the country's Christian camp in two and boosted the Syrian-backed opposition ahead of a presidential poll. Official results showed the candidate representing opposition leader Michel Aoun winning by a slim margin of 418 votes over former president Amin Gemayel, who was supported by the ruling Western-backed coalition.

Camille Khoury won 39,534 votes as against 39,116 for Gemayel. Aoun and Gemayel both made separate calls for unity after the results were announced but bickered over who has the mandate to represent their community. "These elections have shown that the solution to the Lebanese crisis is found in respect for institutions. This is why I am calling for reconciliation between Christians... so that presidential commitments can be respected," Gemayel told a news conference.

"These elections were effectively a test. They have shown that General Aoun's support is in broad decline in Christian regions because of the policies he has followed." Aoun seemed to strike a conciliatory note in a subsequent news conference of his own, but also claimed support from all Christian confessions as well as Sunni and Shiite Muslims. "Gemayel has spoken of a reconciliation under the aegis of the Maronite (Christian) patriarch. We are in agreement on this and I extend my hand," he said.

"But I dispute his analysis that I am not representative of Christians. Maronites are not the only Christians," he added. Aoun called the Metn region where Sunday's vote took place a "microcosm" of Lebanese society: "There are Maronites, Orthodox, Armenians, Shiites and Sunnis. We won in a diverse constituency, which means we are popular in all the communities."

The by-elections were to replace two murdered anti-Syrian MPs, the latest in a spate of politically linked killings that have rocked the country since the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri. The outcome of the vote was important as it showed which way the country's divided Christian community was leaning ahead of a presidential election scheduled for next month. Lebanon's president is traditionally a Maronite Christian who is chosen by parliament.

Gemayel was vying to replace his son Pierre, a Christian cabinet member and lawmaker who was shot dead last November. In Beirut, the vote was to replace Walid Eido, a Sunni Muslim lawmaker who was killed in a car bomb in June. Eido's seat was easily won by pro-government candidate Mohamad Amin Itani. Several Lebanese newspapers on Monday said that although Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement emerged the winner in the weekend poll, the party had nonetheless been weakened politically as it only clinched a narrow victory.

"A difference of 418 votes: a fake victory," blared a headline in the pro-government French daily L'Orient Le Jour. The paper said that had it not been for the support of the Armenian community in one district, where Gemayel alleged vote-rigging, Aoun's party would have been xxxxxled in the polls. But the opposition newspaper Al-Akhbar said that although Aoun won by a slim margin, the results put to rest claims by the ruling majority that he no longer represented the Christian community.

"Even though his victory was not overwhelming, Aoun came out the winner," it said. "He has answered to those who pretend that he is no longer the leader of the Christian community."

The movement of Aoun, a declared presidential candidate, garnered most of the Christian vote in 2005 legislative polls, but his popularity has waned since he forged a shock alliance last year with the Iran- and Syria-backed Shiite militant group Hezbollah. Parliament's challenge now is to elect a new president to succeed pro-Syrian incumbent Emile Lahoud by a November 25 deadline. While the majority controls enough seats to elect a president, it needs the opposition to take part for the two-thirds quorum required for parliament to convene.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070806...I1XpykRqeGOrgF

Hoss: Metn polls prove democracy in Lebanon is an 'illusion' Politicians, newspapers continue to debate implications of by-elections'

BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Salim al-Hoss said Monday "the Metn by-election ended politically without a victor and a vanquished." "There was a loser, but there was no winner," Hoss said in a statement. "If the contest was a contest of sizes, then both competitors were effectively downsized," he added. Hoss said the polls had proven again that "democracy in Lebanon is an illusion where money and emotions rule." Higher Shiite Council Vice President Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan said "the achievement of the Metn and Beirut by-elections showed that the Lebanese people are wide-awake while dealing with controversial national issues."

Qabalan called for the formation of a national-unity government which he said, "should be a good reference to all conflicts and problems." The Armenian Tashnag Party voiced regret Monday that an "electoral battle over one parliamentary seat has turned into an attempt to settle accounts with a party that has never known extremism." "The irrational and heated statements delivered by some Lebanese leaders are nothing but an outburst of anger that showed the hatred they have been hiding for decades," said a Tashnag statement. "Once they lost their temper they expressed their rancor very clearly."

Meanwhile, former MP Gabriel Murr clarified on Monday that his comments in a televised interview a day earlier were targeting the administration of the Tashnag Party and not the Armenian community. "My friendship with the Armenian community and my respect for it are unlimited," the former MP said. Murr urged Armenians to change the Tashnag administration, and the Tashnag to change the way it deals with elections.

