Robert Fisk: Secret armies pose sinister new threat to Lebanon

Published: 19 October 2007

Lebanon is peopled with ghosts. But the phantoms now returning to haunt this damaged country –the militias which tore it apart more than 30 years ago – are real. Guns are flooding back into the country – $800 for an AK-47, $3,700 for a brand-new French Famas – as Lebanon security apparatus hunt desperately for the leadership of the new and secret armies.
Only last week, they arrested two followers of ex-General Michel Aoun – the pro-Hezbollah opposition's apparent candidate for president – for allegedly training pro-Aounist gunmen. After themselves being accused of acting like a militia for arresting Dario Kodeih and Elie Abi Younes, the Lebanese Internal Security Force issued a photograph of Christian gunmen holding AK-47 and M-16 rifles. Aoun's party replied quaintly that "they were just out having fun with real weapons but were not undergoing any military training". Fun indeed.
What now worries the Lebanese authorities, however, is the sheer scale of weaponry arriving in Lebanon. It appears to include new Glock pistols (asking price $1,000). There are growing fears, moreover, that many of these guns are from the vast stock of 190,000 rifles and pistols which the US military "lost" when they handed them out to Iraqi police officers without registering their numbers or destination. The American weapons included 125,000 Glock pistols. The Lebanese-Iraqi connection is anyway well established. A growing number of suicide bombers in Iraq come from the Lebanese cities of Tripoli and Sidon.
Fouad Siniora's Lebanese government – supplied by the US with recent shipments of new weapons for the official Lebanese army – has now admitted that militias are also being created among Muslim pro-government groups. Widespread reports that Saad Hariri – son of the assassinated ex-Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri – has himself created an embryo militia have been officially denied. But a number of armed Hariri supporters initially opened fire into the Nahr el-Bared Palestinian camp after its takeover by pro-Al-Qaida gunmen last April. Hariri's men also have forces in Beirut (supposedly unarmed) and again this is denied. Those who suspect the opposite, however, might like to check the register of the Mayflower Hotel in the western sector of Beirut.
The Fatah Al-Islam rebels who took over Nahr el-Bared last April – 400 died in the 206-day siege by the army, 168 of them soldiers – also used new weapons, including sniper rifles. In a gloomy ceremony last week, the military buried 98 of the 222 Muslim fighters who died, in a mass grave in Tripoli. They included Palestinians but also men from Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Yemen, Tunis and Algeria.
Among the militants of Fatah Al -Islam still sought by Lebanese authorities are three Russians – "Abu Abdullah", Tamour Vladimir Khoskov and Aslan Eric Yimkojayev – all believed to be from the former Soviet Muslim republics. A fourth Russian citizen, Sergei Vladimir Fisotsk, is in custody in Beirut. Along with three Palestinians member of Fatah Al-Islam, he faces a possible death sentence.
Siniora's government is well aware of the dangers that these new developments represent – "such a situation could lead to a new civil war", one minister said of the military training taking place in Lebanon – in a country in which only the Hezbollah militia, classed as a "resistance" movement, hitherto had permission to bear arms. But Hezbollah too has been re-arming; not only with rockets but with small arms that could only be used in street fighting. Aoun's supporters were allegedly practising with weapons near the town of Byblos north of Beirut but there are reports of further training in the Bekaa Valley.
Military outposts manned by Palestinian gunmen loyal to Syria have reappeared in the Bekaa, closely watched by a Lebanese army which was severely blooded in the Nahr El-Bared fighting. Sayed Mohamed Hussein Fadlallah, one of the most senior – and wisest – Shi'ite clerics in Lebanon, warned last Friday: "Rearming as well as the tense and sectarianism-loaded political rhetoric, all threaten Lebanon's diversity and expose Lebanon to divisions." Fadlallah stated that the US – which supports Hariri – wished to divide the country. The American plan to chop up Iraq, it seems, is another ghost that has crept silently into Lebanon.

War-torn Lebanon's Bekaa Valley is a wine country respite

Long before it gained a reputation as a bastion for the militant Islamic group Hezbollah, Lebanon's Bekaa Valley was known for its red wines and lush countryside.

By Borzou Daragahi, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
July 23, 2007

Bekaa Valley, Lebanon — The thick blanket of fog hampering our travels finally begins to recede. A checkpoint emerges from the haze. A gaggle of Lebanese soldiers in uniform standing guard calmly waves us through. We descend further toward the lush expanse of farmland and lakes emerging below. The vineyards of the Bekaa Valley beckon.

It is mid-May in Lebanon, and snow still streaks the mountains to the east marking the Syrian frontier.
A day earlier, I was caught up in the fighting between Lebanese troops and Islamic extremists in and around a refugee camp up north. Bullets pinged and mortars crashed. Three nights ago, an explosion rocked a shopping mall near where we were dining. Ambulance sirens screamed and panicked residents fled for cover.
But all that seems fairly far away. I am with my wife, Delphine Minoui, of the French paper Le Figaro and my friend Ed Wong of the New York Times. We are all war correspondents, veterans of the Iraq conflict. But today we are trying to get our minds out of war. We are on a brief tasting tour through Lebanon's famous wine country, which is nurtured by cold, wet winters and hot, dry summers.
Long before it gained a reputation as a bastion for the militant Islamic group Hezbollah, the Bekaa Valley was known for its red wines. Historians estimate that wine was first produced in Lebanon about 4,000 years ago. The ruins of a temple devoted to the Roman god Bacchus stand in the city of Baalbek.
Of course, friends thought we were insane to indulge in wine tourism with bombs and bullets flying. But we needed a break, and alongside its manifold troubles, Lebanon has always been a major tourist destination, often called the Switzerland of the Middle East.
It's easy to see why. The Lebanese are festive, sophisticated and friendly, often toggling between Arabic and perfect English and French. Its sunny beaches are a stone's throw from its famed ski resorts.
Lebanon has a modern, convenient airport with direct connections to major European and Middle Eastern capitals. Amman, Jordan, and Damascus, Syria, are only a couple of hours away by car. Lebanon is a small country, with almost all of its attractions within a two-hour drive of the capital, Beirut.
Because of the recent violence, including the war between Israel and Hezbollah last summer and the fighting in the refugee camps, the swanky hotels of Beirut have cut their rates dramatically, sometimes by as much as two-thirds.
We stayed at the luxurious Albergo (http://www.albergobeirut.com/), a fabulously well-appointed 33-suite boutique hotel in the upscale Achrafieh district, for less than $200 a night instead of the ordinary price of well more than $400.
Hotels such as the modern Crowne Plaza in the lively Hamra district and the revamped Commodore, which was home to most journalists during the Lebanese civil war and is now run by Le Meridien, can be had for $100 or less a night if you haggle.
Rather than rent a car and risk driving off a mountain road after swilling wine all day, we arranged for a taxi with one of the many reputable car services in Beirut. We went with Lord Taxi (011-961-1-217770). Our driver shows up in a late-model Mercedes-Benz with air-conditioning. He tells us with a laugh that his name is Jihad, which means Muslim holy war.
But he explains that he is a Christian whose parents were staunch Arab nationalists.
Before heading to the vineyards, we make a pit stop at the famous Ottoman-era castle at Beit Eddine (http://www.beiteddine.org/), which plays host to performing arts groups throughout the summer.
The fortress, shrouded by evergreens and pine trees atop a terraced hillside 2,500 feet above sea level, is worth the half an hour or so in extra driving time it adds to a trip from Beirut to the vineyards.
Beit Eddine was the palace of the Bashir Shihab II, the Ottoman prince who reigned over the area known as Lebanon from 1788 to 1840. It is an elaborate labyrinth of gardens, baths and resplendent living quarters decorated with handcrafted cedar-wood carvings and pink marble. Fountains throughout the building serve as a primitive air-conditioning system.
Our tour guide speaks French much better than English, which is taught here as a third language. Ed and I think it's quaint that Lebanon remains committed to its Francophone heritage but are grateful we're with Delphine, a native French speaker.
By the time we leave the castle and descend into the Bekaa, it is already time for lunch. We opt to eat at the splendid Blue Lake Restaurant (011-961-8-860146), near the village of Saghbine. It is known for its trout and is surrounded by a huge outdoor terrace that looks upon Lake Karaoun. A meal including hearty appetizers and soft drinks costs about $15 per person.
Down the road is the Cave Kouroum (http://www.cavekouroum.com/), among the newest of the Bekaa wine distilleries. Sami Reha and his brother launched the winery 10 years ago with a capacity to produce 5 million liters, though it's able to procure only enough grapes and bottles to produce about 1 million bottles a year. Vintners plant in January and February, when the saplings arrive from France or Italy.
The summer war last year between Israel and Hezbollah didn't directly affect the vineyards. Shipments were turned back before reaching their destinations. The vineyards also could not produce an increasingly popular Beaujolais-type wine. But fortunately, the war ended two days before the harvest began.
The war was nothing compared with the larger challenges of producing wine in the Muslim Middle East, where some grape growers refuse to sell to vineyards for religious regions.
But Reha, who says he is the only Muslin vintner in Bekaa, tells us that all the troubles are worth it once he tastes the product, especially his Syrah-Cabernet Sauvignon blend, which he sells for about $20 a bottle.
"Wine is life itself," he says. "It has life in it. It can be affected by everything: the weather, the noise, the light."
Up the road is the famous 56-year-old Kefraya vineyards (http://www.chateaukefraya.com/), the Bekaa's leading producer of wine, with 2.5 million bottles annually. Carnations line the walkways between the vineyards, named after famous opera composers such as Verdi, Puccini and Rossini. A restaurant (about $30 a meal, including wine) adjoins an elegant tasting room that glows orange with natural light.
Kefraya's most celebrated wine, the Comte de M, is a smooth, dry blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah grapes. When it first emerged in 1996, it scored an impressive 91 rating in Robert Parker's Wine Advocate. Its grapes are planted at a height of more than 3,000 feet. More recent vintages range in price from $29 a bottle for the 2002 all the way up to $83 for the 1999.
Lebanese wines, similar to the produce of nearby Israel, lean heavily toward the dry side. Reha says an unblended Lebanese Cabernet Sauvignon remains undrinkable for at least 10 years. Experts compare Lebanese reds favorably with other so-called New World wines.
"It's very powerful and at the same time soft and rounded," said OIivier Watrin, a Bordeaux wine merchant who has traveled to Lebanon.
Even the Lebanese whites tend toward spicy rather than fruity. My wife, who prefers sweeter wines, is entranced by the variety of desert wines available at the vineyards, including Kefraya's Lacrima d'Oro ($10).
Ksara (http://www.ksara.com.lb/), in the provincial capital of Zahle, is the region's oldest vineyard. Although its natural caves are famous, visitors generally sit before a video instead of being taken on a guided tour.
Zahle is also epicenter of the wine business. Visitors can dine or stay overnight at the Grand Hotel Kadri (http://www.grandhotelkadri.com/); $137 a night for two includes bed and breakfast), a splendid Ottoman-era estate with a piano bar overlooking the Berdawni River.
Smaller Lebanese vineyards include Clos de Cana (http://www.closdecana.com/) and Clos St. Thomas (http://www.closstthomas.com/). Club Grappe (http://www.clubgrappe.com/), a Lebanese tour service, organizes trips from Beirut to vineyards off the beaten path.
We'd like to visit as many as possible, but the day's crisp sunshine has begun to fade and it's time for us to head back up the mountain road toward Beirut. Despite the crystal-clear day in wine country, we find that the fog has only thickened since the morning.

