The Lebanese Center for Human Rights (CLDH) is a local non-profit, non-partisan Lebanese human rights organization in Beirut that was established by the Franco-Lebanese Movement SOLIDA (Support for Lebanese Detained Arbitrarily) in 2006. SOLIDA has been active since 1996 in the struggle against arbitrary detention, enforced disappearance and the impunity of those perpetrating gross human violations.

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February 29, 2012

Naharnet - Plumbly Denies Intention to Set Refugee Camps for Syrians in Lebanon, February 29, 2012


United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly ruled out any intention by the U.N. to set refugee camps for Syrians who have fled to Lebanese border towns or to set up humanitarian corridors through Lebanon.
Plumbly told reporters on Tuesday that he fears the escalating situation in Syria might have repercussions on Lebanon, but the officials he met with since his appointment stressed their keenness to safeguard Lebanon and disassociate it from the developments in the neighboring country.
He noted that the visit of U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos to Lebanon was to coordinate, on international levels, the issue of the Syrian refugees.
The U.N. official revealed that the numbers of Syrian refugees in Lebanon have reached 6,916, a number that is increasing on daily basis.
Earlier this month, the Lebanese army reinforced its presence in the northern region of Wadi Khaled, which borders Syria and is close to the flashpoint province of Homs.
Syrians have sought refuge in Lebanon, most of them in Wadi Khaled, since the outbreak nearly a year ago of an unprecedented revolt against the regime of President Bashar Assad.
The Syrian army in November laced the Lebanese border with landmines in a bid to curb arms smuggling and to hamper army defectors and refugees from fleeing.
Syrian troops have also staged deadly incursions into border villages in Lebanon.
Plumbly said that his mission in Lebanon is to guarantee the implementation of U.N. Security Council resolution 1701 as Lebanon and Israel are demanded to exert more efforts to implement peace and halt any violation along the border.
His mission is also to coordinate the U.N.’s efforts in Lebanon through managing the work of its organizations in the country.
According to Plumbly around 14,000 people work at the U.N. organizations in Lebanon, with 11,000 of them linked the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
The U.N., according to the diplomat, makes allocations of $800 million per year for Lebanon.
Plumbly expected that the U.N. "strategy" review of its peacekeeping force, which has been hit by several attacks in recent months, would be referred to the U.N. Security Council in March.
UNIFIL soldiers have been the target of three attacks in the past year that have prompted fears they could be linked to the deadly unrest in neighboring Syria.
The force was deployed in 1978 to maintain stability at the border between Lebanon and Israel. It was expanded in 2006 following a devastating war between Hizbullah and the Jewish state.
Concerning the Special Tribunal for Lebanon probing the assassination of ex-Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, Plumbly expressed “relief” over the cooperation between the cabinet and the court.
The STL has issued arrest warrants against four Hizbullah suspects. But the authorities in Lebanon have failed so far to arrest them.



Naharnet - Ban to Appoint STL Prosecutor and a Judge on Wednesday , February 29, 2012


U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon will on Wednesday appoint Norman Ferrell as the new Prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and will name a Judge of the Appeals Chamber, highly informed diplomatic sources told An Nahar daily.
Media reports said over the weekend that Ban has informed Premier Najib Miqati about his decision to appoint Ferrell, a Canadian, to succeed Daniel Bellemare as STL Prosecutor after he refused a renewal of his mandate for health reasons.
Farrell was the Principal Legal Officer in the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia’s Office of the Prosecutor, a post he held from 2005. Previously, he was the Senior Appeals Counsel and Head of the Appeals Section in the Office of the Prosecutor for both the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the ICTY.
The sources said Ban will also name a Ugandan as Judge of the Appeals Chamber which was previously held by Judge Antonio Cassese, the former president of the STL.
Judge Sir David Baragwanath was in October last year unanimously elected as the court’s president following a decision by Cassese to resign on health grounds.
Cassese, who died the same month, had continued to serve as a Judge of the Appeals Chamber.

L'Orient Le Jour - Meurtre du propriétaire d’un bureau de change à Saïda, February 29, 2012


