Archive for January, 2010
Panamanian ship , crew rescued in north Lebanon
A Panamanian cargo ship named “See Way” sent distress signals to the Lebanese port in Tripoli after the vessel experienced technical problems and began to sink. Lebanese coastguards reportedly towed the ship to Tripoli port and were able to save the crew .
The vessel was sailing from Iskenderun in Turkey to Alexandria in Egypt.
The Hamster That Ate The World
By Ghassan Karam
It is ironic that many in the developed world are rather pleased that the global economy in general and the developed countries in particular have experienced economic contraction over the past year.
U.S. appoints a new ambassador to Syria
The United States has reportedly appointed Robert Stephen Ford as its ambassador to Syria, according to Lebanese daily An Nahar…
Washington has not had an envoy in Damascus since former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recalled Margaret Scobey in February 2005 in response to the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and amid tensions between the two countries mainly over issues relating to Iraq and Lebanon.
“US Middle East envoy George Mitchell gave the name of the new US ambassador to Syria in a meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad last week ,” An Nahar reported
Ford a career diplomat from the state of Maryland, has served as the United States Ambassador to Algeria from 2006 till 2008.
He is presently America’s deputy ambassador to Iraq.
In addition to English, Ford speaks German, Turkish, French, and Arabic.
Israel ‘poisoned Hamas leader’
A HIT squad that killed a top Hamas commander in his Dubai hotel room injected him with a drug that induced a heart attack, photographed all the documents in his briefcase and left a “do not disturb” sign on the door.
The body of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, 50, was discovered by staff at the luxury Al Bustan Rotana hotel after lunch on January 20. There were no suspicious signs and local doctors diagnosed a heart attack.
Nine days later, after blood samples sent to Paris for analysis showed signs of poison, Hamas announced his death and blamed Mossad, the Israeli overseas intelligence service, for the assassination.
Al-Mabhouh was one of the founders of the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, the Islamic organization that seized control of the Gaza strip in 2007.
“Israel knows Hamas can hit all Israeli targets abroad – any time, anywhere,” Senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar said Saturday
Timesonline
March 14: 2010 will be the most important Feb. 14 commemoration
March 14 coordinator Fares Soueid told MTV: The enormous amount of criticism directed against March 14 “constituted a grave provocation to the March 14 masses” adding and” this year will be the most important February 14″ . In reference to the 5 th. commemoration of the assassination of Lebanon’s former PM Rafik Hariri
Sison: Hezbollah is a threat to Lebanon & entire region
The United States Ambassador to Lebanon Michele Sison confirmed that her country’s policy toward Hezbollah has not changed, and that the party remains on the list of terrorist organizations, “and stressed that” Hezbollah “threatens not only Lebanon but the entire region, and pointed out that Washington does not distinguish between the military and the political wings of the party.
Sison, in an interview for the MTV announced that the US equipment supplied to Lebanon’s military is part of a training program set up by the United States, adding that bilateral defense talks to be launched in the coming days .
Regarding the Ethiopian Airlines flight ET409 crash Sison said that there is an American team in place that works in coordination with the Directorate of Civil Aviation of Lebanon, and stressed the need to wait for the investigation and not to engage in speculation about the cause of the crash.
Israel Rejects UN charges of war crimes
Israel has submitted a report to the United Nations responding to allegations of war crimes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
In an official 46-page response, Israel dismissed the U.N.-commissioned Goldstone Report, which accused the Jewish state of war crimes during the Gaza conflict a year ago. The report, authored by South African jurist Richard Goldstone, found that Israel used excessive force and deliberately targeted Palestinian civilians in heavily populated areas. http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/Israel-Submits-Report-Rejecting-UN-Charges-of-War-Crimes-83157392.html
PSP condemns Israeli lifting of KM Naffa’s parliamentary immunity
Lebanon’s Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) which is headed by MP Walid Jumblatt issued a statement on Saturday in which it condemned the lifting of parliamentary immunity of Knesset Member Said Naffa . “the Israeli occupation continues its policies of aggression and arrogance against the Druze sect in the Palestinian territory of 1948, the latest of which was the decision of the Israeli Knesset to lift the immunity of the KM Said Nafaa under pressure and intimidation that is being systematically practiced “, the statement said
PSP called for an Arab solidarity campaign in support of Nafaa stressing the importance of “moral support for the Palestinian Arabs of 1948 “. Lebanon Files
Lebanon cabinet allocates 20 % quota for women in municipal elections
The emergency session of the Lebanese Cabinet adopted on Friday a twenty percent quota for women in the forthcoming municipal elections instead of the previously mulled thirty percent, knowing that some ministers demanded a fifty percent quota.
As to the issue of the obligatory University degree for heads of municipalities ( mayors) , the suggestion was dropped for being “non-democratic” according to the vast majority of the ministers.
Interior Minister Ziad Baroud proposed that Mayors should have a college degree in order to raise the standard of the position.
In an interview with An Nahar on Saturday Baroud said the ministers did not reach an agreement on his proposal to elect the head of the municipality directly by the people.
He also said : “The issues of adopting proportional representation in municipal elections and introducing pre-printed ballots have been postponed until Monday’s session.”
China suspends military exchanges with US
China said it will suspend military exchanges and security talks with the United States and threatens to halt cooperation on other issues because of the U.S. plan to sell arms to rival Taiwan.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei summoned U.S. Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman Saturday and warned of “serious repercussions” on U.S-China relations from Washington’s decision to sell $6.4 billion worth of military equipment to Taiwan.
He said that Beijing considered the decision, announced Friday, as an interference in its domestic affairs and that it could jeopardize Sino-U.S. cooperation on international and regional issues. VOA
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