Salafi sectarians

Pakistan's Daily Times reports on a new round of sectarian name calling by Saudi Arabia's Salafi clerics:

Sunni clerics in Saudi Arabia accused the Shia community on Sunday of destabilising Muslim countries and humiliating Sunnis, just days before a Muslim interfaith conference called by Saudi Arabia’s king.

In a statement that appeared on several websites, clerics accused Shias of abusing Sunnis under their control. “If they (Shias) have a country, they humiliate and exert control in their rule over Sunnis, such as the case in Iran and Iraq,” said the clerics. “They sow strife, corruption and destruction among Muslims and destabilise security in Muslim countries,” it said.

In the strongly worded statement, the 22 clerics criticised the Iranian-backed Shia Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying, “Many Muslim intellectuals as well as the masses have been deceived by (Shia) claims ... of enmity toward Jews and Americans, which is what happened with the claims of the so-called Hezbollah in Lebanon.”

Cabinet—who wants what

Lebanon's Daily Star has the heads-up on the negociations over the new cabinet.

Here's an edited (and revised) version of their report:

Fuad Siniora is attmepting to find a compromise over the distributing the different portfolios in the next cabinet.

Apparently Michel Aoun has presented a "huge basket of demands". The head of the Free Patriotic Movement wants the minstries of finance, health, public works, social affairs, and either industry or agriculture.

Four of these are in the are in the highly coveted service sector.

Apparently who gets what is dividing friend and foe alike.

According to the Al-Safir daily, Qatari officials stepped in to help overcome the hurdles, and will follow up with a visit if the talks stall.

Meanwhile president Michel Sleiman denied earlier reports that some "foreign parties" were pressuring him to nominate "certain people" for cabinet jobs.

Sleiman told a delegation of Arab ambassadors that, "There is no party that can pressure [the Presidential Palace in] Baabda ... We are only ready to move under the pressure of national and Arab interests."

Salafi offensive

The long feared offensive by the Salafis — a varient of Sunni Islam that considers the Shia to be appostates — has arrived.

The BBC has the story:

"A statement saying the Fatah al-Islam militant group was behind a bombing at an army post in Lebanon which killed a soldier has been sent to news agencies.

"The authenticity of the statement cannot be verified.

"It said Saturday's attack was in revenge for last year's offensive against the group by the Lebanese army. The army post struck by the blast is at Abdeh, in northern Lebanon, near the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp where the offensive was launched."

I have posted a short history of the origins of the creed on the Shemali blog, and assess their impact on the struggle in Iraq in an article for the International Socialist journal.

Raytheon 9—not guilty

Mabrouk and congratualtions to the anti-war activists, known as the Raytheon 9, for their stunning court victory in Northern Ireland.

I met some of the nine in Beirut during a tour to collect evidence for their defence, and a fine bunch they are.

According to Socialist Worker:
The defendants from Derry Anti War Coalition walked free after the judge dismissed the case for lack of evidence from the prosecution.

The nine anti-war protesters, including campaigning journalist Eamonn McCann, occupied and shut down the Derry offices of Raytheon, the fifth biggest arms manufacturer in the world, on Wednesday 9 August 2006.

The action was part of a wider protest at Raytheon’s complicity in the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon and the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Throughout the trial the Nine maintained that their actions were legitimate as an attempt to prevent war crimes.

The judge was forced to concede this when he stated that the defendants had acted to prevent destruction in Lebanon.

This is a major victory and vindication of the action of the Derry Anti War Coalition and the Raytheon Nine.

For more news and background.

McCann's speech at the Time to Go Demo 23 September 2006.



For background, this is footage of the Irish uprising against British rule in the late 1960s early 70s. McCann explains why the youth of town of Derry are throwing stones at police and soldiers.



And some context to the "troubles" in Northern Ireland.

Upbeat on debt

Reuters reports that Jihad Azou, the caretaker finance minister, is confident that the country can manange, in the short term at least, the massive $43 billion debt repayments:

"Interest rates can be progressively adjusted downwards in order to reflect an improvement in the risk profile. I see the whole yield curve being adjusted.

"It will improve the public finance situation by reducing the debt service. This is the biggest strain on the spending of the treasury. Any reduction in interest rate will immediately translate into a reduction in budget deficit."

Legal looting

According to the Pakistan's Daily Times the families of US soldiers killed in the 1983 barracks bombing are attempting to loot ancient Persian artefacts as part of their revenge against Iran.