Mohammad Natout, 66 ans, propriétaire d’un bureau de change à Saïda, a été inhumé hier après-midi dans sa ville natale. Les fonds de commerce ont fermé leurs portes et la ville a porté son deuil tout le long de la journée.
La victime a été poignardée à mort mardi vers minuit et demi dans son magasin où elle dispose d’un bureau de change Motif du meurtre : le vol. Le malfaiteur a dérobé 5 000 dollars de la caisse du magasin avant de prendre un taxi pour se rendre à Beyrouth.
Joint au téléphone par L’Orient-Le Jour, l’ancien Premier ministre Fouad Siniora a raconté les faits notant que « Natout a été découvert par un client vers deux heures du matin. Et c’est grâce aux caméras de surveillance qui sont accrochées dans un coin du magasin que la police a pu rapidement mener son enquête ».
Le meurtrier, un ressortissant syrien répondant au nom de Nasser Farès, a marché jusqu’à la place de l’Étoile à Saïda, a pris un taxi et s’est rendu jusque dans un bar de Beyrouth. C’est le chauffeur de taxi qui a informé les forces de l’ordre de l’endroit où il l’avait déposé.
Farès a été rapidement arrêté. Il avait en sa possession les 5 000 dollars volés et préparait au moment de son arrestation sa fuite vers la Syrie.
« Je tiens à rendre hommage à l’excellent travail des forces dans l’arrestation de l’assassin », a souligné M. Siniora. « Une fois que le crime sera reconstitué et le meurtrier inculpé, il faudra que la justice prenne son cours et que d’importantes sanctions soit adoptées contre lui, afin qu’il constitue un exemple dissuadant les autres criminels », a-t-il dit.
Le directeur général des FSI, le général Achraf Rifi, a pris la décision de récompenser le chauffeur de taxi, Fassih Kaouch, qui a joué un rôle primordial dans l’arrestation de Farès. M. Kaouch a été accueilli par le responsable des FSI au Liban-Sud, le général Dib Toubaylé, et a reçu une récompense financière.
Le meurtre de Natout a provoqué un tollé à Saïda. Une réunion s’est tenue au siège de Dar el-Fatwa de la ville, à laquelle a pris notamment part M. Siniora. L’ancien Premier ministre a informé les personnalités présentes qu’il s’est entretenu avec le chef du gouvernement Nagib Mikati, l’appelant à œuvrer pour que la justice prenne rapidement son cours.
Les responsables politiques et les notables de Saïda, notamment la députée Bahia Hariri et le chef de l’Organisation populaire nassérienne, ont tous publié des communiqués dénonçant le meurtre. La municipalité et les organismes économiques de la ville ont également stigmatisé l’incident.

L'Orient Le Jour - Libération des deux mineurs syriens enlevés à Zahlé, February 29, 2012


Les deux adolescents syriens, Mohammad Ezzedine, 17 ans, et son frère Ali, 14 ans, qui avaient été enlevés du domicile de leur famille à Zahlé dimanche à l’aube ont été relâchés hier. On ignore toujours si leurs parents ont payé la rançon de trois millions de dollars que leurs ravisseurs exigeaient pour les libérer. Les forces de l’ordre n’ont pas laissé filtrer des informations concernant l’affaire.
Mais selon les quelques informations disponibles, les deux adolescents auraient été enlevés par le gang de Mohammad Fayad Ismaïl à Brital, qui avait kidnappé il y a trois semaines quatre ressortissants syriens et ne les a toujours pas relâchés, attendant qu’une rançon soit payée.
Pour en revenir à l’affaire des deux adolescents, six hommes armés les avaient enlevés du domicile de leurs parents à Zahlé. Les kidnappeurs avaient aussi volé des objets de valeur, des bijoux et de l’argent liquide. La somme des objets volés s’élève à 30 000 dollars. Les malfaiteurs avaient ensuite appelé les parents des deux adolescents enlevés, réclamant une rançon de trois millions de dollars pour les libérer.

The Daily Star - Syrian refugees unite to keep revolt alive, February 29, 2012


By Stephen Dockery

TRIPOLI, Lebanon: In a small fabric store in Tripoli, Mustafa Saadeddine and Burhan Mousa Agha are preparing for the day’s rally supporting the Syrian uprising.
They have drawn up a stack of posters calling for the end of the regime.“Stop massacre in Homs” reads one, and “Stop the butchering” reads another. Against the wall leans a stack of pre-Baathist era flags and an amplifier.
Saadeddine and Mousa Agha are the rank and file of young Syrian activists who have organized into a sophisticated network to provide aid for refugees, spread the news from cities under siege and support the friends and family they have left behind. They work in spite of their uncertain welcome in Lebanon, where activists are allegedly kidnapped and President Bashar Assad’s security services are believed to be tracking refugee families.
Syrian Activists have banded together across north Lebanon, creating the Coordination Committee for Syrian Refugees. A small administrative council oversees the aid and activism work they do.
The Tripoli headquarters is modest: The walls are adorned with tassel samples and the back room is stocked with reams of fabric. Saadeddine and Mousa Agha sleep upstairs with their six other colleagues on thin cushions arranged in a rectangle in one room. Drying laundry hangs in the adjacent storage room and sewing machines line the walls.
But it’s here that dreams of regime change cultivated in Syria are again looking to take root.
“The Syrian people don’t have a voice,” 27-year-old Mousa Agha from Homs says. He’s taking it on himself to give them one.
Tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee the bloody crackdown in response to the uprising against Assad’s rule. Many have taken refuge in Tripoli, which has strong family and religious ties to Syria’s western cities such as Homs.
Downtown, under the city’s central clock tower, taxi drivers cry out offers for rides to Homs, and Syrian revolution flags flutter outside several shops.
Tripoli is perhaps the safest place in the country for refugees, but it’s not nearly as safe as it seems.
Last month protests against the Syrian government ended in three days of gun battles against Assad’s supporters in the Lebanese port city.
But the idea of operating in other cities such as Beirut, with its many groups sympathetic to the regime, including Hezbollah and the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, is unconscionable for the activists.
Even other areas like Hermel and the Bekaa city of Zahle have seen a recent spate of kidnappings of refugees.
“It’s safe but not so safe, but if you look to other places in Lebanon it’s more safe in Tripoli and Akkar,” says 26-year-old Saadeddine.
On a warm Sunday at the end of February the activists’ leader joins them in the fabric store’s lobby to hold forth on plans for the afternoon’s rally.
Polished and dressed in black rimmed glasses and a neatly arranged scarf, Amin Mando looks like a graduate student at university. But the 27-year-old, who owns the store, never attended high school and now cares for the 1,066 families that make up the Syrian refugee community in Tripoli.
Because of his strong ties to a number of families in Homs, Mando is responsible for spreading a small pool of resources to a fast growing community in need of shelter, heating and food.
But Mando’s network and other local organizations responsible for caring for the majority of Syrian refugees are running out of resources.
Their leaders travel with small wads of cash provided by local families and religious organizations, while lower level workers live on a more day-to-day basis. Other funding sources have yet to materialize.
“I have a dream that what the Syrian regime is saying, that all the Arab nations are giving money to Syrians, that that will come true,” Mando says.
A few hours after noon Mando, Saadeddine, Mousa Agha and the other activists from the fabric shop pile themselves and their banners, flags and loud speaker into two cars and drive to the rally site at the International Committee for the Red Cross office in Tripoli.
Unlike past rallies which brought together Lebanese and Syrians for the cause, this demonstration is for the refugee community alone.
Mando didn’t want trouble during the rally and knew the skittish refugee community would only turn out if they felt safe. Mando put out word to the refugee community the week before about the rally for the uprising.
And people do turn up, by twos and threes at first and then by car and bus loads, about 200 in all.
Women line up on one side, men on the other and children get their face painted in opposition colors and the word “freedom.”
Mostly from Homs, the people feel relatively safe here away from the daily shelling, but they aren’t entirely at ease either.
Eventually Mousa Agha, a long flowing black bandanna tied around his head, climbs up on the wrought iron fence surrounding the ICRC.
He bellows into the amplifier and fists and voices from the crowd pound the air in response. Calling out the names of the neighborhoods in Homs under siege, “Bab Sabeh, we are with you until death ... Inshaat we are with you until death,” he cries and the crowd chants back.
Saadeddine is in the crowd smiling, arms locked with fellow protesters. They sway back and forth to the rhythm of the chants.
The opposition flags wave, as do banners of the Islamic shahadah.
The media presence is small and the protesters are mostly performing for each other and the cell phone and pocket cameras that have become the identifying marks of Arab revolutions across the region.
The normally quiet and soft spoken Mando takes his turn on the microphone. He pumps his fist and yells out into the microphone.
“We obey you God,” he chants with the crowd. “God is the greatest.”
“We are the voice of Homs,” the people chant.