Al Qaeda Losses in Lebanon (Strategypage.com - October 7, 2007)

Four months ago, Lebanese security forces found themselves battling some 500 al Qaeda terrorists in a Palestinian refugee camp (actually a walled town of over 31,000) outside the northern city of Tripoli. The three month battle left over 400 dead (220 terrorists, 168 Lebanese soldiers and police, plus 47 Palestinian civilians). Some 200 terrorists were captured, and a few dozen escaped. Most of the Palestinian civilians were forced to flee the camp.

About two thirds of the dead terrorists were identified, using documents, DNA analysis and families coming forward to seek kin they believe had joined this al Qaeda group. While most of the dead terrorists were Palestinian, a large majority were from other Arab countries (Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Yemen, Tunis and Algeria). About half of the bodies were claimed by families. The rest were buried by the Lebanese government.

The battle was a big deal in Lebanon, where Lebanese have long resented Palestinians bringing violence to the country, and supporting terrorism that has made Lebanese politics more violent. The al Qaeda terrorists are believed to be the pawns of Syria, which claims Lebanon as part of Greater Syria. Syria gave sanctuary to the leaders of this group, as well as Palestinian terrorist groups and various other Sunni Arab groups allied with al Qaeda. Syria has become an assembly area for al Qaeda, and other terrorist groups, a place where recruits know they can come to get some training and then be sent off to countries where Islamic terrorism is being used in an effort to establish religious dictatorships. The only place where this has succeeded is in Iran, which is shameful to al Qaeda, which considers heretical the Shia form of Islam practiced in Iran.

Lebanon's growing trend of arms and militiasSana Abdallah & agency dispatches (ME Times - October 5, 2007)

BEIRUT -- The political crisis in Lebanon could take a turn for the worse as security authorities focus on a resurging and disturbing trend that is capable of dragging the country back into another civil war: armed militias. Lebanese newspapers Friday splashed their pages with photographs of young men and women dressed in military fatigues, carrying machine guns, and some undergoing paramilitary training. The authorities, who distributed the images, said those depicted were members of former army Gen. Michel Aoun's Christian opposition Free Patriotic Movement (FPM). They said two FPM members had been arrested Thursday after the photographs were found, and accused them of carrying out illegal paramilitary training. The group denied the allegations, saying the photographs were taken over-18-months-ago and the youth were volunteers protecting Aoun's residence outside Beirut in 2005. The FPM blasted the authorities for storming into the homes of two of its members, insisting there were no weapons seized or military uniforms found, accusing the authorities of siding with the pro-Western government backed by the March 14 Alliance. The group also accused the authorities of trying to divert attention away from its demand to investigate how militant Fatah Al Islam elements had been financed and armed in recent battles with the army that lasted almost three months outside Nahr Al Bared refugee camp in Northern Lebanon. FPM spokesman Alain Aoun told Agence France-Presse (AFP): "The kids made a mistake." He insisted they were not combat units "as the ruling majority is claiming ... They were just out having fun with real weapons, but were not undergoing any military training as such." Whatever the truth behind these photographs, many Lebanese don't see that playing with real weapons - especially in light of the serious political crisis - as "fun." The Lebanese are becoming increasingly worried over a rising trend of available arms in the hands of rival political groups and their supporters. Political leaders have been accusing each other of stocking up on firearms and forming militias in the past year; the authorities have, on several occasions, announced the seizure of illegal weapons from political groups that either back the government of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora or the opposition, supported by Syria and Iran. With the Taif accord that ended Lebanon's 1975 to 1990 civil war, all factions disarmed their militias, excluding the Shiite Hezbollah organization, which has made good on its promise never to turn its guns against its people, only at Israel. Few believe the denials made by every party - except Hezbollah - that they were stocking up on arms and training militias. And the government, which has hardly been effective in the past year while the opposition has been trying to have it replaced, says it does not tolerate political parties having their own security forces, warning that doing so could lead to a new civil war. George Alam, an independent Lebanese political analyst, said there is a trend of armament in the country and that "outside forces" with interests are financing this trend. "A green light was given by some outside parties to finance this trend, in light of the political instability in Lebanon," Alam told the Middle East Times in a telephone interview. With the way in which the country's political forces is now divided, "outside parties" means both the US and West on the one hand, and Syria and Iran on the other. "I believe the previous militias have returned to the scene and all that's needed is a new decision to ignite a new civil war," Alam warned, in reference to some former warlords who are now leading political parties, backed by one-or-another foreign force. While the analyst ruled out another civil war breaking out in the immediate future, "because there is a glimmer of hope for a solution to the political deadlock," he said the growing trend of forming and arming militias is linked to attempts by some politicians to "internationalize" the issue of militias and expand on UN Security Council Resolution 1559. Resolution 1559 called for the disarming of all militias, implicitly indicating Hezbollah, which refuses to give up its weapons as it considers itself an anti-Israeli resistance organization. However, some of the Western-backed, anti-Syrian March 14 Alliance groups are seeking to spell out Hezbollah by name in that international resolution, in an effort to weaken the group, which enjoys substantial grassroots support. And some analysts believe the leaning toward bringing in arms, setting up militias, and training them is an attempt to shock the international community to intervene in the Shiite group's disarmament. The question remains: Can the surge of weapons in the hands of bickering political groups be controlled now? Alam does not believe so. "We cannot control this trend and the people taking advantage of the political chaos in the absence of a functioning government," he said. "Until the election of the president, all options are open." The government allies and the opposition - led by Hezbollah, and including the Shiite Amal movement of parliament speaker Nabih Berri and Aoun's FPM - have been deadlocked over the choice of a new president to replace pro-Syrian incumbent Emile Lahoud. The first parliamentary session held last month to elect a successor failed to achieve a quorum and the House is due to reconvene October 23 to vote for a new president

It is About Time Lebanon

A political documentary covering 30 years of war and post war in Lebanon. It highlights the real mistakes by the lebanese people. Rare war footage is included.

الردّ على ردّ أحمد فتفت:‏ الصدقيّة في الخطاب والفعل السياسي - أسعد أبو خليل - الأخبار

