Mision FAS: Libano

[Esteban]

Uno de esos incidentes que muestran la anormalidad de este tipo de escenarios donde conviven religiones o etnias radicalizadas. La bronca empieza porque unos cristianos acusan a unos chiitas del pueblo de al lado de haberse metido con unas chicas. De las acusaciones pasan a las piedras, y de las piedras, a las armas de fuego, con heridos y un muerto que resultó ser un policía. Los pistoleros, de Hizbullah. la noticia es de naharnet.com

Fighting in South Leaves Police Officer Killed, 5 Men Wounded
A clash between Christian villagers and their Shiite neighbors in southern Lebanon has left one police officer killed and five men wounded, security officials said.

They said the fight broke out Sunday when residents in the Christian village of Tanbourit argued with Shiite youths from the nearby town of Ghaziyeh, blaming them of having harassed some women as they traveled around the area in their car.

The two groups quickly scuffled and then hurled rocks at each other before shooting erupted, the officials said.

They said four Tanbourit villagers were wounded in the brawl, and a fifth was hit in the head by a bullet when gunshots broke out.

Elias Samir Haj, 22, a member of the security services of the Internal Security Forces and a village resident, was later killed by the gunmen as he drove the critically injured villager to hospital in the nearby coastal town of Sidon, the officials said.

The Shiite youths were suspected of having fired all of the shots, officials said.

They said the army had arrested 10 men for questioning over the incident, which came as Lebanon is facing its most serious political crisis since the end of the civil war, with Prime Minister Fouad Saniora's government locked in a fierce power struggle with the Hizbullah-led opposition.

Many Lebanese have kept weapons since the war, and the youths suspected in the shooting were not thought to belong to Hizbullah or any other militant group, the officials said.

Southern Lebanon is predominantly Shiite, but has a patchwork of communities that often congregate by religion and live in separate villages.

Lebanese troops and policemen deployed in Tanbourit to prevent renewed friction between Christians and Muslims from the two localities, which lie a few hundred meters from each other.

Soldiers also raided a number of houses and hideouts in Ghaziyeh and seized the car used by the youths, officials said.

Ghaziyeh's mayor, Mohammed Samieh Ghadar, denounced the clash and vowed it would not hurt the "brotherly" ties between the two communities.

"This is an isolated incident, it will not affect our relations," Ghadar said.(AP-Naharnet)

Beirut, 23 Jul 07, 08:29

[Esteban]

No nos olvidemos de esa descarada presencia de tropas sirias en el interior de Líbano. Esta vez recopila los datos el Wall Street Journal's

Syria Occupies Lebanon. Again.
A land grab proportionally equivalent to a foreign power occupying Arizona.

BY BRET STEPHENS
Tuesday, July 24, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT

As of this minute, Syria occupies at least 177 square miles of Lebanese soil. That you are now reading about it for the first time is as much a scandal as the occupation itself.

The news comes by way of a fact-finding survey of the Lebanese-Syrian border just produced by the International Lebanese Committee for U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559, an American NGO that has consultative status with the U.N. Because of the sensitivity of the subject, the authors have requested anonymity and have circulated the report only among select government officials and journalists. But its findings cannot be ignored.

In meticulous detail--supplemented by photographs, satellite images, archival material and Lebanese military maps predating Syria's 1976 invasion (used as a basis of comparison with Syria's current positions)--the authors describe precisely where and how Lebanon has been infiltrated. In the area of the village of Maarboun, for instance, the authors observed Syrian military checkpoints a mile inside Lebanon. In the Birak al-Rassass Valley, they photographed Syrian anti-aircraft batteries. On the outskirts of the village of Kossaya they found a heavily fortified camp belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, in violation of U.N. resolutions and Lebanese demands.



This is a story to which I can contribute my own testimony. In May 2005 I paid a visit to Lebanon, just a month after Syria had announced that it had fully withdrawn its 14,000 troops from Lebanon in compliance with Resolution 1559. The rumor in Beirut was that a company of 200 or so elite Syrian soldiers remained encamped within Lebanon near the Druze village of Deir al-Ashaer. I decided to have a look. After a long drive over rutted roads, I found it.

Or rather, what I found was a hillside outpost that I was able to enter without crossing any apparent international border. The man in charge was a Syrian intelligence officer who "invited" me into a sweltering tent while he phoned his commanders for instruction. After a few tense minutes of silence with the soldiers inside, the officer reappeared, explained that the camp was 50 yards inside Syrian territory, and ordered me to go. From there I went to the village, where the mayor insisted the camp was several hundred yards inside Lebanon.

