Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide

Antiwar protesters chased away Israeli colonel Geva Rapp when he tried to address a pro-Israeli rally in central London. Unfortunately his timing was off as 50 metres down the road was a pro-Palestinian rally.... so much for the much vaunted Mosad security services. They need to check Facebook more often.

So farewell then... the Daily Star

Lebanon's English language newspaper, The Daily Star, has folded.

It does not come as a surprise, and I feel deep sadness for the journalists and production staff who turned up to work last week to find the doors locked.

The newspaper reached its peak in the years before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, where it combined good local reporting—especially on the rise of worker's disputes—with some very fine arts writing from Jim Quilty.

Its managing editor Marc Sirois is a gutsy hard working journo who combined a healthy contempt for politicians with a deep respect for ordinary people (who he felt were getting a rough deal).

And although Sirois was a proud and unreconstructed "conservative", he was able to engage in a real way with ideas he did not agree with—even avowedly Marxists ones.

The Star lost its voice when it hired a cabal of neo-cons whose only interest was to peddle the US line on Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine. This turn drove away its readership—who were far too well read to buy the gush pushed by bought-and-paid-for hacks like Micheal Young.

These pro-war liberals have destroyed everything they touched. The world eventually grew tired of their false moralism and sickening justification for blatant imperial conquest. They lost all credibility and destroyed the Star in the process.

In the end the paper became a mouthpiece for the US embassy in Beirut. It killed off any hope for a future when it abstained from reporting the 2006 war (it ran pictures instead).

When the whole world was desperately looking for answers and some independent reporting, the paper was muzzled. This was the worse form of journalistic suicide.

The best reports (in English) on that war came from the former journalists in the form of a blog.

I wish all the best to its staff, and thank them for all the great times we had.

***

Here's the IHT report:
The publisher of Lebanon's only English-language daily says a court order forced the newspaper to shut down over financial troubles.

Jamil Mroue says judicial authorities shut and sealed the Beirut offices of The Daily Star on January 14, less than two hours after the order.

The paper has since been out of print and its Web site hasn't been updated.

Mroue says he is appealing the decision and looking for new investors. The Star is a rare English-language daily in the Arab world independent of government control.

The paper, founded by Mroue's late father in 1952, has suffered from financial troubles for years. Mroue says the newspaper owed a Lebanese bank around $700,000.

Occupied for Gaza!

British universities lightening occupations in support of Gaza... read the blogs here!

Essex
www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=45143838671

Kings
kcloccupation.blogspot.com

LSE
lseoccupation.blogspot.com

Oxford
occupiedoxford.wordpress.com

Soas
soassolidarity4gaza.blogspot.com

Sussex
sussexoccupation.blogspot.com

Warwick
warwicksolidaritysitin.wordpress.com

Armed forces

By The Associated Press
Lebanon’s military is a volunteer force of about 60,000 members, and for decades has acted largely as an internal security force to keep the peace in a nation buffeted by conflict and instability. Here’s a look at its strength:

— Infantry: The army has 11 combat brigades, 1 Presidential Guard brigade, and five special regiments. Troops are mainly armed with US-made M-16 and Russian-made AK-47 assault rifles.

— Armor: 160 T-55 Russian-made tanks, 60 M-48 US-made battle tanks, about 1,000 M-113 tracked US-made armored personnel carriers and a number of wheeled armored carriers. The US pledges to deliver M-60 tanks in spring 2009.

— Artillery: 80 US-and French-made 155mm, 30 Russian-made 130mm, 200 Russian-made 122mm, 40 Russian-made multiple rocket launchers.

— Air Force: Four 1950s-era, British-made Hawker Hunters fighter jets, 24 UH-1H US-made helicopters and nine french-made Gazelle helicopters that are unarmed. Russia pledged in December to give Lebanon 10 MiG-29 fighter jets.

— Navy: About 30 patrol boats and landing crafts.