أسعد أبو خليل *

كنت أرغب في أن يصدر ردّي على طريقة ردّ الوزير فتفت: أي عن مكتبي الإعلامي، لكن لا مكتب إعلامياً لديّ. ‏يعيب عليّ الوزير أنني لم ألتقه يوماً، وهذا صحيح. إن لقاء وزير الرياضة البدنية في لبنان شرف لا أدّعيه. لكنّي ‏لم أفهم ما عناه هنا. هل هي دعوة غير مباشرة منه لي لشرب كوب من... الشاي معه؟ ثم هل يتوجب اللقاء ‏لممارسة حق النقد؟ ومن قال إنه وجب على الناقد التعرف بالمنقود قبل نقده؟ أما قوله إنني لم أطّلع على مواقفه ‏من قبل ولا على آرائه، فهذا غير صحيح. وإطلالات الوزير التلفزيونية أكثر من إطلالات نور الشريف في ‏المسلسلات الرمضانية، فكيف يمكن أن تخفى على المرء إطلالاته. وسأستشهد في هذا الرد ببعض أقواله للتدليل ‏على معرفتي بمواقفه ــــــ السابقة واللاحقة.‏من أين نبدأ يا أيها الوزير فتفت؟ من موقفك اليوم من المقاومة؟ أوتذكر أنك أنت القائل إن «المقاومة هي الطريق ‏الوحيد لاسترداد الحقوق المسلوبة والمغتصبة»؟ (المستقبل، 27 كانون الثاني، 2004، ص. 4)، فما عدا مما بدا حتى تلهج اليوم بحمد «النضال الحضاري»؟ ألم تكن أنت نفسك تصرّ على معرفة مصير يحيى سكاف (المستقبل، 7 شباط، ‏‏2004، ص. 3)؟ أية صدقية هي تلك الصدقية يا حضرة الوزير الموقّر عندما تتغيّر المواقف بتغيّر هوية الراعي ‏الخارجي للبلد. ما استجدّ؟ هل تحرّر يحيى سكاف من الأسر ونحن لم نعلم؟ هل تحررت مزارع شبعا وتلال كفرشوبا ‏وقرية الغجر بفضل دبلوماسية السنيورة (ودموعه)؟أوتريدني أن أُنعش ذاكرتك بما كنت تقوله عن الحرب الأميركية في العراق؟ أوتذكر إشادتك بـ«عمليات المقاومة ‏العراقية ضد قوات الاحتلال الأميركية ــــــ البريطانية»؟ (الشرق الأوسط، 7 يونيو/حزيران، 2003). هل قلت هذا الكلام في ‏زيارتك الأخيرة لواشنطن؟ أم تغيرت يا حضرة الوزير بعد مغادرة الجيش السوري لبنان؟ هل قلتَ هذا الكلام خلال لقائك مارتن إنديك في مركز صابان؟ أوتذكر استنكارك للموقف الأميركي من القضاء اللبناني عام ‏‏2003 عندما كنت آنذاك «تستهجن» التدخل الأميركي في الشؤون الداخلية اللبنانية (المستقبل، 4 تشرين الأول، ‏‏2003)، أم ستزعم اليوم أن التدخل الأميركي في الشأن اللبناني قد اضمحل، مثلما توقع ماركس «اضمحلال» ‏الدولة في المرحلة الشيوعية؟ أنسيت يا حضرة الوزير أنك أنتَ ـــــ ما غيرك ـــــ القائل إن «بدعة الديموقراطية ‏الأميركية الآتية على متن الدبابات والصواريخ لن تتمكن من كسر إرادة الشعوب التي ستنتصر في نهاية ‏المطاف»؟ (المستقبل، 5 نيسان، 2003، ص. 16)، ألم تعتبر آنذاك الموقف السوري معبّراً «بشكل واضح وصريح ‏عن رأي معظم الشعوب العربية ومشاعرها»؟ وتحدثني عن المبدئية؟أما بالنسبة إلى مواقفك من النظام السوري، أما تماديت في اختلاق البطولات؟ ألا توقّفت عن إهانة ذاكرتنا واحتقار ‏ذكائنا يا حضرة وزير الرياضة البدنية والشباب؟ ألم تقل أنت إن «التعاون مع سوريا خيار استراتيجي»؟ (الشرق ‏الأوسط، 13 مايو/أيار، 2001) ألم تدعُ أنت (أنتَ يا أحمد فتفت لا فايز شكر) الى أن «نكون حلفاء أقوياء للشقيقة سوريا» ‏بوجه «الهجمة الأميركية»؟ (المستقبل، 28 آب، 2004، ص. 4). كان هذا في عام 2004، يا حضرة الوزير. هل ‏ستزعم أنك يومها كنت جاهلاً بطبيعة النظام وبممارسات الاستخبارات السورية في لبنان؟ أم واحد من الذين ‏يزعمون في 14 آذار أن غشاوة ثقيلة منعت عنكم الرؤية لسنوات؟ أتريدني أن أُنعش ذاكرتك أكثر يا حضرة الوزير؟ هل نسيت حضورك عام 2003 احتفال قيادة حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي في تل عباس لمناسبة «الذكرى ‏الثالثة لغياب الرئيس السوري الراحل حافظ الأسد»؟ (الشرق الأوسط، 9 يونيو/حزيران، 2003)، أنسيت إشادتك بـ«الاستقرار ‏الذي تتمتع به سوريا» عام 2004؟ (المستقبل، 29 نيسان، 2004، ص 3). ‏ثم ماذا كنت تقول عن النظام السوري آنذاك، وتحدثني عن الصدقية اليوم يا حضرة الوزير؟ وتحدثني اليوم عن ‏تصدّيك للوصاية السورية عام 2000؟ أوتظنني كنتُ طفلاً أحبو؟ عليّ أنا يا وزير فتفت؟ ألم تحضر أنتَ ‏بنفسك مؤتمر «التضامن مع سوريا والتنديد بتصريحات عون في الكونغرس الأميركي»؟ أتذكر اللافتة في صدر ‏القاعة التي طالبت السلطات اللبنانية بمحاكمته بجرم الخيانة العظمى؟ ألم يدعُ بيان المجتمعين، وأنت منهم، الى ‏تجريده من جنسيته اللبنانية لجرأته على مهاجمة النظام في سوريا؟ (الشرق الأوسط، 26 أيلول، 2003)، (وأنا للأمانة ‏كنت معارضاً لحركة ميشال عون لأنها تحالفت آنذاك مع قوى صهيونية في أميركا كما تتحالفون أنتم اليوم في ‏‏14 آذار مع القوى نفسها)، ‏ثم ألا توقفتَ عن ادعاء البطولات في عدم التصويت من أجل التمديد؟ ألم تصرّح وتشدد آنذاك على أن معارضتك للتمديد ‏لا تعني القبول «بالضغوط التي تمارسها بعض الدول الأجنبية» على سوريا؟ (المستقبل، 1 أيلول، 2004، ص. 3)، ألم ‏تقل آنذاك إن رؤيتك للسلام هي رؤية حافظ الأسد عينها؟ أنسيتَ أم تناسيتَ يا حضرة الوزير؟ أوتذكر أنك أنتَ ‏القائل إن خلافك وخلاف رفيق الحريري مع لحود لم يكونا يوماً «حول العلاقة مع سوريا أو المقاومة»؟ (المستقبل، 26 ‏حزيران، 2004، ص. 4)، ألم تصدق القول آنذاك عندما قلتَ إن خلافكم مع لحود انحصر بـ«المشاكل الاقتصادية ‏والإدارية»؟ ثم تأتي اليوم لتختلق بطولات وهمية حول السيادة وحول الاستقلال! ‏يتحداني الوزير أن أعطيه مثالاً واحداً عن مواقف طائفية له. سأعطيه أكثر من مثال. سأبدأ من مقابلته ‏الشهيرة مع مراسلة الـ«لوس أنجلوس تايمز» ميغن ستاك (وهي تمت بحضور مراسل جريدة «الغلوب إند مايل» ‏الكندية). وأنا أذكر اسم ستاك لأقول للوزير إنني عالم بما لم تصرح هي به حول موضوع تلك المقابلة. لقد تكلم ‏الوزير بطائفية صارخة في تلك المقابلة (ولست في موقع للتحدث باسم الصحافية ستاك هنا)، ثم نفى كلامه بالعربية ‏في وسائل الإعلام اللبنانية. سأكتفي بالقول هنا بأنني عالم بما قال الوزير عن نفيه العربي للمراسلة المذكورة، ولنذكّر ‏القراء بأن صحيفة الـ«لوس أنجلوس تايمز» لم تتلقَّ حتى الساعة تصحيحاً أو تكذيباً لمقابلته تلك. قد تكمن المشكلة في ‏البريد يا حضرة الوزير. تسألنا عن أمثلة في الطائفية يا حضرة الوزير وأنت عضو في تيار المستقبل الذي نافس أبا ‏مصعب الزرقاوي في تحريضه الطائفي المذهبي البغيض! ألم تكن أنت جزءاً من لائحة تيار المستقبل في انتخابات ‏الشمال ـــــ تلك الانتخابات التي قبّحت مسار الانتخابات اللبنانية في التاريخ اللبناني المعاصر بحدّتها الطائفية ‏والمذهبية ـــــ وتطالبني بأمثلة؟تبدو مندهشاً، أو تتصنّع الاندهاش لتقول إنني لا أعرف معنى «التطاول على الشهادة والشهداء»؟ عمن تتحدث ‏هنا يا حضرة الوزير؟ ماذا تعني بالتطاول، ومن هم الشهداء الذين تتّهمني بالتطاول عليهم؟ إلا إذا كنت تعني رفيق ‏الحريري؟ ألم تكتفِ بدورك البكّائي هنا؟ ألم تتوقف عن هطل الدموع؟ ألم تنته فترة الحداد؟ وإلامَ تدوم فترة ‏الارتزاق من الاغتيال يا حضرة الوزير؟ ألم تكتفِ بسنتين أو أكثر من التملّق لعائلة الحريري؟ أما اكتفيت يا سيد ‏فتفت؟ وهل ذرفت دمعة واحدة على من قُتل على يد جيش الاحتلال الإسرائيلي وهو يدافع عن أرض وطنه؟ هل ‏نسيت هؤلاء؟ هل ذرفت دمعاً على الأبرياء من المدنيين الذين قتلوا بنار جيش الاحتلال؟ أجل، أنا لست ممن ‏يخشون انتقاد رفيق الحريري ولست ممن يتصنّع دموعاً في المآقي؟ وأنا لن أتوقف عن انتقاد رفيق الحريري لتركه ‏لنا إرثا سياسياً واقتصادياً مدمراً.‏أما عن ثكنة مرجعيون فأنا أتعجب من أنك لا تجد حرجاً في الحديث ـــــ مجرد الحديث ـــــ عن الموضوع. ثم ألا ‏تستهين بعقولنا عندما تستعين في الدفاع عن نفسك بتقرير (أو «تحقيق») صادر عن وزارتك أنتَ؟ أوتمزح يا حضرة ‏الوزير؟ أتريدنا أن نثق بتحقيق في مسلك وزارة الداخلية صادر عن وزارة الداخلية؟ حقاً، ان لكل مرحلة في لبنان ‏عضّومها ومسالكها العضّومية. وما هو مآل الفساد أو الشفافية في لبنان إذا كانت الوزارة تحاسب نفسها بنفسها؟ أهذه ‏هي الدولة المدنية التي تتحدثون عنها صباح مساء؟ وهل ستعدلون القانون بحيث نعيش في مرحلة في المستقبل نجد ‏فيها أن المتهم يحاسب نفسه بنفسه، ثم يحاكم نفسه بنفسه؟ أوتمزح يا حضرة وزير الرياضة البدنية؟الصدقية، دعني أزيدك علماً يا سيد فتفت، لا تُشترى. «هي أشياءُ لا تُشترى» كما قال أمل دنقل في قصيدة «لا ‏تصالح». ولو تسدي لي خدمة يا سيد فتفت، لذكّرت رفاقك في تيار الحريري بأن هناك أشياء وبشراً لا يُشترون. ‏ذكّرهم بذلك وهم يتسوقون البشر في المواسم الانتخابية.

*أستاذ العلوم السياسية في جامعة كاليفورنيا

(موقعه على الإنترنت: angryarab.blogspot.com)

15 injured in Lebanon forest fires

02/10/2007 10:28 DEIR AL-QAMAR, Lebanon, Oct 2 (AFP)

Fifteen people were injured in fires that raged across forests and damaged houses to the north and east of the Lebanese capital on Tuesday, a local official said.
"Fifteen people suffered injuries and burns, while 20 others were treated for respiratory problems" in the Shouf mountains east of Beirut, Deir al-Qamar municipality official Edy Renno told AFP.
"About 10 houses were partly burnt in the same region. Most of them were damaged on the rooftops because fires reached nearby trees," he said.
He said several hectares of woods and valleys had caught fire in the ancient town of Deir al-Qamar and nearby villages where people wore surgical masks because of the smoke.
In valleys in and around Deir al-Qamar, acres of pine trees were burnt, an AFP correspondent at the scene said. Several electricity and telephone poles had collapsed on the side of the town's main road.
Renno said two square kilometers (almost one square mile) of forest had been damaged in Deir al-Qamar where army helicopter and fire engines were struggling to extinguish the fires.
Elias Nohra, a 42-year-old lawyer from Deir al-Qamar, told AFP that "the fires started last night at around 8 pm (1700 GMT) between Deir al-Qamar and (the nearby town of) Beiteddine."
"Guys from the region went out to extinquish the fires. They thought they did, but then in the morning, the fires started again and spread even more because of the wind,," he said.
Civil defence workers, backed by Lebanese army helicopters, were also deployed to extinguish blazes in the north of the country.
The fires "swept across hectares (acres) of forests" in Qobeyyat and Andaqt in northern Lebanon, forcing several schools to shut down, a civil defense official told AFP.
Police and civil defense could not confirm the cause of the fires that spread every year across mountainous regions in Lebanon toward the end of the dry summer season.

