http://news.antiwar.com/2012/10/23/us-state-dept-demands-lebanon-form-new-govt/
US State Dept. Demands Lebanon Form New Govt.
Says New Govt. Needed to 'Counter Syria'
by Jason Ditz, October 23, 2012
With Lebanon’s current government in turmoil after weekend violence, the US is taking the opportunity to once again insinuate itself directly in the political situation, with the State Department is demanding that President Suleiman form a new government with the Sunni-dominated opposition parties at the lead.
“The export of instability from Syria threatens the security of Lebanon now more than ever, and it’s really up to the Lebanese people to choose a government that is going to counter this threat,” insisted spokeswoman Victoria Nuland.
The US has styled itself as something of a king-maker in Lebanese politics in this government session, with Vice President Joe Biden showing up days before the election andthreatening to withdraw all aid from Lebanon if they voted for the Hezbollah-dominated faction.
And while Biden got his way temporarily, the Sunni-dominated faction eventually collapsed and was replaced by Hezbollah anyhow. Now US officials are pushing for that government’s ouster and the return of the already-failed faction, which is more than likely going to force early elections.
and.......
Despite Army Claims of Ceasefire, Fighting Continues in Northern Lebanon
PM Rejects International Tribunal as 11 More Reported Slain
by Jason Ditz, October 23, 2012
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati added fuel to the growing unrest in the country today, rejecting opposition calls for an international tribunal to investigate the assassination of spymaster Maj. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan in a bombing last week.
Anger over the Hassan assassination and opposition contention that it was carried out with the knowledge of the ruling Hezbollah faction has sparked sectarian violence across the nation, with 11 reported slain and the northern city of Tripoli looking to break into full scale civil war.
So far Mikati’s government is clinging to power, but President Michel Suleiman is said to be in talks about forming a new government and is meeting with blocs across the political spectrum. Whether anyone can form a government or keep the existing one in place in unclear, and as violence worsens the obligatory early elections may be difficult to organize.
The Lebanese Army claimed earlier today that they had reached an agreement with both Sunnis and Alawites in Tripoli for a ceasefire, but that appears not to have been the case, as fighting continued into the night.
and......
Rebels Split as Syrian Govt Agrees to Cease-Fire
Major Islamist Faction Spurns Truce, Vows to Continue Fighting
by Jason Ditz, October 24, 2012
According to UN Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, the Syrian government and the largest rebel faction, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), have both agreed to a temporary ceasefire for the duration of the Eid al-Adha holiday, meaning the potential for a multi-day pause in the civil war.
Brahimi has expressed hopes that the temporary truce will gave both sides time to consider the value of negotiation, and that it might lead to a new round of settlement talks, though whether or not that happens remains to be seen.
It may be hard to even keep the ceasefire going for the Eid, as the al-Nusra faction, one of the more aggressive Islamist blocs in the civil war, has rejected the idea of a ceasefire, and has promised to continue its offensive.
That could make it difficult for the other factions to sustain their ceasefires, as the Syrian military will inevitably retaliate against al-Nusra attacks, and potentially draw other rebel blocs, which were respecting the ceasefire, into the battle as well.
and....
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Oct-23/192402-mikati-to-resume-work-from-grand-serail.ashx#axzz2A65QQ8Tr
Mikati to resume work from Grand SerailOctober 23, 2012 01:57 AMBy Hasan Lakkis
| The Daily Star |
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| Press Conference for Pr.Minister Najib Mikati. (The Daily Star/Dalati Nohra/HO) |
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BEIRUT: Prime Minister Najib Mikati will resume his work from the Grand Serail Tuesday, three days after he said he had suspended his decision to resign and that he would work from his home in protest at the assassination of top security official Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan.
Mikati has come under mounting pressure from the opposition March 14 parties to resign since Hasan’s killing in a car bomb in Beirut last week. The March 14 parties have blamed Mikati and Syrian President Bashar Assad for Hasan’s assassination.
Mikati is expected to meet at the Grand Serail with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton who is visiting Lebanon on the second leg of a five-day tour of the Middle East for talks on developments in the region, particularly the 19-month-old conflict in Syria and its repercussions on the situation in Lebanon. Ashton visited Jordan Monday.
Mikati has come under mounting pressure from the opposition March 14 parties to resign since Hasan’s killing in a car bomb in Beirut last week. The March 14 parties have blamed Mikati and Syrian President Bashar Assad for Hasan’s assassination.
Mikati is expected to meet at the Grand Serail with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton who is visiting Lebanon on the second leg of a five-day tour of the Middle East for talks on developments in the region, particularly the 19-month-old conflict in Syria and its repercussions on the situation in Lebanon. Ashton visited Jordan Monday.
