Opposition escalates violence in Lebanon

Beirut – According to press reports ,
Hezbollah -led opposition youths have expanded the violence into other
areas of Beirut Tuesday to protest against power blackouts

Protesters burnt rubber tires to block the roads in Salam Slam and Zinnawi areas.
Minutes earlier they were burning tires in the Basta area of Beirut , but the army managed to reopen the road .

In a related development Mundhir Al Jihad who was wounded during the
Sunday riots near the Mar Mikhael church in Chiah area died Tuesday at
the American University Hospital in Beirut . This raises the number of
deaths to ten .

Lebanon’s Electricity Company ( EDL) announced Tuesday that the
electricity returned to the South, North and will return to normal
Tuesday evening in Mount Lebanon and Beirut.

According to EDL the power blackouts in the south were caused by
cable damage because residents were trying to steal power from the high
voltage lines of the utility company.

Lebanon navy, UNIFIL rescue 14 sailors in Mediterranean

Beirut – The Lebanese navy and U.N.
peacekeepers on Tuesday rescued 14 sailors from a ship that got
stranded in the Mediterranean by high waves, as a heavy snow storm
bashed the country, the military and the

U.N. mission here said.

The army said the ship, which carries a Lebanese flag, was stuck
some 30 Nautical miles (56 kilometers; 34.5 miles) off the coast from
the southern city of Sidon. The U.N. mission identified the ship as MV
GEVO VICTORY, and said that helicopters took part in the rescue
Tuesday. One of the ship’s crew had suffered minor injures.

Earlier, the wind had blown some of the ship’s containers into the
sea. It was then that the navy and U.N. peacekeepers intervened to
rescue the crew, the Lebanese army said. Its statement said the crew,
who were from Lebanon, Syria and Egypt, were all brought to a navy base
in Beirut.

The abandoned ship was still being hit by waves and could sink at
any time. However, the troops and peacekeepers continued trying to
rescue the cargo. There was no word what the cargo included.

A U.N. mission in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said in a statement that
the rescue at sea took over four hours. «The vessel had suffered
several leaks and its 14-member crew was in imminent danger,» it said.

UNIFIL’s Force Commander Italian Maj. Gen. Claudio Graziano
expressed relief the crew was safe. «I am very happy that the sailors
from the MV GEVO VICTORY are safe and will be with their families
soon,» he said, adding, «I commend the sailors who conducted the
rescue operation in such rough weather conditions.

UNIFIL’s Maritime Task Force, operating off the coast of Lebanon, is
currently made up of 13 naval vessels from Germany, the Netherlands,
Turkey and Greece.

The snow storm that has hit Lebanon has blocked roads in the
mountains and brought heavy rain showers to the capital Beirut and
other coastal areas since Monday. Because of the snow, traffic was
minimal on the highway linking Beirut with the Syrian capital,
Damascus, as bulldozers worked around the clock to clear the road.

Elsewhere in Lebanon, hailstorms damaged plantations. In the
southern market town of Nabatiyeh, three people were lightly injured
when heavy winds knocked down a wall which collapsed on them.

Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s office said the premier was in
contact with government agencies to make sure mountain roads remain
open. The Bureau of Meteorology said the storm would continue until
Thursday, with snowfall predicted in the mountains.

Temperatures could drop to as much as -10 degrees Celsius (14 Fahrenheit) on high altitudes.

All altitudes above 600 meters ( about 1970 FT) are now covered with snow

Final Lebanon war Report Expected to be Critical of Olmert

Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday steeled himself for the release of
the final report into the 2006 Lebanon war amid renewed calls for him
to quit over the conflict.

The government-appointed commission headed
by former judge Eliahu Winograd will on Wednesday publish its final
report on the government’s and military’s conduct during the 34-day war
against Hizbullah, with the findings expected to be critical of Olmert.

Faced with a fresh chorus of calls for him
to quit from reserve soldiers and families of those killed in the
conflict — widely considered a failure in Israel –, Olmert and his
centrist ruling Kadima party defended the premier’s decision to remain
in office.

“Kadima is stronger than some people want
to believe and it will remain strong. We have shown the world that we
can operate coolly and wisely,” a senior official quoted Olmert as
telling Kadima ministers on Sunday.

A senior aide to Olmert told AFP that the
premier has in recent weeks “met several times with lawyers and legal
advisors to prepare for the report and its possible outcomes.”