ماذا سيسمع سعد الحريري في البيت الأبيض؟

رؤوف شحوري - الأنوار

اذا كان النائب سعد الحريري والزعيم الاشتراكي وليد جنبلاط ينتميان الى كتلة متراصة واحدة هي فريق (14 آذار)، ومتفقين على استراتيجية واحدة كما يؤكد الحريري، فالسؤال هو: لماذا لا يذهبان معاً الى واشنطن? ولماذا يصر الرئيس بوش على استقبال كل منهما منفرداً? وهل الكلام الأميركي سيكون واحداً في كل لقاء? وفي هذه الحالة، ما الفائدة من التجزئة? أما اذا كان الكلام الأميركي سيكون مختلفاً في كل لقاء عن الآخر، فما هي مصلحة الزعيمين اللبنانيين في ذلك? بل وما هي مصلحة فريق (14 آذار) ككل? الولايات المتحدة لاعب منفرد في العالم وبخاصة بعد انهيار الاتحاد السوفياتي، وبصفة أخص في عهد الرئيس بوش. وهي رفضت دور الشراكة مع رؤساء من أمثال طوني بلير وجاك شيراك وفلاديمير بوتين وغيرهم، وهم يمثلون دولاً عظمى كبريطانيا وفرنسا وروسيا، كما لم تعترف بأي استثناء لأحد. وأميركا تعمل على المستوى القاري، وليس لبنان في نظرها أكثر من - عفواً من الوطن - (موطئ قدم) على رقعة الشرق الأوسط، ولن يكون هو الاستثناء، ولن يكون لأي زعيم سياسي فيه أكثر مما كان لبلير وشيراك وبوتين! *** السياسة في عهد بوش صدامية وقمعية، ولا تعترف بالهزيمة، وستظل تهاجم وتضرب وتحاول حتى اليوم الأخير من ولاية بوش الى أن تحقق ما تعتبر أنه (انجاز للمهمة) و...النصر! وكانت تعتقد أنها قادرة على تحقيق الهدف بالقوة العسكرية الطاغية وحدها. وطورت سياستها بعد ثلاث سنوات من الفشل الى الضرب على محورين: الأول بالقوة العسكرية والثاني هو تفتيت مسرح العمليات وتقسيمه الى كيانات متنافرة. والسياسة الأميركية بصفة عامة، وخاصة في عهد بوش، حادة وقاطعة. ومنطقها هو: اذا كانت التفاحة (أو النفط!) بيد غيرك فالمهمة هي أن تخطفها لنفسك. واذا كانت التفاحة بيدك، فهذا العقل الأميركي المستأثر، لا يفهم معنى أن يتقاسمها مع غيره. وهذا هو موقف الادارة الأميركية في أفغانستان والعراق والشرق الأوسط وأوروبا وآسيا والصين.

***وصلت ادارة بوش الى وضع في لبنان تعتقد معه أنها أصبحت الناخب الوحيد في الانتخابات الرئاسية اللبنانية ما دامت إمكانية الانتخاب بالنصف+1 قائمة ومستمرة. وما دامت التفاحة في يدها فهي لا تفهم أن تتقاسمها مع غيرها. أما اذا كان هذا الخيار يخلق مشكلة للبنانيين فهذه مشكلتهم هم لا مشكلتها هي، في نظرها. ولبنان هو الساحة الوحيدة التي تستطيع أميركا أن تستخدمها للضغط على كل الأطراف الأخرى العربية، المعادية لها أو حتى الصديقة، عند الضرورة. ولن يستمع سعد الحريري في البيت الأبيض الى غير نصيحة المضي بخيار النصف+1 وليس بخيار الرئيس التوافقي، الذي أياً كانت هويته سيضطر الى اتباع سياسة غير صدامية، لا مع سوريا ولا مع غيرها. أما وليد جنبلاط فليس في حاجة الى أن يستمع الى ما يقنعه بما هو مقتنع به أصلاً وموجة التفاؤل الراهنة في لبنان هي نوع من تعاطي الوهم اللذيذ، والعبرة هي في التعاطي مع الحقائق المرة باقتراب مواعيد الاستحقاق!

Caramel - سكر بنات

Oud man out - Lebanese virtuoso can’t be stopped

By TIM PERLICH

MARCEL KHALIFE performing as part of the SMALL WORLD FESTIVAL at Toronto Centre for the Arts (5040 Yonge), Sunday (September 30), 7:30 pm. $30-$50. 416-870-8000, www.smallworldmusic.com.

For a musician who doesn't consider himself particularly religious and says he'd rather not talk politics, Lebanese oud maestro Marcel Khalife has been embroiled in a lot of controversy.
The 57-year-old composer, currently living in exile in Paris, has written critically acclaimed works for solo oud as well as orchestras and chorales. He's scored numerous films, theatre productions and ballets, but he's best known for setting to music the verse of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish, a former executive committee member of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Although Khalife's Darwishian numbers haven't had much chart success in Israel, they've met with even harsher reviews in Arabic countries. In Lebanon, Khalife was brought to court and charged three times with what senior Sunni Muslim clerics deemed blasphemy and insulting religious values because his song I Am Yusuf, Oh Father, based on a Darwish poem alluding to the suffering of Palestinians, cited a two-line verse from the Qur'an. Khalife was ultimately found innocent and avoided a three-year prison sentence.
Then in 2005, the same year that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) named Khalife an Artist for Peace, Tunisian authorities banned his music from state-controlled radio and television stations because he signed a petition protesting human rights violations in that country.
More recently, Khalife's collaboration with Bahraini poet Qassim Haddad on a musical production of the love story Qais And Laila a sort of Arabic Romeo And Juliet was denounced by a fundamentalist member of the Bahraini parliament who felt its dance routines were offensive to Muslims and called for a full investigation.
However, it's not just in the Middle East where Khalife has trouble with fundamentalists. A San Diego date on his current North American tour with his five-piece Al Mayadeen Ensemble (featuring his sons Rami on piano and Bachar on percussion) had to be moved to another venue when administrators of the Salvation Army's Kroc Center decided the performance would be "divisive" and "unbalanced" without an Israeli performer on the same bill. Unless the Salvation Army has started asking Christian artists to hire Buddhist or Taoist opening acts, it would appear to be a strange double standard.
"I'm used to these kinds of problems in the U.S.," sighs Khalife, speaking through a translator. "Still, it's puzzling to me that such things can happen in a democatic country where freedom of speech is valued so highly.
"We need to look more deeply into what's really going on, find out who is responsible and why, because these problems that may seem minor can lead to bigger problems that are much worse for everyone. But I'd prefer to focus on art, not politics."
What makes the whole San Diego situation even more perplexing is the fact that Khalife will be focusing on the instrumental music from his new Taqasim (Nagam/Connecting Cultures) disc, a salute to Darwish. A song cycle sans vocals might seem like an odd way to pay tribute to an artist admired for his passionate and persuasive use of language, but Khalife was looking at serious jail time for his prior Darwish-connected recording, so a wordless album may have been the safe way to go.
Asked point blank if his past run-ins with fundamentalist clerics had anything to do with his decision to leave off the potentially troublesome lyrics, Khalife sounds shocked.
"No, no, no, no! There was no political reason for my choice to make this an instrumetal album. It was a purely artistic decision based on the music I envisioned. To celebrate the 30 years I've worked with Mahmoud, this had to be a special recording. I wanted to create a work that would somehow convey the real spirit of Mahmoud's poetry, the beauty with which he writes about love and peace. To do that, I needed to free my compositions from the vocal element so the power of his words could be felt in my music.
"What happened to me in the past, whether in Lebanon or in Bahrain, has no influence on what I do as an artist. My work isn't governed by what goes on in the world. I will continue to create freely, as I always have. Just like whatever happens here on earth won't stop the sun from shining, nothing is going to get in the way of the music I make."

Camp defeat sends Lebanese militants into hiding

TRIPOLI, Lebanon, (AFP) — Fatah al-Islam's crushing defeat a month ago after a bloody showdown with the Lebanese army has forced other Sunni radical groups to go further underground, experts say.
The support of Islamist groups for Fatah al-Islam has been fading since the September 2 fall of Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon after 15 weeks of fierce battles with the army that cost around 400 lives.
Omar Bakri, an Islamist preacher barred from Britain for his radical views, said Fatah al-Islam could not count on other Sunni groups, even those with similar radical ideologies such as Osbat al-Ansar which is based in a refugee camp in southern Lebanon.
"I don't think Fatah al-Islam and Osbat al-Ansar have any relationship whatsoever, because it is in time of need that you see who is your friend," Bakri said.
"And nobody has offered support to them, a lot of people even joined together to condemn Fatah al-Islam," he said.
Bakri is a Lebanese of Syrian origin who infamously praised the Al-Qaeda hijackers who carried out the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States as the "Magnificent 19."
He headed the radical Al-Muhajiroun group in London until 2004. He was declared an undesirable by London and deported, and has since lived in the northern port city of Tripoli where he runs a bookshop and religious centre.
Bernard Rougier, a French expert on Islamists in Lebanon, said that Osbat al-Ansar "hides its Jihadist (holy war) agenda, while they continue to operate in Iraq."
Osbat al-Ansar did not want to jeopardize what he called underground operations for the recruitment and export of young Islamists from Lebanon.
Bakri said that Fatah al-Islam, suspected of seeking to establish an Islamic emirate in northern Lebanon, had unwillingly engaged in the armed confrontation with the Lebanese army.
"They had no ideological objective. It was a reaction to what they saw as the aggression against them and they believed they had the right to react by attacking the Lebanese army," he told AFP.
The battle between the army and Fatah al-Islam broke out after government troops raided a militant hideout in Tripoli on May 20 following a bank robbery in north Lebanon.
The same day, Fatah al-Islam responded with a killing spree against troops -- many of them off-duty servicemen -- in a move that prompted the military to launch an offensive that crushed the group's bastion in Nahr al-Bared.
An expert on Islamist affairs who did not wish to be identified said "the security forces took the initiative (to attack Fatah al-Islam) after realising that the group had become dangerous.
"They were more than 1,000 militants," said the expert. "Without the battle, they would have been 2,000 or 3,000 today."
Bakri said that Lebanon's Sunni radical groups had already been keeping a low profile since the army crushed Islamists in the northern region of Donniyeh in 2000.
"The lessons of Donniyeh and Fatah al-Islam will send a signal to the Sunnis: don't embark on any adventure because it will be a deadly one and no one is going to support you, even Sunnis will stand against you," he said.
"Lebanon is not the right place, not a safe haven for any project. It's a safe haven to live and enjoy living, to listen to Islamic hymns if you are Islamist, or to (pop stars) Nancy Ajram and Haifa Wehbeh if you are secular."