Who was right? Inclined as I was to believe the mayor, it was hard to sort out contending claims over remote parcels of land. A week later, then Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced the U.N. had "verified all [Syrian military units] had withdrawn, including [from] the border area." It seemed that was the end of the story.

I should have known then that anything "verified" by the U.N. must be checked at least twice. I should have known, too, that anything to which Mr. Annan devoted his personal attention would inevitably become worse. Last September, Mr. Annan paid a visit to Syrian dictator Bashar Assad after the latter had declared he would treat any attempt by the U.N. to deploy peacekeepers along the Lebanese-Syrian border as a "hostile act."

To defuse the impasse, Mr. Annan simply accepted Mr. Assad's assurances that Syria would police its border and prevent arms smuggling. "I think it can happen," said the diplomat at a press conference. "It may not be 100%, but it will make quite a lot of difference if the government puts in place the measures the government has discussed with me."

What happened, predictably, was the opposite. In May, Fatah al-Islam, a terrorist group whose leadership was imported from Damascus, attacked Lebanese army outposts outside the Palestinian refugee camps of Nahr El-Bared and Biddawi, causing a bloody standoff that continues till this day. In June, current Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a report citing numerous instances of arms smuggling from Syria to Hezbollah and the PFLP. Yesterday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah boasted that he once again has missiles that can reach Tel Aviv--missiles he could only have obtained via Syria. Israel confirms his claims.

Mr. Ban's report is notable for its clarity and seriousness. Taken together with the border report, it paints an alarming picture. Though the land grabs are small affairs individually, they collectively add up to an area amounting to about 4% of Lebanese soil--in U.S. terms, the proportional equivalent of Arizona. Of particular note is that the area of Syrian conquest dwarves that of the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms.

The farms, which Israel seized from Syria in 1967 and which amount to an area of about 12 square miles, are claimed by Hezbollah as belonging to Lebanon--a useful pretext for it to continue its "resistance" against an Israeli occupation that ended seven years ago.

Needless to say, Hezbollah--which purports to fight for Lebanese sovereignty--makes no similar claims against Syria. For his part, Mr. Assad refuses to agree to a demarcation of his border with Lebanon, just as he refuses to open an embassy in Beirut. The ambiguity serves him well: He can seize Lebanese territory without anyone appearing to take notice, supply terrorist camps without quite harboring the terrorists, and funnel arms to Hezbollah at will--all without abandoning the fantasy of "Greater Syria" encompassing Lebanon, the Golan Heights and Israel itself.

It would, of course, be nice to see the Arab world protest this case of illegal occupation, given its passions about the subject. It would also be nice to see the media report this story as sedulously as it has the controversy of the Shebaa Farms. Don't hold your breath on either score. In the meantime, the only countries in a position to help Lebanon are France and the U.S. They could strike a useful blow by closing their embassies in Damascus until such time as Damascus opens an embassy--with all that it implies--in Beirut.

Mr. Stephens is a member of The Wall Street Journal's editorial board. His column appears in the Journal Tuesdays.

[Esteban]

Ha muerto un soldado francés de sus equipos EOD al intentar neutralizar un UXDo en la zona de Shama, cerca de Naqoura.

[kilo009]

Moratinos se ha entrevistado con Naim Qassem, número 2 de Hezbolá. Es el único alto cargo de la UE que lo ha hecho hasta ahora. Moratinos también se entrevistó con numerosos líderes locales

Nombres a tener en cuenta y que cita El Mundo como personas que se entrevistaron con el Ministro de AAEE francés:

-El suní Saad Hariri
-Ex presidente Amin Gemayel
-Ex general Michel Aoun
-El druso Walid Ymblatt
-Jefe relaciones exteriores de Hezbolá, Nawaf Moussawi

En su visita al Líbano, Moratinos se reunió con el ex dignatario cristiano Amin Gemayel, con el ex general Michel Aoun, con el druso Walid Yumblatt, el presidente del parlamento, el chií Nabi Berri, y con el propio Sinora. En la jornada de este martes, en Siria, se reunirá con el presidente Bachar al-Asad, con el vicepresidente Farouk al-Chareh y su homólogo Walid al-Mualam.

[Esteban]

Pues resulta que ha tenido un ataque de sinceridad y ha acusado a Siria de estar detrás del atentado del 24J (eso si, para decir que hay que negociar y tal y cual...) y aunque ya el embajador se ha dado patadas en el culo para desmentir al ministro, tiene toda la pinta de que se le ha escapado y los libaneses lo publicaron.