Aram I, Catholicos of the House of Cilicia, said Monday the results of the by-elections are secondary while what is worrying are divisions among the Christians in Lebanon in general and the Metn in particular. "No one should be happy with his victory ... because the Christian unity has been defeated by partition [of its members]," he said in a statement. The catholicos also said "we do not accept at all unfounded accusations targeting the Armenian sect." "The Armenian community is an example of patriotism," he added.

Meanwhile, Loyalty to the Resistance bloc MP Hussein Hajj Hassan lashed out at the March 14 Forces for criticizing in their electoral campaigns in the past few days the agreement between Hizbullah and the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM). "How did [their] 10 MPs win in Baabda-Aley [in 2005]?" Hajj Hassan asked during a Hizbullah rally in Baalbek. "Wasn't it for the votes of the members of the quadripartite alliance?" "If they blame the FPM for its agreement with Hizbullah then why don't they submit the resignation of their MPs in Baabda-Aley?" he added.

Separately, Hizbullah and the Amal Movement said Monday the establishment of a national-unity government is a "national right" and a "bridge" toward the solution of all problems. In a statement issued after a joint meeting in the South, both parties stressed the need to hold the presidential polls on time and in accordance with the Lebanese Constitution and laws. "Any link between the election of a new president and the formation of a national unity government is a cheap blackmail and waste of time," it said. March 14 Forces MP Butros Harb described Sunday's electoral battle in the Metn as a "victory for democracy."

"Lebanon is more important than any political post and the Lebanese people's interests are more important than winning a seat," Harb said after meeting with former President Amin Gemayel, calling on all parties to hold dialogue in a bid to solve the country's pending issues. Headlines in Lebanese newspapers on Monday reflected partisan interpretations of the result in the Metn. The pro-government Al-Mustaqbal newspaper, contending that Armenian voters had swung the vote Aoun's way, wrote Monday: "Two-thirds of Maronites vote for Gemayel, their seat goes to Aoun by 418 votes."

The pro-opposition As-Safir said "the Metn democratically defeats Amin Gemayel and with him the 'majority.'" Other newspapers said although Aoun's FPM emerged the winner in the weekend poll, the party had nonetheless been weakened politically as it only clinched a narrow victory. "A difference of 418 votes: a fake victory," blared a headline in the pro-government French daily L'Orient Le Jour. But pro-opposition Al-Akhbar said although Aoun won by a slim margin, the results put to rest claims by the ruling majority that he no longer represented the Christian community.

Source: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article....icle_id=84373#

[skhara]

Re: War in The Middle East

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51911

WND Exclusive FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU
'Syria will form own Hezbollah'
Israeli intel chief says Damascus seeking to copy Lebanese group
Posted: September 11, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Aaron Klein
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

JERUSALEM – Syria is considering forming its own Hezbollah-like guerrilla organization to fight Israel in hopes of "liberating" the Golan Heights, the chief of intelligence for the Israeli Defense Forces announced yesterday.

Speaking at a government meeting, the IDF's Major General Amos Yadlin said Syria is in the initial stages of developing the concept for the copycat Hezbollah group, which he said would launch attacks aimed at pressuring Israel into vacating the Golan Heights, strategic mountainous territory captured by the xxxish state after Syria used the terrain to attack Israel in 1967 and again in 1973. The Heights borders Israel, Syria and Lebanon and is claimed by Damascus.

Yadlin's announcement comes one month after WND broke the story that following its estimation Hezbollah was victorious during military confrontations with the xxxish state, Syria is in the process of forming what an official from Syrian President Bashar Assad's Baath Party called the Front for the Liberation of the Golan Heights, a new "resistance" group that models itself after Hezbollah.

The official told WND the Front will attempt attacks to force Israel from the Golan.

Military officials here have long maintained returning the Golan Heights to Syria would grant Damascus the ability to mount an effective ground invasion of the xxxish state. The territory looks down on major Israeli and Syrian population centers.

The Baath party official told WND Syria learned from Hezbollah's military campaign against Israel the past month that "fighting" is more effective than peace negotiations with regard to gaining territory.

Hezbollah claims its goal is to liberate the Shebaa Farms, a small, 125-square-mile bloc situated between Syria, Lebanon and Israel. The cease-fire resolution accepted by Israel to end its military campaign in Lebanon calls for negotiations leading to Israel's relinquishing of the Shebaa Farms.

The Baath official told WND the Front for the Liberation of the Golan Heights was formed in June and that the group currently consists of Syrian volunteers, many from the Syrian border with Turkey and from Palestinian refugee camps near Damascus. He said Syria held registration for volunteers to join the Front in June.