http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Feb-29/164979-syrian-refugees-unite-to-keep-revolt-alive.ashx#axzz1nkwdh1ES

The Daily Star - 3 Syrians released in east Lebanon after 18 days of captivity, February 29, 2012


BEIRUT: Eighteen days of captivity ended Wednesday for two Syrian brothers and one of their employees after they were released in east Lebanon following payment of an unspecified ransom.
Hisham Abdel Raouf, 45, his brother Imad, 47, and their employee Khaled al-Hamadah, 23, were questioned by police following their release.
The policy report into their case did not indicate the value of the ransom.
However, 50-year-old Osama Abdel Raouf, who was kidnapped along with his two younger brothers and their employee but soon after released, said the kidnappers had demanded $2 million at the time.
The four men were abducted in Taanayel, Zahle, on Feb. 11 after a group of armed men in a GMC Envoy obstructed their vehicle - a four-wheel drive Mazda with a Syrian license plate. The Syrians were then forced out of their vehicle after the men shot at their car. The Syrians had been headed to the Masnaa border crossing.
This is one of several incidents where Syrians have been kidnapped in east Lebanon in exchange for a ransom.


http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Feb-29/165004-3-syrians-released-in-east-lebanon-after-18-days-of-captivity.ashx#axzz1nkwdh1ES

Naharnet - U.N. Chief Names Canadian Norman Farrell New STL Prosecutor, February 29, 2012


U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday named Norman Farrell of Canada as the new prosecutor of the U.N.-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon, which is probing the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri.
Farrell takes over as chief STL prosecutor from another Canadian, Daniel Bellemare, whose three year mandate ended Wednesday. The court has charged four Hizbullah members over the assassination.
Farrell, 53, had been deputy prosecutor at the international tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. He has also worked for the International Committee for the Red Cross in the Balkans and Ethiopia.
"The secretary general once again reiterates the commitment of the United Nations to the efforts of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to uncover the truth regarding the terrorist attack" that killed Hariri and 22 others, said U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky.
Ban wants to "send a message that impunity will not be tolerated."
The U.N. last week extended the mandate of the tribunal for another three years.
The tribunal, set up by the U.N. Security Council at the request of the Saniora government, announced in February that it will put four Hizbullah members on trial even though they have not yet been detained.
Warrants have been issued for Salim Ayyash, Mustafa Badreddine, Hussein Anaissi and Assad Sabra. The Lebanese authorities have failed to arrest the four.
Ban also appointed Daniel David Ntanda Nsereko of Uganda as an international judge of the Appeals Chamber of the Special Tribunal.

