Syrian intelligence implicated in bus bombing

Lebanese security forces said that six four members of Fatah Islam, an Islamist faction run by Syrian intelligence, confessed to carrying out the Ain Alaq bus bombings  on February 13th. The Lebanese cabinet is expected to deliver a statement on the arrests soon. LBC reported that all the arrested individuals carry Syrian passports. A Fatah Islam official denied responsibility for the attacks in a telephone interview with LBC, and threatened "retaliation" if these accusations are leveled at his organisation. When asked about what form this retalition would take, he hung up. Fatah Islam is made up mostly of recycled fighters from Iraq, and were brought to Lebanon through the Syrian border in the north. They took over the offices of the pro-Syrian Fatah Intifada in Nahr El Bared late last year. Their objectives include killing "crusaders" and "zionists". It was reported recently that they planned attacks on UNIFIL.

The announcement came as Syrian Vice President Farouq Sharaa, who is visiting Cairo, reportedly "apologized" to Saudi Arabia and Egypt for a Bashar Assad speech in which the latter called Arab leaders opposing Hizbullah "half-men". According to Sharaa, Bashar meant minor leaders in other countries—in reference to Lebanese leaders. It is not clear whether Saudi Arabia and Egypt will accept this "apology."  In any case, don't expect any "apology", even one as lame as this one, to any Lebanese leader, or citizen for that matter, for the killings perpetrated by Assad's proxy terrorists.

Comments

[BadVilbel]

I love how the guy threatens retaliation...Hahaha.
"We're not terrorists. We don't plant bombs!....But if you continue to accuse us of stuff....we'll......*drumroll*....plant bombs!"

AHAHAHAHA!

You really can't make this crap up. It would be hilariously funny if it wasn't costing the lives of people...

[ghassan karam]

I wonder why I am not surprised!!! But the irony is that the government that is being undermined will one more time beg and plead to normalize relations with those who are financing, planning and executing these horrendous acts. Saniora will continue his efforts to court Nasrallah, he will adamantly refuse to call HA an organ of a foreign government and will ask them to rejoin him in the cabinet. How illogical, unstatesman like and wrong can one be!!! Syria and all its so called Lebanese agents must NOT be part of the cabinet, they cannot be expected to promote that which they do not believe in. Let democracy rule, when HA and its allies become the majority then they would be entitled to form a cabinet but not before then. I am no expert on the Lebanese law, but HA has never denied its funding and receipt of arms from Syria and Iran, shouldn't that provide enough grounds to start a legal proceeding against these acts and shouldn't Saniora and his fellow members in the cabinet declare the military wing illegal? Yes HA must not be allowed to join the cabinet but I am not sure that the cabinet is that much more committed to the rule of law, Lebanese sovereignty and independence than the Syrian/Iranian agents. Are there any pols that are willing to act on behalf of the Lebanese and most importantly are there any courageous Lebanese pols or is that an oxymoron?

[Slowhand]

Ghassan,

I agree with you whole heartedly. I don't think there are any Lebanese pols that are willing to place Lebanon before themsleves. What's worse is that the population in general doesn't expect it of them either. I remember getting into a huge debate with my parents on my last trip home cause they were talking about a young boy that goes to school with my neice (grandson of a politician) and saying how he will be a great pol some day... I was shocked. Here are highly educated people that have tasted life and democracy in a truly democratic land talking about a 12 year old kid... The future za3im who will reunite the party.

What Lebanon needs is a proper civic education system. One that promotes achievement and is not based on the promotion of the za3im. The other is a new elctoral law, and more importantly a law governing political parties. For instance, have you ever read a charter or know the platform of any political party in Leb? I don't think it is required of them to state their goals and objectives. The only charter I am familiar with is that of HA and SSNP. The former to continue the Islamic revolution, and the latter to annihilate Lebanon. What are the platforms of any of the M14 parties. I'd like to start an M16 party and gun them all down. :) Alas, I am not a violent person nor do I believe in violence as a means to reach an objective.

In all seriousness though HA is the only grassroots political party in Lebanon that elects its leader. The helms of all other parties are passed from father to son to brother to uncle to cousin until they split and disintegrate, then a youngin comes along and unites them again. Once this changes I believe our beloved country will begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel. That said HA's military wing should be banned or converged into the regular army and made to pledge allegiance to the state.