Ashton will reiterate the EU’s position announced by the EU ambassador to Lebanon, Angelina Eichhorst, when she met Mikati two days ago which calls for the Lebanese government not to resign to avoid plunging the country into a power vacuum, sources at the Grand Serail said.
Foreign officials who have contacted Mikati since Hasan’s assassination have expressed similar stances, the sources said.
Referring to sectarian clashes in Beirut and the northern city of Tripoli that followed Hasan’s funeral in downtown Beirut Sunday, ministerial sources told The Daily Star that the decision to maintain security in the country and prevent the blocking of roads and gunfire has been taken at the highest levels.
Referring to March 14 protests in downtown Beirut to press for the government’s resignation, the sources said that any civilized protests or a peaceful sit-in would be tolerated provided that the action would not undermine the country’s security and stability.
Meanwhile, Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun warned of a political vacuum in the country if the government resigned under March 14 pressure.
In an exclusive interview with The Daily Star, Aoun said the resignation of some ministers in the Cabinet was a possibility in light of the developments following Hasan’s assassination.
“It would be very hard for the Cabinet to resign now. The reason being the difficulties in forming Cabinets and that the country cannot bear a [political] void,” Aoun said. “What happened [Hasan’s assassination] constitutes a security setback but if there was a vacuum, maybe the country will be in chaos without officials and the average of forming government, unfortunately, has been six months and up.”
Interior Minister Marwan Charbel met with senior police officers at the Grand Serail Monday to thrash out a plan to maintain security around the government seat in downtown Beirut and prevent a recurrence of Sunday’s attempts by March 14 protesters to storm the Grand Serail.
During a meeting with President Michel Sleiman at Baabda Palace, Mikati was briefed by the president on the contacts he had with Lebanese leaders as well as the attitudes of the ambassadors of major powers to deal with the crisis brought on by Hasan’s killing, government sources said.
The sources added that Mikati resuming his activity at the Grand Serail was no longer a priority. Mikati has told political leaders who contacted him that he was ready to discuss all options. “If they want a new government, I am ready. If they don’t want a government, I have no problem either,” the sources quoted Mikati as saying.
Political sources said that the stance of Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt since Hasan’s killing was that there was no alternative to Mikati as head of the current government or any other national unity or salvation Cabinet.
Furthermore, the attitudes of Western capitals which rejected the government’s resignation have enhanced the impression felt by people who met Mikati Monday that he was more satisfied and reassured than the first days of the crisis, the sources said.
As such, the sources said that the March 14 parties will have to review their assessment of the Western and local political climate which indicates that Mikati’s staying as the head of the government was inevitable for the time being.
Meanwhile, Western countries and the United Nations expressed solidarity with Lebanon as it struggles to overcome the crisis over Hasan’s assassination.
“The meeting with President Michel Sleiman was held at our request to underline our solidarity with Lebanon at this difficult time,” U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly told reporters following an emergency meeting with Sleiman at Baabda Palace.
The meeting was attended by ambassadors of five major powers – the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia, which are permanent members in the U.N. Security Council.
Plumbly urged all Lebanese parties to reach a deal that would preserve national unity: “The United Nations calls on all Lebanese sides to move forward on a peaceful political path to preserve stability and security in their country.”
He added that the Cabinet should continue to preserve stability and security in Lebanon.
“The U.N., and the five countries’ representatives that attended the meeting expressed their determination to support the government of Lebanon to put an end once and for all to impunity in Lebanon,” Plumbly said.
Condemning the “terrorist attack” that killed Hasan, his driver and a woman in Ashrafieh, Plumbly said the U.N. stressed the need to refer those involved in the bombing to the judiciary.
“The U.N. reiterates once again its condemnation of any attempt that aims at destabilizing Lebanon through political assassinations,” Plumbly said in Arabic while surrounded by the five ambassadors. “The permanent members at the United Nations call upon all the parties in Lebanon to preserve stability.”
U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Maura Connelly discussed developments in Lebanon during a meeting with Speaker Nabih Berri.
Meanwhile, Jumblatt signaled his support for the Mikati government in the face of strong March 14 calls for its resignation following Hasan’s assassination. He also said that the PSP was ready to participate in the formation of a new salvation government, a long-standing demand by the opposition March 14 coalition.
Responding to March 14 leaders who linked attending National Dialogue sessions to the government’s resignation first, Jumblatt said in his weekly article to be published in the PSP’s weekly Al-Anbaa newspaper Tuesday: “Linking all future stances to the government’s resignation first would expose the country to instability and falling again into the trap wanted by the Syrian regime, which is to plunge Lebanon into vacuum.
