Lebanon PM on 1st Syria visit since father's death

[bemildred]

Stuff is going on WRT Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, etc.

Lebanon's prime minister, who has blamed neighboring Syria for the assassination of his father, visited Damascus Saturday for the first time since the 2005 killing _ a trip that a close associate said was extremely difficult for him to make.

Despite the unresolved issue of his father's slaying in a massive truck bombing in Beirut, Lebanese Premier Saad Hariri's visit potentially opens the way for a new era in the two countries' relations, which have been characterized by upheaval and suspicion for decades.

The 39-year-old Hariri appealed for relations with Syria based on "clarity and honesty." He was greeted warmly by Syrian President Bashar Assad upon his arrival at the presidential palace at the start of his two-day visit, and Lebanese media said he would attend a dinner banquet hosted by Assad.

Syria directly dominated Lebanon for nearly 30 years and kept tens of thousands of troops on its soil. After the killing of Hariri's father, Rafik, Syria came under intense pressure from its opponents in Lebanon, who staged massive protests, and from the West, forcing it to withdraw its troops from Lebanon.

http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1137136&lang=eng_news

[bemildred]

1. Syria Demands Roed-Larsen's Dismissal, Says it Implemented 1559

Syria has asked for the dismissal of U.N. secretary-general's envoy on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1559, Terje Roed-Larsen, for allegedly making secret visits to Israel to incite the Jewish state against Damascus and oppose the withdrawal from the northern part of the village of Ghajar.

According to As Safir daily on Monday, the Syrian mission's third secretary in New York, Yasar Diab, told the General Assembly's fifth committee on administrative and budgetary affairs that Roed-Larsen has written two reports this year on the implementation of 1559 without making any visits to Beirut. On the other hand, he has visited Israel several times.

Diab accused the envoy of implementing a "suspicious personal agenda" that has nothing to do with his mission. He also said that Roed-Larsen is violating the U.N. Charter by interfering in Lebanese-Syrian affairs such as border demarcation.

Diab reiterated that Damascus has implemented 1559's provisions by withdrawing its troops and intelligence agents from Lebanese territories. He said 1559's remaining articles were a Lebanese issue.

http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/NewsDesk.nsf/0/08A6FCCB971F7E1DC2257693001FE295?OpenDocument

[bemildred]

2. Lebanese police say gunmen fired on bus

BEIRUT — Gunmen on Monday fired on a bus heading from northern Lebanon to neighbouring Syria, killing one man, Lebanese police said. Syria demanded an explanation.

A senior Lebanese police officer said the victim was Syrian, and that the motive for the shooting was unclear. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem telephoned his Lebanese counterpart, Ali Shami, and urged Lebanese authorities to identity the killers, Syria’s state-run news agency SANA said.

On Saturday, Lebanon’s prime minister, Saad Hariri, visited Syria for the first time since 2005, when his father was assassinated in Beirut.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/world/2009/12/21/12226271.html

[bemildred]

3. Kouchner: Hariri's Visit to Syria Not End of Special Tribunal for Lebanon

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner saluted the visit of Prime Minister Saad Hariri to Damascus and considered it a "statesman initiative" taken by Lebanon's premier. He also revealed that Hariri will visit Paris within days.

In parallel with a lecture at the European American Press Club, Kouchner said that there is "progress" in Lebanon.

"I notice progress, parliamentary elections had happened without any party's objection, and a government was formed gathering all the Lebanese political factions, and now there is (PM) Saad Hariri's visit to Damascus after the formation of the government," added the French FM.

Answering a question about the possible results of Hariri's visit to Damascus, Kouchner said that "it is far better for parties to talk than to kill each other."

http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/NewsDesk.nsf/0/238D652CC09C8E76C2257693005BDF3D?OpenDocument

[bemildred]

4. Lebanese politicians voice support for Hariri's trip to Syria

BEIRUT: Lebanese political figures voiced support over the weekend for Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s weekend visit to Syria while underscoring that the trip had paved the way for improved cooperation between both countries. Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblatt said Sunday he would not comment on Hariri’s visit to Syria, but added that the series of assassinations which hit Lebanese figures including former Premier Rafik Hariri would be left for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon to uncover.

Jumblatt said that earlier accusations of Syria’s involvement in the assassinations were political judgments.

However, all political parties agreed to succumb to the judgment of the STL provided that the judgment of the international court is not a part of a game between nations to “destroy” Lebanon, he said.

The PSP leader stressed that Lebanon’s stability was based on regional stability, which is based on the relations between Syria and Saudi Arabia.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=1&categ_id=2&article_id=109967

[bemildred]

5. Turkish premier to visit Syria

Damascus - Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey is due to arrive in Damascus Tuesday for a two-day official visit, state media in Damascus reported Monday.

The visit is expected to see the signing of 56 new agreements, while Erdogan would also participate in a meeting of the recently established Syrian-Turkish High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council, according to the reports.

