Sunday, May 11, 2008

ISRAEL - NO TOLERANCE OF NUC IRAN

Hezbollah fighters in Beirut melt away By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Writer Sat May 10, 5:27 PM ET

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Hezbollah gunmen melted off the streets of Beirut Saturday, heeding an army call to pull the fighters out after the Shiite militants demonstrated their military might in a power struggle with the U.S.-backed government. Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, in his first public statement since sectarian clashes erupted on Wednesday, said Lebanon can no longer tolerate Hezbollah having weapons. He called on the army to restore law and order and remove gunmen from the streets.Despite his tough talk, Saniora made a key concession to the Hezbollah-led opposition that would effectively shelve the two government decisions that sparked the fighting.Muslim West Beirut was mostly calm a day after Hezbollah and its allies seized control of neighborhoods from Sunnis loyal to the government. Most Hezbollah gunmen had pulled out, leaving small bands of their Shiite Amal allies to patrol the streets.While tensions in the capital appeared to be defusing, violence spread and intensified in other parts of the country.At least 12 people were killed and 20 wounded when pro- and anti-government groups fought in a remote region of northern Lebanon, Lebanese security and hospital officials said. It was the heaviest toll for a single clash since fighting began.At least 37 people have been killed in four days of clashes — the worst sectarian violence since Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

The violence grew out of a political standoff between the opposition, which pulled out of the Cabinet 17 months ago demanding veto power over government decisions. The deadlock has prevented parliament from electing a president, leaving the country without a head of state since November.The political standoff turned into clashes after the government confronted Hezbollah earlier this week. It said it would sack the chief of airport security for alleged ties to Hezbollah and declared the group's private telephone network illegal and a threat to state security.Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Thursday the decisions amounted to a declaration of war and he demanded they be revoked. His Shiite forces then overran large swaths of West Beirut.The rout was a blow for Washington, which has long considered Hezbollah a terrorist group and condemns its ties to Syria and Iran. The Bush administration has been a strong supporter of Saniora's government and its army for the last three years.The show of force added to jitters in the Middle East and the West over Iran's growing influence and its intentions in the region.The Bush administration said Saturday that it was pleased to see Lebanese armed forces under the authority of Saniora working to restore order on the streets.Our concerns regarding Hezbollah are unchanged, said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council. We are seeing some lessening of violence in the streets.Saniora accused Hezbollah of staging a coup, besieging the capital and poisoning the dream of democracy in Lebanon.The government did not declare war against Hezbollah. Hezbollah declared the war and is waging it with the aim of changing the local, regional and international balance of powers, he said.After Saniora's speech, the army called for gunmen to withdraw from the streets of Beirut and reopen blocked roads.Seeking to stop the country's slide toward all-out chaos and sectarian strife, the military ordered army units to continue to take measures on the ground to establish security and spread state authority and arrest the violators.Saniora said he would leave it up to the army to resolve the confrontation that sparked the clashes over the airport security chief and the Hezbollah telephone network.