Meeting

The Palestinian and Lebanese Leftist Youth Groups

Invite you to a public meeting on

"Civil Rights for the Palestinian Refugees in Lebanon"

With the member of the central committee of the Leftist Assembly for Change

Ghassan Makarem

Thursday January 15th, 2009

@ 7:00 PM

Jebran Khalil Jebran park, ESCWA, Beirut (Open Sit-in)


تدعوكم المنظمات الشبابية اليسارية اللبنانية والفلسطينية الى المشاركة في الاعتصام المفتوح لدعم اهالي غزة امام الاسكوا إلى لقاء حواري حول



"حقوق الإنسان المدنية للاجئين الفلسطينيين في لبنان"



مع عضو اللجنة المركزية في التجمع اليساري من اجل التغيير

غسّان مكارم

وذلك في تمام الساعة السابعة من مساء الخميس الموافق فيه 15/1/2009

حديقة جبران خليل جبران - الإسكوا، بيروت

Gathering/Sit-In, Saturday Jan 10 @ Sassine Square

Stop the war on Gaza

Both, The Leftist Assembly for Change and
Attac Lubnan (Lebanese Association for Alternative Globalization)
Invites you to a Sit-In and candlelight vigil
on Sassine Square, Saturday January 10th, 2009 @ 5:00 PM

“Shame on Egypt”

This just in from the Associated Press:

An estimated 50,000 people protested in the coastal city of Alexandria after Friday prayers, joining thousands of people across the Middle East rallying against the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

The protesters, who thronged the streets in Alexandria, also berated Egypt for not lifting its border with the beleaguered Gaza Strip, chanting “Shame on Egypt,” and "Gaza excuse us.”

A police official in Cairo, who did not want to be identified because he was not allowed to speak to the media, said an estimated 50,000 people took part in the protest.

In the coastal city of El-Arish, the closest city to the border, protesters clashed with police during another protest. At least 10 people were slightly injured, said a police official.

***

And Earth Times:

Demonstrators in their thousands took to streets in the Arab world following Friday prayers to show their support for the people of the Gaza Strip and denounce the nearly two- week Israeli military offensive there.

Demonstrators in Doha, Baghdad and Amman carried Palestinian flags and chanted slogans in support of Gaza. Others decried the Egyptian government, accusing it of indirectly supporting Israel by keeping its border to the salient closed.

The largest demonstrations took place in Sana'a, the capital of Yemen, where eyewitness accounts say about 200,000 demonstrators took to the streets, calling for "Death to America and Israel" and saying that "Islam would win."

In the southern port city of Aden, police had to fire warning shots and tear gas to disperse tens of thousands of protesters after they tried to access the diplomatic quarter.

In Amman, tens of thousands of demonstrators carried photos of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who expelled his country's Israeli ambassador.

Demonstrators gathered near the Israeli embassy, but were prevented by security forces from reaching the building. They demanded that the Israeli ambassador be kicked out of Amman.

The Friday demonstrations were called by prominent Egyptian-born, but Qatar-based, Islamic scholar Youssef al-Qaradawi.
He called for Friday to be a "day of support for Gaza" and has urged imams around the Muslim world to deliver their Friday sermons on the Gaza situation.

Qaradawi delivered the Friday prayer sermon in one of Doha's mosques in which he attacked US "double standards" and Washington's "involvement in the Zionist scheme."

Demonstrators then came out of the mosque onto the streets carrying Qatari and Palestinian flags and wearing the traditional Palestinian keffiyeh, or scarf.

In Baghdad, thousands of demonstrators marched in Baghdad and chanted slogans like "Where are the Arab leaders?" and carried placards reading "Gaza martyrs, you are going to heaven" and "The attack on Gaza is an attack on humanity."

The demonstrators then gathered at the Muslim Youth Association, where speeches were delivered and songs sung in support of Gaza.

Police tried to stop protests by 100,000 people in the Egyptian city of Alexandria, but eventually decided to let the protest continue. Proteters decried Egyptian policy.

In clashes in the Sinai peninsula city of El-Arish, eight demonstrators and multiple policemen were injured in clashes. More than a dozen demonstrators were arrested.

Also, about 3,000 people protested in Ramallah in the West Bank at the urging of Hamas. Protesters chanted "Hamas, Hamas," but, unlike previous demonstrations, did not wave Hamas flags. The protest was dispersed by authorities after about half an hour.

Demonstrations also took place in Bahrain and support marches were expected in the United Arab Emirates.

