“Give me a chance, and I will f*** Hizballah”

Another day, another extremely embarrassing diplomatic cable. The charming quote used for the title of this post reportedly came from the mouth of former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, quoted in cable released by Al Akhbar in its latest batch.

While I was still in Beirut I spent a lot of time painstakingly collating the Lebanon-related US cables released by Wikileaks on my blog. There seems no need to do so now as many others are doing a fine job.

There are some extremely interesting cables among those currently being released Al-Akhbar, confirming everyone’s long-held suspicion (as if there were ever any doubt) that there truly is no honour among Lebanon’s politicians.

Blogger Elias Muhanna has been collating the most interesting cables on Qifa Nabki, including one in which Amal leader Nabih Berri reportedly says that if the Shebaa Farms are liberated, then “who needs Hizballah?”

However, it seems the best have been saved till last. This cable released today by Al Akhbar is certain to cause further headache to an already embattled and bedraggled Hariri.

The cable details a meeting immediately after the 2006 Israeli attack on Lebanon, between the then US Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman and Hariri. In the cable, Hariri reportedly says that the Lebanese Armed Forces could not take any other position than that of supine neutrality (my words not his) while Hezbollah had a military edge on it. The next quote is revealing:

“But once the army has “some teeth and some morale,” Saad urged, then he promises to “smack Hizballah down.”

He goes on:

“Growing more strident (and clearly hoping to be recorded verbatim), Saad assured the Ambassador, ‘Give me a chance, and I will f*** Hizballah.’”

At a time when March 14 is focusing all of its energy and attention on Hezbollah’s weapons, and asking others to do the same, these revelations are certain to affect the debate.

Of course Hezbollah is not so shorted as to neglect contemplating all possible scenarios if it were to ever disarm – which is itself so minute a possibility at this time many have questioned the logic of March 14 pursuing it – but to have Hariri so clearly state that as soon as Hezbollah disarmed it will be crushed, is not likely to soften Hezbollah’s stance.

March 26 And All That

Half a million people travelled from all over the country on Saturday to voice their anger over deep and unnecessary cuts to the public sector. Not surprisingly with a group so great in number, there were a wide variety of different opinions among those attending on how best to voice their anger.

If I were to draw up a list of people and organisations whom I believed were worthy of condemnation and ire, the anarchists who smashed windows on Oxford Street on Saturday would be very near the bottom. They would appear slightly above my internet service provider, but well below a number of political commentators who chose belittle the whole protest on the basis of said smashed windows. Suffice to say that above all the aforementioned groups would be the current coalition government, the multinational companies who avoid paying the right amount of tax in the UK and Bono.

The weather was darksome and dull; the banners were not. Nor were the merry band of twenty-somethings dressed as Robin Hood who pranced in front of the Met’s burliest student-breakers firing mini arrows.

I followed a band of around 40 anarchists as they peeled away from the crowd in Oxford Circus and romped around Oxford Street, Regent Street and Piccadilly, brandishing flimsy wooden stick and paint bombs.

The protesters had obviously learned from previous encounters with the Truncheons, deftly dodging kettles on the back streets and alleyways surrounding Fortnum & Mason. I saw groups of police officers outnumbered and fleeing, covered in paint, after trying to surround a large gang on St James Street.

Here are some photos I snapped on my round.

Fortnum & Mason: Occupied.

The People's Bank, formerly known as Santander.

'Rush on the bank'

Inside Lloyds TSB with all these young students looking to take advantage of some low interest loans. The entrance was blocked while I was still inside but most people scampered out through the fire escape.

Tolchuking outside Fortnum & Mason.

I'm certain I saw this gang of Robin Hood lookalikes at a climate change protest a few years ago, only then they were dressed as fairies and carried magic wands.

Police experience a kettle from the inside.

The kettle eventually grow to extend all the way to this alley just off Piccadilly Circus. Got a bit violent in there.

I'm not sure whether this is the collateral damage from a rogue paintbomb or tigerblood.

And as all good protests do, this one ended up with a medley of Dylan songs blasted from a loudspeaker till the early hours down in old Soho.

 

What I’ve Learned – Norman Finkelstein

Something I did for Esquire magazine.

View this document on Scribd

Was Jumblatt pushed?

Savvy political manoeuvring by the ‘weather vane’ of Lebanese politics? Or a selfless act to preserve a delicate peace? What motivated Walid Jumblatt to support the March 8 coalition’s successful bid to oust Saad Hariri and form their own government?

Jumblatt once again found himself in the position of kingmaker early this year when March 8 withdrew from a farcical ‘national unity’ government and thus forced President Sleiman to nominate a new prime minister. As is the protocol (not in the constitution), a vote among MPs was to decide whether Hariri would stay on, or be replaced another Sunni candidate.