One week after the WND article detailing the claimed group was published, state-run Al-Alam Iranian television featured an interview with a man who identified himself as the leader of the new Front for the Liberation of the Golan Heights.

The man, whose features were blocked out, said his new group consists of "hundreds" of fighters who are training for guerrilla-like raids against Israeli positions in and near the Golan. He claimed the Front has opened several training camps inside Syria.

[skhara]

Re: War in The Middle East

Well it only makes sense for Hezbollah to go after air-defense capability.
The air defense weapons mentioned in this article are short and medium range. I assume that most of the weapons would be shoulder fired systems such as these:





Hezbollah is Rearming for another round with Israel
Colonel David Eshel

Just over eight months since the Second Lebanon war ended, Hezbollah leaders are already renewing their sabre rattling rhetoric against Israel. Senior political advisor to Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, Hussein Halil said in an interview to the London based A- Shark al-Awsat, newspaper last Monday, that his group was already sufficiently armed to confront Israeli aggression. Only last week, Hezbollah's deputy secretary Sheikh Naim Kassem hinted to the London based Guardian newspaper that Hezbollah is preparing for the possibility of another "adventure" with Israel by coming summer.

Both men should know what they are talking about. Since last September, soon after the UN brokered cease fire, Iran has restarted its non-stop weapons deliveries to Hezbollah. In clear defiance of UN resolution 1701, which prohibits arms smuggling from Syria into Lebanon, or for that matter through any other way, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has been busy delivering the latest weapons arsenal from Tehran's military hardware coffers. Even UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern during his latest visit to Lebanon. Following his Middle East tour briefing, the UN Security Council is considering to form a special investigation team, probing implementation of its resolution on Lebanon. Sources in New York said the secretary-general informed the Security Council that he had obtained evidence from Israel and from "another country" indicating that Syria and Iran were indeed smuggling arms into Lebanon.

According to Israeli intelligence officials, Iran and Syria, who have recently signed a mutual defense pact, have been smuggling mass quantities of high quality weaponry to Hezbollah in Lebanon. Officials warned that Hezbollah has regained most of its strength since the last summer with Israel and that the rate of weapons smuggling has nearly doubled over the past few weeks. Those sources disclose that advanced Iranian-Chinese missiles have already been smuggled into Lebanon. Among these are allegedly Iranian Sayyad (U.S. Hawk derivative), Misagh 2 (derivative of the Russian SA-18 Igla) and Shahab Tagheb (Chinese HQ-7 derivative) air defense missiles. These missiles could seriously restrict the Israeli Air Force’s tactical freedom over Lebanon's airspace. Should new confrontation break out, Israeli pilots will have to fly into a high-risk combat zone, in which a relatively modern air defense network will pose considerable danger to them.




During Last summer's air war, the air force operated virtually without opposition from the ground. Although, the Iranian missiles are not of latest state-of-the-art technologies, they nevertheless pose a threat to be reckoned with. To stress this point: Iranian Misagh-2 man-portable infrared guided anti-aircraft missiles were found after a failed attempt to shoot down a plane at Baghdad's airport in 2004. Furthermore, disclosure of the Iranian provision of anti-aircraft missiles came officially from US military sources, as no less than six U.S. helicopters have been shot down by insurgents in the past months alone.

Unconfirmed reports, from sources close to IDF intelligence, indicated that this week, Hezbollah had officially formed its new air defense wing, for which several hundred graduates had just ended their training in Iran, learning how to use air defense missiles in combat. According to these reports, a group of specially selected Hezbollah trainees were flown from Damascus to Tehran early March to start a six week training session held by Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) instructors at the Imam Ali base.

Meanwhile the war of words is already intensifying. Syrian Information Minister Muhsen Bilal warned earlier this week, that armed resistance will be the only way to liberate the Golan Heights. It seems that the Syrian leadership may have misjudged Israel's military performance during the last Lebanon conflict and is therefore more prone to test its own power in restoring the Golan. As for Hezbollah's determination to attempt another round with Israel: Although last August's cease-fire has deployed the Lebanese Army and a reinforced UNIFIL along the international border, it is highly questionable whether these forced will be able to prevent renewed fighting, once one of the belligerents decides to attack. Past experience in this volatile region has demonstrated that neither UNIFIL nor a UN Multinational force could present an effective barrier to a determined force. For example: In June 1967 the UN withdrew from Sinai, following Egyptian President Abdul Nasser's request, which opened the Six Day War. A similar situation happened, when the IDF invaded Lebanon to fight the PLO warlords in June 1982, by rolling right over UNIFIL troops.