The army offered Hezbollah a compromise. It said the airport security chief would not be sacked and recommended to the government that it reverse the decision on the phone network. But the compromise did not fully satisfy the opposition's demands that the government officially revoke the two decisions. The army has largely stayed out of the fighting, fearing its forces could break apart on sectarian lines as they did during the civil war. But in the past 24 hours they deployed heavily in neighborhoods of West Beirut seized earlier by the Shiites, stationing armored personnel carriers and jeeps on street corners and putting up more checkpoints. In some areas they protected besieged leaders of the pro-government factions, Sunni parliament majority leader Saad Hariri and his ally, Druse leader Walid Jumblatt. The army command is respected by Hezbollah and an opposition statement said its forces will withdraw all their gunmen from Beirut in compliance with the army request. The opposition said a civil disobedience campaign will continue until its demands are met. Within minutes of announcing that Hezbollah fighters would withdraw from Beirut, opposition activists set tires ablaze in a downtown overpass and clashes were reported in the northern city of Tripoli. The opposition statement did not say whether Hezbollah forces would remove roadblocks around Beirut including one cutting off access to the airport and shutting it down since Wednesday. Government-allied Druse leader Jumblatt told reporters at a news conference he hoped the crisis was now over. Jumblatt helped spark the tensions when he alleged Hezbollah had set up cameras near the airport — which is located in the Hezbollah stronghold of south Beirut — to monitor the movement of anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians and foreign dignitaries. He suggested Hezbollah was planning to bomb aircraft to assassinate such figures. Asked if the government compromise on its decision to confront Hezbollah was a humiliating defeat, he replied: It is not humiliating. ... If it is a question of preserving the peace, preventing civil strife, sectarian strife, it's not humiliating.Fighters loyal to Hariri and the government battled the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, a secular pro-Syrian group allied with Hezbollah in the town of Halba in a remote Sunni region of northernmost Lebanon. At least 12 gunmen were killed and 20 wounded, Lebanese security and hospital officials said. The pro-government fighters stormed the office of the SSNP and set it ablaze after the gunbattle. Nine of the dead were SSNP and three were government loyalists, the security officials said. The officials all spoke on customary condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. In a mountain town east of Beirut, Hezbollah accused a pro-government Druse group of kidnapping three of its members and shooting and stabbing two of them to death. Hezbollah said it held Jumblatt personally responsible for the safety of the third man. Eight people were killed near the town of Aley late Friday in clashes between government supporters and opponents. Another civilian died in the clashes in the southern city of Sidon.

Earlier Saturday in Tarik Jadideh, a Sunni Muslim neighborhood of Beirut, a Shiite shop owner opened fire on Sunnis in a funeral procession as they passed his store chanting insults at Shiite Hezbollah leaders. He killed two and injured six, police and witnesses said. An AP photographer who was covering the funeral said the attack came as the procession headed toward a nearby cemetery to bury a 24-year-old killed in this week's fighting. After the attack, angry people stormed the alleged gunman's shop and set it ablaze. Troops captured the gunman.

Embattled Olmert vows to lead peace drive By Ori Lewis
Sat May 10, 5:18 PM ET


JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Saturday vowed to stay in office and lead peacemaking efforts with Israel's enemies and adversaries despite speculation he could be forced to quit in a bribery scandal. The Israeli leader is under a police investigation. He denies wrongdoing in his ties to an American businessman.On Thursday Olmert said he would resign if indicted, a move which would be a setback to U.S. President George W. Bush's effort to secure a peace accord before he steps down in January.

But in a speech to the young guard of his centrist Kadima party at a gathering near Tel Aviv, Olmert said he would lead efforts to ensure Israel's security.We want to lead the State of Israel to a situation where it can ... put an end to the bloody conflicts which have accompanied our life in this country since its establishment and even beforehand.It is our agenda and ... we will not relent, we will work for it with all our strength, I will lead it because there is no other option.He made no mention of the bribery investigation dominating headlines in Israeli media.Olmert said Israel would continue to battle rocket barrages from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and warned that militants, to whom he only referred as the other side would suffer a painful and harsh blow as long as attacks continued.On Friday, a mortar fired from the Gaza Strip killed an Israeli civilian. Later, a series of Israeli air strikes killed five Hamas security men in the enclave.We will continue to do all that is needed to ensure Israel's military might and its defensive deterrence ... I do not want to exaggerate, we are dealing with the security of Israel and its citizens day and night, Olmert said.Olmert's resignation could trigger snap elections that polls suggest would catapult back into power hawkish former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- an opponent of ceding occupied West Bank land to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Olmert has the option of taking a leave of absence, in which case his powers would be assumed by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni who leads Israel's peace negotiations with the Palestinians.Israel's centre-left Labor party, traditionally at the vanguard of peace efforts, may break away from Olmert's coalition and run for top office.Such a major shakeup in Israeli politics could be reflected in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Palestinian territories split between Abbas's secular Fatah and Islamist Hamas since the factions fought a brief civil war last June.(Writing by Ori Lewis; editing by Andrew Roche)

