By Karima Rhanem | Morocco TIMES 11/10/2004 | 2:52 pm
Children who fasted for the first time yesterday, the most sacred day of Ramadan, Laylat Al-Qadr (the night of destiny), were honored at Palais Tazi, by the Rabat Commune, the International American Women's Club, and several orphanages.
Children who fasted for the first time yesterday, the most sacred day of Ramadan, Laylat Al-Qadr (the night of destiny), were honored at Palais Tazi, by the Rabat Commune, the International American Women's Club, and several orphanages.
“After the success of last year's event, we thought of making this event a yearly tradition to please the children, especially orphans,” said Hassan Lyoussi, managing director of Palais Tazi. “We have called several associations including Association Akkari, Orphelinat de Salé, and others to work with us and provide us with children.”
A number of VIP's attended the ceremony including the US Ambassador Thomas T. Riley accompanied by his wife, the mayor of Rabat, and wives of foreign Ambassadors to Morocco.
The young girls were decorated by a Negafa, a woman who traditionally dresses the bride for her wedding, in Moroccan clothes and accessories. In the open square of the Palais Tazi, the Negafa adorned the girls' faces with makeup and tattooed their hands with Henna. Along with orphans, many parents came to celebrate their children's first day of fasting and to express their happiness.
Mr. and Mrs. Bouajaj, a young couple, who recently adopted a child from an orphanage in Rabat, were extremely happy to bring him to the ceremony. “We adopted Youssef on August 18, 2004, this is his first year with us. We spent a lot of time preparing for this occasion, and bought him new clothes. We are extremely happy to bring him and see him happy.”
Despite the rain, children danced and sung along with the Moroccan traditional music. Laughs and screams were everywhere as girls rushed to get their pictures taken in their extravagant outfits.
Mr. Lahcen Moumen, director of Orphelinat de Salé said this event was very important for the orphans. “We are trying our best to make these deprived children live as if they were in a family. We need to pass along to them the Moroccan traditions and make them see all aspects of the Moroccan way of life in every occasion.”
A melting pot of food was prepared by the wives of the foreign Ambassadors to Morocco, who were wearing traditional clothes of their own countries.
Karimarhanem's blog
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The blog contains most of my past articles at Morocco Times. It also includes some interesting subjects in different fields
Syria accused of slow cooperation
By Karima Rhanem | Morocco TIMES 12/12/2005 | 8:00 pm
The UN Security Council will discuss on Tuesday the new Mehlis report on the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The report came hours after anti-Syrian MP and Lebanese newspaper magnate, Gebran Tueni was killed in a blast in Beirut.
The report also comes days after UN investigator Detlev Mehlis's team questioned five Syrian officials.
Details from the report, of which Morocco Times obtained a copy, have indicated that Syria did not fully cooperate with the investigation committee into the killing of the late Lebanese PM. The 25-page report urges Syria to detain its senior officials, suspected of involvement in the assassination.
"Syria must detain those Syrian officials or individuals whom the commission considers as suspected of involvement in the planning, sponsoring, organising or perpetrating of this terrorist act, and make them fully available to the commission," said the report.
The report said it had identified 19 suspects but did not name them. It said five Syrian officials questioned by UN investigators in Vienna this month were suspects.
It also pointed at an organised operation aiming at killing Rafik Hariri, including the recruitment of special agents by the Lebanese and Syrian intelligent services, handling of improvised explosive devices, a patter of threats against targeted individuals, and planning of other criminal activities.
A statement from a witness strengthens the evidence confirmed to date against the Lebanese in custody, as well as high-ranked Syrian officers, said the report.
The investigation has also uncovered more specific information about the manner in which the Syrian security apparatus controlled and manipulated the security situation in Lebanon.
Mehlis also said that statements made by two of the suspects in Vienna "indicated that all Syrian intelligence documents concerning Lebanon had been burned."
In Damascus, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad warned on Sunday that an attempt to impose sanctions against his nation would destabilize the region and the entire world.
"The Middle East is the heart of the world, and Syria is the heart of the Middle East," Assad told Russia's channel 2.