Source: Agence France Presse


Naharnet - Ban to Appoint STL Prosecutor and a Judge on Wednesday , February 29, 2012


U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon will on Wednesday appoint Norman Ferrell as the new Prosecutor of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and will name a Judge of the Appeals Chamber, highly informed diplomatic sources told An Nahar daily.
Media reports said over the weekend that Ban has informed Premier Najib Miqati about his decision to appoint Ferrell, a Canadian, to succeed Daniel Bellemare as STL Prosecutor after he refused a renewal of his mandate for health reasons.
Farrell was the Principal Legal Officer in the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia’s Office of the Prosecutor, a post he held from 2005. Previously, he was the Senior Appeals Counsel and Head of the Appeals Section in the Office of the Prosecutor for both the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the ICTY.
The sources said Ban will also name a Ugandan as Judge of the Appeals Chamber which was previously held by Judge Antonio Cassese, the former president of the STL.
Judge Sir David Baragwanath was in October last year unanimously elected as the court’s president following a decision by Cassese to resign on health grounds.
Cassese, who died the same month, had continued to serve as a Judge of the Appeals Chamber.


The Daily Star - New prosecutor appointed for Hariri tribunal, February 29, 2012


UNITED NATIONS: U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed veteran Canadian prosecutor Norman Farrell to be the new prosecutor of the special tribunal investigating the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.
Farrell, currently the deputy prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, will replace fellow Canadian Daniel Bellemare, who has completed his term.
U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky also announced Ban's appointment Wednesday of ICC Appeals Judge Daniel David Ntanda Nsereko of Uganda as an appeals judge for the special tribunal. Nsereko replaces the late Italian Judge Antonio Cassese.
Last week, Ban extended the special tribunal's mandate for three years.
Nesirky said Ban reiterated the U.N.'s commitment to uncover the truth regarding the February 2005 terrorist attack that killed Hariri and 22 others.


http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Feb-29/165070-new-prosecutor-appointed-for-hariri-tribunal.ashx#axzz1nr6UypeJ

February 28, 2012

Naharnet - Hariri Hails Ban’s Extension of STL Mandate, Appointment of New Prosecutor, February 28, 2012


Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri thanked U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon for extending the mandate of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the appointment of a new prosecutor.
Hariri telephoned Ban hailing his decisions, according to a statement issued by his press office.
Conflicting reports have emerged in local media on whether the U.N. secretary general had appointed a new prosecutor to replace Daniel Bellemare.
Premier Najib Miqati’s office denied on Monday receiving any official information on the appointment of Deputy Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia Norman Farrell as STL Prosecutor.
Bellemare will leave his post in March for health reasons; he refused to seek reappointment for a second term as prosecutor at the end of his tenure in February.
The denial came after al-Arabiya reported that Farrell will most likely be Bellemare’s successor after Ban allegedly informed Miqati about his choice.
On February 22, the U.N. extended the mandate of the special tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former PM Rafiq Hariri.
The work of the tribunal has now been extended for three years from March 1, announced U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky.
According to the statement, Hariri also discussed the situation in Syria with Ban.
Hariri praised the appointment of former U.N. leader Kofi Annan as a joint U.N.-Arab League envoy for Syria.
He urged Ban to exert efforts to “ease the suffering of the Syrian people and support their struggle for freedom and democracy.”

The Daily Star - Hariri calls U.N. chief, praises extension of STL mandate, February 28, 2012


BEIRUT: Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, in a phone call to U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon, praised the extension of the mandate of the court probing his father’s assassination as well as the appointments of a new prosecutor for the international court.
“On the occasion of the extension of the mandate of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the appointment of a new prosecutor, former Prime Minister Saad Hariri called the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and thanked him for the commitment of the United Nations towards the STL,” a statement from Hariri’s office said.
There have been several media reports on the appointment of a new prosecutor to replace Judge Daniel Bellemare, whose term ends Wednesday. Al-Arabiya TV said in a report Sunday that Canadian jurist Norman Farrell, at present the deputy prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, was the most likely candidate to replace Bellemare.
Ban is responsible for appointing a new prosecutor to replace Bellemare.
The Special Tribunal for Lebanon, established in 2007 to try those involved in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, indicted four members of Hezbollah in June 2011 in the case. The resistance group denies any involvement in the attack.
Saad Hariri’s office said the Future Movement leader’s call to Ban was an occasion to bring up the subject of Syria and that Hariri had praised the recent appointment of former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan as the U.N.-Arab League joint special envoy on Syria.
“[Hariri also] urged to continue efforts to alleviate the suffering of the Syrian people and support their struggle for freedom and democracy,” his office said in a statement.
Separately, his office added, Hariri sent a message to the new Yemeni president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, to congratulate him on his recent election.
Hadi took over Monday from Ali Abdullah Saleh, his predecessor of 33 years, saying the impoverished Arab state faced a "complex and difficult phase" after a year of violent political turmoil over Saleh's fate.


http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Feb-28/164904-hariri-calls-un-chief-praises-extention-of-stl-mandate.ashx#axzz1nkwdh1ES

Naharnet - Hariri Hails Ban’s Extension of STL Mandate, Appointment of New Prosecutor, February 28, 2012


Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri thanked U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon for extending the mandate of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the appointment of a new prosecutor.
Hariri telephoned Ban hailing his decisions, according to a statement issued by his press office.
Conflicting reports have emerged in local media on whether the U.N. secretary general had appointed a new prosecutor to replace Daniel Bellemare.
Premier Najib Miqati’s office denied on Monday receiving any official information on the appointment of Deputy Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia Norman Farrell as STL Prosecutor.
Bellemare will leave his post in March for health reasons; he refused to seek reappointment for a second term as prosecutor at the end of his tenure in February.
The denial came after al-Arabiya reported that Farrell will most likely be Bellemare’s successor after Ban allegedly informed Miqati about his choice.
On February 22, the U.N. extended the mandate of the special tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former PM Rafiq Hariri.
The work of the tribunal has now been extended for three years from March 1, announced U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky.
According to the statement, Hariri also discussed the situation in Syria with Ban.
Hariri praised the appointment of former U.N. leader Kofi Annan as a joint U.N.-Arab League envoy for Syria.
He urged Ban to exert efforts to “ease the suffering of the Syrian people and support their struggle for freedom and democracy.”



L'Orient Le Jour - Perquisitions à Brital après l’enlèvement de deux adolescents syriens à Zahlé, February 28, 2012


Six hommes armés ont enlevé le lundi à l’aube deux adolescents syriens, Mohammad Ezzedine, 17 ans, et son frère Ali, 14 ans, du domicile de leurs parents à Zahlé. Les kidnappeurs ont aussi volé des objets de valeur, des bijoux et de l’argent liquide. La somme des objets volés s’élève à 30 000 dollars. Les malfaiteurs ont ensuite appelé les parents des deux adolescents enlevés demandant une rançon de trois millions de dollars pour les libérer. Les forces de sécurité ont entamé leur enquête. Elles ont perquisitionné des maisons à Brital. 
Ce n’est pas la première fois que des ressortissants syriens sont enlevés dans la Békaa pour être libérés contre une rançon.
 
Trois frères et leur employé ont été enlevés, il y a deux semaines, alors qu’ils venaient de franchir la frontière venant de Damas. Leurs ravisseurs, originaires de Brital, avaient exigé une rançon de deux millions de dollars.



L'Orient Le Jour - Fusillade en banlieue sud : les agresseurs des FSI « ne font pas partie du Hezbollah », February 28, 2012


L’échange de tirs entre une patrouille des Forces de sécurité intérieure et des miliciens en armes se réclamant du Hezbollah à Bir Abd en banlieue sud s’est achevé, tard dans la nuit, les forces de l’ordre ayant réussi à pénétrer de force dans l’appartement d’un responsable du Hezbollah, du nom de Nizar Husseini. Ce dernier a réussi à prendre la fuite, mais les forces de l’ordre ont pu arrêter son fils, avant de saisir une importante quantité d’armes et de munitions, ainsi que cinq véhicules volés et un matériel de pointe qui décode les systèmes numériques des voitures modernes. Une source sécuritaire a confié dans ce cadre que « des responsables du Hezbollah ont tenté d’intervenir auprès des FSI, en invoquant le fait que les armes saisies appartiennent au parti. Malgré cela, nous nous sommes obstinés à les saisir ».
Hier, le Hezbollah a émis un communiqué démentant de pareilles informations. « À la lumière de ce qui a circulé dans la presse au sujet d’un affrontement advenu dans la maison du dénommé Nizar Husseini en banlieue sud », le parti de Dieu a tenu à préciser que ce dernier « n’est ni un responsable du Hezbollah ni même un membre du parti ». De plus, le Hezbollah a démenti le fait qu’un « groupe du Hezbollah ait interdit aux FSI de poursuivre leur mission ». « Ces allégations sont mensongères et dénuées de toute exactitude, puisqu’aucun heurt n’a eu lieu », a conclu le communiqué.
Rappelons que la patrouille des FSI avait été alertée par le vol d’un véhicule de type BMW-X5, de modèle récent, qu’elle a pu retracer, grâce à un système sophistiqué de type GPS, dans la banlieue sud. S’étant rendue alors sur les lieux pour récupérer la voiture, les agents se sont heurtés à un groupe de trois hommes armés se réclamant du Hezbollah. Après un échange verbal violent, les bandits ont tiré sur la patrouille, blessant un agent à la jambe. L’échange de tirs s’est alors poursuivi, et les éléments armés ont fini par prendre la fuite.


http://www.lorientlejour.com/news/print.php?id=747233

The Daily Star - Officials happy with aid plan for Syria refugees, February 28, 2012