Lebanese movie "Caramel" talks women, not war

Fri Aug 31, 2007

By Yara Bayoumy
BEIRUT (Reuters) - In a cinema industry traditionally dominated by the theme of war, "Caramel", a film by Lebanese director Nadine Labaki, shies away from conflict and instead brings to light social dilemmas faced by Lebanese women.
"Caramel", or "Sukkar Banat" as the movie is titled in Arabic, revolves around the lives of five Lebanese women, each burdened with their own social and moral problems.
It is Labaki's first feature-length movie and was shown during the Cannes Film Festival in May. It has been showing in Lebanon to packed theatres, unusual in a country where audiences tend to prefer Hollywood blockbusters to Arabic films.
Most Lebanese films have tended to tackle themes revolving around the 1975-1990 civil war that destroyed much of the country's social fabric -- its social repercussions, sectarianism and post-war malaise.
But "Caramel" chooses to focus on modern social themes. Its main setting is a beauty salon in Beirut, where women talk frankly about men, sex, marriage and happiness. Their conversations are interspersed with touching and comical scenes.
"Lebanon is not only burning buildings and people crying in the street. When you say Lebanon, especially to foreigners, that's the first thing they think of," Labaki said on Thursday.
"For me Lebanon is about other things ... we live love stories like any other person in any country all over the world," Labaki, 33, told Reuters at a 1930s house in Beirut.
"That's why I wanted to talk about an issue that has no relation to the war and which shows a new picture of Lebanon, specifically that it's a people with imagination, who love life, people with warmth, people with a sense of humour."

The movie's title is inspired by the mixture of sugar, water and lemon used by Arab women as a traditional depilation method, and also stars Labaki as Layale, a 30-year-old single Lebanese Christian who owns the salon and is involved with a married man.
TABOO ISSUES
The women face social issues that are quintessential in today's Lebanon, but which society marks as taboo. One character, Nisrine, is a Muslim woman about to get married, but her husband-to-be is unaware that she is not a virgin.
Rima's character is a tomboy who struggles with her feelings for an attractive female client, while Jamale goes out of her way to prove she is still young. Rose, a 65-year-old seamstress, sacrifices love to care for her elderly sister.
"These are stories that I've heard of, were inspired from people I know and people who told me their stories. The way in which the issues are tackled are not provocative," Labaki said.
"These are issues people are living, especially in Lebanon. The aim is not to give lessons, but to show things as they are."
Labaki first made her mark in 2000 directing music videos for young Lebanese pop stars.
Though the film is not intentionally political, it portrays the women, who are from a mixture of sects and backgrounds, as living in harmony -- a message one might see as trying to address the sensitive issue of sectarianism in Lebanon.
"Peaceful coexistence among the sects is apparent (in the movie) but it was unintentional. This is how I see Lebanon. We are a people from a number of sects who live together in a very natural way," Labaki said. (Additional reporting by Laila Bassam)

الفيلم اللبناني سكر بنات إلى الأوسكار!

بعد مصر وترشيح فيلم المخرج الكبير محمد خان الأخير "شقة مصر الجديدة" لجوائز الأوسكار، يبدو أن لبنان سيكون المرشح العربي الثاني للمسابقة الأشهر في العالم، حيث أعلن في لبنان أن وزارة الثقافة والتعليم العالي اللبنانية قد رشحت فيلم المخرجة اللبنانية نادين لبكي ليمثل لبنان في المسابقة،

ويكون أحد الأفلام المرشحة لمسابقة الأوسكار لأفضل الأفلام غير الناطقة باللغة الإتكليزية. مما يذكر أن الترشيحات النهائية والرسمية للأوسكار سوف يعلن عنها في 22 كانون الثاني المقبل. فيلم "سكر بنات" والذي بدأت عروضه في مهرجان كان السينمائي الأخير حصد إعجاب إعلامي كبير ليكون ظاهرة سينمائية عربية لافته، الفيلم بيع إلى 33 دولة حول العالم وحصد على المركز الثاني في قائمة الإيرادات في فرنسا والمركز الأول في لبنان. الفيلم سوف تبدأ عروضه في دول الخليج من الخامس والعشرين من شهر اوكتوبر/تشرين الأول القادم، كذلك سوف يحضر الفيلم في مهرجان الشرق الاوسط السينمائي والذي سوف تنضم دورته الاولى في مدينة ابو ظبي الامارتية في منتصف شهر اوكتوبر/تشرين الأول القادم ايضًا. فيلم سكر بنات بيع ايضًا الى الولايات المتحدة الاميركية وسوف توزعه شركة
الفيلم الذي يدور عن يوميات فتيات في صالون حلاقة نسائي في بيروت هو من انتاج آن دومينيك وتوزعه شركة الصباح للإعلام في لبنان والشرق الأوسط. الفيلم ما زال يحصد الجوائز السينمائية في غالبية المهرجانات السينمائية التي يعرض فيها، الفيلم حصل على 3 جوائز في مهرجان سان سيباستيان الاسباني والذي منح الفيلم جائزة الفيلم الشبابي وجائزة افضل فيلم التي يصوت عليها الجمهور.

إرجاء الاستحقاق دولياً الى ربع الساعة الأخير وفرنسا تراهن على رايس لإبعاده عن خطوط التماس - النهار

هيام القصيفي

ليست المرة الاولى تحاول القوى السياسية اشاعة اجواء تفاؤلية تعطي اللبنانيين أملا بقرب انتهاء الازمة الداخلية. فمنذ انعقاد طاولة الحوار العام الماضي

يسعى عدد من القادة السياسيين الى الايحاء ان الاتصالات على قاب قوسين من اتخاذ قرارات مصيرية ايجابية تخرج لبنان من عنق الزجاجة. لكن تجربة العامين الاخيرين اثبتت بما لا يقبل الشك، ان هذه الايحاءات لا تهدف سوى الى امرار الوقت في انتظار بلورة المنحى الاقليمي في اتجاه الحرب او السلم في المنطقة.لا يختلف ما حدث في اليومين الاخيرين عما سبق ذكره، ولم تخرج الحركة المكوكية بين بكركي وعين التينة وقريطم والرابية ومعراب، عن هذا السياق، ولم ينخدع بها احد من المعنيين والمتابعين. فالاستحقاق الرئاسي هو خط تماس بين واشنطن من جهة وايران وسوريا من جهة اخرى، تماما كما يمثل الوضع في افغانستان وباكستان والعراق وغزة، من تقاطع دولي واقليمي بين الغرب وايران وسوريا. من هنا فان معظم المطلعين من فريقي 8 و14 آذار، يحاولون قدر الامكان المحافظة على اكبر قدر من التواصل في انتظار اربعة استحقاقات دولية على مستويين.الاول هو الوضع العراقي والباكستاني.فالانظار العربية والغربية متجهة الى المنحى الذي سيتخذه القرار غير الملزم الذي اتخذه مجلس الشيوخ الاميركي بتقسيم العراق ثلاث دول طائفية. وخطورة هذا القرار، بحسب ما قرأته اوساط سياسية في لبنان، انه تقدم به سناتور ديموقراطي لا جمهوري هو جوزف بيدن، ولو ان الهدف منه التخفيف من الوجود الاميركي في العراق. وخطورته ايضا انه يعطي ملامح اولية عن الوضع الامني الذي تقبل عليه المنطقة. فكيف يمكن ان يكون المنحى الاميركي، ولو عبر قرار غير ملزم، تقسيم العراق، ويكون الوضع اللبناني في المقابل وضعا مستقرا، متجها الى اجراء انتخابات رئاسية ديموقراطية؟ وكيف يمكن ان تقابل سوريا وايران الوضع العراقي المترجح بين التقسيم والحرب، بفرض السلم في لبنان؟في المقابل فان الوضع الباكستاني بدأ يتقدم اولويات المفكرة الاميركية. اذ تخشى واشنطن اي تطور دراماتيكي في الملف الباكستاني، ومصير الرئيس برويز مشرف من دون ان ننسى ما تعنيه باكستان التي تمتلك قنبلة نووية يطلق عليها الاميركيون القنبلة النووية السنية. وهذان الملفان يطغيان حاليا على اهتمامات الدول العربية والاميركية على السواء
.اما المستوى الثاني من الاستحقاقات فهو بلورة الاتصالات الهادفة الى عقد مؤتمر دولي في واشنطن في تشرين الثاني، وهو ما يبدو حتى الان انه يعقد من دون اجندة واضحة وحاسمة، وانه يعقد من دون توقع الخروج منه باي نتائج جدية. من هنا جاء الرد السعودي المتريث في بت مستوى المشاركة فيه. ويرتبط هذا المؤتمر بوضعين ميدانيين حساسين، الوضع في غزة ولبنان، وكلاهما حساس امنيا، ومرتبط مباشرة بدور سوريا وايران في المنطقة ووصولاً الى افغانستان. ولا ينكر احد ان احتمالات الرد السوري والايراني في غزة توازي احتمال الرد في لبنان اذا تعثرت كل الاستحقاقات الاقليمية الداهمة، وهو ما يعني ان حماس يمكنها في اي لحظة قلب الطاولة في غزة، وتفجير الوضع في اسرائيل. وهو امر تدرك تل ابيب خطورته، من هنا عدم قيام الرئيس الاسرائيلي حتى الان بتقديم اي تنازلات للرئيس الفلسطيني محمود عباس، خشية اطاحة كل التقديمات سلفا على مذبح الخلاف الاقليمي بين سوريا وواشنطن.كيف تنعكس هذه الاستحقاقات على لبنان؟لا شك في ان واشنطن لم تتخل عن الملف اللبناني، الا انه لم يعد ملفا اول وحيدا، بل تقدمته كل الملفات الداهمة السابقة الذكر. الا ان اهم ما يميز هذا الملف انه لا يزال يحظى برعاية مباشرة من وزيرة الخارجية الاميركية كوندوليزا رايس. وهذا الامر يثير الاطمئنان الفرنسي، لانها وحدها قادرة على دفع الملف اللبناني خارج الثلاجة وغرفة الانتظار الطويلة.فحتّى الان لا يبدو ان الاستحقاق الرئاسي يدرس بتفاصيله النهائية على الطاولة الاميركية الرسمية المنهمكة بوضع قواتها من المحيط الى الخليج، وهو ما يتيح للفرنسيين، بالاتفاق مع الدوائر الفاتيكانية في هذه المرحلة، متابعة الملف اللبناني، من اجل الاستحقاق الرئاسي. والفرنسيون بحسب ما ينقل زوار باريس اخيرا، يعرفون تماما ان واشنطن لن تسمح لهم بالتدخل في القضايا الكبرى كافغانستان وباكستان والعراق، لكنها يمكن ان تستفيد من وجودهم في المتوسط لالف سبب. والفرنسيون مرتاحون الى هذا الدور الذي يجعلهم مساهمين بجدية في انجاز الاستحقاق الرئاسي.والخرق الفرنسي الفاتيكاني، بالتعاون مع رايس، من شأنه في ربع الساعة الاخيرة ان يساهم في تقديم مرشح توافقي مقرب من البطريرك الماروني، يكون رئيسا لادراة الازمة، لا يزعج السوريين ولا الاميركيين، لان لا احد لديه وهم ان الرئيس المقبل قادر على حل كل المشاكل الامنية والسياسية بكبسة زر.الا ان رئيسا باقل قدر ممكن من الخسائر، قادر بحسب الفرنسيين على تجنيب الاميركيين والمنطقة جرحا نازفا جديدا في الوقت المستقطع لرسم خريطة المنطقة. والا فان السيناريو الاخر، بحسب ما ابلغته المعارضة، لن يكون باقل من حكومتين واعتصام مدني شامل ووضع اليد على الادارات الرسمية. لكن الاسوأ هو ذهاب المعارضة الى انتخاب رئيس للجمهورية، اذا انتخبت الاكثرية رئيسا بمن حضر. وحينها تكون مهلة الشهرين المقدمة الموسيقية لعزف لحن الانهيار