"If the situation in Syria and Iraq isn't good, the whole region will become unstable, and the entire world will pay for that."
He further vowed to punish any Syrian proven to be involved in the assassination of Hariri.
In an October interim report, Mehlis implicated senior Syrian officials and their Lebanese allies in the plot to kill Hariri.
After the report, the Security Council warned Syria it had to cooperate fully with the UN team or face further action that could lead to sanctions.
Syria has denied the accusations and called the Mehlis report politically motivated.
Hosam Taher Hosam, a key Syrian witness in the report, has recently recanted his testimony and accused Lebanese officials of threats, bribery and torture to induce him to testify falsely against Syria.
Mehlis expects to leave his post at the end of the year. But Lebanon requested the inquiry be extended for a further six months and the Security Council is likely to renew the mandate before it expires on Thursday, December 15.
By Karima Rhanem | Morocco TIMES 12/12/2005 | 8:00 pm
The UN Security Council will discuss on Tuesday the new Mehlis report on the assassination of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The report came hours after anti-Syrian MP and Lebanese newspaper magnate, Gebran Tueni was killed in a blast in Beirut.
The report also comes days after UN investigator Detlev Mehlis's team questioned five Syrian officials.
Details from the report, of which Morocco Times obtained a copy, have indicated that Syria did not fully cooperate with the investigation committee into the killing of the late Lebanese PM. The 25-page report urges Syria to detain its senior officials, suspected of involvement in the assassination.
"Syria must detain those Syrian officials or individuals whom the commission considers as suspected of involvement in the planning, sponsoring, organising or perpetrating of this terrorist act, and make them fully available to the commission," said the report.
The report said it had identified 19 suspects but did not name them. It said five Syrian officials questioned by UN investigators in Vienna this month were suspects.
It also pointed at an organised operation aiming at killing Rafik Hariri, including the recruitment of special agents by the Lebanese and Syrian intelligent services, handling of improvised explosive devices, a patter of threats against targeted individuals, and planning of other criminal activities.
A statement from a witness strengthens the evidence confirmed to date against the Lebanese in custody, as well as high-ranked Syrian officers, said the report.
The investigation has also uncovered more specific information about the manner in which the Syrian security apparatus controlled and manipulated the security situation in Lebanon.
Mehlis also said that statements made by two of the suspects in Vienna "indicated that all Syrian intelligence documents concerning Lebanon had been burned."
In Damascus, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad warned on Sunday that an attempt to impose sanctions against his nation would destabilize the region and the entire world.
"The Middle East is the heart of the world, and Syria is the heart of the Middle East," Assad told Russia's channel 2.
"If the situation in Syria and Iraq isn't good, the whole region will become unstable, and the entire world will pay for that."
He further vowed to punish any Syrian proven to be involved in the assassination of Hariri.
In an October interim report, Mehlis implicated senior Syrian officials and their Lebanese allies in the plot to kill Hariri.
After the report, the Security Council warned Syria it had to cooperate fully with the UN team or face further action that could lead to sanctions.
Syria has denied the accusations and called the Mehlis report politically motivated.
Hosam Taher Hosam, a key Syrian witness in the report, has recently recanted his testimony and accused Lebanese officials of threats, bribery and torture to induce him to testify falsely against Syria.
Mehlis expects to leave his post at the end of the year. But Lebanon requested the inquiry be extended for a further six months and the Security Council is likely to renew the mandate before it expires on Thursday, December 15.
By Karima Rhanem | Morocco TIMES 3/6/2005 | 10:37 am
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, responding to weeks of intense pressure, announced, on Saturday, that Syria would move its troops to the Lebanese-Syrian border in a two-step pull-back that he said should satisfy international demands for a complete withdrawal.
"Syrian troops will completely pull back to Bekaa valley in eastern Lebanon and then to the Syrian-Lebanese border," Al-Assad announced in his speech, addressing the parliament in Damascus. His careful speech was constantly interrupted by zealous applauds from law-makers in the chamber and thousands of Syrian supporters listening outside the building, chanting national anthem and waving national flags.