US warily welcomes less violence in Lebanon Sat May 10, 4:40PM ET

CRAWFORD, Texas (AFP) - The White House on Saturday welcomed steps to defuse the deadly unrest in Lebanon but cautioned that any long-term resolution required a change in the role Hezbollah plays there. I think that first of all we want to see an end to the violence against the Lebanese people, I think we're beginning to see some of that, said US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe.But our concerns regarding Hezbollah are unchanged. They continue to be a destabilizing force there with the backing of their supporters, Iran and Syria, he said as US President George W. Bush prepared for the wedding of one of his daughters on his Texas ranch.Lebanon's Hezbollah-led opposition on Saturday said it was ending its takeover of west Beirut after the army revoked government moves against the Shiite group that sparked days of deadly fighting.The announcement came shortly after the army said it was overturning a government decision to reassign the head of Beirut airport security and to probe a communications network set up by Hezbollah.Asked whether that amounted to caving in to pressure from Hezbollah, Johndroe said it was premature to judge any deals to end the violence but stressed that there's short-term solutions and there's longer-term solutions.And ultimately the longer-term solution is that Hezbollah has a choice to make: be a political party or be a terrorist organization -- but quit trying to be both, he told reporters.The takeover of west Beirut was a dramatic display of Hezbollah's military might and capacity to impose its will against the government of pro-Western Prime Minister Fuad Siniora.The army urged all armed militants off the streets in a bid to end the violence, which also forced the closure of Lebanon's only civilian airport and Beirut port.We're pleased the Lebanese armed forces are out and under the authority of the Lebanese government and Prime Minister Siniora, trying to restore order in the streets. We hope to see that trend continue, said Johndroe.

Israel raids on Gaza kill five Hamas militants by Adel Zaanoun Sat May 10, 4:10 PM ET

GAZA CITY (AFP) - Israeli air raids on Gaza killed five Hamas militants on Saturday as the Jewish state warned the United Nations it will defend itself against Palestinian rocket attacks from the isolated territory. Egypt meanwhile opened its border with the besieged coastal strip to allow dozens of sick and wounded Gazans to enter for medical treatment.The first overnight raid, which killed two Hamas militants near Rafah at the southern end of the strip, was aimed at a police station used by Hamas, the head of Gaza emergency services, Dr. Muawiya Hassanein, said.The second attack targeted another Hamas police base in the city of Khan Yunis in the south of the territory and killed three members of the Hamas-run paramilitary group that polices the territory, he said.The third strike was east of Khan Yunis and wounded two Palestinian militants from Islamic Jihad, medics said.An Israeli army spokeswoman confirmed the raids, saying there were two aerial attacks against Hamas posts and one against gunmen approaching the (border) fence in the south.Palestinian militants meanwhile fired 21 rockets at Israel, with one hitting a house in the hard-hit town of Sderot without causing any casualties.Israeli troops and Palestinian militants have clashed on a near-daily basis since Hamas seized power in June last year as Israel's political and military leaders have mulled a larger offensive in the impoverished territory.

In a letter sent to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday, Israel warned that it will not remain idle while our citizens are constantly targeted by terrorist attacks. Israel will know how to defend itself.A 48-year-old Israeli man was killed on Friday by a mortar round fired from the Gaza Strip in an attack claimed by the military wing of Hamas.Since Israel and the Palestinians relaunched formal peace talks in November at least 460 people have been killed, most of them Gaza militants, according to an AFP count.On Saturday, Egypt opened the Rafah border crossing for the first time in months to allow hundreds of Gazans to leave for medical treatment.We will transport 550 patients in 40 Palestinian ambulances and five trucks, Hassanein said, adding that the patients include 200 people wounded in Israeli military operations and 70 children under the age of 16.Scores of weary Gazans gathered outside the terminal as black-clad Hamas gunmen paced through the crowds and kept onlookers away from the crossing.