Friday action

Activities of the open sit-in in support of Gaza organized by Lebanese and Palestinian Leftist Youth Groups- Friday 9/1/2009

- Action in front of Egyptian Embassy, in support of the position of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez who kciked out the Israeli Ambassador- 11 am

- Discussion on the boycott of the supporters of Israel, with the participation of Dr. Samah Idris, 5 pm, at the open sit-in across from ESCWA building, Riad El-Solh square

Street Meeting

The Plaestinian-Lebanese Leftist Youth organizations invite you to a meeting with:

Fawaz Traboulsi on "The War on Gaza: Resistance and Arab Regimes"

Wednesday January 7th 2009 at 6:00 PM,
Open Sit in, Downtown Beirut, Opposite ESCWA

Protest

In Response to the shameful and racist position of the European Union and in response to the "Surrender" initiative of Frensh president Nicholas Sarkozy

The Palestinian and Lebanese Leftist Youth organizations invites you to:

Popular Demonstration on the Office of the European Commission (Charles El Helou) Wednseday January 7th 2009

Gathering point at 2:30 in the location of the Sit-In (ESCWA GARDEN) then to head towards the European Commission office and demonstrating there at 3:00 PM

We say no for surrender, Stop the agression Now, and Full Support to the resistance

Anger in Lebanon

Since the start of the aggression on Gaza, on Saturday 27th 2008, actions, demonstrations and sit-ins are being organized on a daily basis.

During the first few hours of the aggression, groups of students and young workers from different leftist and socialist organizations (The Union of Democratic Youth, Leftist Assembly for Change, Students sector of the Lebanese Communist Party, People’s Movement), Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Democratic Front for Liberation of Palestine, Socialist Forum) organized an open Sit-In in front of the UN house in Beirut and released a statement calling for action in support of the resistance in Gaza and to resist against the Arab regimes and the Israeli aggression.

A demonstration was called at the Egyptian Embassy in Beirut.

On Sunday the demo started from center Beirut to the Egyptian embassy, starting with 300 protestors and by the time it reached the Embassy it had grown to 500 demonstrators, the Embassy was encircled by barbwires with heavy military and anti-riot police reinforcements.

The demonstrators chanted against Mubarak and calling for the opening of the borders with Gaza, soon enough the demo drew in more and more people from the surrounding areas and clashes started between protestors and the police and army, where water canons were open and tear-gas bombs were thrown at demonstrators, many have fainted and been slightly injured.

At the same day, small demonstrations and sit-ins were called in Saida and Tripoli and inside the Palestinian camps around the country. The Sit-In in front of ESCWA grew by the hours, as it drew more people and became slowly as a coordination and mobilisation camp for actions and demos.

Sunday evening, Hizbollah called for a big gathering in the Southern Suburbs of Beirut on Monday and cancelled all Ashoura activities, joining them all together in one place. The gathering drew in thousands of people.

Tuesday witnessed more small actions and demos around the country, the Sit-In organized mobile demos and leafleting around Beirut calling for a demonstration on Wednesday at the Arab League Office in Beirut, about 400 to 500 people showed up the next day to the demo and it marched towards the office of the Arab League where it managed to push the riot police a few hundred meters to the back.

During the same day more than 10 demonstrations and gatherings were organized around the country, at night (New Year’s Eve) a big gathering was organized in center Beirut, drawing about 300 people, where chants calling in support of the resistance and against the Arab regimes were heard till the early hours of the morning.

On Thursday a direct action was organized in front of the Egyptian embassy where banners and Palestinian flags were put all over the barbwires which were set in a 1 km2 perimeter around the embassy.

On Friday another direct action was organized at the Egyptian embassy after the police have removed the flags and banners, where a call was released from the Sit-In to throw shoes at the Egyptian embassy, in the early afternoon, a march was organized from Hamra to the Egyptian embassy drawing in around 500 demonstrators, after the march has finished, the police closed the road leading to the Egyptian embassy.

On Saturday a big demo was organized by different political groups in Tripoli, North Lebanon, Saturday night, the Israeli troops started the land attack on Gaza, and in a few hours the Sit-In called for a demonstration on Sunday against the US embassy in Awkar Beirut, the next day, people started gathering from 8:30 in the morning reaching 500 people by 10.30 where people gathered in buses and head towards the US embassy.

Many people joined the demo later, the army and police were quite aggressive and water canons started and tear gas bombs were thrown at the protestors, the clashes kept on, protestors managed to cross over the first three blockades, then the army started shooting the tear-gas bombs directly at the demonstrators, six people where injured and taken to hospitals, and 15 have fainted.