"By carrying out this measure, Syria will have fulfilled requirements of the Taif agreement and implemented the UN Resolution 1559," said the Syrian president.
Al-Assad said he would meet this week with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud to discuss the withdrawal plans.
Syria and Lebanon have kept a close relationship for the past three decades since Syrian troops entered Lebanon in 1976 to intervene its 1975-90 civil war. Syria still maintains 14,000 troops in Lebanon after several redeployment in recent years.
But this special relation has been challenged since UN Security Council resolution 1559 was adopted last September at the initiative of the United States and France, demanding a pullout of foreign troops from Lebanon.
Al-Assad faced a week of intensive world and Arab pressure on Syria, beginning with the resignation of Lebanon's pro-Syria government and ending with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah telling him face-to-face to get all his forces out of Lebanon quickly.
US reaction
The US State Department said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's announcement today of a gradual withdrawal of 14,000 troops from Lebanon, is not enough.
"The international community has made it clear Syria must withdraw completely and immediately all its military forces and intelligence service forces from Lebanon,'' State Department spokeswoman Darla Jordan said. "We mean complete withdrawal and no half-hearted measures.''
Lebanese reaction
In Beirut, around 1,000 Lebanese watching the speech on large screens in the central Martyrs' Square seemed unconvinced by Al-Assad's words. Waving Lebanese flags, they continued the chants they have shouted in weeks of demonstrations: "Syria out!" and other anti-Syrian slogans.
Walid Jumblatt, the leader of the Lebanese parliamentary opposition, said- in interview with Al Jazeera from Riyadh, that Al-Assad's speech has 'some positive points' and the Lebanese will need to see how implementation will take place.
"The troop withdrawal isn't enough," other Lebanese opposition politicians said. "Syrian intelligence officers in Lebanon also should leave," voiced others.
Israeli reaction
Israel's foreign minister Silvan Shalom dismissed Syrian President Basher Al-Assad's speech announcing only a partial withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.
"Israel demands a full implementation of UN Resolution 1559, meaning a complete withdrawal" said Shalom at a news conference with Jordanian Foreign Minister Hani al-Mulqi.
"A Lebanon free of Syrian influence could lead to a long-sought peace with Israel," added Shalom.
The Jewish State, which withdrew its forces from southern Lebanon in 2000 after 18 years of occupation, believes only Syrian pressure stopped Lebanon from joining Egypt and Jordan in making peace with Israel.
Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, responding to weeks of intense pressure, announced, on Saturday, that Syria would move its troops to the Lebanese-Syrian border in a two-step pull-back that he said should satisfy international demands for a complete withdrawal.
"Syrian troops will completely pull back to Bekaa valley in eastern Lebanon and then to the Syrian-Lebanese border," Al-Assad announced in his speech, addressing the parliament in Damascus. His careful speech was constantly interrupted by zealous applauds from law-makers in the chamber and thousands of Syrian supporters listening outside the building, chanting national anthem and waving national flags.
"By carrying out this measure, Syria will have fulfilled requirements of the Taif agreement and implemented the UN Resolution 1559," said the Syrian president.
Al-Assad said he would meet this week with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud to discuss the withdrawal plans.
Syria and Lebanon have kept a close relationship for the past three decades since Syrian troops entered Lebanon in 1976 to intervene its 1975-90 civil war. Syria still maintains 14,000 troops in Lebanon after several redeployment in recent years.
But this special relation has been challenged since UN Security Council resolution 1559 was adopted last September at the initiative of the United States and France, demanding a pullout of foreign troops from Lebanon.
Al-Assad faced a week of intensive world and Arab pressure on Syria, beginning with the resignation of Lebanon's pro-Syria government and ending with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah telling him face-to-face to get all his forces out of Lebanon quickly.
US reaction
The US State Department said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's announcement today of a gradual withdrawal of 14,000 troops from Lebanon, is not enough.