“The PSP, while affirming its full commitment to civil peace as a red line that should not be crossed, renews its readiness to participate in the formation of a new government to serve as a national partnership government to salvage the country from the current situation provided that there was a collective consensus at the local and regional levels.”
Jumblatt defended Mikati against harsh March 14 campaigns.
“The government and its head must not be held responsible more than they can endure,” he said.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu warned in a newspaper interview that Hasan’s assassination would lead to “negative reactions and repercussions not only on Lebanon, but also on all states in the region, including Turkey.”
Responding to March 14 leaders who linked attending National Dialogue sessions to the government’s resignation first, Jumblatt said in his weekly article to be published in the PSP’s weekly Al-Anbaa newspaper Tuesday: “Linking all future stances to the government’s resignation first would expose the country to instability and falling again into the trap wanted by the Syrian regime, which is to plunge Lebanon into vacuum.
“The PSP, while affirming its full commitment to civil peace as a red line that should not be crossed, renews its readiness to participate in the formation of a new government to serve as a national partnership government to salvage the country from the current situation provided that there was a collective consensus at the local and regional levels.”
Jumblatt defended Mikati against harsh March 14 campaigns.
“The government and its head must not be held responsible more than they can endure,” he said.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu warned in a newspaper interview that Hasan’s assassination would lead to “negative reactions and repercussions not only on Lebanon, but also on all states in the region, including Turkey.”
and.....
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Oct-23/192401-army-chases-gunmen-off-streets-of-beirut-tripoli.ashx#axzz2A65QQ8Tr
Army chases gunmen off streets of Beirut, TripoliOctober 23, 2012 01:59 AMBy Hussein Dakroub
| The Daily Star |
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| Army units deploy in Shatila. (The Daily Star/Mahmoud Kheir) |
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BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army launched a major security dragnet Monday, vowing to crack down on gunmen and restore order in Beirut rattled by the worst outburst of violence since 2008 following last week’s assassination of police intelligence chief Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hasan.
The Army issued stern warnings to gunmen to withdraw from the streets and open roads, stressing that security was “a red line.”
Troops, backed by armored personnel carriers and heavy machine guns, fanned out across the capital to dismantle roadblocks and chase gunmen off the streets in several neighborhoods of Beirut following mounting tension sparked by Hasan’s assassination. The sound of sporadic gunfire reverberated in parts of Beirut before the military deployment.
At least seven people were killed and more than 20 wounded in sectarian clashes between supporters and opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad in the northern city of Tripoli in the past two days, security sources said. A Palestinian man was killed by soldiers who returned fire following an attack on their patrol in Beirut.
The Army’s crackdown followed sectarian clashes between rival gunmen in Beirut and Tripoli and the closure of roads in the capital and other key roads on the coastal highway south of Beirut shortly after Hasan’s funeral in downtown Beirut Sunday.
The Army shot and killed a Palestinian man who opened fire on a military patrol as troops attempted to restore order in and around Beirut following raids of militant hideouts.
An Army statement said Ahmad and Abed Qwaider, Palestinians, opened fire on a Lebanese Army patrol in the Qasqas neighborhood, prompting soldiers to return fire. “Ahmad died as a result of his wounds,” the statement said.
“The Army Command repeats what it had stressed in a previous statement that military units will firmly and strongly confront those who try to tamper with the security of citizens and attack Army forces regardless of their affiliations,” the statement added.
In an earlier statement Monday, the Army Command warned against political exploitation of Hasan’s assassination and vowed to prevent attempts to destabilize the country. The statement said the Army was committed to its role of preventing security breaches and maintaining civil peace in the country.
Referring to the clashes between supporters and opponents of Assad in Beirut and Tripoli that followed Hasan’s funeral, the statement said: “Recent developments that happened in the last few hours have proved beyond doubt that the country is going through a crucial and critical period and tension has risen in some areas to unprecedented levels.”
It appealed to all political parties to be wary of their statements and not to incite violence “because the fate of the nation is at stake.”
“The Army Command affirms its commitment to its role in preventing security breaches and maintaining civil peace,” the statement said. “Therefore, it calls on all citizens of their various affiliations to display the highest level of national responsibility in this critical period and to vacate the streets and open the roads that are still blocked.”
“Security is a red line in deeds, not in words. So is the targeting of official institutions and attacking public and private properties,” the statement said.
It added that strict measures, particularly in areas of escalating sectarian frictions, are being taken to “prevent Lebanon from being turned again into an arena for settling regional scores and prevent the assassination of martyr General Wissam al-Hasan from being exploited as an opportunity to assassinate the nation as a whole.”
Hasan, the head of the police’s Information Branch who opposed Assad, was killed along with his driver and a woman in a car bomb that ripped through the Beirut neighborhood of Ashrafieh last Friday.