According to Israel intelligence reports, Hezbollah has sofar not attempted to rebuild its fortification line along the border. However, intensive construction work is already going on north of the Litani River line, in which Hezbollah is rebuilding its fortifications and new missile sites. Should fighting resume, the IDF will have to confront a powerful enemy, prepared to fight with determination. Moreover, next time, Israel may well confront hostile action on two, if not three fronts, Hezbollah to the North, Syria East of the Golan Heights and a much more powerful Hamas in the Gaza Strip. A major element in preparing Hezbollah and Hamas for war, is the IRGC's "Quds Force".

[Armenian]

Re: War in The Middle East

With Syrians cleaning house in lebanon; Hamas taking full control in Gaza; the Turks and Kurds on the brink of a full-scale war; Shiites and Sunnis of Iraq getting ready to ethnically cleanse each other - the Mideast is fast becoming a volatile powder keg on the verge of exploding.

Armenian

Anti-Syrian MP, five others killed in Beirut seafront blast



Anti-Syrian MP Walid Ido, his eldest son, and four other people were killed in a seafront blast in the Lebanese capital Wednesday, his party's television station said. Ido, the chairman of parliament's defense committee, his eldest son Khaled, his two bodyguards, and two civilians were killed, said Future Television. Pieces of flesh and splashes of blood stained the ground as relief workers rushed to transport the wounded to hospital and to treat passers-by for shock, a witness said. Troops cordoned off the area where there are a number of popular cafes and beaches, including the military beach club. Ido is the third member of the parliamentary majority to be killed in a car bombing in the past two years. The blast came after a recent spate of deadly bomb and grenade attacks in and around the capital that members of the ruling coalition have blamed on neighboring Syria?

Source: http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php...3-120329-1652r

Lebanese troops battle Palestinian militants in northern Lebanon



At least 40 people have been killed in a day of fighting between Lebanese troops and gunmen from a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. Some 15 fighters from the radical Fatah al-Islam group and 23 Lebanese soldiers died in intense battles, reports said. Fatah al-Islam, said to be linked to al-Qaeda, killed some 15 soldiers in clashes around the Nahr el-Bared camp. Soldiers then bombarded militants in the camp and fought battles at a house in Tripoli used as a base by fighters. Two civilians were killed and 40 were injured, AFP news agency reported. A Lebanese army spokesman said another 27 soldiers were injured. Lebanon is home to more than 350,000 Palestinian refugees, many of whom fled or were forced to leave their homes when Israel was created in 1948. The military is banned from entering the Nahr el-Bared camp under a 38-year-old deal. Sunday's violence was the bloodiest internal fighting Lebanon has seen since the end of its civil war more than 15 years ago.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6673639.stm

Hamas hails 'liberation' of Gaza



Hamas militants have hailed a series of military victories over rivals Fatah in the Gaza Strip as a new "liberation" of the territory. Fighters seized Fatah's Preventative Security building in Gaza City and the intelligence service headquarters, and overran the town of Rafah. A least 20 Palestinians died as the latest battles raged throughout Gaza. An aide to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said Mr Abbas plans to dismiss the government and call elections. Nabil Abu Rudeineh said the Hamas offensive was "illegal" and a coup against the Palestinian Authority.

"This is part of the job of the president, he has full power according to the law to dismiss the government," he told the BBC. Gaza has been the focal point for a violent and bitter power struggle between Hamas and Fatah since Hamas won a surprise election victory in early 2006.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6751079.stm

[Armenian]

Re: War in The Middle East

I'm afraid its not that simple. The current situation in Lebanon may actually be an attempt by Lebanese authorities to root out "foreign" militants within Lebanon, in this case the Palestinians. I think this may have been planned/instigated by the US. Ever since the summer war of 2006, the US government has been putting allot of effort in manipulating the Lebanese authorities. There seems to be a plan to rid Lebanon of its foreign elements. As a result, they may be attempting to start with the smallest/weakest ones amongst them. Note that the Palestinians in Lebanon are hated by the Lebanese population. The average Lebanese, regardless of political or religious affiliation, blames the Palestinians for the Lebanese civil war.

Nonetheless, I think Hizballah and Damascus are watching this situation very closely.

So fighting rages in Lebanon between Sunni militants and the Lebanese army. In my opinion, at the very top echelons, this is really an example of co-operation between Zionist Washington and the Wahabi Islamists...