Historical Map. Tyre [Sur] Environs 1912. From Palestine and Syria. Handbook for Travellers by Karl Baedeker, 5th Edition, 1912

Historical Map. Sidon [Saida] Environs 1912. From Palestine and Syria. Handbook for Travellers by Karl Baedeker, 5th Edition, 1912

Historical Map. Beirut Environs 1912. From Palestine and Syria...Handbook for Travellers by Karl Baedeker, 5th Edition, 1912

Historical Map of Beirut. From Palestine and Syria...Handbook for Travellers by Karl Baedeker, 5th Edition, 1912

Tensions grow between Lebanon's Shia and Sunnis

From Newsday

BY MOHAMAD BAZZI

September 30, 2007

BEIRUT, Lebanon - One morning in January, about 100 Sunni men stood outside a Beirut pharmacy, clutching wooden clubs and metal chains. Many of them were wearing blue headbands, the color of the U.S.- -- and Saudi-backed Future Movement. They were stopping the few cars coming into the area, looking for "strangers" -- a code word for Shias.That day, Jan. 23, Hezbollah and its allies had organized a nationwide strike as part of their campaign to topple the U.S.-backed Lebanese government. Before dawn, the Shia group dispatched young men, some wearing ski masks, to close roads by burning tires and cars. Hezbollah's Christian allies, especially the Free Patriotic Movement led by Maronite politician and former army commander Michel Aoun, also took to the streets in Christian areas. Three people were killed and dozens wounded in clashes throughout the country before the strike was called off that night.As soon as Hezbollah bused its supporters into Sunni areas of Beirut to close roads and force people to stay home, local Sunnis took to the streets. They saw it as an invasion by Hezbollah. "The Shias are occupying our area," said Bahi Amneh, 19, a finance student among those standing outside the pharmacy. "It's our duty to free it. They came here from the southern suburbs to force everyone into a strike. It's our duty to make them leave. If they don't, we will attack them."

Near the intersection where some of Amneh's friends had set up a makeshift checkpoint, two men from the Future Movement sat in a black SUV with tinted windows, talking into walkie-talkies and directing their men. About 500 yards away, a group of Hezbollah supporters had closed Beirut's main seaside boulevard and milled around a burnt car in the middle of the street. They, too, had men with walkie-talkies directing them."You know, it's just unfair. We want to live in peace. But every time we try, Hezbollah makes trouble," Amneh said bitterly. "Hezbollah has its own country within Lebanon. They have weapons. They don't respect the laws." A few minutes later, shots rang out, and the two groups began throwing chunks of cinder blocks at each other as Lebanese soldiers rushed to separate them.New sectarian fracturesAside from Iraq, Lebanon is the other Middle Eastern country where the most severe Sunni-Shia tensions are playing out. With the war in the summer of 2006 and the continuing sit-in against the Lebanese government, Lebanon's Shia -- through Hezbollah -- are flexing their political muscle in a way they haven't done since the country's 15-year civil war ended in 1990.The Shia ascendance in Lebanon has created a new set of sectarian fractures in the country's delicate balance. Unlike the civil war, when the main conflict was between Muslims and Christians, the recent violence has been fueled by Sunni-Shia divisions. The Lebanese predicament is also an extension of the continuing proxy war in the region -- pitting Iran and Syria (which support Hezbollah) against the United States, Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab regimes (which support the Lebanese government).Fearing the sectarian bloodbath in Iraq and Iran's growing regional influence, Lebanese Sunnis feel besieged, and they're lashing out at Shias. As they confronted Hezbollah supporters during the January strike, some groups of Sunnis waved posters of Saddam Hussein. It was a contradiction that embodied the current state of the Middle East: U.S.-allied Sunnis carrying posters of Hussein, a dictator the United States spent billions of dollars and lost hundreds of lives to unseat."Why are Shias the only ones allowed to have weapons?" asked Ahmed Nasouli, 21, an engineering student and one of Amneh's friends. "Why aren't Sunnis allowed?"Hezbollah's leader, Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, has repeatedly vowed that his group would never use its weapons against fellow Lebanese. But Sunnis are worried that, left unchecked, the militia will be tempted to take power by force.On the day of the strike, average Sunnis who were not affiliated with any political party went out into the streets to challenge Hezbollah supporters."This area is 100 percent Sunni," said Maher Amneh, 32, Bahi's cousin and a clothing store owner, who wore a wool cap and carried a metal pipe. "We all know each other. So if we see anyone strange, it means he doesn't belong here.""So there are no Shias in this area?" he was asked."No. And everyone knows that," he replied. (Amneh and his friends were standing opposite a restaurant owned by a Shia family from southern Lebanon.)"So what you would do if you saw a stranger?""We would ask him, 'What are you doing here, now, at this time?'" he said. "And if he doesn't give us an answer, it means he's coming from them , and he wants to take a look -- to count us."How did things deteriorate to this point, where Lebanese Sunnis and Shias are increasingly afraid of each other?Hezbollah wasn't disarmedAt the end of the civil war, all militias were disarmed and Syrian troops were tasked with keeping security in Lebanon under the Saudi-brokered Taif Accord. But Hezbollah was allowed to keep its weapons as a "national resistance" against the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, which ended in 2000. After the February 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri -- Lebanon's most prominent Sunni leader -- international pressure and mass demonstrations forced Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon. The Bush administration then began pressuring the government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, which took office after elections in June 2005, to disarm Hezbollah.The latest crisis erupted in July 2006, when Hezbollah abducted two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid. That set off a 34-day war with Israel. After the war, Hezbollah began accusing Saniora's government of being a U.S. puppet and demanded more seats in the 24-member cabinet. When talks to form a national unity government failed in November, six ministers representing Hezbollah and its allies resigned. Saniora's ruling coalition -- of Sunni, Christian and Druze parties -- accused Hezbollah of walking out of the cabinet to block a United Nations investigation into Hariri's murder, which has been widely blamed on Syria.When Hezbollah and its allies began an open-ended protest in downtown Beirut on Dec. 1, setting up hundreds of tents outside the main government palace, relations between Sunnis and Shias deteriorated quickly. Then came Saddam Hussein's execution on Dec. 30. Sunnis view the United States and the Shia-dominated Iraqi government as killing off the last vestiges of Arab nationalism by executing Hussein. In the Sunni view, America and its allies eradicated the idea of a glorious Arab past without offering any replacement for it, other than sectarianism."The Saddam execution and Hezbollah's drive for political power are making Sunnis very nervous about Shia actions," said Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, an expert on the Shia and a visiting scholar at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut. "Sunnis support Hezbollah wholeheartedly when it comes to resistance against Israel. But when it comes to political power, that changes the equation, and Hezbollah is seen as a threat when it directs its power inside Lebanon."Biggest sectarian groupBecause Shias are a plurality in Lebanon -- making up about 40 percent of a total population of 4 million -- and because they are more powerful militarily and politically than in many other countries, Sunni-Shia tensions are more pronounced in Lebanon. On Jan. 25, two days after the nationwide strike, rioting erupted around a university, killing four people, injuring dozens and forcing the army to impose a curfew in Beirut for the first time in 10 years. Lebanon teetered on the edge of another civil war.Since then, sectarian tensions had eased slightly -- until the assassination of Walid Eido, a Sunni member of parliament from the Future Movement. Eido's killing further inflamed the hatred between Sunnis and Shias. During Eido's funeral procession on June 14, hundreds of supporters carried the blue flags of the Future Movement."The blood of Sunnis is boiling," a crowd of young men shouted as they marched behind Eido's coffin. "Terrorist, terrorist, Hezbollah is a terrorist group." Quranic verses warbled from the minarets of every mosque along the route, mixing with loudspeakers that blared out: "Today is the funeral for a new martyr killed at the hands of Bashar Assad" -- the Syrian president. Other mourners insulted Hezbollah's revered leader, chanting, "Nasrallah is the enemy of God."After last summer's war, members of Saniora's coalition quickly demanded that Hezbollah disarm, as required by the UN cease-fire resolution. Many Shias, who viewed Hezbollah as their protector during the war, felt threatened by these demands, which drove them even closer to the militia."Some government leaders started demanding that Hezbollah give up its weapons, without leaving any time for the wounds to heal," said Wassef Awada, an editor at As-Safir, a Beirut newspaper. "Many Shias felt like their identity was under attack after the war. They became more attached to Hezbollah because they view this as a battle for their existence."

Shampress Story About Ghanem Assassination!!!!!

