Suzanne Tamim Laid to Rest in Beirut

Slain Lebanese singer Suzanne Tamim was laid to rest in Beirut as family and friends mourned the death of the 31-year-old whose body has been found in her Dubai apartment.

Tamim’s body was taken in a white ambulance from Rafik Hariri international airport to her family’s home in Beirut’s Zaydaniyyah-Aisha Bakkar neighborhood Monday.

Dozens of people gathered outside before the coffin was taken to a cemetery for burial.

Dubai police are investigating Tamim’s death, and authorities in Lebanon have asked Interpol for help in the grisly case.

Tamim’s decapitated body was discovered on July 28 by her cousin and police officer in her apartment in the Dubai Marina area.

Officials have not revealed if any arrests were made, and it is still unclear when the slaying took place.

However, a media report said Dubai police arrested a 23-year-old Briton from Iraqi origin suspected of involvement in Tamim’s killing.(Naharnet-AP)

Beirut Night Life

US wants Lebanon to talk to Israel about Shebaa

BEIRUT: A US initiative to resolve the dispute over the occupied Shebaa Farms is still on the table, and is being considered by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, An-Nahar newspaper’s correspondent in Washington on Wednesday quoted an American official as saying.

“The essence of the proposal is that Lebanon engages in indirect negotiations over the fate of Shebaa Farms, either through United Nations mediation or through an intermediary of the Tripartite Military Committee that groups Israel, Lebanon, and the UN,” An-Nahar said.

The same official and other US officials told An-Nahar that placing the territory under UN guardianship following an Israeli withdrawal, as Lebanon has demanded, would not be possible “before the final status of the zone has been determined.”

“The officials argue that Lebanon must engage in negotiations with the Jewish state before any Israeli pullout from the Farms,” the daily reported.

The Shebaa Farms is adjacent to the Syrian Golan Heights, on Lebanon’s southeast border. Both Syria and Lebanon have publicly stated that the land is Lebanese. Israel, which invaded the land in 1967 along with Syrian territories, refuses to withdraw from the farms.

According to one US official, quoted by An-Nahar, “although the US acknowledges that Lebanon cannot engage in direct negotiations with Israel, it contends that Beirut’s previous pretexts that it cannot hold indirect talks with the Jewish state are no longer valid, in view of the indirect Turkish-brokered Syrian-Israeli negotiations and the recent German-mediated prisoner swap deal between Hizbullah and Israel.”
The US officials said that those indirect negotiations had created “a new dynamic” that Lebanon could exploit if it wished to “break way from its traditional thinking with regard to indirect talks with Israel.”

Regarding the Lebanese-Syrian border demarcation, the US officials told An-Nahar that Beirut must ask Damascus “publicly and clearly” to define the border between the two countries in the Shebaa Farms area.

They stressed that statements by Syrian officials regarding Lebanon’s ownership of Shebaa Farms had “no legal weight,” since the UN accepts only official agreements between states accompanied by the submission of joint documents to the world body that confirm that.

The officials also said that Lebanon must take “brave decisions” with regard to the Shebaa Farms, which confirm its capacity to make “sovereign decisions” in its dealings with Syria and Israel.

They said that Washington was willing to offer “technical and logistical” assistance, as well as political support to the proposed indirect negotiations between Lebanon and Israel over the occupied zone. They added that the US could play the role of “a facilitator in the implementation of any agreement that might be reached.” – The Daily Star

Lebanon to skip Paris book fair over Israel

BEIRUT: Lebanon is to stay away from this year’s Paris book fair in protest at the invitation of Israel as guest of honor, Culture Minister Tarek Mitri announced on Wednesday. “Lebanon will not participate this year in protest at the cultural event’s organizers’ decision to select Israel as guest of honor,” Mitri said in a statement.

Lebanon is the first Arab government to announce a boycott of the event, which runs March 14 through March 19, after organizers announced that 39 Israeli writers were being invited to mark the 60th anniversary of the Jewish state.

On Tuesday, the 50-nation Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization called for a boycott of the event by Islamic states.

“The crimes against humanity that Israel is perpetrating in the Palestinian territories … constitute, in themselves, a strong condemnation of Israel, making it unworthy of being welcomed as a guest of honor at an international book fair,” the group said.

Twenty-five Egyptian groups have announced that they would not take part, as has the Union of Algerian Writers.

In Sanaa, the head of the state-run Public Book Authority, Faris al-Saqqaf, said that Yemen would not be participating in the event at the request of the Arab League.