We hope Rafah will stay open like before. The health situation in Gaza is very serious. There is no medicine, nothing, said Mufid Habush, as he waited at the crossing with his five-year-old daughter.The little girl, whose leg was amputated because of a birth defect, was due to have an operation in Egypt.Hamas said the crossing would be open for three days to allow the sick to enter for treatment and those trapped on one side or the other to cross back to their place of residence.We hope this will be the first step towards permanently opening the crossing and breaking the siege, senior Hamas official Ismail Radwan told AFP. Since Hamas seized power Israel has sealed the territory of 1.5 million people off to all very limited humanitarian aid in a bid to put pressure on Hamas to halt rocket attacks. Gaza's sole power plant shut down again on Monday for lack of fuel, according to a senior Palestinian official, cutting off electricity to 30 percent of the territory's residents. An Israeli army spokesman said a new shipment of industrial-grade fuel for the plant was planned for Sunday, but that the amount supplied would depend on whether militants attacked the Nahal Oz fuel terminal again. Palestinian militants attacked the terminal, through which nearly all of Gaza's fuel is supplied, on April 9, killing two Israeli civilian employees. The terminal has only been opened sporadically since then, as Palestinian militants have carried out several attacks against the territory's crossings. Israel has been mulling a wider offensive in Gaza for months, but was expected to wait until after its 60th anniversary celebrations, most of which took place on Thursday, and a visit by US President George W. Bush next week.

Obama advisor steps down due to Hamas contacts: media Sat May 10, 2:20 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) - An advisor to Democratic White House hopeful Barack Obama has left the campaign after a British newspaper asked him about meetings with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, media reports said Friday. Robert Malley, who works for the International Crisis Group, said he served as an informal Middle East advisor to Obama and told NBC News he decided to step down after the Times of London inquired about his contacts with Hamas.I decided based on the fact that this was becoming a distraction that it was best that I remove myself from any association with the campaign, Malley told NBC.My job with the International Crisis Group is to meet with all sorts of savory and unsavory people and report on what they say. I've never denied whom I meet with; that's what I do.The Times quoted Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt as saying: Malley has, like hundreds of other experts, provided informal advice to the campaign in the past. He has no formal role in the campaign and he will not play any role in the future.The issue of Hamas, viewed as a terrorist outfit by the United States and Europe, has dogged the Obama campaign as Republican rival John McCain's team has repeatedly brought up the militant group's alleged support for Obama.Once it hits the Times of London it becomes too much of a distraction, especially since the McCain campaign seems to want to make this an issue, Malley said, noting that other bloggers and web sites had already attacked him.Obama and McCain traded barbs Thursday in a heated exchange over McCain's labeling of the Democrat as the favorite candidate of the Islamist movement which controls the Gaza Strip and refuses to recognize the existence of Israel.Obama called McCain's tactic a smear that was unfortunate, particularly since my policy toward Hamas has been no different than his.

Both have described Hamas as a terrorist organization and said Washington should not negotiate with it until it recognizes Israel, renounces violence and agrees to abide by peace deals between the Jewish state and the Palestinians.In a conversation with conservative bloggers last month, McCain said it was very clear who Hamas wants to be the next president, adding: If Senator Obama is favored by Hamas I think people can make judgments accordingly. Recent polls suggest one in seven Americans believes Obama is a Muslim, even though he was baptized more than 20 years ago and attends a Christian church.

Israel will not tolerate nuclear Iran: Olmert Sat May 10, 6:09 AM ET

WASHINGTON, (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reiterated his warning that the Jewish state will not tolerate a nuclear-armed Iran, but expressed hope the international community would be successful in checking Tehran's nuclear ambitions. Yes, Israel will not tolerate a nuclear weapon in the hands of people who say openly, explicitly and publicly that they want to wipe Israel off the map. Why should we? Olmert asked in an interview with The Washington Post.The newspaper plans to publish the interview in its Sunday issue, but it posted the text on its website late Friday.

At the same time, the prime minister held out hope that diplomatic efforts by the United States, the European Union and Russia aimed at ensuring the peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program would bear fruit.I hope they will be successful, Olmert said.