Syria and Turkey have been marking increasingly warming relations. The two countries almost went to war in the late 1990s, after Ankara accused Damascus of providing support to the banned separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1520534.php/Turkish-premier-to-visit-Syria

[azurnoir]

11. Turkey and Syria may have a common problem between them

Assad forgot that the Kurds are first and for most Kurds and have one goal in common an independent Kurdistan, something IMO they should have

Speaking to a group of Turkish journalists in Damascus only a few days before his trip to Turkey, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said that “we would grant an amnesty to our PKK if they were to lay down their arms.”
President Assad was referring to the Syrian wing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). This is a remarkable statement coming from Syria given this country's bloody history of suppressing political dissent. But Assad is also sending a message to Turkey: Some sort of an amnesty for the PKK will have to be put in place for the process of democratization to move forward.

Only 10 years ago, Turkey and Syria came to the brink of war over the PKK issue. The Baqa'a Valley was used by the PKK as a training camp. In the 1990s, Syria used the PKK as a bargaining chip against Turkey over the water issue. For years, the Syrians refused to turn over PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan or other PKK fighters. This policy damaged Turkey's fight against terrorism in the 1990s.

But it was also costly for Syria on two fronts. On the one hand, it strained relations with Turkey, and Syria lost both economically and politically. If the current rapprochement between the two countries had taken place in the 1990s, the region would have been in a very different place today. On the other, by sheltering and supporting the PKK, a Kurdish nationalist-separatist movement, the Syrian regime encouraged its own Kurds to join the ranks of the PKK.

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/columnists-187338-turkey-syria-and-the-pkk.html

[bemildred]

12. Yes, they do.

The new situation Bush and his minions created in Iraq has a big effect on that issue, which affects at least Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. The PKK has a "safe haven" in N. Iraq, and there is little that can be done about it as things stand now. I think that is one of the reasons that Turkey and Syria want to make nice with the Kurds now.

I think that when you consider what expectations were when Little Assad took over, you have to give him credit, he seems to have not only survived, but prospered.

[ProgressiveMuslim]

6. I loved the Angry Arab's take on it:

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2009/12/mini-hariri-in-damascus_20.html

[bemildred]

7. LOL.

The times they are a-changing. Bushite/Neocon chickens will be coming home to roost for a long time now.

I'll bet certain parties are chewing the rug over this one though.

Say, have you noticed that Saudi Arabia seems to be having trouble keeping the lid on now? And Pakistan too? And Iran seems to be thumbing its nose at everybody? And the "West" doesn't seem to be getting the Iraqi oil? And the Afghanistan war looks more and more like a re-run of Vietnam with sand instead of mud? And Turkey seems to have decided to re-arrange it's international posture? And what IS Egypt going to do when Hosni passes on? What will the PNA do when Abu Mazen goes to meet his maker? Hmmm.

[Sezu]

8. Yes, hatred of Israel can make one forget

who killed one's father in that region of the world.

[bemildred]

9. Saad Hariri: "We Will Rebuild Every Bridge"

A year and a half ago, Lebanon responded to a tragic political assassination with a show of people power so massive that it not only inspired advocates of democracy in the Middle East but eventually scared away the Syrian forces that had occupied and controlled the country for two decades. The Lebanese politician whose death conjured up the demonstrations was Rafic Hariri, the billionaire former Prime Minister, who had engineered the country's economic renaissance after a ferocious and debilitating civil war. Lebanon appeared poised to join the ranks of modern, democratizing states. Then the current war started. Rafic Hariri's son and political heir, Saad, found himself outside of Lebanon when the hostilities started. As a member of the Lebanese parliament and the head of his father's Future Party, he has been shuttling around the Middle East and Europe trying to rally support for his country. On Friday he spoke to TIME Cairo Bureau Chief Scott MacLeod about the escalating crisis:

TIME: What is happening to Lebanon?

Hariri: Israel has launched a major attack pinpointing infrastructure like bridges, highways, airports. The worst part is the number of deaths. There are certain areas where the Red Cross cannot reach because Israel cut off the roads and bombs every truck. There are a half million displaced people, creating a huge humanitarian problem. To look at Lebanon as it was 12 days ago and how Lebanon is today, it is a living nightmare.

TIME: What are your feelings right now?

Hariri: Very sad and very angry. Lebanon shouldn't pay the price. Maybe the kidnapping was wrong, but two wrongs don't make a right. Israel is crippling Lebanon, taking it back 10, 15 years. Israel has no right to do this. No right. You don't bomb a whole country, punish a whole population of 4 million people .

TIME: Is your father's work undone?

Hariri: Part of it. The economy was growing at 5% to 6%. Lebanon is a moderate democracy in this part of the world, but it is fought by everyone, by Israel and by neighbors. Now it is being destroyed by a war we never wanted. The government was clear that it had no idea about the kidnapping. The next thing, we see one of the most massive attacks in Israeli history, with atrocities involving children, women and men.

---

TIME: Can the Lebanese survive another crisis?

Hariri: We'll get through this. We are a strong people and we will come out of this stronger. Maybe we will have learned a lesson. We will rebuild our country, we will rebuild our democracy, we will rebuild every bridge that Israel destroyed.

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1218023,00.html

[Alamuti Lotus]

10. LOL!

it's amazing what love Saudi money can bring together. And I accused them of being good for nothing little shitheads.... at least those two crazy kids found each other after all this time.