Recently in Lebanon Category

Hizballah intends to ensure they serve their sentences in absentia as well, and there appears to be no political will in Lebanon to demand otherwise. One of those indicted has boasted that authorities know where he lives, but cannot arrest him. The track record so far calls into question whether "all reasonable steps" were really taken to bring them into custody.

"Hariri assassination suspects to be tried in absentia," from CNN, February 2:

(CNN) -- The special court investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri announced Wednesday it will try the four accused killers in absentia.

The trial chamber of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, headquartered in the Netherlands near The Hague, said it concluded that "all reasonable steps have been taken to secure the appearance of the accused and to notify them of the charges against them."

The efforts included multiple attempts by Lebanese authorities to find the four men at homes and workplaces, the chamber said. It also noted that the identities of the four men and their indictments received "massive publicity" in Lebanon, making it clear the men were being sought.

The chamber did not announce a date for the trial, but it will be at least four months away.

The United Nations-backed tribunal indicted the four men in June 2011 and made their identities public in July.

Hariri was killed in February 2005 when a bomb struck his motorcade in Beirut. The blast ripped apart his armored car and destroyed the motorcade, killing 21 other people and wounding 231.

All four suspects are charged with conspiracy aimed at committing a terrorist act.

The indictment says the alleged ringleader was Mustafa Amine Badreddine, while another man, Salim Jamil Ayyash, allegedly headed the "assassination team," responsible for physically carrying out the attack.

They are also charged with committing a terrorist act by means of an explosive device; two counts of intentional homicide with premeditation by using explosives; and attempted intentional homicide with premeditation by using explosives.

Hussein Hassan Oneissi and Assad Hassan Sabra were responsible for preparing a false claim of responsibility, the indictment says. They are charged with being accomplices to the same four counts.

Investigators used mobile phone data to place Ayyash and other members of the assassination team near locations where Hariri was in the days prior to his death, the indictment says. Similar data placed the men near points along the route of Hariri's convoy on the day of the bombing...

As noted here, it will take more than asking once to make that happen. "Hezbollah rejects call by U.N.'s Ban to disarm," by Dominic Evans for Reuters, January 14:

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah dismissed on Saturday a United Nations call for his militant anti-Israel movement to disarm, saying it was determined to maintain a military capacity to defend Lebanon.

That's what state armies are for. Lebanon has one. Hizballah's forces are ultimately for the sake of Hizballah, to protect it not only from outside intervention, but from challenges from within Lebanon, including government forces.

"I affirm today, firmly, decisively and with the greatest conviction ... the choice of armed resistance," Nasrallah said. "These weapons, along with the Lebanese people and army, are the only guarantee of Lebanon's protection."

Mocking a demand by visiting U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that Hezbollah lay down its weapons, Nasrallah said he was happy that Hezbollah's military prowess was a cause for concern.

"Your concern, Secretary-General, reassures us and pleases us. What matters to us is that you are worried, and that America ... and Israel are worried with you," he said in a televised speech marking a Shi'ite holy day.

Hezbollah, which fought a devastating month-long war with Israel in 2006, has rejected a U.N. Security Council resolution that demands that it lay down its military arsenal, as all other Lebanese armed groups did at the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.

That's Resolution 1559. Not only did Hizballah defy the resolution, they are now better armed than the regular Lebanese army. What could go wrong?

Nasrallah, in hiding since 2006 for fear of assassination, says his movement has been re-arming since the 2006 conflict, when it fired hundreds of rockets across the border daily into northern Israel.

Ban, speaking in Beirut on Friday, said he was "deeply concerned about the military capacity of Hezbollah" and the lack of progress in disarmament. "All these arms outside of the authorized state authority, it's not acceptable," he declared....

Weird stuff happens on Friday the 13th, you know. Here, someone actually remembered U.N. Resolution 1559, after which Hizballah was the only group from the Lebanese civil war that failed to disarm. For that matter, it was the U.N. Secretary-General who remembered.