"The international community has made it clear Syria must withdraw completely and immediately all its military forces and intelligence service forces from Lebanon,'' State Department spokeswoman Darla Jordan said. "We mean complete withdrawal and no half-hearted measures.''
Lebanese reaction
In Beirut, around 1,000 Lebanese watching the speech on large screens in the central Martyrs' Square seemed unconvinced by Al-Assad's words. Waving Lebanese flags, they continued the chants they have shouted in weeks of demonstrations: "Syria out!" and other anti-Syrian slogans.
Walid Jumblatt, the leader of the Lebanese parliamentary opposition, said- in interview with Al Jazeera from Riyadh, that Al-Assad's speech has 'some positive points' and the Lebanese will need to see how implementation will take place.
"The troop withdrawal isn't enough," other Lebanese opposition politicians said. "Syrian intelligence officers in Lebanon also should leave," voiced others.
Israeli reaction
Israel's foreign minister Silvan Shalom dismissed Syrian President Basher Al-Assad's speech announcing only a partial withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon.
"Israel demands a full implementation of UN Resolution 1559, meaning a complete withdrawal" said Shalom at a news conference with Jordanian Foreign Minister Hani al-Mulqi.
"A Lebanon free of Syrian influence could lead to a long-sought peace with Israel," added Shalom.
The Jewish State, which withdrew its forces from southern Lebanon in 2000 after 18 years of occupation, believes only Syrian pressure stopped Lebanon from joining Egypt and Jordan in making peace with Israel.
By Karima Rhanem | Morocco TIMES 3/5/2005 | 10:36 am
Syrian President Bashar Assad prepared to announce today a partial withdrawal of troops from Lebanon. He will deliver a speech this afternoon, in the parliament, on Syria's current political developments, said the official SANA news agency.
However, President Bush said Friday that only a full pullout of Syria's 15,000 troops and intelligence agents would meet Washington's demands.
Washington and other Western powers were said to be preparing to impose sanctions and to call on the United Nations to approve tougher measures if Syria fails to pull out entirely. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw ruled out the possibility of any military attack on Syria.
After 'occupying' Lebanon for decades with the quiet approval of neighbouring Arab leaders, Bachar Al-Assad found himself isolated and rejected on Friday, when the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Egypt told him frankly, for the first time, to give in to international demands to withdraw immediately. So have France and Russia, longtime allies and patrons of Damascus.
The media and several analysists said that Syrian leader, isolated abroad, must weigh costs of pulling troops. The crisis may serve as a defining test for the leader. A retreat from Lebanon means stripping his country of its most important strategic asset along with a chunk of its pride. Leaving Lebanon also means Syria's swallowing defeat before Israel.
Several analysis also indicated that Syria still nurture the hope of regaining the Golan Heights, a scenic stretch of mountains lost to Israel in 1967. But without Lebanon, Syria won't have much to trade for the land. Analysis also said that the best Syria can do is offer to rein in the Syrian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas on Lebanon's southern border, who launch periodic attacks on Israel.
Syrian troops first entered Lebanon in 1976. They were backed by the Arab League as a peacekeeping force in the country's civil war. When the civil war ended in 1990, some 15,000 troops and thousands of intelligence personnel remained.
UN Security Council members have been considering measures against Syria since issuing a resolution in September 2004 calling for all foreign forces to quit Lebanon.
The chorus calling on Syria to quit Lebanon is growing louder. Bashar Al-Asad is in a difficult choice: whether to stay in Lebanon, or delays the Syrian departure. If he fails to comply with the Taif Agreement, his country could face sanctions and other forms of ostracism from the US and the International community.
The world today will be watching him closely when he speaks to his country's parliament about the Lebanese-Syrian crisis.
After the killing of Al-Hariri, Syria is no longer welcomed in Lebanon. This is reflected in the continious protesting crowds in Lebanon, demanding the Syrian troops and intelligence to quit their country. Lebanese public will and power made the pro-Syrian government to resign. Angered, Lebanese call in loud voice "No more occupation, Syria Out".