The numbers on each side were close, and Jumblatt’s Democratic Gathering bloc was the decider. After much wrangling and a rumour-mill working in overtime, the bloc went with the March 8 backed candidate Najib Miqati.

At the time, Jumblatt vociferously denied claims he had nominated Miqati under pressure, or worse, as a result of threats from Hezbollah, as was suggested by a number of March 14 figures.

Jumblatt called the accusation “political dementia.”

“I haven’t come under pressure from anyone, neither from Syria nor from Hizbullah,” Jumblat told As Safir.

Comments made to LBC today, however, tell a different story.

In a wide ranging interview Jumblatt made several comments emphasising the importance of ‘stability’ in Lebanon.  The following comments were, in my opinion, quite revealing:

“The U.S. delegation openly told me “Hizbullah murdered Hariri,” prompting me to rule out that theory and tell them that justice is of no use without stability.”

“I cowered for the sake of civil peace and I have no problem to be called a coward if that would serve stability.”

Immediately after the government collapse, it seemed to me that Jumblatt was extremely reluctant to take steps to remove Saad Hariri from his post. Following the withdrawal of March 8 figures from the cabinet, Jumblatt expressed concern – mild criticism in fact. This position changed over the following week or so, culminating in him coming out in support for Miqati.

Jumblatt stating that he “cowered for the sake of civil peace” appear to me to add weight to the rumours (from reliable sources, of course) that he was warned by certain parties that refusal to support Miqati’s nomination would lead to severe civil strife. A supposed ‘dry run’ by Hezbollah and Amal supporters dressed in black, gathering at key intersections and roads in the early hours of the morning, gave everyone an idea of what this might involve.

I’d be interested in hearing what other people think on the matter. Leave a comment if you have an opinion.

Coincidently, Marwan Hamadeh came out today and refuted claims that Jumblatt was pressured in any way.

Mubarak’s P45

Proof that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is about to quit.

 

“‘Sister’ Syria has killed for less”

In his Independent column last week Robert Fisk wrote about the effect Wikileaks could have on Lebanon. Pointing to a number of stories printed in the Lebanese press (The Daily Star included), Fisk noted the effect the revelations could have on Lebanese politics at a particularly delicate time.  He makes an interesting point. But a week or two after Lebanon’s own Wikileaks scandal, everyone’s attention seems to be focusing once again on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Fisk calls my story on Murr’s claims to have evidence linking Fatah al-Islam to the Syrian regime “one of the most damaging” reports, and ends by saying of the leaks as a whole: “’Sister’ Syria has killed for less.”

A bit hyperbolic, perhaps, but certainly worth thinking about. Wikileaks is relying on newspapers and their experts to be responsible with the information they have been given, and to prevent it endangering any lives. But there is a danger that in the excitement of it all, the proper diligence will not always be observed. I do not agree with Fisk’s assertions that any stories in The Daily Star have put anyone in danger, but I have been reading stories on the leaks by reporters based as far away as Washington, with no record of writing about the Middle East.  It raises the question, how can such a person be aware of all the implications of what they are writing?

Here is Fisk’s article. It’s worth a read.

By Robert Fisk in Beirut

Julian Assange may claim that WikiLeaks’ disclosure of US documents is for the good of the world, but in Lebanon they have had an incendiary effect. The Hezbollah party is using the cables as proof of UN involvement with Washington – and thus, by extension, with Israel – and politicians are desperately denying that they gave intelligence information to the Americans about Hezbollah’s secret communications system.

For weeks, the Hezbollah’s secretary general, Hassan Nasrallah, has been denouncing the UN’s tribunal into the murder of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri as an American-Israeli plot. He says that anyone giving security information to the Americans is an Israeli spy.

Beirut newspapers have devoted pages to the unexpurgated US cables, in which Lebanese officials revealed the names of suspected assassins to American diplomats, an act which – in this country – can end in a flowered coffin and crocodile tears from the murderers. Mercifully, opposing sides in Lebanon have chosen to accept the weird and unbelievable denials of those involved. An outbreak of violence would be blamed on the Americans, not on WikiLeaks.

The UN tribunal’s forthcoming accusations – which may be mercifully delayed – have already caused the Beirut government to divide into opposing camps. Now the US cables reveal that the UN has indeed been cooperating with the United States, asking for aerial reconnaissance pictures of the Bekaa Valley and sending DNA samples from Mr Hariri’s suspected killer, Ahmad Abu Adass, to FBI headquarters for examination.

One of the most damaging reports is a conversation between the Lebanese defence minister Elias Murr and then US ambassador Jeffrey Feltman that his government had “intercepted conversations that link Fatah al-Islam [Islamic extremists who fought a war against the Lebanese army in 2007] and the Syrian regime”. Mr Feltman “urged Murr to share that information via intelligence channels”.