At the time the US soldiers were part of a force attempting to occupy Lebanon following the 1982 Israeli invasion. The troops fled shortly after a militant drove a truck bomb into their barracks in south Beirut.

We could be forgiven of thinking this is part of a sick joke, but it isn't. Americans roam around the world killing, occupying and stealing (and destroying ancient Iraqi heritage sites)… why should we be surprised that their camp followers shouldn't be up for a bit of loot?

For the record there is no question of any compensations for the 30,000 Lebanese and Palestinians who were killed in the invasion.

Pictured is the prize they are after:

"Thousands of the tablets and fragments have been on loan from Iran to the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute since they were excavated nearly 80 years ago by university archaeologists. Each tablet could be worth thousands of dollars. Several hundred of the thick, candy bar-sized tablets have previously been returned to Iran."

For the full story go to the persepolis tablets blog.

Nassim Nissir freed

Al-Jazeera reports on Israel's release of Nassim Nissir, a Lebanese man jailed for spying on behalf of Hizbollah:

Nissir crossed into Lebanon after serving a six-year term. He has an Israeli Jewish mother and a Lebanese Muslim father and held Israeli citizenship at the time of his arrest.

He first joined his mother's family in Israel in 1982, during an Israeli invasion of Lebanon.

Nissir's brother Mohammed said Nassim told him in a phone call a month ago that "his jailers had placed him in solitary confinement in a bid to persuade him to abandon his plans to return to Lebanon with his two daughters, who are Israeli citizens".

Beirut—images

Tadamon has posted two photo essays on the May events.

Carole Kerbage (above) has some striking images of the struggle as expressed by empty streets, while Farah Kobaissy (top) has captured the scrawls of pro-government graffiti.

The view from the Vatican

According to Zenit the Catholic church was central to the outbreak of brotherly love:

Bishop Bechara Rai of Jbeil told Vatican Radio, "Of course, he must not be the only one to carry this cross, but all the Lebanese. Likewise the Church has a great role to play in continuing the effort of reconciliation in Lebanon. […] We must work a lot to complete this political reconciliation and go forward with a new country that is able to take up its role again."

What Britian thinks

Meanwhile Britian's Economist magazine is hedging its bets:

Given the fragility of Israel's government, the reluctance of Israelis to surrender territory in exchange for peace with Syria, and Syria's refusal so far to meet Israeli demands that it drop its alliance with Iran and end support for groups such as Hizbullah, a regional deal looks hard to strike in the near future. But at least its outline looks clearer.

What Russia thinks

Maria Appakova writes in Novosti:

Paris has declared that after Suleiman's inauguration, it may step up contacts with Damascus, which it froze last December because of disagreements over Lebanon. Restoration of French-Syrian contacts may considerably improve the regional situation. France has always carried weight in the Arab world.

As for the Arab countries, they are now content with each other — after all, they have proved their ability to resolve their problems without outside, Western, aid.

They have improved their attitude to Iran and Syria, which has lately been something of a pariah in the Arab world. Arab League Secretary-General Amr Musa, and Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Hamad Bin Jasim Bin Jabir Al-Thani, the main mediator in the Lebanese talks, complimented Damascus and Tehran, and thanked them for their role in achieving the domestic Lebanese settlement.

Dramatic and sober

Osama Al Sharif of Arab News looks at the Lebanese prism from a different angle:

In the aftermath of Hezbollah’s military stunt in Beirut a couple of weeks ago, pro-Washington Lebanese factions discovered to their chagrin that the US cavalry was not coming to their aid.

It was this dramatic change in US policy that prepared the scene for a more sober dialogue among the warring factions.

But it also hinted that the Bush administration had played most of its cards, or, more importantly, was now ready to adopt new strategies.

Whether Washington and Tehran were getting close to striking a deal on Iraq and Iran’s nuclear program remains to be seen. But the unveiling of new Syria-Israel negotiations, through Turkey, was an important development that could not be ignored.

What Germany thinks

Germany's Spiegel magazine gives the euro-view of the "May events":

Various intelligence services have long been warning of Hezbollah's regaining strength. Intelligence experts believe that the militia replenished, and even doubled, its arsenal after the summer war against Israel in 2006. Hezbollah is now believed to have 27,000 medium-range missiles, some of which could even reach Tel Aviv.