Syrian President Bashar Assad prepared to announce today a partial withdrawal of troops from Lebanon. He will deliver a speech this afternoon, in the parliament, on Syria's current political developments, said the official SANA news agency.
However, President Bush said Friday that only a full pullout of Syria's 15,000 troops and intelligence agents would meet Washington's demands.
Washington and other Western powers were said to be preparing to impose sanctions and to call on the United Nations to approve tougher measures if Syria fails to pull out entirely. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw ruled out the possibility of any military attack on Syria.
After 'occupying' Lebanon for decades with the quiet approval of neighbouring Arab leaders, Bachar Al-Assad found himself isolated and rejected on Friday, when the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Egypt told him frankly, for the first time, to give in to international demands to withdraw immediately. So have France and Russia, longtime allies and patrons of Damascus.
The media and several analysists said that Syrian leader, isolated abroad, must weigh costs of pulling troops. The crisis may serve as a defining test for the leader. A retreat from Lebanon means stripping his country of its most important strategic asset along with a chunk of its pride. Leaving Lebanon also means Syria's swallowing defeat before Israel.
Several analysis also indicated that Syria still nurture the hope of regaining the Golan Heights, a scenic stretch of mountains lost to Israel in 1967. But without Lebanon, Syria won't have much to trade for the land. Analysis also said that the best Syria can do is offer to rein in the Syrian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas on Lebanon's southern border, who launch periodic attacks on Israel.
Syrian troops first entered Lebanon in 1976. They were backed by the Arab League as a peacekeeping force in the country's civil war. When the civil war ended in 1990, some 15,000 troops and thousands of intelligence personnel remained.
UN Security Council members have been considering measures against Syria since issuing a resolution in September 2004 calling for all foreign forces to quit Lebanon.
The chorus calling on Syria to quit Lebanon is growing louder. Bashar Al-Asad is in a difficult choice: whether to stay in Lebanon, or delays the Syrian departure. If he fails to comply with the Taif Agreement, his country could face sanctions and other forms of ostracism from the US and the International community.
The world today will be watching him closely when he speaks to his country's parliament about the Lebanese-Syrian crisis.
After the killing of Al-Hariri, Syria is no longer welcomed in Lebanon. This is reflected in the continious protesting crowds in Lebanon, demanding the Syrian troops and intelligence to quit their country. Lebanese public will and power made the pro-Syrian government to resign. Angered, Lebanese call in loud voice "No more occupation, Syria Out".
Opposition blames Syria and the Lebanese government for the assassination
By Karima Rhanem | Morocco TIMES 2/15/2005 | 2:38 pm
Opposition leaders and angry demonstrators gathered, yesterday evening, in front of Hariri's house, blaming Syria and the Lebanese government for the most serious political assassination in Lebanon since sectarian fighting ended nearly 16 years ago. The opposition leaders also called for full investigation, the government's resignation and a complete pullout of the 14, 000 Syrian troops.
“We hold the Lebanese and the Syrian governments, responsible for the crime," MP Bassem Sabeh said after an opposition meeting at Hariri's Beirut family home.
"We demand the resignation of the government, which has lost all legitimacy, and the establishment of an interim-government," added Sabeh.
The 60-year-old Al-Hariri, who was killed yesterday in a massive car-bomb attack, with 13 others, in the heart of the Lebanese capital, had emerged in recent months as a chief opponent of the presence of Syrian troops in the country. He was also associated with the period of stability he oversaw in three terms as prime minister, and with the rejuvenation of this bomb-blasted city.
As speculations still surround the question of who carried out Monday's bombing in Beirut, the Bush administration was already sure of the 'hand of Syria', hinting at penalties, said the NY Times today.
The Bush administration, condemning the assassination of Rafik Hariri suggested Monday that Syria was to blame and moved to get a new condemnation of Syria's domination of Lebanon at the United Nations Security Council.
However, Scott McClellan, the White House spokesperson said they had no concrete evidence of Syria's involvement in the killing of Al-Hariri.
At her Senate confirmation hearings, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stressed US concerns about Syria's role in Lebanon and Iraq and its alleged links to terrorism.