At a separate meeting, the Lebanese interior minister Hassan Sabah told Mr Feltman that “Fatah al-Islam is under the direct tactical control of Syria”. Mr Murr has been the target of a failed assassination attempt.

Yet more dangerous still is a 2008 cable stating that former Lebanese telecommunications minister Marwan Hamadeh provided the US with maps detailing locations of Hezbollah’s communications network. The network, according to former US ambassador Michele Sison, “covers the Palestinian camps, and the Hezbollah training camps in the Bekaa, and is penetrating deep into the Christian Metn and Kesrwan areas”. Mr Hamadeh, who denies these details, had also earlier been the target of an attempted assassination in which his bodyguard was killed. Only weeks after this conversation, Hezbollah took over West Beirut, after gun battles with pro-government forces in which more than 100 civilians died, because of the government’s demand to break the Hezbollah’s networks.

There are some details in the cables on Lebanon which are provably wrong. A claim by Samir Geagea, a right-wing Christian politician, that Iran had provided Syria with 15 submarines, was palpably untrue. Mr Geagea has refused to comment on this cable. Another allegation – that missiles were smuggled into Lebanon on board planes carrying first aid during the 2006 Hezbollah-Israeli war – is provably untrue: Beirut airport was bombed on the first day of the battles and never reopened until the conflict had ended.

Added to this is a cable showing that although the UN no longer believed that four Lebanese security officers imprisoned after the murder of ex-prime minister Rafiq Hariri were in any way responsible, Mr Feltman wrote that he feared their release might prompt one of them to take “revenge” against the US embassy in Beirut. The generals, released much later, remained in prison.

All of this is causing the Lebanese to hold their breath for more revelations. And for those named in the cables to hold their breath even more fearfully. “Sister” Syria is known to have taken its own revenge for much less. As for the Hezbollah, their MP for Tyre, Hassan Fadlallah, says the cables prove “that the US is using the court and the investigation committee as a tool to target the [Hezbollah] resistance”.

Lebanese minister claimed to have evidence linking Fatah al-Islam militants to Syria – cable

More from our trove of Wikileaks documents.  Although the link has been made before, this is the first time there has been discussion of intercepted conversations linking the Syrian regime to Fatah al-Islam.  Following the fighting in 2007, an intelligence official claimed the Syria connection after  garnering confessions from Fatah al-Islam members , but Murr subsequently denied this.

 

By Richard Hall

Daily Star staff

BEIRUT: The Defense Ministry claimed it had evidence linking Fatah al-Islam to the Syrian government at the time it was fighting a fierce battle with the group in 2007, according to a leaked diplomatic cable seen by The Daily Star.

According to the cable, Defense Minister Elias Murr made the claim during a meeting on June 8, 2007, with US Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman that focused on clashes between the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and Fatah al-Islam militants at the Nahr al-Bared Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon.

“Murr claimed that the GOL [Government of Lebanon] has intercepted conversations that link FAI [Fatah al-Islam] and the Syrian regime,” the cable read.

The US ambassador “urged Murr to share that information via intelligence channels and to give a releasable version to the UN for the Monday Security Council briefing on UNSCR 1559,” it said.

Lebanese authorities have claimed a link between Syria and Fatah al-Islam in the past, but these claims have never been substantiated. Several media reports following the clashes, citing security sources, alleged “confessions” by captured militants, but these were later denied by Murr.

Another cable detailing a separate meeting between Interior Minister Hassan Sabaeh and Feltman on May 24, 2007, suggested Sabaeh had come to the same conclusion. “[Sabaeh] had the same analysis: Fatah al-Islam is under the direct tactical control of Syria.”

Fatah al-Islam is a militant group that first emerged in north Lebanon in 2006, when it publicly announced a split from Syrian-based Fatah Intifada, itself a split from the Fatah movement founded by Yasser Arafat. Fatah al-Islam is designated a terrorist organization by the American State Department and has been linked to Al-Qaeda.

Nahr al-Bared was reduced to rubble and its residents were forced to flee in 2007 during 106 days of clashes between the LAF and Fatah al-Islam. Fighting broke out following a police raid on a house in Tripoli that was suspected of housing militants on May 20. The suspects resisted arrest and fled to Nahr al-Bared, where they attacked an outpost at the entrance to the camp, killing 27 soldiers. The LAF responded by surrounding the camp and shelling positions where militants had holed up within.

A ground offensive followed during which a total of 400 people were killed – including 170 Lebanese soldiers, more than 120 militants and over 100 civilians – before the LAF declared victory on September 7. Reconstruction of the camp has been hampered by construction delays and lack of funding.
Read more:http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=31&article_id=122237#ixzz17WeQ2nXT
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)