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Lebanon Watch: Hezbollah – Here We Go Again
A family flees a neighorhood in west Beirut. Hezbollah fighters, their guns blazing, seized control of west Beirut on Friday after three days of deadly street battles with pro-government foes pushed Lebanon dangerously close to all-out civil war.Iran and Syria have aided Hezbollah RELOAD after the war with Israel in 2006 – so here we go again.
Get ready for the resumption of Israeli, Hezbollah and Lebanese War. Like Flap said the first time.
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Lebanon Watch: France and Germany Call on Syria to Stop Destabilizing Lebanon
Lebanon’s Prime Minister Fuad Saniora holds a press conference in front of hundreds from a Beirut delegation who visited the Government House to show support, Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday Dec. 5, 2006. Shiites on Tuesday buried a young man killed in street clashes in a Sunni Muslim neighborhood as the country’s army commander warns the military may not be able to contain any further protests linked to Lebanon’s tense political standoff.
AFP: Germany, France urge Syria to ‘stop destabilising Lebanon’
Germany and France have issued a joint call to Syria to “stop supporting forces that seek to destabilise Lebanon and the region”.
“France and Germany call for an end to all interference in the affairs of Lebanon,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Jacques Chirac said Tuesday in a joint statement after meeting in Mettlach in western Germany.
“As far as Syria is concerned, we want that country to stop supporting forces that seek to destabilise Lebanon and the region,” the statement said.
They said that in exchange for heeding the call, Syria could hope to “resume normal conduct with the international community and in particular with the countries of the
European Union”.Merkel and Chirac expressed their full support for the embattled Western-backed government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, who is facing mass protests and calls for his government to resign.
Oh Please…….
And when Israel was at war against Syria and Iran client state within a state, Hezbollah, where were the Europeans?
Well, they were carping at Israel and then by the end of the war reluctantly offered men and material to the United Nations in order to preserve the peace and prevent the rearming of Hezbollah.
And what has been the result?
Hezbollah is rearming with impunity and attempting with Syria’s help to bring down the democratically elected Saniora government.
Lebanon’s Muslim Shi’ite Amal movement members carry the coffin of Ahmad Mahmoud in the suburbs of Beirut December 5, 2006. Mahmoud was killed on Sunday during clashes between Sunni residents and Shi’ite protesters in the Qasqas neighbourhood in Beirut.
In the meantime, Fouad Siniora vows to stay on despite mounting pressure.
Lebanese Premier Fouad Siniora vowed Sunday to remain in office despite opposition supporters camped outside his offices for the third day calling on him to resign. As nationalist songs were blaring from the nearby tents of the opposition in Downtown Beirut, a Mass was held at the Grand Serail to commemorate the assassination of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel.
Gemayel died in a shooting ambush in a Christian suburb of Beirut last month.
The service was led by Beirut Maronite Bishop Boulos Matar and attended by Siniora, his anti-Syrian ministers, Gemayel’s family, and Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, as well as other politicians from the March 14 Forces.
Siniora said the protests would not achieve the opposition’s goal, hinting that they might take counter-action if the Hizbullah-led sit-in drags on.
“A solution to any problem does not come through the street because this means might trigger a counter-means and we will not reach any result,” Siniora told reporters after the Mass.
“I will not leave; I am going to stay here for as I enjoy Parliament’s confidence. I am here by the confidence of the Lebanese and the constitutional institutions,” he said.
Siniora and his supporters describe Hizbullah’s campaign as a coup attempt led by Syria and its ally, Iran. “We are used to coups d’etat in Lebanon and the Arab world and we know its results and there was one attempt in 1961 and it failed,” he said, “so why try something that is already known to fail?”
Stay tuned……
German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) gestures as she chats with French president Jacques Chirac upon their arrival in Mettlach in western Germany. France and Germany have turned up the pressure on Syria, telling Damascus to stop destabilising Lebanon as mass protests against Prime Minister Fuad Siniora entered a fifth day.
