Middle East Policy

Bush Blocks Property of Persons Undermining Lebanon's Sovereignty and Reinstating Syrian Control Naharnet 02 Aug 07 U.S. President George Bush on Thursday declared a "national emergency to deal with the threat in Lebanon" aimed at undermining Premier Fouad Saniora's government, reasserting Syrian control and undermining state sovereignty. Bush's move was made in an executive order and informed to congress for immediate application. It aims at blocking property of persons undermining the sovereignty of Lebanon or its democratic process and institutions, according to a White House statement. Bush said the move aims at confronting the "threat in Lebanon posed by the actions of certain persons to undermine Lebanon's legitimate and democratically elected government or democratic institutions, "to contribute to the deliberate breakdown in the rule of law in Lebanon, including through politically motivated violence and intimidation, to reassert Syrian contr

Another Anti-Syrian Parliamentarian Assassinated Naharnet 13 Jun 07 Al-Moustaqbal Movement Parliamentary Deputy Walid Edo, an outspoken critic of Syria, was assassinated by a powerful car bomb blast that also killed his elder son, Khaled, and four other people in Beirut's seaside Manara district Wednesday. A Ranking police officer said the booby-trapped car, parked between the Long Beach and Sporting Club swimming facilities, was detonated as Edo and his son left the beach. "Their bodies were hurled by the powerful blast and found about 20 meters from the explosion site," said the source, who asked not to be identified. Edo's two body guards and two civilian pedestrians also were killed in the powerful explosion that wounded 10 other people in the district usually crowded by beach fans. Tongues of flame shot up in the sky from the gutted remains of the booby-trapped car as fire fighters fought the blaze to prevent it from spreading to other vehicles parked in the crow

Hariri court to come into force automatically on June, 30 AFP, June 8, 2007 UNITED NATIONS , June 8, 2007 (AFP) - In line with a Security Council ruling, an international court to try suspects in the murder of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri is to come into force automatically Sunday, but will not be up and running for several months. On May 30, 10 of the council's 15 members passed a resolution setting Sunday as the date on which a 2006 agreement between the United Nations and the Beirut government to establish the court is to enter into force. Five members, including veto-wielding Russia and China, abstained, objecting to a decision that bypasses Lebanon's constitutional process. The UN ruling was also condemned by the powerful pro-Damascus Shiite movement Hezbollah as illegal and as "an aggressive interference in (Lebanon's) internal affairs." Syria, Lebanon's former power broker, was widely blamed for the Hariri killing but has denied all involvement. Har

ALLELUIA It is a new era in the Middle East; it is a new chapter in the Middle East's history. Resolution 1757 30 May 2007 “The Security Council, “Recalling all its previous relevant resolutions, in particular resolutions 1595 (2005) of 7 April 2005, 1636 (2005) of 31 October 2005, 1644 (2005) of 15 December 2005, 1664 (2006) of 29 March 2006 and 1748 (2007) of 27 March 2007, “Reaffirming its strongest condemnation of the 14 February 2005 terrorist bombings as well as other attacks in Lebanon since October 2004, “Reiterating its call for the strict respect of the sovereignty, territorial integrity, unity and political independence of Lebanon under the sole and exclusive authority of the Government of Lebanon, “Recalling the letter of the Prime Minister of Lebanon to the Secretary-General of 13 December 2005 (S/2005/783) requesting inter alia the establishment of a tribunal of an international character to try all those who are found responsible for this terrorist crime, and the req

Along with three recent explosions, the killers of former Prime Minister Hariri and other cadres of Lebanese Cedar Revolution are trying something new this time, Fatah al-Islam, exploiting apparently their excellent relations with many al-Qaeda personnel. They are obviously terrified of the upcoming International Tribunal for Lebanon , the truth time and justice time. The Lebanese democratically elected independence government is staying, and the international tribunal is coming. So, assassins get more terrified, and independent free democratic Lebanon go ahead. These are some related materials by the Council on Foreign Relations: Lebanon's Fires Burn Anew cfr.org May 22, 2007 Last summer the world watched in shock as Israel fought a month-long campaign against Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon. With the aftershocks of that conflict still rippling throughout the region, it appears Lebanon could be in for another bloody summer. The latest outbreak of violence features a new

What do Syrians think about Lebanon? And how does the Baath regime take it? This is a report by the Middle East Media Research Institute on the Beirut-Damascus Declaration: Wave of Arrests of Syrian Intellectuals Following the Beirut-Damascus Declaration By H. Varulkar. July 11, 2006 memri.org Introduction On May 12, 2006, the Lebanese media and websites close to the Syrian opposition published a document titled "The Beirut-Damascus Declaration/Damascus-Beirut Declaration." The declaration, which calls for improving Syrian-Lebanese relations, was signed by several hundred Syrian and Lebanese intellectuals. It depicts the deterioration in relations between the two countries in recent months, and sets out, in 10 points, measures that must be taken in order to rectify these relations "from the root." The first point calls on Syria to recognize Lebanon as an independent state by demarcating the border between the two countries and establishing mutual diplomatic represen

Prime Minister Fouad Saniora has handed over to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon a memorandum urging the world body to take measures to create the international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri and related crimes. Justice Minister Charles Rizk said Saniora's memo, which was presented to U.N. special coordinator in Lebanon Geir Pederson late Tuesday, was accompanied by a letter updating Ban on the latest developments over the tribunal issue in Lebanon. Lebanese media said the memo contained the text of a second petition signed by 70 lawmakers asking the U.N. to help set up the court. Previously, the parliamentary majority handed a petition to the United Nations requesting that the world body establish an international tribunal on the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri. Addressed to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, it requested that "all alternative measures" be taken by the Security Council to establish the tribunal.

The Struggle for the New Middle East: A Domestic Perspective By Nassim Yaziji In the context of the international and regional struggle for the new Middle East, where freedom, democracy and peace have the chance for the first time in the Middle East's history to replace totalitarianism, authoritarianism and violence which came from the pre-2003 regional regimes' interdependent authoritarian system. The remnants of this system represented by the totalitarian regimes and entities are fighting to survive after the Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003 and the semi-liberation of Lebanon in 2005 aiming to restore their previous stability through deliberate instability in the region. Methodology through Essential Facts The empirical approach with a comprehensive geopolitical perspective, in my view, is indispensable to find out the basic relations and rules controlling the Middle East political occurrences and then to develop the appropriate policy to cope with them in the comprehensive ge