"It's fair to say that the Syrian government is behaving in a way that could unfortunately lead to long-term bad relations with the US," she said.
According to the Washington Post, American and European officials also said the administration was studying the possibility of tougher sanctions on Syria, effectively tightening penalties imposed in May, when Washington said the Syrian government had failed to act against militant groups in Israel and against a supply line from Syria to the insurgents in Iraq.
Syria denies any role and condemned the bombings. It also denies supporting terrorism and says it is doing its best to control its long desert border with Iraq to prevent the flow of foreign insurgents, supplies and funds.
The Accountability Act - which already bans all US exports to Syria excluding food and medicine - still has some measures available to it, including downgrading diplomatic relations and imposing travel restrictions on Syrian officials in the US.
Lebanon on 'High Alert'
Lebanon has declared state of emergency following the murder of Rafiq Hariri. The government mobilized its army on ``high alert'' to safeguard the stability of the country, the Lebanese official National News Agency said.
Soldiers have been deployed on the streets of Beirut and other cities, and those on leave recalled for duty, the NNA reported, citing an army statement issued late yesterday after a meeting of President Emile Lahoud's security committee. The statement didn't mention whether the 15,000 Syrian soldiers based in Lebanon would participate in the security operation.
The Supreme Council for Defence, which groups the president, cabinet ministers and military officials, also declared three days of national mourning. The NNA said Hariri's funeral would be tomorrow in a mosque in Beirut.
Who killed Hariri?
After Hariri's assassination, analysts were reluctant to accuse any person, state, or organization, claiming there were many parties who had an interest in killing him and stirring tensions in Lebanon.
Qatar-based Al Jazeera Channel had aired a videotape showing a young man reading a statement in front of a black banner marked with the name of an unknown Islamist group and the Muslim 'Shahada' (faith in the oneness of God and the finality of the prophethood of Mohamed). An-Nosra wal Jihad fi Bilad al-Sham (Victory and Jihad in Greater Syria) claimed responsibility for yesterday's assassination Rafiq Hariri.
Later, the Lebanese satellite channel LBCI reported, yesterday, that security sources said they had searched a West Beirut house of a Palestinian named Ahmed Abu Adass, believed to be the one who appeared in the videotape. Adass was not found in the house. Officials presume he had fled or he died in the suicide attack.
Analysts, however, said the magnitude of the blast suggested an intelligence agency was behind the explosion rather than a small group.
Reuters, reported, later today, that Al Qaeda issued a statement today denying Islamists had killed Rafik al-Hariri, saying Lebanese, Syrian or Israeli intelligence were behind the attack.
The statement, signed by a hitherto unknown group calling itself the Al Qaeda Organization in the Levant, was posted on an Islamist Web site often used by al Qaeda, a day after the other unknown Islamist group said it was behind the huge Beirut blast.
"Blaming the Jihadist and Salafist groups for what happened in Beirut is a complete fabrication," the statement said. "The priorities of the jihadist groups in the Levant are supporting our brethren in Iraq and Palestine, not blowing up cars," added the statement.
The statement went on: "this is clearly an operation that was planned by a state intelligence agency ... and we blame either the Mossad, the Syrian regime or the Lebanese regime."
The authenticity of the statement could not be immediately verified, analysts said.
Beirut bombing: A terrible reminder
Some suggested that al-Hariri's assassination is a return to the dark days of Lebanon's civil war that killed more than 100,000 people and raged uninterrupted between 1975 and 1990.
Beirut was often rocked by car bombs and political assassinations during its 15-year civil war, when fighting among religious and political factions tore Lebanon apart. But they have been rare since then.
Neighbouring Syria became ever more dominant during the conflict and took much of the credit for ending the war, but Lebanese voices calling for Damascus to pull out its 14,000 troops have grown louder, backed by a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for their withdrawal.
Not so far, just in October 2004, a car bomb wounded opposition parliamentarian Marwan Hamade, soon after he quit his position as economy minister in protest at the extension of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud's term.