Protestors went down directly from the US embassy to the Egyptian embassy where a demonstration was held at 5:00 in the afternoon.

On Monday different opposition political parties (Hezbollah, Amal, Al Tawhid, Haraket Shaáb, etc…) called for a demo at the Egyptian embassy, having around 250 protestors.

The Next Demonstration for the Sit-In is on Wednesday January 7th 2009, at the office of the European Commission in Beirut at 3:00 PM against the European position and more specifically the Sarkosy so called “peace initiative”.

Actions and gatherings are still being called, The Left Alliance (Communist Party, Leftist Assembly for Change, Socialist Forum, Democratic Youth Union, etc…) are currently for a big demonstration in the coming few days.

The political position on the Attacks on Gaza are split in four trends, one which is the official position (March 14th) which is calling against the aggression but sticks with the Mahmoud Abbas Government, actions are mainly done for gathering money and giving it to the Palestinian Authority (Fateh)

Hezbollah, Free Patriotic Movement and the rest of the March 8th coalition (Opposition) are calling against the Israeli aggression on gaza and calling for resistance within Gaza and popular resistance in Egypt against the Regime of Husni Mubarak, put at the same time they are retaining from participating in any actions or demonstrations in Lebanon.

Islamic Groups which support Hamas are organizing some gatherings and public meetings the official position is support to the resistance and call for opening of the borders at Rafah.

The Left has called towards an adherent popular resistance against the Arab regimes and in Support of the resistance calling that the Israel would not have been able to shoot a bullet if it did not have the indirect or direct support of the Arab Regimes and what is called to be the International Community.

Currently the most active body on the streets is the left calling for actions on a daily basis, trying to brake through the general environment of silence in the streets put out by the March 14th and Opposition coalitions, with especially the opposition is still keeping their supporters out of the streets and trying to push back any popular anger against the regimes.

The battle now is to break through that silence, to push and convince as many people to the streets in support of the resistance and against the aggression on Gaza and against the collaboration of Arab states. Regime change is the word that everyone speaks about when asked on how we can support the resistance in Gaza.

These regimes are politically weak and they have failed their people on all questions, and it is not allowed anymore to let them steer us to another defeat.

Resistance against the aggression on Gaza, resistance against the Arab Regimes, only the masses can create that change.

Bassem Chit

Street meeting

The Palestinian-Lebanese Leftist Youth Groups
Invites you to a Public Meeting on

"Resistance in Gaza"

Speaker: Comrade Samir Al-Loubani (Abou Jaber),
From the political relations office of the Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine (PFLP)

Today, Monday 5 January 2009
6:00 PM Open Sit-in, Escwa, Riad el-Sulh, Beirut

Full Support to the resistance in Gaza

On December 27th, different socialist and leftist organizations gathered in an open Sit-In facing the ESCWA office in Beirut, the Sit-In grew by the hours, on Sunday a demonstration was organized against the Egyptian embassy in Beirut, gathering around 800 demonstrators, calling on the Egyptian regime to open the borders with Gaza and the end of all relations with the Israeli state. The demonstration quickly drew in the people from around the Egyptian embassy and fights started off with the police, protestors chanted for the fall of Husni Moubarak and the Arab regimes and calling for full support with the resistance in Gaza.

The same day witnessed small demonstrations and Sit-Ins around the country, in Saida, Tripoli and around Beirut, on Monday and Tuesday the Sit-In organized mobile demos and gatherings and leafleting around Beirut, Hizbollah called a gathering in the Southern Suburb of Beirut, which drew tens of thousands of people.

On Wednesday, the Sit-in Organized, a demonstration at the office of the Arab league in Beirut, where we have forced the anti-riot police to withdraw some hundred meters to the back, The Police official said to the press: “This is the first time we march backwards”, hopefully first of many; and More than 10 Protests and Sit-Ins were held all over the country during the day, and at night, a big gathering was organized on new year's eve in central Beirut, where chants against the Arab regimes and against the Israeli aggression were loudly heard till the early hours of the morning.

On Thursday, A direct action was organized against the Egyptian embassy which has now around a 1km2 of barbwires encircling it with heavy presence of military forces, armed vehicles and anti-riot police.

On Friday, a second direct action was organized against the Egyptian embassy at 11:00 Am, followed by a big march and demonstration from Hamra towards the Egyptian embassy.

