News Lebanon:U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi flying in to Lebanon

Beirut- U.S. Speaker of the House of
Representatives Nancy Pelosi is expected to visit Beirut next week as
part of a tour to the Middle East that includes Syria, Israel, Jordan
and Saudi Arabia.

Pelosi – whose job as speaker places her “just two heartbeats away
from the presidency,” meaning that if both the president and vice
president were to become incapacitated, she would become president -
will head a congressional delegation .

The congressional delegation that accompanies the Speaker includes:

News Lebanon:Sunni, Shiite clerics urge humility among leaders

BEIRUT: Grand Mufti Mohammad Rashid Qabbani said Friday that Lebanon was suffering “greatly” because of a deep-seated tendency among citizens and leaders to “mix personal skirmishes with political ones.” Speaking on the occasion of the Prophet Mohammad’s birthday, Qabbani said the founder of Islam had taught humanity to shun conflicts, personal interests and selfishness, “because they all lead to futile divisions, and the weakening of social unity.”

News Lebanon:Hizbullah: UN troops welcome in South

BEIRUT: Hizbullah’s number two said on Friday that the resistance group welcomes the presence of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) “as long as it abides by its missions and does not overstep its jurisdiction.” In an interview with Sawt Ash-Shaab radio station, Sheikh Naim Qassem said that the presence of UNIFIL troops in South Lebanon “is welcome – provided that the peacekeeping force supports the Lebanese Army in preventing any armed presence and preventing Israel from attacking the South.”

“Hizbullah does not have any problem with UNIFIL … [and] the relation remains positive,” Qassem said.

Qassem said some parties are trying to sow discord between UNIFIL and Hizbullah, adding that “strife cannot be instigated with the resistance group.”

“Our resistance is ready to defy a second Israeli attack on Lebanon, should the need arise,” he added.

Asked about Hizbullah’s position on Israel’s continued violations of Lebanese airspace, Qassem said that the party “leaves the issue for the international community, the UN Security Council, Arab countries and the Lebanese people.”

“Those violations only prove Israel’s hostility [against Lebanon],” Qassem added.

“They also prove that Israel does not abide by international resolutions,” he added.

Qassem accused the UN Security Council of not assuming its responsibility in this regard.

Addressing supporters of the government and the March 14 Forces, Qassem asked, “Why don’t you condemn the Israeli violations of Lebanon’s airspace in your speeches and statements and international silence regarding them?”

“Hizbullah has the means to defy such violations … but we are still patient and we hope that officials manage to stop Israel’s violations,” he said.

Qassem also lashed out at Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt for his rhetoric, which he said creates tension.  –
Source: The Daily Star

News Lebanon:ART GOLD focuses on helping youth get over war

BEIRUT: On returning from a visit to South Lebanon, the coordinator of a UN program to provide educational and support programs for Lebanese youth said that helping the region’s children and adolescents overcome trauma from the summer 2006 war with Israel remained a top priority.

Cluster bomb facts in Southern Lebanon..

Fast Facts on Israel’s Use of Cluster Munitions in Southern Lebanon

The UN Mine Action Coordination Center South Lebanon (UNMACC) has estimated that Israel fired as many as four million submunitions into Lebanon during the conflict in July and August 2006. For comparison, Coalition forces used about 1.9 million submunitions in Iraq in 2003, and the U.S. Air Force used about 248,000 submunitions in Afghanistan in 2001-2002.

UNMACC has identified 841 cluster munition strike locations, with more being discovered every day.

The UN has stated that around 90 percent of all cluster munitions were fired into south Lebanon during the last 72 hours of the conflict. Most cluster munitions were delivered by artillery or ground rockets; a limited number appear to have been dropped by aircraft.

The UN has estimated that one million hazardous unexploded submunitions may litter the ground. Demining experts are estimating that the failure rates of Israel’s submunitions were between 30 and 40 percent.

As of November 4, 2006, more than 58,000 submunitions have been cleared and destroyed by UNMACC and its contractors, UNIFIL, and the Lebanese Armed Forces.

Unexploded submunitions are killing or injuring an average of three people daily in Lebanon. As of January 25, at least 30 people had been killed and at least 184 injured by cluster submunitions.

Many farmers have not been able to harvest current crops or plant their winter crop due to the submunition contamination. Unexploded submunitions also pose a threat to returnees, humanitarian workers, and peacekeepers.