It will take more than asking once, however, to dismantle the army of Hizballah's pseudo-state within a state, which is better armed than the regular Lebanese army. "Disarm Hezbollah, U.N. chief tells Lebanon," by Alastair Lyon for Reuters, Friday the 13th (of January):

BEIRUT (Reuters) - United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon demanded Friday the disarmament of the anti-Israel Lebanese Hezbollah movement, which had said his visit to Lebanon was not welcome.

"I am deeply concerned about the military capacity of Hezbollah and ... the lack of progress in disarmament," he told a news conference after meeting Lebanese leaders.

"That is why we discussed this matter very seriously and I strongly encouraged President (Michel) Suleiman to initiate a convening of this national dialogue to address these issues...

"All these arms outside of the authorized state authority, it's not acceptable," Ban declared.

The secretary-general's trip made waves even before he arrived, with one Hezbollah leader saying he was not welcome, a stance criticized by Lebanese politicians opposed to the armed Shi'ite Islamist movement and its Syrian and Iranian patrons.

Hezbollah accepted an expansion of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in the south after its devastating 2006 war with Israel, but rejects a U.N. Security Council resolution that demands that it lay down its military arsenal, as all other Lebanese armed groups did after the 1975-90 civil war.

UNIFIL troops came under three attacks last year in which Italian and French soldiers were wounded. A rocket was launched into Israel in November and another rocket launching was attempted last month. No group claimed responsibility.

"There are no explicit fears that there is a new climate of hostility to the United Nations," a diplomatic source said. "But there is concern, which the secretary-general will emphasize, over the attacks (on UNIFIL) in May, July and December."

UNIFIL, now about 12,000 strong, is the third biggest U.N. peacekeeping operation and one of the oldest, beginning after an Israeli invasion against Palestinian guerrillas in 1978.

The Lebanese army has taken on a bigger role in the south since 2006, but given the tensions between Israel and Hezbollah, there is no sign of an exit strategy for the U.N. force there....

More civic-minded Muslims help people abstain from alcohol the Muslim way. "Lebanon: Shop selling alcohol bombed in Shiite-majority south," from ANSAmed, January 12 (thanks to Insubria):

(ANSAmed) - BEIRUT, JANUARY 12 - A bomb was blown up by unidentified individuals last night at a alcoholic beverages shop in southern Lebanon, the latest in a series of this sort of attack - for which no one has claimed responsibility - in an area with a Shiite Muslim-majority population. Reports were from the Lebanese news agency NNA. The explosion - which occurred in Sarafand, about 50 kilometres south of Beirut - severely damaged the shop targeted and, to a lesser degree, surrounding ones as well. However, no one was hurt. In multi-confessional Lebanon, the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages is legal and tolerated in many areas, but not in some with a Muslim majority population. (ANSAmed).

Hallmark doesn't make a "Thanks for Understanding, We Were Aiming at the Infidels" card. It would have to have a tidy little pocket for diyya, or blood money allowed under Sharia. "One person wounded in south Lebanon by rocket," from Reuters, December 11:

BEIRUT (Reuters) - One person was injured in southern Lebanon Sunday when a rocket apparently fired toward Israel hit a Lebanese border village, security sources in Lebanon said.

They said the rocket was fired from the Wadi al-Qaisiyeh area, about 2 km (one mile) from the frontier and landed in the village of Houla inside Lebanon.

Two weeks ago Israel said several rockets were fired across the border from Lebanon, the first such incident since 2009. Lebanon's army said Israel launched four rockets in return.

The border region has been largely quiet in the five years since Israel and Lebanon's Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah fought a 34-day war in 2006. But there have been concerns that tensions over the nine-month uprising in Syria and tougher Western sanctions against Iran could trigger violence.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Sunday he believed pro-Syrian Hezbollah was behind Friday's bombing in southern Lebanon which wounded five French soldiers from the UNIFIL peacekeeping force.

There was no immediate response from Hezbollah. The group had condemned the bombing, saying it targeted Lebanon's security and stability.

The good news here is that for a moment, Lebanon has remembered its identity separate from being the host to Hizballah's parasitic pseudo-state, and has agreed to contribute its share of funding to the UN Special Tribunal investigating the Hariri assassination, for which four Hizballah members have been indicted.