معلومات خطيرة تشير الى اسم قاتل النائب انطوان غانم .... المخابرات الفرنسية اخبرت النائب ميشيل عون ان الرئيس امين الجميل يعرف القاتل

شام برس - بيروت من جورج ابي رعد - مونتريال من خضر عواركة

سرب ضابط في قوى الأمن الدخلي اللبنانية حيثيات وتفاصيل المعلومات التي توصل إليها التحقيق الرسمي للشرطة اللبنانية وتفاصيل

أخرى حصل عليها من كوادر تعمل في فرع المعلومات اللبناني الذي يديره لحساب ال الحريري وسام الحسن ... المعلومات تقول :ان النائب المغدور أنطوان غانم كان على موعد في سن الفيل مع الرئيس الأعلى لحزب الكتائب أمين الجميل في حرش تابت ليس بعيدا عن مكان الإنفجار الذي أودى بحياته. وبما أن النائب هو جزء من جماعة الرابع عشر من شباط ممن يتولى حمايتهم حصرا جهاز فرع المعلومات في قوى الأمن الداخلي فقد خضع النائب المغدور لطلب هذا الفرع بعدم إستعمال أي هاتف خليوي إلا واحد تم تأمينه عبر ضباط الفرع لمعظم نواب الأكثرية ومنهم غانم وقيل لهم بأن هذا الجهاز محمي معلوماتيا ولا يمكن إختراقه ورصده والأهم لا يمكن لأي كان تحديد المكان الجغرافي لبثه. كما أن فرع المعلومات وضع خطط حماية لغانم تقتضي منه عدم السير بموكب بل بسيارت عادية مموهة وتبديلها بأخرى مستأجرة بعد كل محطة وقالوا له بأن أهم بند في خطة حمايته هي أنه خاضع لبرنامج مراقبة المراقب . أي أنهم يراقبون من بعيد أي هم يراقبلونهويلاحقونه وبالتالي هم خلفه ومن حوله ولهذا لن يظهروا بصفة لصيقة معه بل خلف المسافة التي تلزم من يراقبه ليرصده. النائب غانم فور خروجه من بيته إتصل بالرئيس أمين الجميل وأبلغه أنه في طريقه إليه. الرئيس الجميل رد على غانم بالقول أنه سيؤخر لقائهما ساعة عن الموعد المتفق عليه. حينها إتصل غانم بالمحامي سمير شبلي وأبلغه أنه قادم لزيارته وبالفعل جلس في مكتب شبلي فترة ساعة ونيف ولحظة خروجه من مكتب الأخير دوى الإنفجار الذي قتله. الضابط الذي يغامر بحياته لتسريب هذه المعلومات الخطيرة اضاف : تعلمون ان المخابرات الفرنسية تساعد في التحقيق بشكل غير معلن وهذه المخابرات توصلت إلى نتيجة مفادها أن هاتف فرع المعلومات الغير قابل للإختراق كان هو سبب تحديد مكان غانم وان مجموعة إتصالات خليوية وتحركات السيارة المتفجرة التي كانت مسروقة منذ عشر سنوات تشير إلى القاتل الذي نفذ عملية التفجير تلك. وهو المسؤول القواتي المفروز للعمل بإمرة وسام الحسن والمعروف بإسم أندريه عبيد. المصدر أكد ان الفرنسيين أبلغوا الرئيس أمين الجميل بهذه المعلومات ونقلوا للرئيس ميشال عون نفس المعلومات وأكدوا له بأن الرئيس أمين الجميل لديه نفس القناعة وهي أن القوات اللبنانية متورطة في مقتل أنطوان غانم..

Robert Fisk: Dinner in Beirut, and a lesson in courage

Published: 29 September 2007

Secrecy, an intellectual said, is a powerful aphrodisiac. Secrecy is exciting. Danger is darker, more sinister. It blows like a fog through the streets of Beirut these days, creeping down the laneways where policemen – who may or may not work for the forces of law and order – shout their instructions through loud-hailers.
No parking. Is anyone fooled? When the Lebanese MP Antoine Ghanem was assassinated last week, the cops couldn't – or wouldn't – secure the crime scene. Why not? And so last Wednesday, the fog came creeping through the iron gateway of Druze leader Walid Jumblatt's town house in Beirut where he and a few brave MPs had gathered for dinner before parliament's useless vote on the presidential elections – now delayed until 23 October. There was much talk of majorities and quorums; 50 plus one appears to be the constitutional rule here, although the supporters of Syria would dispute that. I have to admit I still meet Lebanese MPs who don't understand their own parliamentary system; I suspect it needs several PhDs to get it right.
The food, as always, was impeccable. And why should those who face death by explosives or gunfire every day not eat well? Not for nothing has Nora Jumblatt been called the world's best hostess. I sat close to the Jumblatts while their guests – Ghazi Aridi, the minister of information, Marwan Hamade, minister of communications, and Tripoli MP Mosbah Al-Ahdab and a Beirut judge – joked and talked and showed insouciance for the fog of danger that shrouds their lives.
In 2004, "they" almost got Hamade at his home near my apartment. Altogether, 46 of Lebanon's MPs are now hiding in the Phoenicia Hotel, three to a suite. Jumblatt had heard rumours of another murder the day before Ghanem was blown apart. Who is next? That is the question we all ask. "They" – the Syrians or their agents or gunmen working for mysterious governments – are out there, planning the next murder to cut Fouad Siniora's tiny majority down. "There will be another two dead in the next three weeks," Jumblatt said. And the dinner guests all looked at each other.
"We have all made our wills," Nora said quietly. Even you, Nora? She didn't think she was a target. "But I may be with Walid." And I looked at these educated, brave men – their policies not always wise, perhaps, but their courage unmistakable – and pondered how little we Westerners now care for the life of Lebanon.
There is no longer a sense of shock when MPs die in Beirut. I don't even feel the shock. A young Lebanese couple asked me at week's end how Lebanon has affected me after 31 years, and I said that when I saw Ghanem's corpse last week, I felt nothing. That is what Lebanon has done to me. That is what it has done to all the Lebanese.
Scarcely 1,000 Druze could be rounded up for Ghanem's funeral. And even now there is no security. My driver Abed was blithely permitted to park only 100 metres from Jumblatt's house without a single policeman checking the boot of his car. What if he worked for someone more dangerous than The Independent's correspondent? And who were all those cops outside working for?
Yet at this little dinner party in Beirut, I could not help thinking of all our smug statesmen, the Browns and the Straws and the Sarkozys and the imperious Kouchners and Merkels and their equally smug belief that they are fighting a "war on terror" – do we still believe that, by the way? – and reflect that here in Beirut there are intellectual men and women who could run away to London or Paris if they chose, but prefer to stick it out, waiting to die for their democracy in a country smaller than Yorkshire. I don't think our Western statesmen are of this calibre.
Well, we talked about death and not long before midnight a man in a pony tail and an elegant woman in black (a suitable colour for our conversation) arrived with an advertisement hoarding that could be used in the next day's parliament sitting. Rafiq Hariri was at the top. And there was journalist Jibran Tueni and MP Pierre Gemayel and Hariri's colleague Basil Fleihan, and Ghanem of course. All stone dead because they believed in Lebanon.
What do you have to be to be famous in Lebanon, I asked Jumblatt, and he burst into laughter. Ghoulish humour is in fashion.
And at one point Jumblatt fetched Curzio Malaparte's hideous, brilliant account of the Second World War on the eastern front – Kaputt – and presented it to me with his personal inscription. "To Robert Fisk," he wrote. "I hope I will not surrender, but this book is horribly cruel and somehow beautiful. W Joumblatt [sic]." And I wondered how cruelty and beauty can come together.
Maybe we should make a movie about these men and women. Alastair Sim would have to play the professorial Aridi, Clark Gable the MP Al-Ahdab. (We all agreed that Gable would get the part.) I thought that perhaps Herbert Lom might play Hamade. (I imagine he is already Googling for Lom's name.) Nora? She'd have to be played by Vivien Leigh or – nowadays – Demi Moore. And who would play Walid Jumblatt? Well, Walid Jumblatt, of course.
But remember these Lebanese names. And think of them when the next explosion tears across this dangerous city.

Rare Tour Reveals Lebanon Camp's Ruin

By SCHEHEREZADE FARAMARZI – Sept. 28

NAHR EL-BARED REFUGEE CAMP, Lebanon (AP) — Shopping lists scribbled in a notebook, a blue doll's hat, a Valentine's Day card — these are some of the small pieces of Palestinians' shattered lives left behind in the rubble of this refugee camp.
Scenes of devastation — destroyed homes, blackened shops, burned vehicles, scorched tree trunks — greeted journalists allowed into the camp Friday for the first time since the Lebanese army defeated al-Qaida-inspired Fatah Islam militants 26 days ago after more than three months of fighting.
Reporters were able to inspect a stretch of about 500 yards of the camp's northern section. Army officers said the area beyond that was still riddled with mines and unexploded ordnance.
The northern district was once the better-off commercial area of the camp — a rare pocket of relative prosperity among Lebanon's 12 impoverished Palestinian refugee camps. But on Friday, bulldozers were removing debris and mounds of earth from the main road, lined with burned shops and multistory apartment buildings reduced to their concrete skeletons, the rubble of their walls piled at their bases.
Soldiers, many wearing surgical masks against the dust and smell of decaying bodies, flashed "V for victory" signs as they rode by in military trucks and armored personnel carriers that kicked up heavy dust.
Soldiers said the stench was overpowering from the corpses — apparently of militants — still lying in the heart of the camp.
The devastation underlined how far authorities have to go to rebuild the camp to allow the return of the 30,000 residents who fled in the first week of fighting. Most of them are now packed into a nearby camp and fear the promises of return will never be fulfilled.
Officials of Palestinian factions in Lebanon, who are generally seen by the refugees to be out of touch with their plight, gave speeches in the rubble to a frenzied group of reporters about the need to quickly rebuild.
"Nahr el-Bared camp didn't fall. What fell was terrorism," said PLO envoy Abbas Zaki, wearing a gray suit and tie and standing underneath an empty flower pot on the twisted balcony railing of a heavily damaged two-story building.
Osama Hamdan, the representative of the Palestinian Hamas group, said he hoped more than 1,000 families could return in the next few weeks to the camp's northern section, where he claimed 60 percent of the buildings were safe.
The Lebanese government has estimated that $249 million would be needed to rebuild the seaside camp just outside the northern Lebanese port city of Tripoli. At a donor's conference in Beirut earlier this month, Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said another $55 million was needed for emergency relief for the camp, and a further $28.5 million for nearby communities affected by the fighting.
The prolonged battles, which ended Sept. 2 with the collapse of Fatah Islam and the army's takeover of the nearly destroyed camp, left 164 soldiers dead and dozens of militants killed.
According to Zaki, the fighting also claimed the lives of 47 Palestinian civilians. About 310 others were injured.
Before the battle, Nahr el-Bared was a sprawling densely built town of low-built houses and taller buildings in the northern section — referred to as the new camp — along the Mediterranean coast. It was known for its businesses, where even neighboring Lebanese sometimes came for bargains at the shops of relatively well-off merchants — unlike other Palestinian camps in the country, most of which are impoverished and avoided by the Lebanese.
The months of fighting saw Lebanese troops that ringed the camp pound it with artillery and tank shells in prolonged bombardments, as the Fatah Islam militants holed up inside responded with rockets and mortars.
Now many of the tall buildings were shattered, with holes near the top and twisted steel reinforcement bars sticking out of chunks of mangled concrete.
Graffiti by the troops on what remained of the camp's walls and shutters included obscenities against Fatah Islam leader Shaker al-Absi and his deputy Abu Hureira, who was killed in a shootout with security forces after he fled the army's siege of the camp before the battles ended. Al-Absi, a Jordanian of Palestinian origin, fled the camp hours before the army took over and is believed to still be at large.
"Al-Absi under the boots of army commandoes," says one scrawl on a shuttered shop. Other graffiti boasted of the army's valor, patriotism and dedication.
"We sacrifice our lives for the homeland," said one yellow slogan.