BEIRUT: Politicians and United Nations officials said Monday that state aid for Syrian refugees in the country is satisfactory.
The officials were speaking after a meeting attended Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Social Affairs Minister Abou Faour, the president of the Higher Relief Committee and a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees representative.
Abu Faour said all participants had agreed that the issue of Syrians seeking refuge in Lebanon was purely a humanitarian one.
“It is the duty of the Lebanese authorities to assume the highest degrees of responsibility away from politicization, in a way that gives the refugees full humanitarian assistance,” he said.
The meeting discussed the best ways to help refugees, he said, where the nation’s Higher Relief Council oversees UNHCR’s aid operations.
“The mechanisms adopted so far are good,” he said.
When asked about an estimate of the total number of refugees in Lebanon, Abu Faour quoted the UNHCR’s latest report, saying there were about 7,000 registered refugees.
He noted that a “number of displaced came to Lebanon in recent weeks after events in Syria became very intense.”
Abu Faour and the other politician’s comments contrast with assessments from local activists.
Activists in Tripoli and in the Bekaa area say there are actually around 16,000 Syrians living as refugees in Lebanon with many more coming in on a weekly basis.
They say refugees are afraid to register because parties in the Lebanese government are sympathetic to the Syrian regime, and claim many of the names submitted to the Higher Relief Council don’t reach the UNHCR.
After a meeting with Mikati Monday, U.N. Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Valerie Amos said aid work in the country was going well.
“Lebanon’s Higher Relief Council is working closely and effectively with the UNHCR and other U.N. agencies in the provision of assistance,” Amos said in a statement.
Separately Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri is expected to announce a plan to fend off the growing threat to Lebanon posed by the unrest in Syria.
Berri “will announce a plan to address the repercussions of the Syria crisis and regional events in Lebanon,” MP Michel Musa of Berri’s parliamentary bloc said Monday.
Musa highlighted efforts that Berri has carried out in this respect, with Maronite Patriarch Beshara Rai and Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammad Rashid Qabbani.
Also commenting on events in Syria, former President Amin Gemayel told a local newspaper Monday that he backed the Lebanese government’s policy of dissociating itself from developments in neighboring Syria, in an apparent breaking of ranks with his March 14 allies.
Gemayel said, despite having had differences with members of the March 14 coalition, his alliance with the opposition movement was strong and based on key principles that all members shared.
In the interview, the Kataeb (Phalange) Party leader also reiterated that his party supported the “Syrian revolution.”


28/02/2012 http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Feb-28/164877-officials-happy-with-aid-plan-for-syria-refugees.ashx#axzz1naY8As4a

The Daily Star - Mikati lauds disassociation policy, promises aid to Syrian refugees, February 28, 2012


BEIRUT: Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the validity of Lebanon’s disassociation policy from events in Syria would be borne out once the crisis ended, Al-Joumhouria reported Tuesday.
Mikati also observed that, as a result of the growing rift between Syria and much of the Arab world, Lebanon finds itself in a quandary.
“They do not realize that taking a position [against Syria] would hurt our geopolitical interests, while being against Arabs would force us to lose in several ways,” Mikati told the newspaper.
“All this leads us to consider that the disassociation policy is the right policy. It will be proven to the Lebanese after the storm has passed that this policy was the best,” he added.
Mikati also noted that Lebanon cannot be in conflict with neighboring Syria given bilateral economic and political agreements between the two countries, stressing that this aspect of the relationship should not be ignored.
As for the country’s relationship with Arab countries, which have almost unanimously voiced their opposition to President Bashar Assad, Mikati said: “If we take a position contrary to the Arab will, I fear that our excellent relationship with Arab countries might be affected.”
But the prime minister noted that his government’s policy to disassociate Lebanon from growing regional and international pressure on Assad does not affect the country’s humanitarian aid to the thousands of Syrian refugees on Lebanese soil.
“We disassociate ourselves politically but we don't disassociate from the needs of our Syrian brethren and our humanity,” Mikati said.
There are 6,916 registered Syrian refugees in Lebanon, with most concentrated in the Akkar region, according to the Social Affairs Ministry. Around 200 families take refuge in the country on a weekly basis.
Mikati also spoke about his improved relationship with head of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc MP Michel Aoun. Aoun and Mikati’s relationship worsened after the latter decided to suspend Cabinet sessions following disputes with Change and Reform bloc ministers over civil service appointments and over former Labor Minister Charbel Nahhas’ refusal to sign a Cabinet decree.
The latter issue was resolved when Nahhas resigned and Aoun nominated Salim Jreissati, a a judge, to replace him. Jreissati has since been appointed labor minister.
Of his interaction with Aoun, Mikati observed, "The relationship is good and after what happened with Aoun, I now respect his approach. He is a man of principle."


http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Feb-28/164887-mikati-lauds-dissasociation-policy-promises-aid-to-syrian-refugees.ashx#axzz1naY8As4a



February 27, 2012

Naharnet - Miqati Denies Receiving Official Decision on Bellemare’s Successor, February 27, 2012


The premier’s office didn’t receive yet any official information on the appointment of Deputy Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia Norman Farrell as Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor to replace judge Daniel Bellemare.
“Prime Minister (Najib Miqati) didn’t receive yet the STL’s decision,” the premier’s sources told An Nahar newspaper on Monday.
Bellemare will leave his post in March for health reasons; he refused to seek reappointment for a second term as prosecutor at the end of his tenure in February.
According to An Nahar, the STL’s spokesman Marten Youssef also said that he didn’t receive any information on the successor of Bellemare.
He noted that the appointment will be announced officially in New York.
The denial came after al-Arabiya reported that Farrell will most likely be Bellemare’s successor after U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon allegedly informed Premier Najib Miqati about his choice.
Farrell was the Principal Legal Officer in the ICTY’s Office of the Prosecutor, a post he held from 2005. Previously, he was the Senior Appeals Counsel and Head of the Appeals Section in the Office of the Prosecutor for both the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the ICTY.
The STL was set up by the U.N. Security Council in 2007 and has announced that it will put four Hizbullah members on trial even though they have not yet been detained.
The four have been charged for the Feb. 14, 2005 car bombing in Beirut that killed ex-Premier Rafik Hariri.