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Lebanon Watch: Siniora defiant as Pro-Syria Hezbollah Calls Mass Protest to Force Out the Government
Lebanon Watch: Hezbollah Plans to Bring Down Lebanese Government Within A Month
Lebanon Watch: Hundreds of Thousands of Lebanese Mourn Pierre Gemayel – Attend Funeral
Lebanon Watch: Assassinated Lebanese Minister Pierre Gemayel to Be Buried Thursday
Global War on Terror Watch: Hezbollah and Syria Make a MOVE in Lebanon
Technorati Tags: Lebanon, Syria, Hezbollah, IsraelFouadSinora
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Lebanon Watch: Siniora defiant as Pro-Syria Hezbollah Calls Mass Protest to Force Out the Government
Lebanese residents watch Lebanon’s Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah during a speech on al-Manar television in a coffee shop in Beirut suburbs Novemebr 30, 2006. Nasrallah called for a peaceful protest and open-ended sit-in in downtown Beirut on Friday to demand a new government in a fresh challenge to U.S.-backed Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
Reuters: Siniora defiant as Lebanon opposition calls protest
A defiant Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said he would not stand down after Pro-Syrian Hezbollah and its allies called for a mass protest in Beirut on Friday to try to force out the government.
Siniora told the nation the opposition wanted to stage a coup against the democratic system in Lebanon and vowed his anti-Syrian cabinet would not fall.
“Fellow Lebanese we have ahead of us decisive days for Lebanon and its future…,” Siniora said in a live broadcast on Thursday. “We will not allow the coup against the democratic system, its rules and institutions.
“There is no way to topple the government except through parliament which has given it its vote of confidence,” he said.
So, Hezbollah as a client of Iran and Syria now wishes to control the Lebanese government.
Will they attempt to win majority control in free elections?
No way – Hezbollah will foster violence in the streets, sectarian violence and attempt a coup.
If this happens, Flap wants to know what will prevent Israel and the United States from coming to the aid of the Sinora government?
UNIFIL and the Lebanese Army?
Hardly………
The leader of Lebanon’s anti-Syrian parliamentary majority, Saad Hariri, son of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri, speaks during an interview with the Associated Press at his house in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday Nov. 30, 2006. Hariri warned Thursday that Syria was behind the planned protests to bring down the government, saying its ally Hezbollah would not be able force Prime Minister Fuad Saniora to step down. Hariri also accused Syria of being behind the planned demonstrations to try to stop the international tribunal that will try the suspects in the killing of his father in Feb. 2005.
Stay tuned……
A poster showing Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah along the highway towards Beirut airport, November 19,2006.
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Lebanon Watch: Hezbollah Plans to Bring Down Lebanese Government Within A Month
Lebanon Watch: Hundreds of Thousands of Lebanese Mourn Pierre Gemayel – Attend Funeral
Lebanon Watch: Assassinated Lebanese Minister Pierre Gemayel to Be Buried Thursday
Global War on Terror Watch: Hezbollah and Syria Make a MOVE in Lebanon
Technorati Tags: Lebanon, PierreGemayel, Syria, Hezbollah, Israel
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Cox & Forkum: Deal Breaker
Cox & Forkum: Deal Breaker
CNN: 13,000 Palestinian security forces maintain cease-fire
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday ordered 13,000 security forces to deploy near the border to enforce a cease-fire agreement with Israel, sources in Abbas’ office told CNN.
The move came hours after Palestinian militants in Gaza apparently launched nearly a dozen rockets toward Israel.
Abbas also called on the Palestinian factions who previously negotiated the cease-fire to meet again to ensure the agreement holds, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told reporters Sunday.
The Israeli leader said his country will not take immediate action in the wake of the violations.
“Israel is a powerful country that can allow itself to show restraint and to give the cease-fire a chance to be fully implemented,†Olmert said.