[skhara]

Re: War in The Middle East

So fighting rages in Lebanon between Sunni militants and the Lebanese army. In my opinion, at the very top echelons, this is really an example of co-operation between Zionist Washington and the Wahabi Islamists. After the humiliation the zionist armed force suffered at the hands Hezbollah last summer, and the boost of Hezbollah to the status of heroes in Lebanon amongst sects other than Shias, a different strategy needed to take shape to try to weaken Hezbollah.

[Armenian]

Re: War in The Middle East

Lebanese Christian minister is assassinated
Bush, others point to Syria after politician Pierre Gemayel shot, killed

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Pierre Gemayel, an anti-Syrian politician and scion of Lebanon’s most prominent Christian family, was gunned down Tuesday in a carefully orchestrated assassination that heightened tensions between the U.S.-backed government and the militant Hezbollah. Anti-Syrian politicians quickly accused Damascus, as they have in previous assassinations of Lebanese opponents of its larger neighbor. Gemayel, 34, an outspoken opponent of the Syrian-allied Hezbollah, was the fifth anti-Syrian figure killed in the past two years and the first member of the government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora to be slain.

The assassination, in Gemayel’s mainly Christian constituency of Jdeideh, threatens further instability in Lebanon at a time when Hezbollah and other parties allied with Syria are planning street protests unless Saniora gives them more power. The United States denounced the killing, calling it “an act of terrorism.”

Well-coordinated attack

Saniora went on national television to call for unity and warned that “sedition” was being planned against Lebanon. He linked the slaying to the issue that sparked the crisis with Hezbollah: plans to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri before an international court. “I pledge to you that your blood will not go in vain,” Saniora said, eulogizing Gemayel. “We will not let the murderers control the fate of Lebanon and the future of its children.”

Gemayel, Lebanon’s industry minister and a member of the Phalange Party, had just left a church and was traveling through Jdeideh when a vehicle in front of him slammed to a stop, causing his car to ram it, security officials said. Witnesses said Gemayel’s car was also struck from behind. Three gunmen stepped out of the other vehicles and shot Gemayel at point-blank range with automatic weapons, security officials said. Video showed Gemayel’s car, which apparently had been shot at from both sides: The passenger-side window was shattered and the driver’s-side window was dotted with about a dozen bullet holes, and the front hood was crumpled.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15829846/

[skhara]

Re: War in The Middle East

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2648103&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

BEIRUT, Lebanon Nov 12, 2006 (AP)— Behind Lebanon's deepening political crisis is a tug-of-war between the United States and its Middle Eastern opponents Iran and Syria a battle with high stakes for America's push for greater democracy in the region.

At the center is the Iranian- and Syrian-backed Hezbollah's demands for a larger role in the Lebanese government, now dominated by anti-Syrian politicians with strong backing from the United States and Europe.

The crisis deepened Saturday when two Hezbollah Cabinet ministers and three others from an allied Shiite party resigned hours after talks to form a unity government collapsed. Hezbollah and its allies want enough seats in 24-member Cabinet to wield veto power, a prospect that has some Lebanese on edge after the guerrillas' war with Israel last summer.

Western-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora refused to accept the resignations, but it was unclear whether his weak government had the clout to force the ministers to stay on. Lebanon's pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud insisted Sunday that the Cabinet has lost its legitimacy, arguing the constitution requires the government to be representative of the country's religious sects.

Hezbollah, whose popularity among many of Lebanon's majority Shiites rose after its war Israel, has threatened mass street protests to topple the government.

The collapse of Lebanon's government would be a major setback to one of the U.S. diplomatic successes in the Middle East.

The United States was instrumental in forcing Syria to withdraw its army from Lebanon last year in the wake of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a killing his supporters blamed on Syria.

Syria denied involvement, but mass protests in Beirut and international pressure forced Syria to leave, ending its nearly three-decade dominance of its smaller neighbor. Shortly afterward, Lebanon held democratic elections a rarity in the Arab world which brought an anti-Syrian majority to the Parliament and Cabinet.

Washington has warned Lebanon's government one of the friendliest to the United States in over two decades is at risk of falling apart. Some in the region have sounded similar warnings, saying giving Hezbollah veto power would bring Lebanon back under the influence of Iran and Syria, the main supporters of the Shiite guerrillas.

[karoaper]

Re: War in The Middle East

you have a point but its not about Armenia, they're just trying to control their Kurdish population.

I understand, but a common goal/concern may bring them closer to each other, not to mention exchange of military information/tactics. I'm not saying it's a huge deal, but simply not good news. And who knows it might prove to be a very big deal.