L'Orient Le Jour - Les FSI indésirables dans la banlieue sud, February 27,2012


Un grave incident, particulièrement significatif du contexte présent, a opposé hier une unité des Forces de sécurité intérieure à des partisans du Hezbollah dans la banlieue sud. 
Une patrouille des FSI a en effet été alertée par le vol d’une voiture dans la région d’Ouzaï. Grâce à un système sophistiqué de type GPS, les FSI ont repéré le véhicule volé dans la banlieue sud. La patrouille des FSI s’est alors rendue sur les lieux pour récupérer la voiture. Ils ont été toutefois la cible de tirs en provenance des bandits qui ont été cependant contraints de battre en retraite du fait que les membres de la patrouille des FSI ont riposté aux tirs.
 
Suite à la vigilance des forces de l’ordre, les FSI ont réussi à repérer l’endroit, situé à Hay Madi, toujours dans la banlieue sud, où s’étaient repliés les malfaiteurs. Une patrouille a alors été dépêchée à Hay Madi où elle a effectué une perquisition dans le lieu où les suspects s’étaient repliés. Des armes et une importante quantité d’explosifs ont été découvertes par les forces de l’ordre. Mais les membres de la patrouille des FSI ont été encerclés par des miliciens en armes se réclamant du Hezbollah qui ont empêché les forces de l’ordre de saisir les armes et les munitions, contraignant la patrouille à quitter la banlieue sud.


L'Orient Le Jour - La Fondation Bachir Gemayel a collecté 450 000 dollars pour les sinistrés de Fassouh, February 27, 2012

La Fondation Bachir Gemayel a annoncé samedi qu’elle a pu recueillir la somme de 450 000 dollars pour les sinistrés de l’immeuble de Fassouh qui s’était écrasé en janvier dernier, faisant 27 victimes. 
Dans un communiqué publié samedi, la fondation annonce que la collecte de la somme a été possible grâce notamment à la MTV, à Jaras Scoop FM et aux réseaux sociaux. Les fonds collectés s’élèvent à exactement 461 146 dollars ainsi qu’à des dons en nature dont la valeur atteint 40 000 dollars. Il s’agit de meubles, de télévisions, de produits électroménagers et de matelas.
 
Les fonds ont été déposés dans un compte spécial à la Bank Audi et supervisé par un comité indépendant et par le bureau international d’audit PWC.
 
L’argent a été divisé comme suit :
- 750 dollars sur une période de 18 mois pour chaque famille, lui permettant ainsi de payer un loyer.
- 4 000 dollars pour chaque famille afin qu’elle puisse acheter des meubles pour deux chambres à coucher et 3 500 dollars pour chaque famille afin d’équiper la cuisine de la maison.
 
- 500 dollars sur une période de 18 mois consacrés aux ménages qui ont perdu un soutien de famille, qu’il soit père, mère, sœur ou frère.
 
- Chaque habitant rescapé a reçu 3 000 dollars pour s’acheter des effets personnels (objets personnels, passeport, carte d’identité, papiers officiels, vêtements, livres, ordinateur, téléphone portable).
- Chaque élève ou étudiant qui habitait l’immeuble a reçu 5 000 dollars afin qu’il puisse s’acheter des livres, un ordinateur et une tenue de sport.
- De plus, chaque ménage a reçu un salon, des matelas pour la chambre à coucher au nombre des membres de la famille, une télévision et des produits électroménagers.

L'Orient Le Jour, Deux morts à Jiyeh dans un accident de la route provoqué par le fils de Mahmoud Komati, February 27, 2012


Sur l’autoroute de Jiyeh, une Mercedes noire, portant le numéro d’immatriculation 221122 N et appartenant à Haytham Mahmoud Komati, né en 1988, fils du vice-président du conseil politique du Hezbollah, Mahmoud Komati, a percuté de plein fouet une BMW blanche qui était en panne et qui était stationnée au bord de la route. Elle appartenait à Hana’ Ali Ayache, née en 1984. 
Haytham Komati était assis sur le siège avant droit de la Mercedes. À ses côtés, son chauffeur Khaled Mohsen était derrière le volant. L’accident a fait deux morts : la jeune Hana’ Ayache et Ghassan Chehab Alayli, mécanicien de son État, né en 1974 et qui était présent pour tenter de réparer la panne de la BMW blanche.
Quelques instants après l’accident, deux voitures du Hezbollah sont arrivées sur les lieux et ont transporté des armes qui se trouvaient à bord de la Mercedes de Haytham Mahmoud Komati. Des membres du parti intégriste chiite ont également transporté Komati et son chauffeur à l’hôpital al-Rassoul al-aazam.

