Middle East Policy

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

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.

They are meant to pave the way to a dynastic transfer of power to Mr Mubarak's son, Gamal. This is the best insightful comment on Egypt's constitutional amendments. Obviously, Mr. Mubarak would not believe that Egypt is not Syria, and he persistently refuses to show respect for his country and people. Moreover, he thinks that by imprisoning bloggers and tailoring laws and constitutional amendments legalizing the police state, his regime has made of Egypt, he can ensure the 'dynastic republic' and then, his boy's forged succession. However, the Egyptians have proved in the referendum day to the entire world that they deserve freedom and democracy when they left voting offices empty. It was really a slap to Arab authoritarianism through the Egyptian regime. I eventually hope that Egypt authoritarians stop after this showdown and public humiliation in front of the watching world made to them by the Egyptian people, and let bloggers and democratic and liberal activist

The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a new resolution (1747) sanctioning Iran on its nuclear program. This question (the Iranian nuclear program) constitutes one of the two key battles in the context of the struggle for the new Middle East; the other is about the Special Tribunal for Lebanon . These two battles are of key importance to the future of the Middle East and for the new Middle East, as I have said before. This resolution is definitely a setback to the anti-democratic Middle East Totalitarian Axis led by the Iranian totalitarian regime. We should be clearly aware that the struggle for freedom and democracy in the Middle East from Iraq and beyond entails change at the geopolitical level in the Middle East . This required geopolitical change is achieved by breaking the Middle East Totalitarian Axis and weakening and containing its pressured components alongside defeating totalitarianism. For an empirical insight into the post-Iraq Middle East, read my article, The Strugg

In honor of this occasion, when the wind of change began blowing in the Middle East; when the freedom bell began ringing; when the long aspiration for freedom and dignity began its path into reality, this is an updated version of my article, Iraq Victory: Middle East Salvation, which had been well quoted in 2005 and 2006 and had been highlighted by the Philadelphia Inquirer in December 2005. Some related articles of mine: - The Neo-Internationalism After 9/11 and Middle East Democratization - The Struggle for the New Middle East - The End of International Isolationism - Defining the Iraqi Question - Totalitarianism, Violence and Terror IRAQ VICTORY: MIDDLE EAST SALVATION By Nassim Yaziji The U.S. will not abandon Iraq. To me, it means that the U.S. will not abandon the Middle East. Some recent stances and statements in the U.S. urging to quit Iraq have shocked me. I find it, and I am sorry for this expression, extremely irresponsible, and definitely harming U.S. interests and the nasc

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

The United Nations has signed an agreement with Lebanon setting up a Special Tribunal to prosecute the suspected killers of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. It is now just waiting for the final ratification by Lebanon. In spite of the deadly efforts performed by the suspected killers and their associates and proxies in Lebanon to preclude this special tribunal as we saw in the latest months, it is obvious that the process of setting up this tribunal is going ahead. Apparently, that those parties are willing and able to ruin Lebanon and even to wage local or regional wars not to mention the wide wave of political crimes and killings to stop this process and finally preclude the tribunal and therefore the long-awaited justice and international protection for Lebanon and Lebanese cadres. Those threats by the anti-tribunal forces are serious and may jeopardize Lebanon and the region, so they should be taken seriously by the international community. However, I can say that establishing

Following is an interesting article on the geopolitical and strategic changes of Iraq's liberation; some articles of mine related to this subject can be found at: - Iraq Victory: Middle East Salvation - Lebanon's Independence and Democracy - Defining the Iraqi Question The Strategic Waves of Iraq's Liberation By Walid Phares World Defense Review May 1, 2006 In a previous analysis of the War in Iraq, I argued that in the middle of a conflict, one cannot pronounce the final verdict yet, but detect the trends of successes and failures. Between 2003 and 2006, the U.S. led coalition, was winning by points while al Qaida wasn't able to reverse the process, yet. The ending of Saddam's regime, the rise of a political consensus, the deployment of new Iraqi forces and the three popular votes is a string of coalition victories. The Salafists and Khumeinists weren't yet able to crumble the Sistani-backed Iraqi consensus. Hence in Iraq itself, and despite the all-out war by

Naharnet Beirut, 14 Feb 07 Lebanon's majority leaders told a sea of supporters marking the second anniversary of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination in Beirut that agreeing on the international tribunal to try his murderers is the only gateway to dialogue and unity. Hundreds of thousands of March 14 supporters streamed from north, east, central and south Lebanon to Martyrs' Square in cars, busses, and boats raising Lebanese flags and chanting slogans against Syrian President Bashar Assad. The March 14 majority coalition accuses the Assad regime of masterminding the Hariri assassination on Feb. 14 2005 and the serial assassinations, the latest of which killed three civilians and wounded 23 in a twin bombing that targeted commuting buses northeast of Beirut on Tuesday. Lebanese Forces Leader Samir Geagea said the international tribunal, which Syria reportedly rejects, "will certainly be created." He stressed that "whoever fights against what is right will b