The general mood is building up, and more protests and demonstrations are being organized in the coming days, the Open Sit-In is building up and holding a stand and building incentive for the streets to start moving in support of the resistance in Gaza and building against the collaborating regimes.

The Lebanese regime is not free from this assault as it is still holding a firm security and economic siege on the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, the Sit-In has called for the lift of all security and economic bans and to give full civil rights for the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon and calling for resistance and struggle against the Arab regimes and for the resistance in Gaza.

The demonstrations that kicked off in Egypt facing harsh attacks from the regime are giving spirit and resilience to the protests in Lebanon, the anti-war movement is building up in the world, we are stepping the first few steady steps towards rebuilding that movement.

Today, the initiative is being done by workers and students, from the Open Sit-In in Beirut which was called by students and young unorganized workers in different leftist and socialist groups, to the different actions and demonstrations called by Trade Unions around the country, Doctors and Nurses, and the Demonstration which has been called by several Trade Unions including municipality workers, and industrial workers of north Lebanon, the Demonstration will take place tomorrow in Tripoli. And the Same thing is happening in Egypt, where the last aid caravan to Gaza was organised by the Mahalla strike leaders.

The movement is growing and now is the time to build it and at the same time to push further that the struggle for resistance and against the occupation can only be built through resistance against the oppressive ruling regimes.

The Liberation of Palestine can only happen through the resistance of ordinary people and workers, throughout the Arab world, against the oppressive regimes and against the massive exploitation of the Arab masses, Capitalism is in Crisis, as well as the Arab Regimes and the world regimes, either on the question of the economy or on the question of war and occupation.

The Lebanese government as well as all Arab governments are on the test, the voices that were calling for peace with the state of Israel are now swimming in Mud, and any other step towards any peace treaty with the Israeli State, will only build more anger and more resilience and resistance from the masses against the ruling classes of the Arab world.

Our fight for the support of resistance in Gaza, is our fight against the oppressive regimes, against the police states of Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Libya, the monstrous and harsh rule of the Egyptian regime, the dictatorships of the Golf Kingdoms, against the oil Kings and Princes, against the security regime of Syria and the National Unity Regime in Lebanon. All are partners in the aggression on Gaza, with different degrees; all are participating in the destruction, the killing and the siege on the resistance in Gaza.

We choose resistance, the streets, the resistance of ordinary people and workers against occupation and the regimes that directly or indirectly support the occupation, we choose resistance hand in hand with our brothers and sisters in Gaza our comrades in struggle. The Streets are ours to claim back, what we build today on the streets of Beirut and Cairo and all the other cities of the world is our firm and confident step towards reaching a larger movement, we need to start to be a real threat to these regimes, because the Israeli state would not be able to throw a bullet if it feels threatened by the surrounding countries and masses, the one that is blocking us from actively supporting the Palestinian resistance is the numbers of special bodies of armed men that are thrown by these ruling classes against the angry masses, it is the rutting political regimes, the bats and sticks and Gas bombs of the anti-riot police, the bosses who threaten their workers to lay them off if they participate in demos and protests.

We choose resistance.
Bassem Chit

Phoenicians, so they say

A goodwill message for Lebanon? Well we share the Phoenician DNA, apparently.

I am very suspicious of genetic determinism so not sure what the results tell us, but the heirtage question is an important plank of of the so called "Libanism"— a specific Lebanese nationalism that seeks to distinguish the coast from the rest of the Arab world.

Libanism emerged with the creation of the country in the 1920s as a specific nationalist project that sought to separate Lebanon from "socialist" Syria, and justify free market capitalism.

There have been similar studies to show that one in six Lebanese Christians are descended from Crusaders, so worthy of western support "against the eastern hoards".

Of course the obvious research would be to see how many are actually Arab... err quite a lot I suspect. These arguments have taken different forms in different historical periods. For centuries the main question was whether families were "Yemeni or Qaisi"... but that's for another time.

Anyway, here's the BBC spin on the Phoenician story:

In Lebanon history has always been a source of contention - even when it came to something as ancient as the country's Phoenician heritage.

In the first millennium BC, Phoenicians, enterprising seafarers from the territory of the modern day Lebanon, established their trading empire.

From their base, they spread across the Mediterranean founding colonies and trading posts along its shores.

Described by historians as the "worlds first capitalists" the Phoenicians controlled the Mediterranean for nearly 1,000 years, until they were finally conquered by the Romans.