The Daily Star - Syrian teens kidnapped in Zahle, February 27, 2012


BEIRUT: Two Syrian teenagers were abducted from their home in Zahle, east Lebanon, early Monday, their mother said.
Jumana Izzeddine, a Syrian citizen residing in Lebanon, told Zahle police that several men wielding guns broke into her house in Mashareeh Ghosn around 1:00 a.m. and kidnapped her sons – Ali, 14, and Baraa, 16.
She said the kidnappers also made off with $30,000 in cash in addition to jewelry worth 1 million Syrian pounds before fleeing the scene in a black Hummer and a pickup truck.
Zahle police have launched an investigation into the incident.


http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Feb-27/164760-syrian-teens-kidnapped-in-zahle.ashx#axzz1naY8As4a

The Daily Star - Syrian refugees in Tripoli pledge unity with under-siege Homs, February 27, 2012

By Stephen Dockery


TRIPOLI, Lebanon: Around 200 Syrian refugees gathered in central Tripoli Sunday to demonstrate against their government’s violent crackdown on civilian protesters and rally support from the displaced community inside Lebanon.
Demonstrators locked arms, chanting against President Bashar Assad.  “We are with you until death,” they pledged to neighborhoods under siege in Homs.
Most of the protesters hailed from the central Syrian city now under siege by the Syrian army.
In front of the International Red Cross Committee headquarters building at around 3 p.m., demonstrators gathered, waving the pre-Baath party flag of Syria and carrying signs reading, “Homs screams. Where is the world?”
The rally was held in a sparsely populated business district just outside the city’s downtown area.
Amin Mando, an activist who helped plan the demonstration said he intentionally selected the out-of-sight location for two reasons.
He wanted first to draw attention to the fact that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees does not have an office in the city, which currently hosts the largest population of Syrian refugees.
Mando said there are hundreds more refugees in Tripoli than accounted for by the U.N. and thousands more across the country. “Where is the U.N. office here?” he asked.
Mando also wanted to make sure people felt comfortable. Past rallies have been disturbed by Assad supporters while rallies near Tripoli’s Alawite areas sparked three days of gunbattles between neighborhoods.
“It’s about family. This is a good area for families,” Mando said.
And families did turnout, but there was still a lingering sense of fear over the event taking place in a country run by a government partially sympathetic to the Assad regime.
Many women kept scarves across their faces and some young men donned masks.
One woman, who asked that her name not be published to protect her family still living in Syria, said she was still passionately behind the cause despite the dangers of living as a refugee in Lebanon.
“I was in Homs protesting under the bombs so it’s not a problem for me to be protesting in Tripoli,” she said.
Another woman went by the name Um Mahmoud but didn’t want to give her surname because her son was imprisoned in Syria.
She said the protesters want freedom and democracy. She also said she’s afraid for her son.
The United Nations estimates that over 5,400 people, mainly civilians, have been killed in a crackdown by Damascus since the uprising began in mid-March last year. The Syrian government denies targeting civilians and blames the violence on “armed gangs.”
The UNHCR currently has nearly 7,000 Syrians registered as refugees in Lebanon. But activists say there is nearly three times that number in the country and claim that refugees are unable or unwilling to register in Lebanon because of the government’s ties to the Assad regime.
Prime Minister Najib Mikati told his followers on Twitter Sunday night that his government was trying its utmost to extend humanitarian aid and support without any political exploitation.
“The Higher Relief Council – among others – is working on this matter but within limited capabilities and low budgets,” Mikati tweeted.
Ledgers kept by activists put the number of refugee families at 1,060 in Tripoli alone, around four to five thousand people.
At the demonstration, loudspeakers blared, and in a half-full side street surrounded by construction sites people clapped and waved flags of the Syrian opposition.
One man lingering on the edge of the rally wished there were more people attending. The long arm of the Assad regime was the reason there were not more demonstrators present, he explained, refusing to give his name because of security concerns.
“The people here are not afraid but there are many more people afraid to be here,” he said.


http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Feb-27/164732-syrian-refugees-in-tripoli-pledge-unity-with-under-siege-homs.ashx#axzz1naY8As4a



The daily Star - Norman Farrell likely to replace STL Prosecutor Bellemare, february, 27, 2012


BEIRUT: Canadian jurist Norman Farrell will likely replace Special Tribunal for Lebanon Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare, Al-Arabiya TV said Sunday.
Citing diplomatic sources, the Arabic TV news channel said that Prime Minister Najib Mikati had received a letter with two names: Farrell’s to replace Bellemare and that of a Kenyan judge to replace the late Judge Antonio Cassese in the Appeals Chamber.
Press reports last week had quoted a Western diplomat as saying that United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had sent a letter to the Lebanese government proposing three possible replacements for Bellemare.
However, a source close to Mikati told The Daily Star Sunday evening that the premier had not received a letter addressing the issue.
Ban is responsible for appointing a new prosecutor to replace Bellemare, whose term ends Feb. 29.
Farrell is currently deputy prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, which handles war crimes committed during the conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990s. The ICTY’s prosecutor is Serge Brammertz, who led from 2006 to 2007 the United Nations International Independent Investigation Commission, the STL’s predecessor.
The Canadian jurist also served as the senior appeals counsel and head of the Appeals Section in the Office of the Prosecutor for both the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the ICTY.
If Al-Arabiya’s report is accurate, the Kenyan judge would take the late Cassese’s seat in the STL Appeals Chamber. Judge David Baragawath was elected to replace Cassese as STL president but the Appeals Chamber, normally comprised of three international and two Lebanese judges, remains one judge short.
The STL, which is tasked with bringing to justice those involved in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, indicted four members of Hezbollah last summer. The party has steadfastly denied any involvement.
Last week, Ban extended the mandate of the court for three years, and proceedings in absentia against the accused are expected to begin this year.


http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Local-News/2012/Feb-27/164738-norman-farrell-likely-to-replace-stl-prosecutor-bellemare.ashx#axzz1naaKLFec

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