[ghassan karam]

Slowhand,
Many of us express our frustration with a state of affairs by making the false assumption that if we and most of whom we know share a point of view then we have the right to expect others to share it too. If on the other hand we are to be objective observers and dispassionate analysts then we will be forced to admit that no change takes place before its time. Paradigm shifts, and that is what we ask of Lebanon, are not easy matters and they do not occur only when a few of us wish them to occur. There is an element of predeterminism about such seminal revolutions and many of us just dont have the patience to do the required leg work. I am not suggesting that one should not devote all ones energies and talent in order to help bring about the required development in beliefs and thinking but I am saying that all what we can do is to articulate positions, say our piece and act as catalysts. There is nothing else to do. I know that this sounds frustrating, and it is, but paradigm shifts cannot be hurried, the masses must embrace them and demand them. They should not be forced, history has taught us that top down forced revolutions never amount to much even if they appear to last 70 years. But none of this excuses the action of Saniora and company. I know that Lebanon cannot and will not be transformed over a short period of time but I know also that those that are in a position of leadership and trust owe the rest of us their best efforts to educate, bring about a change and act as catalysts. Unfortunately the current crew fails on all counts.

[ali bm]

do not out too much faith in these "invesitgations", there are too much conflicted results: for example Shaker Al-Abbsi is described by some as the liason officer with syrian intelligence while in other accounts he is a deputy for one of Al-Zarqawi's aides and he was previously jailed in syria. the whole thing reeks especially after i read a report in al hayat that stated that the invesitgative judge in lebanon accused ten lebanese of killing adnan Shams during the riots near the Arab university after a syrian suspect had allegedly admitted his guilt...

[Jeha]

The odd thing about the whole thing is that is seems entirely Syrian made, but the Lebanese government is shying away from stating that, preferring to dump it on Jund el-Sham.

It will not dissuade Syria, and will convince the opposition, who doesn't want to see anyway. This mouse that roared is far too weak...

[JoseyWales]

Yes Jeha.

And that would be reason 756 for the state to enter Ein el Helweh and Nahr el Bared and other camps and spread Lebanese sovereignty there.

[Jeha]

Josey,
Reason 756 for the Lebanese Government to complete on of 12,345,123 items on their list of things to do, and that they keep on postponing... And for all to realise that this thing on the flag is a Cedar, not a girouette.

[BadVilbel]

What flag? What cedar?

Sorry, coudln't resist. But until Lebanese authority is spread on every square inch of Lebanon, including refugee camps, and until the ONLY acceptable authority and loyalty is to the Lebanese state, its institutions, its army and its security forces (meaning, no "resistance" weapons and otherwise...) until then...there is no freaking flag and there is no freaking cedar...

Carry on.

[BadVilbel]

From today's Naharnet story (http://tinyurl.com/32hez2):

Fatah-Islam swiftly denied any involvement and accused the government of trying to pave the way for an offensive against the dozen or so camps in Lebanon, which house more than half of the country's nearly 400,000 Palestinian refugees.

A statement released by Fatah-Islam in the group's Nahr al-Bared refugee camp stronghold in north Lebanon, described the accusations as "completely fabricated."

"Efforts are underway to implicate our movement in what is happening in Lebanon in order to pave the way for hostile operations against the refugee camps and the Palestinian presence in Lebanon," the statement said.

Now, someone please correct me if this sounds out of line, but what right do these people have to dictate rules in someone else's country? And to determine what is or isn't hostile?

I'm personally tired of the taboo surrounding this whole palestinian cause claptrap. You're in my house, you get to follow my rules, and I don't give a rat's ass how noble or holy your cause is, or how sad it is that you lost your own home some 60+ years ago.

(Mind you, I say all this while purposely putting aside the fact that these guys are more Syrian than Palestinian).

[Vox P.]

Gosh! I can't even express my surprise!

[Jay]

The opposition propaganda is getting ridiculous. On the other hand they say that Palestinian militias like Fatah-Islam are supported by March 14, on the other hand ISF is a loyalist militia, and anyways the Ain Alaq bombings were just a ploy to frame innocent HA, SSNP and other peaceful charity organizations.

In other words, March 14 has caught itself for a crime that it committed against itself! It all makes perfect sense now doesn't it?

[BadVilbel]

Yet. Believe it or not. There are still idiots out there who will buy that, hook, line and sinker.

[Jeha]

Of course! And Rafic Hariri comitted suicide. Now you see how it all makes sense when you apply a little logic...

[Roman Kalik]

Jeha, don't mean lobotomy? Or is that a requirement for logical thinking? ;)

[Jeha]

The worse type of Lobotomy: the self-inflicted type...