Seniora is one of the "Shater Shater" Presidents (شاطر شاطر-السنيورة)

Wine Tasting and vineyard tours in Lebanon!

Weekend Breaks
Overview of Lebanons vineyards and their wines:

Clos St Thomas Thomas founded by Mr Said T. Touma is beautifully situated at an altitude of 1000m on the Eastern slope of Mount Lebanon, overlooking the Bekaa Valley. It is spread over 50 hectares (123.5 acres). The most locally known wine they produce is their Chateau St Thomas. As with their other varieties the grapes are hand sorted and stripped, then fermented. It is then aged for 18 months in oak casks, before bottling. It is drinkable at two years. The other interesting white wine is their Blac Les Gourmets which differs in production process from the Kefraya white, in that the white grape skins are also crushed with the juice and allowed a short period of contact in the fermentation vats. (At Kefraya, the skins of the white wine are separated at the beginning of the process). Still this produces a light white wine that is very drinkable. There are six other wines produced at Clos St Thomas and their website is http://www.closstthomas.com/. It is recommended that you visit this as it will give you a more intimate knowledge before arrival.

Chateau Kefraya is the largest wine producer in Lebanon (over 1 million bottles per year). The rose is good, though a little heavy and sweet and they have a very drinkable light red. They have more complex bottles like their white Blancs de Blancs which blends St Emilion, clairette, bourboulenc and sauvignon grapes. Their wines are readily available in Beirut to sample. Their website address is http://www.chateaukefraya.com/

Chateau Musar is the smallest of these commercial producers and yet it has the best reputation for quality. Most of its wine is exported (mainly to England). It was established in 1930 by Gaston Hochar and is still a family business. It is characterised by its complex full-bodied, mature red wines. Unfortunately one of the best vintages on record was in 1984, but most of the harvest was destroyed in the war and only a few bottles survive. Their white wines are also excellent. The website is http://www.chateaumusar.com.lb/

Ksara Ksara is beyond ones expectations! The wines are stored in a fascinating cave system where the temperature needs little regulating (other than a plastic draft excluder as you enter the system). This natural wine cellar was a grotto discovered by the Romans who consolidated part of the vault and dug several narrow tunnels from the cave into the surrounding chalk. They have a wide selection of differing wines. Half of their production are reds, based on the cinsaut and grenache grapes. The heavy reds are cabernet sauvignon and syrah grapes. Their whites are sauvignon blanc and chardonnay grapes. The website is http://www.ksara.com.lb/

Wardy- Domain Wardy is interesting in that it is the leader in producing the largest range of monocepages such as Merlot, Syrah and Cabernet Sauvignon. The Perle du Chateau and Chateau les Cedres have won international awards. They offer a wide variety of red, white and rose wines. http://www.domaine-wardy.com/.

Massaya, which means twilight, is given its name from the sun when it sets on the mountains beyond, turning the vineyards purple. This is a new vineyard and these new wines come from a Lebanese/Franco partnership between the Ghosn bothers and the leading French wine maker Hebrard. Like the other vineyards it is located at around 1000m where the slopes are protected by the Mount Lebanon range. The grapes are free of frost and disease and the climate averages 25 degrees. Again the favoured varieties of grape Cabernet-Sauvignon and syrah are used. Massaya also has a website http://www.massaya.com/ which is very informative.

Vineyards represent Lebanon's rich diversity (Ya Libnan)

Monday, 17 September, 2007 @ 6:07 PM

By Andrew Lee Butters It's harvest season in Lebanon, so on Monday I drove over the coastal mountain range and down to the Bekaa Valley, the fertile basin that is both home to Lebanon's wine industry and to a significant number of the country's Shia Muslims.
It's a very Lebanese experience to watch Bedouin farm workers in the early morning light, mosques in the distance, carry grapes by the crate-load to be pressed into a liquid that they and most of the neighbors are forbidden by Islamic law to drink.
Though alcohol production might seem incongruous in the overwhelmingly Muslim Middle East, vinticulture is an integral part of Lebanese culture, and not just because of the country's large Christian minority. Winemaking was first developed in the ancient Middle East, and such was the importance of wine making in the Bekaa during classical antiquity, that the Romans built a massive temple in Baalbek to the wine god Bacchus which still stands today.
Arabs themselves invented the art of distilling fermented beverages into alcoholic spirits, exported it during the Islamic conquests of the Middle Ages, and practice it still by making arak, a grape based anise flavored drink. Today, the majority owners of Lebanon's two largest wineries are Druze and Sunni Muslims respectively. The workforce that picks the grapes, and the landowners who grow them are almost all Muslims. And perhaps God only knows how many of Lebanon's wine drinkers are also Muslims.
"The whole existence of wine making is a contradiction to most of the preconceived notions people have Lebanon, " said my host, Ramzi Ghosn, who along with his older brother Sami, owns Massaya, one of Lebanon's newer winemakers. The Ghosn brothers are part of the generation that left Lebanon during the country's brutal 15-year civil war, and who began returning in the 1990's to rebuild the country with skills they learned in exile. For Ramzi, who studied marketing in the United States, wine is a perfect vehicle for changing the perception that Lebanon is haven for religious fanaticism and terrorism. "Wine is a message of tolerance and sophistication."
Admittedly, Lebanon -- which makes about 6 million bottle of wine a year -- is one of the world's smallest producers. But a few of the country's dozen or so commercial producers make wines that are internationally renowned, and most of them make wine that is very easy on the way down. Over a traditional dinner of frogs legs, thick yogurt, and sauteed liver, Ramzi and I drank a Massaya classic red, not one of his fanciest, but one that best reflects the region, with a peppery taste and smells of mint and thyme. The humble cinsualt grape he uses doesn't have a strong personality of its own, but absorbs the surrounding environment like a sponge. Much like Lebanon itself.

Votes and assassinations in Lebanon

By Jim Muir BBC News, Beirut

The Lebanese parliament failed to elect a new president again this week - and after nearly a year of political deadlock, the deadline for a handover of presidential power is fast approaching.

By Lebanese standards, this presidential election has been relatively normal. So far, that is, because there is still a very long way to go, and plenty of potential for it to go spectacularly wrong.
At least it is being held - again, so far - where it should be: in the parliamentary chamber in downtown Beirut.
That is still something of a novelty in recent decades.
It is hard to forget my introduction to Lebanese presidential elections, way back in May 1976.
The first phase of the civil war was in full swing. The downtown area where parliament was, had been smashed and paralysed by the fighting. The battlefront now ran right through that area, dividing mainly Christian east Beirut, from the mainly Muslim west.
So the MPs had to meet at the Villa Mansour, a gracious residence taken over as a temporary refuge.

Its appeal was that it lay close to one of the main crossing-points on the confrontation line, near the national museum, so people could get to it from both sides.
A narrow quorum duly turned up. But somebody did not like what was going on.
Hanging around outside, we had to throw ourselves down behind walls for shelter, as mortars suddenly came crashing down into the immediate area, scattering dust and fragments. There must have been a message there.
But it did not make much difference. Elias Sarkis, the former governor of the central bank, was duly elected, to the din of exploding shells.
Under siege
Six years on, and it was time for Mr Sarkis to stand down. The situation had changed radically.
Israel had invaded, and was even besieging west Beirut. This time, the election was held in an army barracks in east Beirut, with Israeli troops holding the ring.

The only candidate was the feisty young Christian militia leader, Bashir Gemayel, who had thrown in his lot with the Israelis.
MPs were rounded up at gunpoint and herded in to make up the quorum.
I remember hearing gunfire outside as the voting went ahead.
Bashir Gemayel was duly elected. But somebody did not like that, either.
Just three weeks later, before he could take office, he was crushed to death in the ruins of his Phalangist Party headquarters, demolished by a massive explosion.
The most immediate consequence, just a few days later, was the massacre by Christian militiamen of hundreds of Palestinian refugees at the camps of Sabra and Shatila.
Bashir's brother Amin - less controversial and more conciliatory - was elected relatively smoothly, to take his place.

Peace agreement
Fast forward again.
It is 1989, and Lebanon is divided.
There are two prime ministers and no president, because when Amin Gemayel had to stand down a year earlier, it proved impossible to elect a successor.

But under Arab pressure, a peace agreement is finally reached at Taif, in Saudi Arabia, and the way was clear for another election.
And what a strange one that was. Because Beirut was still very unsafe, MPs and journalists were bundled into special planes and flown up to an abandoned air strip in the far north of the country.
There, this time with no violence in the background, Rene Muawwad was duly elected. But once again, somebody did not like that either.
Just 17 days later, he too was blown up in a huge car bomb explosion back in Beirut.
And another exceptional election followed two days later.
This time it was held under tight security at a hotel in the town of Shtaura, in east Lebanon, near the border with Syria.
The election of Elias Hrawi ushered in a decade when most of Lebanon fell quietly under Syrian sway. It allowed a period of intense reconstruction, although many underlying problems remained unresolved.
The only normal election in recent times - in 1998 - saw the current, pro-Syrian incumbent, Emile Lahoud, voted in with near unanimity. This included many who have since turned against him and the Syrians.
For things have changed, again.

Syria was obliged to withdraw its troops from Lebanon in 2005, under international pressure and a wave of Lebanese outrage following the assassination of the former Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri.
But Syria's power and influence here simply cannot be ignored.
With their ally Iran, and through Lebanese factions such as Hezbollah and its allies, the Syrians have enormous assets. As a result, the political process is deadlocked.
'Turmoil and tension'
Until the meeting on Tuesday, parliament had not convened for nearly a year.
The prime minister has to reach his office through a back entrance, since the government building is besieged by Hezbollah tents.
That deadlock is now focused on how to replace the Syrian-backed president when his term expires in November.
It is a deadline that will not go away. The gulf between the Western-backed, anti-Syrian government and the opposition, supported by Syria and Iran, is enormous.
And their outside patrons have the whole region in the grip of turmoil and tension, with fears of worse to come, especially between the US and Iran.
So anything is possible in the coming weeks here. Dialogue and agreement, division, war.
If the Lebanese are very lucky, this could turn out to be a normal election.

From Our Own Correspondent was broadcast on Thursday 27 September 2007 at 1100 BST on BBC Radio 4. Please check the programme schedules for World Service transmission times.