Other leaders were assassinated throughout the last decade in Lebanon. They include Mohammad Jihad Ahmed Jibril, a Palestinian military leader, who was killed by a bomb that ripped through his car in Beirut in May 2002; Christian leader Dany Chamoun, who was killed along with his wife and two of their children in a commando raid on their home near Beirut in October 1990; president Rene Mouawad who was assassinated only 17 days after taking office in an attack in west Beirut that killed 15; Sunni prime minister Rashid Karami, who was killed by a bomb planted under his seat in a helicopter in 1987, and others.
Rafik Hariri, 60, who joined this long list when he was killed yesterday, had held the office of prime minister for most of the past 12 years before quitting in October 2004 amid a bitter rift with President Lahoud.
A mixture of fear and hope dominates Lebanon. Some Lebanese see Al Hariri's murder as a terrible reminder they have to cope with, and work to pursue their own political future, free from violence and intimidation and free from Syrian occupation. Others hope that his assassination would only be a political one.
May Parliamentary elections
It was unclear if his murder would delay parliamentary elections expected in April and May in Lebanon. The expected elections are considered an event which is seen as a litmus test of Syria's support in the country. The UN has dispatched an envoy to Lebanon to assess the implementation of Resolution 1559 and observe the electoral process.
By Karima Rhanem | Morocco TIMES 2/15/2005 | 2:38 pm
Opposition leaders and angry demonstrators gathered, yesterday evening, in front of Hariri's house, blaming Syria and the Lebanese government for the most serious political assassination in Lebanon since sectarian fighting ended nearly 16 years ago. The opposition leaders also called for full investigation, the government's resignation and a complete pullout of the 14, 000 Syrian troops.
“We hold the Lebanese and the Syrian governments, responsible for the crime," MP Bassem Sabeh said after an opposition meeting at Hariri's Beirut family home.
"We demand the resignation of the government, which has lost all legitimacy, and the establishment of an interim-government," added Sabeh.
The 60-year-old Al-Hariri, who was killed yesterday in a massive car-bomb attack, with 13 others, in the heart of the Lebanese capital, had emerged in recent months as a chief opponent of the presence of Syrian troops in the country. He was also associated with the period of stability he oversaw in three terms as prime minister, and with the rejuvenation of this bomb-blasted city.
As speculations still surround the question of who carried out Monday's bombing in Beirut, the Bush administration was already sure of the 'hand of Syria', hinting at penalties, said the NY Times today.
The Bush administration, condemning the assassination of Rafik Hariri suggested Monday that Syria was to blame and moved to get a new condemnation of Syria's domination of Lebanon at the United Nations Security Council.
However, Scott McClellan, the White House spokesperson said they had no concrete evidence of Syria's involvement in the killing of Al-Hariri.
At her Senate confirmation hearings, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stressed US concerns about Syria's role in Lebanon and Iraq and its alleged links to terrorism.
"It's fair to say that the Syrian government is behaving in a way that could unfortunately lead to long-term bad relations with the US," she said.
According to the Washington Post, American and European officials also said the administration was studying the possibility of tougher sanctions on Syria, effectively tightening penalties imposed in May, when Washington said the Syrian government had failed to act against militant groups in Israel and against a supply line from Syria to the insurgents in Iraq.
Syria denies any role and condemned the bombings. It also denies supporting terrorism and says it is doing its best to control its long desert border with Iraq to prevent the flow of foreign insurgents, supplies and funds.
The Accountability Act - which already bans all US exports to Syria excluding food and medicine - still has some measures available to it, including downgrading diplomatic relations and imposing travel restrictions on Syrian officials in the US.
Lebanon on 'High Alert'
Lebanon has declared state of emergency following the murder of Rafiq Hariri. The government mobilized its army on ``high alert'' to safeguard the stability of the country, the Lebanese official National News Agency said.
Soldiers have been deployed on the streets of Beirut and other cities, and those on leave recalled for duty, the NNA reported, citing an army statement issued late yesterday after a meeting of President Emile Lahoud's security committee. The statement didn't mention whether the 15,000 Syrian soldiers based in Lebanon would participate in the security operation.