[K]

Le Figaro:

JAVIER SOLANA'S SYRIA MISSION:

SECURE DEAL TO SPARE THE ASAD FAMILY FROM HARIRI TRIBUNAL

http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/20070314.FIG000000283_mission_delicate_pour_javier_solana_a_damas.html

[fubar]

Deal or no deal...

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=80535

Money quote:

"The agency sources said that reaching an agreement between rival Christian leaders was one of the main challenges of the ongoing discussions."

[Charlie]

Say Fubar with the "General" threatening to break some necks..I would be careful with that Money quote......:-)

[fubar]

Well, Charlie, for a deal to happen, the question is who is going to be sold out - Geagea or Aoun.

Seems Aoun is feeling the heat...

[Charlie]

Fubar,

We all called it when this play started, Aoun was the weak man out..He simply got nothing...Ooops I forgot, he always has a place in Rafsanjani's resistance troops....:-)

[fubar]

lol, Charlie. It's a damn shame the Christians did not stand together in this. But then, never underestimate the cunning of Iran and it's ability to effectively use the personal ambitions of some people.

Here's an Iranian money quote for you (referencing the Pasdaran, but equally applicable to Aoun in reverse):

"Lots of people are available for the taking under the right conditions."

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2007/3/14/134825.shtml?s=sr

[ghassan karam]

Fubar,
What was all that DS story about? Why does it warrant a by line? I could have written this story based on news wires coverage without having to set foot in Lebanon or talk to any of the principals. Are these two, Berri and Hariri,empowered to decide for a nation and if so who is it that has empowered them? Is the public reaction ever taken into consideration or are the two morons conducting negotiations on behalf of foreign powers? Oh the depths that we have fallen into!!! Maybe it is time to take stock of the developments over the past 6-7 decades and undo what has been done. Dissolve the country that was created by the French colonialists and be done with it. Declare the experiment a failure, no self respecting country will accept to have its future, during one of the most important points in its short history, be decided behind closed doors by two undemocratic, unimaginative,pols posing as leaders but acting to advance the agenda and concerns of non-Lebanese. The longer this tragedy lasts the more bizarre it looks and the more of a comedic aura it develops. It would have been funny had it not been so serious.

[Charlie]

Basically he is saying for the right price they are all whores… And the general turned out to be a very cheap whore for the Persians to acquire...:-)

The Iranians may agree to slow things down some, but the Syrians are never going to accept that, unless of course they are given guarantees that Assad and his cronies are above the tribunal. If that is to happen, then the whole fuss about the tribunal is a big waste of time. I think the Syrians may give up Lahoud to save their skin; A Lahoud and his top security officers will make for a good photo op. for all concerned!! Besides it is a red light special at the Mustang Ranch..5 for the price of one…:-)

[Charlie]

Ghassan,

If not Berri and Hariri discussing a way to get out of the mess the country is in, then who should??

The Lebanese elected these pols, Hariri announced he is representing his block (march 14). Berri is one of the 3 presidents of Lebanon, there is no such thing as speaker of the Parliament, it is a 3 way presidency system, so who else is left?? The Lebanese put these actors on stage, so now they have to watch the play to the end!!! By the way my favorite actor is the village idiot Aoun…:-)

[fubar]

Ghassan,

I spent some time this morning with a Mauritanian gentleman. Very interesting guy and very interesting conversation. He is very keen on the run-off election. He spent a good bit of time trying to explain to me [ ;-) ], why the election was so important and why it is not true democracy because Mauritanians are so "tribal" and so people vote according to their tribal identity. But, he assured me, it is a real beginning and over time, he believes, the tribal identities will be replaced by ideological/political identities.

I am sure you can imagine my surprise at hearing this. = )

So in direct response to your post:

1) Lebanon is not a self-respecting country.

2) Lebanon has gotten itself into a mess from which it cannot extricate itself without foreign assistance.

3) There is very little in life that comes without a price.

4) While giving up on the experiment is certainly an option (Iran/Hezbollah will be pleased with your decision), the only other options are to survive the current crisis or descend into war.

5) Surviving the current crisis at least provides an opportunity to work toward change designed to strengthen the state and prevent recurrence of the this situation.

6) Descending into war works too, but it is so much messier and costlier.

When are you going to stop projecting your wishes upon Lebanon and start accepting the reality that is Lebanon?