Hamas’ militant wing and the Islamic Jihad militant group claimed responsibility for firing several rockets into Israel after the cease-fire took effect at 6 a.m. (11 p.m. ET Sunday).
In its leaflet, Islamic Jihad said it will “hold our right for resistance as long as Israel continues its aggression.â€
And the cease-fire with Hezbollah is tenuous with the recent assassination of Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel.
Two war fronts for Israel and also Iran. The Israelis have their plate full.
Technorati Tags: Cox&Forkum, Hamas, Hezbollah, Israel, Lebanon
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Lebanon Watch: Hezbollah Plans to Bring Down Lebanese Government Within A Month
Lebanese Shi’ite Muslims protest in the street in Beirut suburbs November 23, 2006. Hezbollah will take to the streets next week to try to topple the government, political sources said on Friday, in a move that would stoke tension in a country already reeling after the assassination of a minister.
Telegraph: Hizbollah plans to bring Lebanese government down ‘within a month’
A senior member of Hizbollah has said it will push ahead with plans to bring down the Lebanese government, despite the mass outpouring of grief at yesterday’s funeral.
The militant Shia party, which is backed by Syria and Iran, said it had delayed street protests planned for this week because of the public reaction to Pierre Gemayel’s murder.
Ghalib Abu Zaynab, a Hizbollah politburo member, speaking in the group’s southern Beirut stronghold, said: “As far as street protests are concerned, we have postponed these as we are waiting to see what will happen in the coming days. But the protests will go ahead, and we hope they will achieve our political aims within a month.”
And why not?
Hezbollah has appeared to have already re-stocked its supply of weapons expended in the summer 33-day war with Israel. With Hezbollah in charge of the government or the country in a Civil War, Hezbollah can complete their rearming and ready themselves for the coming resumption of war with Israel.
Lebanese soldiers secure an area in the town of Bikfaya, northeast of Beirut, the hometown of assassinted Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel. Lebanon’s cabinet is to meet for the next step towards approving a UN plan for an international court to try those accused of murdering ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, in a move set to trigger a showdown with the pro-Syrian opposition.
He said tactics would include mass street demonstrations, strikes, and “other legal and peaceful means of achieving our goals. We gave blood for independence but we want true independence, not influenced by outside parties, and this government is a puppet of the United States, run by Jeffrey Feltman [the American ambassador to Lebanon].”
Hizbollah had weakened the government even before Tuesday’s assassination of the anti-Syrian Christian leader. Earlier this month, six ministers either belonging or allied to Hizbollah resigned from the cabinet. Mr Gemayel’s murder means the death or resignation of two more would render the cabinet inquorate.
The militia’s leadership has denied any involvement in Mr Gemayel’s murder, suggesting it was the work of American or Israeli intelligence as part of a campaign to discredit both Syria and Hizbollah.
“The killing of Gemayel was neither good for Hizbollah, nor for Syria,” said Mr Zaynab. “In the end, the people who benefit most are the United States and Israel. There are American fingerprints on all the bloodshed in the Middle East, in Iraq, in Palestine, and now also in Lebanon.”
So, Hezbollah is Lebanon’s friend and it is the Great Satan and the Zionists creating unrest and assassinating Lebanon’s political leaders.
Right……..
But, Hezbollah will be ready to fight Israel, now won’t they?
Time (Via Hot Air): Iran and Syria Helping Hizballah Rearm
As Lebanon’s government tries to maintain its shaky grip on power, sources tell TIME that Tehran and Damascus are shipping weapons to the militant Shi’ite group
Iran is smuggling weapons through Syria to re-arm Lebanese allies Hizballah, despite renewed efforts by United Nations peacekeepers and the Lebanese army to seal off the mountain borders with Syria in the wake of last summer’s war between the Shi’ite militia and Israel, according to reports by Saudi and Israeli intelligence sources that have been confirmed by western diplomats in Beirut.