In a keynote speech last week, Olmert again defended the outcome of the war.

“To summarise 2007, I would like to mark a
fact that is clearly felt today by the broader public in the country –
it is quiet in the north of Israel,” he said in the speech at the
annual Herzliya conference.

After Wednesday, Olmert’s future will
largely depend on his key coalition partner Labour, whose chief Ehud
Barak has said he would decide whether to leave the government after
the commission releases its final findings.

The departure of the Labour party would leave Olmert’s coalition short of the necessary 61 MPs in the 120-member parliament.

Although Wednesday’s findings are not
expected to include a direct call for Olmert to resign, an official
closely involved in the commission’s work has told AFP that “the report
will be as harsh as the previous one.”

This was a reference to the interim findings which the committee released at the end of April last year.

Those findings roasted Olmert, former
defence minister Amir Peretz and ex-chief of staff Dan Halutz. Olmert
is the only one of the three to have held on to his post after the war.

Source: Naharnet

Rifi: 3 suspects arrested in connection with Eid assassination

Beirut – Major General Ashraf Rifi ,
Lebanon’s chief of the Internal security forces revealed that the
assassins of Wisam Eid used the largest amount of explosives since the
assassination of former PM Rafik Hariri

Rifi ( pictured at the funeral of Eid) told Saudi Arabian newspaper
Okaz” that the bomb used to assassinate Eid was 75 kg ( 165 lbs) which
is the largest bomb used since the murder of Hariri on February 14,
2005.

The rigged car was parked on a road which is frequently used by former intelligence chief Eid.

He said investigators were able to determine the brand of the rigged
car and its chassis number, but the car had no name plates.

Rifi said three people have been arrested so far in connection with the crime and investigations continue.

Eid was one of the country’s top terrorism investigators who was
probing assassinations of prominent anti-Syrian figures and a series of
other attacks in recent years, including Hariri’s murder.

Eid, 31, worked for the police intelligence agency which is closely
tied to the government and had survived two previous assassination
attempts. Friday’s attack also killed his bodyguard and three
passers-by and wounded more than 40 people.

Rifi isn’t giving up . He vowed to continue the fight against terrorism.

“Our choice is to defend this country. Our decision is to continue our march to confront the empire of death and terror,” Rifi.

Similarly Lebanon’s prime minister Fouad Siniora echoed the same
determination when he told reporters : “We will vigorously pursue the
criminals who planned and carried out this crime which is aimed at
destroying the state security institutions.”

“The road to independence is fraught with dangers and filled with sacrifices,” Siniora continued

Syria has been blamed for all the Lebanon bombings, including that
of Hariri. Damascus has denied the charges, but has at the same time
been fighting along with its Lebanese allies the investigations of
these crimes specially the international tribunal for trying the
killers of Hariri .

Source: Yalibnan

Breaking news: One killed and 3 wounded in Beirut suburb

Beirut – Hezbollah and Amal supporters
protesters burned tires and blocked the road near the Mar Mikhael
church in the Chiah district east of Lebanon’s capital Beirut.

The fifth regiment of the army tried to intervene by trying to reopen the road but the protesters opened fire at the army

Other protesters burned rubber tires and also tried to block the road near Gallerie Samaan.

They were protesting against the power blackouts according to sources at the scene.

The Lebanese army arrested a number of young people, which led to considerable resentment among the demonstrators.

The shooting resulted the killing of one and the wounding of three .
Ahmad Hassan Hamze 35, a Shiite Amal official was killed …. The
identities of the wounded was not disclosed

Lebanon’s Minister of sport Ahmad Fatfat condemned the violent
protests and said ; “Is it fair for the protesters who are protesting
against power cuts and living conditions to shoot at the army ?”

Update : 6: 30 PM Protest expands into other areas of Beirut

Several young men bocked the Mar Elias road in Beirut , but the army intervened and reopened the road

More intensive shooting was heard in the Gallerie Semaan area.

Early reports indicate that Hamze was killed by sniper fire as he was trying to mediate between the protesters and the army

The explosion of the fuel tank of a car in Mar Mikhael church area created a a state of panic in the ranks of the demonstrators

The Amal movement has requested its supporters to be calm and called
on the Lebanese army to conduct an immediate investigation

Gunfire was heard near the al Hayat hospital , which is treating
many of those wounded during the protests. Many of the vehicles near
the hospital have broken glass windows as a result of the shooting

Source: Yalibnan