[Charlie]

Hey Fubar,

Recruiting Mauritanian assets??
I guess you need to keep a diversified portfolio...:-)
But be careful, I don't think they blend in well in Tehran...:-)

[fubar]

Too funny, Charlie. Actually, it was just too damn early to hit the bar this morning while I was killing time in an airport. = )

[ghassan karam]

Fubar,
The problem with conservatives is that they want to conserve; they are accepting of the status quo and thus their world vision is limited:-) If we are to accept what is then we will never ask about what ought. I would much rather always look for the what ought:-) And by the way, I have no interest in just surviving, we have done enough unprincipled surviving and look at the wonderful fruits that it has yielded; backwardness, authoritarianism , theocratic ideas, divisiveness, hatred, economic stagnation, political corruption and moral degradation. Surely there must be some things in life that are inviolable, some things that we will not bargain away

Charlie,
I was not questioning what Fubar meant with his post!!! It is only that the DS story is symptomatic of the Lebanese mess. Berri and Hariri are NOT meeting as responsible elected officials, they are instead meeting as feudal lords, as lords of the manor, as foreign agents, as traditional zuama , they are meeting as anything but representatives of the people.

[fubar]

Ghassan,

"Surely there must be some things in life that are inviolable, some things that we will not bargain away."

For some of us, there are. You ready for war? Count me in. I am right behind you, buddy.

The problem with liberals is that they espouse grand ideas but are unwilling to back them up and to pay with blood.

Of course, you have no interest in Lebanon just surviving. You don't live in Lebanon. Keep talking, keep dreaming. Let others do the dying.

[Charlie]

Ghassan,

But they are the Lebanese representatives. As much as you and I don’t like it, they are the politicians the people of Lebanon elected to office. Yes they are zauma, but that is how the Lebanese like it. Again, there is no Thomas Jefferson in the Lebanese mix and I am not expecting one to show up any time soon…Sorry but that is how the chips fall for Lebanon.

[ghassan karam]

Fubar,
We have been down this road before and I do not think that we need to rehash the positions again. Suffice it to say that residency is not a prerequisite to analyse a situation, express an opinion about an event or support a cause. I have never been to Indonesia yet I helped lessen the tsunami caused suffering, I haven't been to NO in years yet I have lectured, , written and participated in many drives to aid the people of NO stand back on their feet, I have not visited Russia and have no desire to do so yet I have over the years taught Russian economic history and written many critical articles about the Soviet leadership ... So please don't place restrictions on what I can promote or oppose. Political boundaries especially in their current form are not that old and I am certain that many of these boundaries will not be the same a hundred years from know. The nation state is a relatively modern invention and it is on the way out. If that sounds too abstract then all what you have to do is to review the US Chinese relationship.It would not be an exaggeration to say that all sides in the US and also in the EU would like to see freedom spead its wings in China not because they live there or because of trade but simply because it is the right thing to do.

BTW, very few of those that support the ESA do so because they expect to go swiming with the dolphins or beccause they want to see whales with their own eyes. The fight against extinction has only one reward, and that is not residency, it is the preservation of the integrity of the eco system, it is the moral imperative. I don't know about you but I live in proximity of New Hampshire and so I am often reminded; not that i need to be reminded; of their motto " Live Free or Die". The people of New Hampshire will always be willing to wax eloquent whenever asked about the meaning of that phrase. It does not mean that one goes out to start wars or spread hegemony, it means that life is too precious to be spent in slavery and appeasemnt. People who value freedom and the good of the commonwealth will always take a stand for what they believe to be right. If such stands provoke others to violence then so be it.

Charlie,
I am the one who has often bored the readership of this blog many a time by talking about the difficulty of paradigm shifts and about how is it that we met the enemy and it is us. None of this however, excuses the behaviour of both sides to this standoff.Both have demonstrated nothing but total mockery to the law that they have taken an oath to uphold. One side has chosen to behave as if the law does not apply to it while the other gas ignored enforcing it. I am not sure whuch is more destructive to civil society; the criminal who acts with total disregard to the law or the police officer who choses not to enforce it.

[fubar]

Ghassan,

Should I be taking notes? Is there going to be a test later? = )

[ghassan karam]

Fubar,
If the tone of my previous post offended you then I sincerely apologize because that is not my intention. But this idea about residency brought my dander up:-)

[Jeha]

The thing about those Lebanese pols, of whichever stripe, is that they would sell their own mothers. But even then, they wouldn't deliver.

I expect little good to come out of any discussions; the real "dialogue" is on another level, among the puppeteers. And they seem to be playing for keeps (Iran and Syria), or viying for time (US).