Israeli military officials in Tel Aviv say that Hizballah replenished nearly half of its pre-war stockpiles of short-range missiles and small arms. But western diplomats in Beirut say these calculations under-estimate the weapons flow and that Hizballah has now filled its war chest with over 20,000 short-range missiles — a similar amount fo what they had at the start of the conflict, during which the group is believed to have fired over 3,000 rockets at Israel. “The Iranian pipeline through Syria was already working during the war,” despite constant Israeli bombing raids on the roads into Lebanon from Syria, this Beirut source said. Officially, Syria and Iran deny that they’re supplying weapons to Hizballah. As for the Shi’ite group itself, when asked about receiving a new shipment of arms from Syria and Iran, a spokesman told TIME, without elaborating, “We have more than enough weapons if Israel tries to attack us again.”
Read it all……
Get ready for the resumption of Israeli, Hezbollah and Lebanese War. Like Flap said the first time.
Watch for the UNIFIL contingent to suddenly leave and the hostilities begin anew. This time Israel will fight to the finish.And watch for a joint Israeli operation with the United States against Iran and Syria.
Stay tuned…….
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Lebanon Watch: Hundreds of Thousands of Lebanese Mourn Pierre Gemayel – Attend Funeral
Lebanon Watch: Assassinated Lebanese Minister Pierre Gemayel to Be Buried Thursday
Global War on Terror Watch: Hezbollah and Syria Make a MOVE in Lebanon
Technorati Tags: Lebanon, PierreGemayel, Syria, Hezbollah, Israel
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Lebanon Watch: Hundreds of Thousands of Lebanese Mourn Pierre Gemayel – Attend Funeral
Mourners attend the funeral of assassinated Lebanese minister Pierre Gemayel in Beirut. Beirut was a sea of red and white flags as Lebanon turned out in a show of force for the funeral of the anti-Syrian minister, whose murder threatens to plunge the country deeper into political turmoil.
AP: Throngs mourn slain Lebanese official
Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese turned the funeral Thursday for a slain Christian government minister into a massive demonstration of anger against Syria and its allies.
The sprawling funeral for Pierre Gemayel reinvigorated suporters of the U.S.-backed government in a power struggle with Syrian-backed Hezbollah and its allies threatening to split this small Mideast nations along sectarian lines. Police estimated some 800,000 people participated in the rally and funeral.
“The second independence uprising was launched today for change and it will not stop,” Gemayel’s father, former President Amin Gemayel, told the crowd in downtown Beirut, speaking from behind a panel of bulletproof glass. “I pledge to you that we will soon take steps so that your efforts will not go in vain.”
The throng applauded as the coffin, wrapped in the flag of Gemayel’s Phalange Party — white with a green cedar emblem — was carried past the square to nearby St. George’s Cathedral, where the packed congregation sang hymns. The 34-year-old Gemayel’s wife wept in the church, leaning on his mother’s shoulder.
A Mulsim woman holds up a picture of assassinated Lebanese minister Pierre Gemayel during his funeral procession in Beirut. Beirut was a sea of red and white flags.
Lebanese mourners carry the coffin of Lebanon’s Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel during his funeral in Beirut November 23, 2006.
But in the wake of Gemayel’s slaying, Lebanon is polarized to a degree not seen since Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war, sharply divided between anti-Syrian Christians and Sunni Muslims and pro-Syrian Shiites. Many fear Thursday’s funeral could be the first round of demonstrations that could bring the political crisis into the volatile streets.
In Martyrs’ Square, men, women and children waved red, white and green Lebanese flags and posters of Gemayel with the slogans: “We want to live” and “Awaiting justice.”
Stay tuned as turmoil and unrest ferments in the streets of Beirut.
Michael Totten has Shove Your Civil War.
Nicole (L) and Patricia, the sister and wife respectively of Lebanon’s Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, cry during his funeral in Beirut.