The Supreme Council for Defence, which groups the president, cabinet ministers and military officials, also declared three days of national mourning. The NNA said Hariri's funeral would be tomorrow in a mosque in Beirut.
Who killed Hariri?
After Hariri's assassination, analysts were reluctant to accuse any person, state, or organization, claiming there were many parties who had an interest in killing him and stirring tensions in Lebanon.
Qatar-based Al Jazeera Channel had aired a videotape showing a young man reading a statement in front of a black banner marked with the name of an unknown Islamist group and the Muslim 'Shahada' (faith in the oneness of God and the finality of the prophethood of Mohamed). An-Nosra wal Jihad fi Bilad al-Sham (Victory and Jihad in Greater Syria) claimed responsibility for yesterday's assassination Rafiq Hariri.
Later, the Lebanese satellite channel LBCI reported, yesterday, that security sources said they had searched a West Beirut house of a Palestinian named Ahmed Abu Adass, believed to be the one who appeared in the videotape. Adass was not found in the house. Officials presume he had fled or he died in the suicide attack.
Analysts, however, said the magnitude of the blast suggested an intelligence agency was behind the explosion rather than a small group.
Reuters, reported, later today, that Al Qaeda issued a statement today denying Islamists had killed Rafik al-Hariri, saying Lebanese, Syrian or Israeli intelligence were behind the attack.
The statement, signed by a hitherto unknown group calling itself the Al Qaeda Organization in the Levant, was posted on an Islamist Web site often used by al Qaeda, a day after the other unknown Islamist group said it was behind the huge Beirut blast.
"Blaming the Jihadist and Salafist groups for what happened in Beirut is a complete fabrication," the statement said. "The priorities of the jihadist groups in the Levant are supporting our brethren in Iraq and Palestine, not blowing up cars," added the statement.
The statement went on: "this is clearly an operation that was planned by a state intelligence agency ... and we blame either the Mossad, the Syrian regime or the Lebanese regime."
The authenticity of the statement could not be immediately verified, analysts said.
Beirut bombing: A terrible reminder
Some suggested that al-Hariri's assassination is a return to the dark days of Lebanon's civil war that killed more than 100,000 people and raged uninterrupted between 1975 and 1990.
Beirut was often rocked by car bombs and political assassinations during its 15-year civil war, when fighting among religious and political factions tore Lebanon apart. But they have been rare since then.
Neighbouring Syria became ever more dominant during the conflict and took much of the credit for ending the war, but Lebanese voices calling for Damascus to pull out its 14,000 troops have grown louder, backed by a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for their withdrawal.
Not so far, just in October 2004, a car bomb wounded opposition parliamentarian Marwan Hamade, soon after he quit his position as economy minister in protest at the extension of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud's term.
Other leaders were assassinated throughout the last decade in Lebanon. They include Mohammad Jihad Ahmed Jibril, a Palestinian military leader, who was killed by a bomb that ripped through his car in Beirut in May 2002; Christian leader Dany Chamoun, who was killed along with his wife and two of their children in a commando raid on their home near Beirut in October 1990; president Rene Mouawad who was assassinated only 17 days after taking office in an attack in west Beirut that killed 15; Sunni prime minister Rashid Karami, who was killed by a bomb planted under his seat in a helicopter in 1987, and others.
Rafik Hariri, 60, who joined this long list when he was killed yesterday, had held the office of prime minister for most of the past 12 years before quitting in October 2004 amid a bitter rift with President Lahoud.
A mixture of fear and hope dominates Lebanon. Some Lebanese see Al Hariri's murder as a terrible reminder they have to cope with, and work to pursue their own political future, free from violence and intimidation and free from Syrian occupation. Others hope that his assassination would only be a political one.
May Parliamentary elections
It was unclear if his murder would delay parliamentary elections expected in April and May in Lebanon. The expected elections are considered an event which is seen as a litmus test of Syria's support in the country. The UN has dispatched an envoy to Lebanon to assess the implementation of Resolution 1559 and observe the electoral process.
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