Hizballah tried to create a diversion from the indictments by triggering the collapse of the government in February, but has apparently decided against throwing another tantrum for the moment. There is also the ongoing instability affecting one of Hizballah's sponsors, Syria, that may have led the group to choose its battles more deliberately for now: indeed, there have been rumors that Hizballah may try to take Beirut if Assad's regime collapses.

"Hezbollah seeks to reassure Lebanon over probe," by Bassem Mroue for the Associated Press, December 1:

BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of Hezbollah sought to reassure Lebanon on Thursday that he has no interest in stirring up trouble over an international investigation that has targeted members of his Shiite militant group.

Lebanon is deeply divided over a U.N.-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of Rafik Hariri, a former prime minister and billionaire statesman. There were concerns the country could be facing a political crisis after Lebanon agreed to fund the court this week, against the wishes of Hezbollah, the most powerful military and political force in Lebanon.

But on Thursday, Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said he will put the country's interests ahead of everything else.

Except for collapsing the government at will and staging the occasional "coup drill."

"Although we reject the legitimacy and funding and cooperation with this tribunal, we will not cause problems in the country and we will put national interests above any other consideration," Nasrallah said in a televised appearance.

Are you reassured yet?

The investigation into Hariri's death — and the degree to which the Lebanese authorities should cooperate with it — has become one of the most divisive issues in Lebanese politics in recent years.

Hezbollah strongly denies any link to the crime and says the court is a Western tool to strike at the anti-Israel group.

Hezbollah and its allies, which hold a majority in the Cabinet, were expected to block the funding for the court during a vote this week.

But on Wednesday, Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he already had secured Lebanon's $36 million share of funding. Mikati did not say how he secured the money and Nasrallah also said he did not know the details.

Hizballah has for some time been a parasitic pseudo-state within Lebanon, complete with its own armed forces, and has slowly been working to devour its host. An attempt to take Beirut would be a rather logical progression of events, unfortunately. Would Hizballah face any resistance from the Lebanese armed forces?

"If Assad falls, Hezbollah will take Beirut," from the Jerusalem Post, November 22:

Hezbollah may launch a military offensive to take over the Lebanese capital of Beirut if Syrian President Bashar Assad is forced out of power, Dubai-based Arabic-language news website Al Arabiya reported Tuesday according to a "source close to Hezbollah."

According to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, despite an air of confidence in broadcasts from Hezbollah's Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, officials behind closed doors have begun to worry about the potential fallout that may result following the collapse of the Syrian regime, especially given the alliance between Hezbollah, Syria and Iran.

"The moment that Hezbollah feels that the fall of the Assad regime is imminent - either as a result of the popular movement or of foreign military intervention - it will move quickly to take control of East and West Beirut," the sources told Al Arabiya.

The source added that Hezbollah would receive support from the Free Patriotic Movement - a faction with eleven ministers in the Lebanese government - led by former Lebanese army commander Michel Aoun.

The source said that Hezbollah would seek to fortify itself in the nation's capital in order to defend itself against the threat posed by Israel, which may feel emboldened enough following the fall of Assad to launch an offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Hezbollah, a close ally of both Syria and Iran, has denounced any potential foreign intervention inside Syria. Nasrallah warned earlier this month in a televised speech to commemorate "Martyr's Day" that any attack on Syria or Iran would lead to an all-out regional war.

Israel has said that Iran has heavily armed Hezbollah by smuggling weapons through Syria. In August, as protests raged across Syria, Turkish officials seized Iranian arms that were transferred through Syria and reportedly en route to the militant Islamist group in Lebanon.

Spontaneous Sharia enforcement. These attacks are less likely to be the work of Hizballah, which is busily devouring the Lebanese state from within, and more likely to be some other jihadist group. "Blasts target nightclub, alcohol shop in south Lebanon," from Agence France-Presse, November 16:

Two bombs targeting a nightclub and a liquor store exploded early Wednesday in the Lebanese city of Tyre, one of the few areas of the conservative south where alcohol is available.