The weapons were purchased with the help of funds from Iran and Syria. In 2007 alone, Hezbollah is believed to have received anti-tank weapons and rocket launchers worth $800 million (€516 million) from Tehran. The weapons were delivered overland through Syria.

He's back

While acknowledging that the Doha deal is a setback for US control over Lebanon, it has fallen well short of solving the underlying causes of instability in the country.

Nothing shows this more than the return of Fuad Siniora (pictured above) and the March 14 cabal.

The problem with Doha is that as part of the compromise the opposition has accepted the gerrymandered electoral constituencies. This move confirms the rule of a small clique of families who owe their power to the sectarian division of the country.

Missing from the negotiations is any discussion of the harsh neo-liberal policies imposed on Lebanon by western powers—known as the Paris I, II and III.

As it joins the new government, the opposition is in danger of becoming closely associated with these unpopular economic policies, and losing the widespread sympathy among ordinary people.

The truth is that Hizbollah and its allies have made peace with the sectarian system, in doing so it has undermined its credibility. Sursock always stands by the principle of the right of nations to self determination, and will back all genuine anti-imperialist movements.

But what we have here is Hizbollah falling into the same trap made by every other Arab national liberation movement... leading a struggle, then making peace with a dangerous enemy — in this case the sectarian system and neo-liberalism.

Sectarian clashes*2

And in the mountains…

"A verbal altercation began on Tuesday evening in Dohet Aramoun, a town south of Choueifat, and soon degenerated into armed clashes that wounded several people and killed Hussein Mohammad Janbeh, a Lebanese soldier who was deployed with his unit to control the violence."

According to the Star the sitution is becoming so bad that the "Central Security Council announced an indefinite ban on motorbikes, provocative convoys, slogans or flag waving in Beirut."

Included in the ban are the bikes used to deliver food — a huge industry in the capital. The opposition parties have also warned their supporters that they will not support them if they violate the ban.

Menawhile the Khiam Centre for Rehabilitation is warning: “There is a severe psychological crisis within the citizens, as well as a serious sectarian rift that will have devastating consequences, especially in Beirut, due to abuses against citizens.”

Mohammad Safa, general-secretary of the Khiam Centre, told the UN news agency: “Last week’s events didn’t fall from the sky, they’re a result of this sectarian structure. If we don’t change it, we’ll find that this was just the latest chapter of a civil war.”

Sectarian clashes*1

Lebanon's Daily Star reports that Shias and Sunnis clashed in west Beirut following the speech by Hassan Nasrallah:

The fight broke out when supporters of Hizbullah and Amal paraded in the streets of Corniche al-Mazraa, a predominantly Sunni neighborhood, shortly after Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah concluded his speech to mark Liberation Day.

Sources added that after verbal insults were traded, the fight degenerated and the two groups exchanged gunfire.

Voices from Home

The International Labour Organization Regional Office for Arab States presents:

Maid in Lebanon II: Voices from Home
A documentary by Carol Mansour

This second documentary film targets the Lebanese public to generate a debate on the role that women migrant domestic workers play in Lebanese households.

The film poses questions and suggests answers on workers' rights, employment contracts and everyday terms and conditions of work. This documentary picks up from where the first Maid in Lebanon left off, showcasing four stories of Lebanese employers and their maids.

Babel Theater, Thursday, 29 May 2008, 8:00 pm
Marinian Center, next to AUB hospital
Hamra, Beirut (01) 744-033/4

The picture is of a Sri Lankan domestic worker who was savagely beaten by her employer.

Change of face

Lebanon's Daily Star reports on the election of Michel Suleiman as president:

After Suleiman was sworn in, the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora resigned in line with the Constitution but will stay on in a caretaker capacity.

Suleiman arrived at Parliament shortly after the election accompanied by Speaker Nabih Berri, who left the Parliament building after the vote and returned with the newly elected president in line with protocol.

After taking the presidential oath, Suleiman delivered an inaugural address that dealth with several contentious issues, including Lebanese-Syrian ties and the deadly clashes that struck Lebanon earlier this month. He called for good and balanced relations with Damascus - whose foreign minister, Walid Moallem, was in attendance - based on mutual respect.

"Both Lebanon and Syria should also respect each other's borders," the president added.

In an indirect reference to the recent clashes between opposition and pro-government supporters, Suleiman said Lebanon's weapons should only be directed at the Israeli enemy.