Today they are among the most enigmatic of ancient civilizations, history knows very little about them and most of their legacy has long been lost.

But during the civil war in Lebanon, Christians and Muslims often disputed their Phoenician roots, each claiming they were the true descendants.

Now science has put this argument to rest.

The genetics lab at the Lebanese American University is part of the multimillion dollar Genographic Project that uses genetics to map out human migration.

In Lebanon, geneticists led by Dr Pierre Zalloua have managed to identify the Phoenician gene.

"The Phoenicians were here three thousand years ago and we were not at all sure whether we would be able to find out any genetic remains of their civilization. I think the fact that we did is amazing," says Dr Zalloua.
'Identical'

Dr Zalloua and his team studied DNA data from more than 6,000 men across the Mediterranean, and used a new analytical technique to detect the genetic imprint of historical migrations.

"Whether you take a Christian village in the north of Lebanon or a Muslim village in the south, the DNA make-up of its residents is likely to be identical," says Dr Zalloua.

Lessons of victory

Haaretz reports that Israel had to learn the lessons of the Lebanon war... that's the one they claimed they won, right?. Well not according to the US Army War College:

A new report warns that the American military must learn the lessons of the Second Lebanon War, in which Hezbollah operated more like a conventional army than a guerrilla organization.

The report, "The 2006 Lebanon Campaign and the Future of Warfare: Implications for Army and Defense Policy," warns against placing too heavy an emphasis on classic guerrilla warfare, and raises the possibility of further non-state actors following the Lebanese militant group's example.

"Hezbollah's 2006 campaign in southern Lebanon has been receiving increasing attention as a prominent recent example of a non-state actor fighting a Westernized state. In particular, critics of irregular-warfare transformation often cite the 2006 case as evidence that non-state actors can nevertheless wage conventional warfare in state-like ways."

The authors give a high grade to Hezbollah's performance in the 2006 war, describing it as more effective than that of any Arab army that confronted Israel in the Jewish state's history, and that Hezbollah militants wounded more Israelis per fighter than any previous Arab effort.

Unlike a traditional guerrilla force, however, Hezbollah emphasized holding territory and digging in to bunkers, instead of the usual tactic of hiding among civilian populations. Likewise, the militant organization's discipline and coordination highly resembled those of conventional armies.

Israel seizes 2 men

The AFP newsagency reports:

Israeli soldiers captured two Lebanese civilians on a raid across the border into southern Lebanon on Friday, a Lebanese security official said.

Tarraf Tarraf and his brother Hassan Tarraf, both aged about 50, were taken on Lebanese territory near the border village of Blida, the official said.

Negotiations are under way between the Israeli soldiers and Unifil (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) to free the men, he said.

An Israeli army spokesman said the two men were arrested on Friday morning when they "crossed the border."

Israeli forces have informed Unifil that "they have in custody two Lebanese civilians that appear to be from the area of Blida," Unifil spokeswoman Yasmina Bouziane told AFP.

"Unifil is in contact with all parties urging them to exercise restraint while the circumstances of the incident are assertained," she said, without commenting on where the Lebanese official said the capture took place.

In July, a Lebanese shepherd was captured by Israeli soldiers before being handed over to Unifil after a few hours.

Armoured cars and guns... part 3

Now the Russians are jumping into the Lebanese arms fest. According the LA Times:

Russia will give Lebanon 10 Mikoyan MiG-29 fighter jets as a donation and commit to supply the teetering Arab democracy abutting Israel's northern border with more war machines, an official told reporters today, according to Russia's Interfax news agency.

"As a trend toward stabilization of the situation has become visible, Lebanon has decided to intensify military-technological cooperation" with Russia, said Mikhail Dmitriyev, the director of Russia's Federal Service for Military Technological Cooperation.

Dmitriyev also said Russia could soon provide "ground equipment," such as tanks and artillery, to Lebanon.

"We consider the Lebanese army as a key element of political stability within this country and are ready to provide it with arms," he said.

Armoured cars and guns... part 2

No sooner had the US offered to send more arms... that Iran will do the same, but with a 5 year security pact thrown in for good measure.

The irony was not lost on the Jerusalem Post: "By supplying the Lebanese army with weapons, Iran will thus be responsible for arming Lebanon's two major armed forces: the national army, and Hizbullah".