However, he sharply disagreed with findings contained in last year's US National Intelligence Estimate, which argued that Iran's military nuclear program had been halted in 2003.Based on the information we have, the military program continues and has never been stopped, Olmert insisted.If this program continues, at some point they will be in possession of a nuclear weapon, he warned.

US says Syria, Iran behind Lebanon violence By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer Fri May 9, 5:37 PM ET

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration accused Iran and Syria on Friday of fueling ongoing violence in Lebanon by inciting members of the radical Shiite Hezbollah movement to take up arms against the country's western-backed government. As Hezbollah militants seized control of large parts of Beirut, the administration denounced the show of force, which it said was being supported by Iranian and Syrian elements. The U.S. also reaffirmed its support for Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's shaky coalition and vowed to hold those responsible accountable.Backed by Syria and Iran, Hezbollah and its allies are killing and injuring innocent citizens and undermining the legitimate authority of the Lebanese government and the institutions of the Lebanese state, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement.Seeking to protect their state within a state, Hezbollah has exploited its allies and demonstrated its contempt for its fellow Lebanese, she said. We will stand by the Lebanese government and the peaceful citizens of Lebanon through the crisis and provide the support they need to weather this storm.Rice spoke by phone with Saniora, United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon and the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and France about the situation. The White House said the United States was talking with other governments in the region and with the U.N. Security Council about measures that must be taken to hold those responsible for the violence in Beirut accountable.Hezbollah's relationship with Iran and Syria, as well as its history of international terrorism and provision of lethal support and training to Iraqi-based extremist groups, demonstrates the threat it poses to international peace and security, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.At the State Department, spokesman Sean McCormack said the United States had evidence that Iran and Syria, in particular, were beginning to take an active role in encouraging the three-days violence that has killed at least 14 people and wounded 20 since it began.It is becoming more apparent now that the linkages that we know exist and are ongoing between Hezbollah and Syria and Iran are starting to manifest themselves in the current crisis, he said. At the beginning we didn't see it, but we are now.

Specifically, McCormack said U.S. officials were seeing groups and individuals that are known associates and proxies of Syria ... starting to engage. Groups that are linked to Syria and that are in Lebanon right now are taking a much more active roll in fanning the flames and violence and attacks that are destabilizing the political situation.A senior State Department official later identified three former pro-Syrian government ministers as fully owned subsidiaries of Syria who had taken to the airwaves Friday in support of Hezbollah. These sorts of people don't get involved unless they have been told to do so, the official told reporters.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the delicacy of the situation in Beirut, added that U.S. analysts did not believe Hezbollah would have started the fight without some kind of green light from Iran.The United States has grown increasingly concerned about the violence — Lebanon's worst sectarian fighting since the 1975-1990 civil war — as it has unfolded and Hezbollah has taken control of key parts of Beirut from Sunnis loyal to the Saniora's government, which has been wracked by a long-running political deadlock.Since Israel fought a monthlong war with Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon in 2006, Washington has given the Lebanese government $1.3 billion in aid, including $400 million in training and equipment for the army and police forces.On Friday, though, officials said they were not considering any major changes to that package and would focus instead on political and diplomatic support. They praised Saniora's government, as well as the army, which has stayed out of the fighting, for their professionalism and commitment to the Lebanese people.The army is acting in a professional manner, McCormack said. We believe it is an effective professional force that is working on behalf on this government and on behalf of the Lebanese people. We think that the government is exercising sound judgment.The army has pledged to keep the peace but not take sides in the long deadlock — which pits Shiite Hezbollah and a few allies including some Christian groups, against the U.S.-backed government, which includes Christian and Sunni Muslims.The State Department is considering how to protect an estimated 50,000 U.S. citizens in Beirut if conditions worsen, although it is assumed that many would not choose to leave because they hold dual nationality and have families in Lebanon.The senior State Department official said there was no decision on what advice to offer Americans there, or about how to help any who choose to leave since the Beirut airport and main seaports are virtually shut down. Associated Press writer Desmond Butler contributed to this report.