[JoseyWales]

Charlie (sorry AK, unrelated to post),

Are you Charles Malik? And if so, too bad you shut down your blog (LPJ). Hope to be reading on this and other blogs or that you'll reconsider.

[Charlie]

Josey,

No I am not Charles Malik...

[JoseyWales]

Thanks Charlie,

Hmmmmm...OK

Of course I look forward to reading too, here and elsewhere.

[Samir]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hariri assassination linked by UN investigators to extension of pro-Syrian Lebanese president Lahoud’s term

March 16, 2007, 2:35 PM (GMT+02:00)

Belgian judge Serge Brammertz, who heads the UN commission probing the Hariri murder, asks for an extension of its mandate upon submitting its seventh report Thursday. The panel concludes that a single bomb killed the Lebanese politician Rafiq Hariri and 22 others in Feb. 2005. It has implicated top Syrian figures and Lebanese accomplices in the assassination. DNA and isotope testing suggest the bomber was not Lebanese.

[Vox P.]

The international commission has been playing the same disk for more than two years. Enought talking. Time for action.

[fubar]

(Daily Star) Berri reportedly asked Pedersen [UN's special coordinator for Lebanon] why Israeli overflights persisted in South Lebanon.
"Why has the term cessation of hostilities [in UN Security Council Resolution 1701] not been changed to cease-fire?" the speaker [Berri] asked.

********

Hmmm, Berri is asking this question now?

Wonder if Pedersen responded with, where are Goldwasser and Regev?

Looks like someone has been feeding Berri a brain teaser. Now if he only had a brain.

[Bad Vilbel]

I must applaud Ghassan's more than eloquent comments here. I get what Fubar and Charlie are saying, but I'm afraid that "This is the shite we have, this is how the chips fall, deal with it." is just not acceptable anymore.

Why are the people in Lebanon content to sit there and watch these 2 morons debate the fate of a "nation" behind closed doors? Why are the Lebanese people so freaking apathetic that they are willing to sit around, bitching and moaning about "the situation" while allowing themselves to be (pardon the french) "bent over and f***ed"?

Like Ghassan, I blame the people and I think Lebanon does not deserve its status as a sovereign nation in the UN, nor does it deserve respect from any of its neighbors when it doesn't have any self-respect to start with.

What's it gonna take for the people to say "enough"?

[Shunkleash]

Stinks doesn't it? Unfortunately, at one point or another over the last 2 years we have ALL put faith in certain leb pols (rightly or wrongly)including certain chameleons forgetting that their stripes can't change because the stripes are bloody well TATOOED ON and as according to Bad Vilbel when you do HAVE FAITH you run the risk of getting cornholed. Hence, the feeling of unsolicited cornholing im feeling right now.

Hariri and Berri are two sides of the same coin. OR as I like to think of them as "twinkies". Fairly solid on the outside but when you check the inside its all diarhea inducing mush. By the way, I do not mean to offend the venerable twinkie by comparing it to these two disgusting excuses for shit but the analogy was just too good.

But to be more analytical, ONE, is a young pretender to the corupt throne that the house of Saud built and the other a piece of shit gangster who might as well have been dubbed into the part played by Brando in the Godfather. You see, both have either been the benefactors of the tremendous oil wealth of the arabs or have stolen enough money through the extorting of "protection" money to ensure they continue to "LOVE" lebanon. Difficulty is that every last one of them including our esteemed cry baby pm are so god damned rotten they need to be flushed down a toilet sans the paper (waste not want not)!!

YOU want to know why the lebanese people display so much apathy to what is going on...simple NO ON EVER TOLD THEM THEY COULD ACT DIFFERENTLY!!! Unfortunately, when you grow up in a system that tells you from the time you are in your monthers womb that 1. your creed is your badge and 2. the gangster with the biggest gun is your leader what else are you to do?

Until the day that the lebanese people actually WAKE UP and smell the AHWEH the only thing that will differentiate them from the HA and Aounist drones defacting one the streets of Beirut is the fact that they actually work sweat and toil for a living.

By the way, at this juncture I must ask what makes any one here sufficently competent enough to comment on lebanese politics...I FOR ONE say none of us are since everyone has missed the common thread running through all political parties in Lebanon - its called PRETEND AND MAKE BELIEVE. It goes something like this...once you can "talk"/"hiyar"/"play nice" and make deals on who gets what "turf" then everything will be allright and we can go on pretending that there was never any crisis and make believe that it was all one big blasted conspiracy...Lets see today ill say it was the fault of the JOOOS!!!

Nuff ranting for one day

SHUNKLEASH (PBUH)