Posters of Syrian President Bashar Assad are burned by anti-Syrian protesters during the funeral of assassinated Christian politician Pierre Gemayel, at the Martyrs square, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday Nov. 23, 2006
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Lebanon Watch: Assassinated Lebanese Minister Pierre Gemayel to Be Buried Thursday
Global War on Terror Watch: Hezbollah and Syria Make a MOVE in Lebanon
Technorati Tags: Lebanon, PierreGemayel, Syria, Hezbollah, Israel
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Lebanon Watch: Assassinated Lebanese Minister Pierre Gemayel to Be Buried Thursday
Lebanese mourners carry the coffin of Lebanon’s Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel past a poster of him in Bekfaya, Mount Lebanon, November 22, 2006.
Reuters: Leaders call Lebanese to slain minister’s funeral
Assassinated Lebanese minister Pierre Gemayel will be buried on Thursday and his allies have called for a large turnout to strengthen their hand in a political struggle with the Hezbollah-led opposition.
Gemayel, 34, was shot dead on Tuesday in the sixth killing of an anti-Syrian figure in less than two years.
The funeral is set to be an outpouring of anger at Damascus, which Gemayel’s supporters have blamed for the assassination.
Syria has condemned the killing and denied involvement.Leading members of the ruling majority have also blamed Damascus for Gemayel’s killing, seeing an attempt to derail plans for an international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.
A U.N. inquiry into the killing has implicated Lebanese and Syrian security officials. Syria denies involvement. The government has asked for U.N. help to investigate the Gemayel killing.
“I call on everybody who loves Rafik al-Hariri, everybody who wants the truth, the international tribunal and an end to the assassinations … to come out with us tomorrow,” Hariri’s son, Saad, told the Future Television.
Rice falls on the coffin of assassinated Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel (portrait) as it is carried through the Gemayels’ hometown Bikfaya, in the mountains northeast of Beirut. Lebanon was in turmoil as it began three days of mourning for Gemayel, gunned down in an attack that stoked fears the country may again be plunged into civil strife.
Will Lebanon break down into Civil War?
Perhaps and will Israel join the fray?
Possible, since the UNIFIL mission is a failure and Hezbollah continues to rearm. The Israel-Hezbollah 33 day War this summer was just a warm-up for a broader war that is on the brink of starting.
Stay tuned…….
Patricia Gemayel (C), wife of Lebanon’s Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, reacts as his coffin passes in a street in Bekfaya, Mount Lebanon November 22, 2006.
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Global War on Terror Watch: Hezbollah and Syria Make a MOVE in Lebanon
Technorati Tags: Lebanon, PierreGemayel, Syria, Hezbollah, Israel
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Global War on Terror Watch: Hezbollah and Syria Make a MOVE in Lebanon
Lebanese security forces surround the bullet-riddled car of assasinated Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel in the Beirut northern suburb of Jdeideh, in the latest in a spate of attacks to target anti-Syrian politicians.
AP: Lebanese Cabinet minister is killed
Pierre Gemayel, an anti-Syrian politician and scion of Lebanon’s most prominent Christian family, was gunned down Tuesday in an assassination that heightened tensions amid a showdown between opponents and allies of Syria that threatens to topple the U.S.-backed government.
Gemayel, 34, was the fifth anti-Syrian figure to be killed in the past two years and the first member of the government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora to be slain. A car rammed his vehicle from behind and then a gunman stepped out and shot him at point-blank range, his Phalange Party radio station and Lebanon’s official news agency reported.
Footage from the scene showed Gemayel’s car, the driver’s-side window dotted by about a dozen bullet holes, and the second car behind it with a crumpled hood.
The assassination, in an afternoon shooting in Gemayel’s mainly Christian constituency of Jdeideh, threatens further instability in Lebanon at a time when Hezbollah and other parties allied with Syria are planning a massing wave of street protests unless Saniora reforms his government to give them more power.
Israel will be back in Lebanon like Flap said the first time.
Civil War brewing?
Likely……..
Stay tuned…….
Technorati Tags: Lebanon, PierreGemayel, Syria, Hezbollah, Israel