Cela d’autant plus que, selon lui, Madrid dispose d’informations sur un rôle qui aurait été joué par la Syrie dans l’attentat du 24 juin contre la Finul.

http://www.libertaddigital.com/noticias ... 10491.html
http://www.lorientlejour.com/page.aspx? ... &id=348526

[Loopster]

Por lo tanto apuntamos bien cuando desde aquí se dijo lo de Fatah-Al-Islam con participación siria, 48 horitas por delante de los periódicos

[El Cisne]

Lo deleznable es que sabiendo eso no se haga nada, y encima vaya el ministro con sonrisitas y palmaditas en la espalda a los mentores del asesinato de nuestros 6 soldados.

Evidentemente no bombardearas Damasco, entre otras cosas poque no podemos, pero alguna accion diplomatica o economica si, en la medida de nuestras posibilidades o denunciarlo en el consejo de seguirdad de la ONU aunque no sirva de nada, pero no ir con palmaditas o sonrisas como si no hubiese pasado nada.

[kilo009]

Hombre, no estaría nada mal guardar la relación de nombres que nos ha traído Esteban, por si los israelíes llegan a enfadarse con los sirios que tengan unos cuantos blancos de más:

The list of Syrian officials includes Assef Shawkat, director of military intelligence and brother-in-law of President Bashar al-Assad, Hisham Ikhtiyar, an Assad adviser, Brigadier General Rustom Ghazali, former head of Syrian intelligence in Lebanon, and his assistant Brigadier General Jama'a Jama'a

[Esteban]

Esto es tener un ministro de AAEE impresentable; ayer se le escapó lo que no cabe duda que es la turbia realidad; luego su embajador, acojonado, lo desmintió corriendo, y ahora dice esto:

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos on Tuesday welcomed Syria's alleged support for efforts by Spain and France to resolve the eight-month-old political crisis in Lebanon.
"I am pleased to have been informed of the very constructive position of the Syrian authorities," Moratinos said following a meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad. ...Moratinos also held separate meetings with his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem and Vice President Faruq al-Shara.(AFP)

Beirut, 31 Jul 07, 19:53

Pues eso, un país que no pinta nada en política internacional salvo para convertirse en blanco de cualquier facineroso.

[Esteban]

Italia teme por sus cascos azules de UNIFIL. TIenen informes de riesgo cierto de atentados.

Italy Worried About Its UNIFIL Contingent
Italy faces "heightened risks" of attack and an influx of Muslim radicals, including the possible targeting of its peacekeeping troops in Lebanon, an intelligence report said Wednesday.

The semi-annual report, unveiled at a news conference, said the threats aimed at Italy from within or abroad were of "variable credibility and magnitude." But the threats by international jihadist groups pose "heightened risks for our country," said the report covering January through June.

Italy saw a "rise in Islamic meeting places which, even if they are primarily organized and frequented by law-abiding people, remain potentially exposed to infiltration by radicals," the report said.

It highlighted "networks of north African origin" while stating that "interactions or contacts with other radical elements from the Balkans, the Middle East or central Asia" were also possible.

The intelligence services also outlined risks facing Italian personnel taking part in overseas missions.

"The attack on the Spanish contingent of (the UN peacekeeping force) UNIFIL in Lebanon (in late June) requires alert to the possibility of similar risks concerning the Italian contingent," the report said.

Italy took over command of UNIFIL, a force of some 13,000 peacekeepers including some 2,500 Italians, in February.

The intelligence agencies also pointed to a risk of attack within Italy by anarchists whose "designs remain unchanged" despite the arrest in February of 15 people suspected of belonging to a far-left cell of the Red Brigades.(AFP-Naharnet)


Beirut, 01 Aug 07, 19:05

Hay un pdf muy bueno sobre la problemática de las fronteras con Siria en http://www.nowlebanon.com/Library/Files ... R-0001.pdf

También se informa de que el FPLP-Comando General se está reforzando en el valle de la Bekaá. Este grupo terrorista implicado en el asesinato de al menos un diputado libanés es uno de los grupos apoyados por Siria

PFLP-GC reinforces its military outposts in the Bekaa Valley
August 1, 2007

Wednesday, August 1st

According to the British Independent newspaper, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine –General Command (PFLP-GC) has reinforced its military outposts at Wadi al-Ussud, Yanta, Halwa and Deir al-Ashaer villages in the Bekaa valley.

Five hundred combatants have been dispatched to the PFLP-GC’s, in addition to anti-tank and anti-aircraft machineguns and artillery batteries.
The reports said that eight missile launchers were posted at Qussaya region facing Riyaq military base belonging to the Lebanese army.
The PFLP-GC is a pro-Syrian Palestinian faction. Its members located at Nahr al-Bared refused to evacuate the camp and are suspected of participating along with Fatah al-Islam combatants in the confrontations against the Lebanese army.