Hasan, 47, was close to the Hariri family and played a key role in the probe of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s assassination. The March 14 coalition has blamed Assad for Hasan’s assassination and called on Prime Minister Najib Mikati to resign immediately.
Shortly after the Army carried out the military operation in Beirut, Army Commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi inspected Army units deployed in the area and was briefed by officers on the security measures taken to restore order.
Kahwagi issued instructions to officers and soldiers to “confront strife and not to be lenient with those trying to tamper with the country’s security to whatever group they belonged,” according to an Army statement.
He called on the military to do their best to protect the lives of citizens and their properties and the freedom of their movement, it said. Kahwagi briefed Mikati on the Army’s measures.
Beirut was rocked by sectarian clashes in May 2008 between pro- and anti-government gunmen after Hezbollah’s supporters briefly took over west Beirut to protest the government’s decision to dismantle the party’s private telecommunications network. More than 80 people were killed in those clashes that also spread to other areas in the mountains.
Monday’s military raids, which began around 10 a.m., were heavily concentrated in the Beirut areas of Tayyouneh, Qasqas and Beshara al-Khoury.
The Army operation came after six people were wounded in overnight clashes in Beirut’s Tariq al-Jdideh neighborhood following Hasan’s funeral.
Security sources said the six men, including a Syrian and a Palestinian, were wounded in the exchanges of machine-gun fire and rocket-propelled grenades between the predominantly Sunni Tariq al-Jdideh and nearby Barbour, a neighborhood controlled by the Amal Movement and Hezbollah.
Fighting stopped at about 2 a.m. when the Army managed to deploy and calm returned to the embattled areas. Stray bullets hit several west Beirut homes outside the areas of tension.
“This is crazy. A real war was going on. My father could have been killed in his bedroom,” said Rola Riashi, a resident of Wata Mosseitbeh.
She said a stray bullet pierced her father’s bedroom window late Sunday as the family huddled together in the corner of another room for safety.
There was very little traffic on the roads of west Beirut Monday morning and many parents did not send their children to school.
The Education Ministry called on schools located in the areas of tension to make their own decision about whether to open.
Troops in Qasqas and Tariq al-Jdideh were seen blaring warnings to gunmen through loudspeakers. Soon afterward, no gunmen could be seen on the streets and the military began removing barricades used to block the roads.
Tensions remained high in Tariq al-Jdideh and surrounding Sunni-dominant neighborhoods of Corniche al-Mazraa, Wata Mosseitbeh, Cola and the area where the Camille Chamoun Sports Stadium, commonly known as the Cite Sportive.
Police and the Army blocked several roads of the capital early Monday, including Salim Salam passageway, for “security considerations,” according to one source. The roads were then re-opened around 10 a.m., with security forces patrolling the area.
The Beirut fighting coincided with armed clashes that raged well into the morning hours between the neighborhoods of Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh in Tripoli, north Lebanon. The Tripoli clashes tapered off Monday morning, but heavy fighting renewed around midday.
Security sources in Tripoli said seven people were killed and more than 20 wounded in two days of clashes, triggered after Akkar Mufti Sheikh Ossama Rifai delivered a fiery speech during Hasan’s funeral and leading to the death of a 15-year-old resident of Jabal Mohsen.
There was very little traffic on the roads of west Beirut Monday morning and many parents did not send their children to school.
The Education Ministry called on schools located in the areas of tension to make their own decision about whether to open.
Troops in Qasqas and Tariq al-Jdideh were seen blaring warnings to gunmen through loudspeakers. Soon afterward, no gunmen could be seen on the streets and the military began removing barricades used to block the roads.
Tensions remained high in Tariq al-Jdideh and surrounding Sunni-dominant neighborhoods of Corniche al-Mazraa, Wata Mosseitbeh, Cola and the area where the Camille Chamoun Sports Stadium, commonly known as the Cite Sportive.
Police and the Army blocked several roads of the capital early Monday, including Salim Salam passageway, for “security considerations,” according to one source. The roads were then re-opened around 10 a.m., with security forces patrolling the area.
The Beirut fighting coincided with armed clashes that raged well into the morning hours between the neighborhoods of Jabal Mohsen and Bab al-Tabbaneh in Tripoli, north Lebanon. The Tripoli clashes tapered off Monday morning, but heavy fighting renewed around midday.
Security sources in Tripoli said seven people were killed and more than 20 wounded in two days of clashes, triggered after Akkar Mufti Sheikh Ossama Rifai delivered a fiery speech during Hasan’s funeral and leading to the death of a 15-year-old resident of Jabal Mohsen.
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