Bahrain and Qatar said they do not normally take part in any case. – AFP

Lebanon crisis getting more complex – mediator

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain have called on their citizens to avoid most travel to Lebanon because of growing tensions in the Levant that, presumably, sits on a new powder keg.

As Syria scrambles to save its League of Arab States (LAS) Summit, the number two Hezbollah official, Emad Mughnieh, was gunned down in Damascus.

Ironically, his funeral was scheduled to coincide with the Freedom Square demonstration to commemorate the third assassination anniversary of former prime minister Rafik Hariri on February 14.

Excitable protagonists are now competing in protest marches, each attempting to outdo the other, adding fuel to smoldering fires. As if these were not sufficient, opposition strongman Hassan Nasrallah delivered another of his fiery speeches, in which he anticipated the destruction of Israel.

Not surprisingly, these developments renew the overall sense of gloom and doom, which were further compounded after LAS Secretary-General Amr Mousa engaged in yet another discussion cycle, without any breakthroughs.

More than ever, Arab commentators are confused, some anticipating war. Even seasoned leaders seem powerless, most unable to break away from carefully tailored roadblocks, which grow each day.

Everyone anticipates a conflagration that will engulf more than Lebanon. Although the mood is pessimistic, Lebanon is still one of the happiest places on earth, and the Lebanese, eternally confronted with challenges larger that their tiny land, continue to display an unparalleled joie de vivre that is the envy of the world.

Under the circumstances, it is fair to ask, what will really happen next?

First, a word about the presidential elections, which were postponed once again by Speaker Nabih Berri – for the 15th time – and which no longer have any meaning. These routine delays are no more than stale tactics, likely to be repeated several more times.

In the end, there are simply no alternatives to Army Commander General Michel Sulaiman, who will eventually become president. Otherwise, and wishful thinking aside, Lebanon will not have a Head of State because no other candidate can muster the necessary broad support that is required to win the presidency.

Second, without a president, it is the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora that protects, promotes and defends the country’s interests. Siniora may be the butt of derision but he is rock solid.

His professional tenure will continue for as long as needed: one, five, or even ten years. In fact, the competent Siniora is the ultimate nationalist, who seems to place the welfare of his nation-state above all else. As such, he represents the epitome of legitimacy, no matter how much abuse is lobbed towards him.

Speaking up

Third, many of Lebanon’s religious leaders have thrown their hats into the fray, and are speaking up against naive propositions. Their recent call on excitable young Lebanese to assume responsibilities was long overdue but critical nevertheless.

Fourth, Syria is poised to discover that its hold on Lebanon will never be accepted because the two countries, which had a lot in common before independence, now share little. The two peoples even less.

Moreover, Damascus cannot fight its myriad intra-Arab disputes in Lebanon, but must resolve them separately with distant competitors. If Riyadh and Damascus disagree on an issue, for example, then a way must be found to address those concerns bilaterally, not on the back of the Lebanese.

Finally, there is Iran, a country that has a long memory and that seeks regional and international respect, especially from neighbouring Arab states.

Tehran must tread these waters with existential care because western powers, that will defend their interests no matter what, cannot be kowtowed.

Again, Lebanon can no longer afford to remain an arena of Iranian-Arab quarrels, and it is up to Hezbollah, Iran’s primary ally in the Arab world, to affirm its separate identity. That characteristic must underscore its legitimate Lebanese motto if the party wishes to co-exist peacefully with equally determined partners.

What are the consequences of these concerns if no accords are formulated?

It should be clear that there will be no war in Lebanon, or in the region, because the result of such a confrontation will be the division of the country. Like the Koreas, there will be a North Lebanon and a South Lebanon (to which the Beka’a Valley may or may not be attached depending on Syria).

The North will quickly transform itself into a rival for Monte Carlo, while the South will fall under Israeli and/or Syrian suzerainty, and it is precisely to avoid this scenario that no Lebanese leader will seriously contemplate war.

A civil war will translate in a major loss for Hezbollah because, unlike its 2006 battles with Israel, when virtually everyone – including most Christians – stood by it, the party will draw the wrath of the entire world.

Since this analysis excludes a war, one hopes that foreign ministry mandarins in various Arab capitals will rescind their premature recommendations asking citizens not to travel to Lebanon.

On the contrary, they should call for the opposite, because this is the time for all to stand with their brethren. To prevail with legality and justice, sustain a universally recognised government, and stand up against criminality.

Arabs should fill every single flight into Beirut and partake in the joie de vivre that enriches beyond hope. That’s the dare.

 

Dr Joseph A. Kechichian is a commentator and author of several books on Gulf affairs.