Some conservatives enjoy a bit of the sauce.

There were no casualties in the 5:00 am (0300 GMT) blasts but they caused severe damage to property, a security official told AFP.

The army cordoned off the area and launched an investigation.

One of the bombs targeted the Elissa Queen Hotel on the seafront of the scenic Mediterranean coastal town. The hotel and nearby buildings were immediately evacuated.

The hotel nightclub is a favourite with UN peacekeepers deployed in south Lebanon, an AFP correspondent in the town said.

The second bomb struck a shop selling alcohol in the Christian quarters of Tyre, a multi-confessional city especially popular with tourists during the summer season.

A string of liquor stores in south Lebanon were forced to close this year in the face of a campaign to rid the south of alcohol.

Alcohol is widely available in multi-confessional Lebanon, which is considered the most liberal country in the Arab world.

It is banned, however, in areas under the control of Shiite militant group Hezbollah and radical Sunni movements.

The tribunal indicted four Hizballah members for Hariri's death, and said they may be linked to other assassinations. This development is another indication that the parasitic pseudostate of Hizballah continues to succeed in devouring its host. "US warns Lebanon over Hariri court funding," from Agence France-Presse, November 5:

A top US official on Saturday warned that ties with Lebanon would suffer if Beirut fails to pay its share of funding to a UN-backed court probing ex-premier Rafiq Hariri's murder.

"If Lebanon is unable to produce its share of the funding for the Special Tribunal, we're going to have to take some pretty tough decisions, and I think you're going to see some consequences in terms of the US-Lebanese bilateral relationship," Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said in an interview with Al-Arabiya television in Washington.

"I’d expect the same thing in terms of some other countries as well."

Lebanon is responsible for meeting 49 percent of the costs of the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), which has charged four Hezbollah members in the 2005 assassination of billionaire ex-premier Hariri.

But the Hezbollah-dominated government has yet to pay its share, estimated at $35 million (25.2 million euros) for 2011, as international pressure mounts on Prime Minister Najib Mikati to uphold his commitment to the STL.

"Mr Mikati has said publicly ... that he is committed to meeting Lebanon’s obligations to the international community," said Feltman.

"One of those obligations is payment of the Lebanese contributions to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon."

Mikati in recent weeks has received a series of notifications from the court on the overdue funds.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, whose Shiite militant party is blacklisted as a terrorist group by Washington, has openly opposed Lebanon paying its annual share to the Netherlands-based STL.

Nasrallah has dismissed the court as a US-Israeli conspiracy against his Iranian-backed party, warning that no member of Hezbollah would ever be found or arrested.

In January, Hezbollah toppled Lebanon's Western-backed government, led by Hariri's son Saad, in a feud over the STL, ushering in telecommunications tycoon Mikati to replace him.

In 2010, the Hariri government transferred funds to the STL without cabinet approval.

Lebanon is dying, its sovereignty now symbolic. It is the name on the mailbox, but Syria and Iran run the house, via Hizballah. More on this story. "Lebanon denies report it knows location of Hariri killers," from the Jerusalem Post, August 20:

Lebanese state prosecutor Saeed Mirza on Saturday denied reports made by one of the Hezbollah members indicted for the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri that the government in Beirut knows his location but is unable to arrest him, Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star reported.

"The Lebanese authorities know where I live, and if they wanted to arrest me they would have done it a long time ago. Simply, they cannot," said one of the of the accused assassins of the former Lebanese prime minister.

One of the Hezbollah members accused accused of killing Hariri gave an exclusive interview to Time Magazine on Thursday in which he blamed Israel for the assassination, which took place in Beirut on February 15, 2005. He said that he would never turn himself in, nor would Hezbollah ever let him or his comrades go to trial.

In the interview, the militant, who refused to allow his name to be published despite proving his identity to the Time Magazine reporter, accused the Mossad of assassinating Hariri and forging evidence against him and his organization. He also said that the UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) had no teeth and that even though the Lebanese government knew where he lived and worked they would not be able to arrest him because Hezbollah would not let them.

The STL released a detailed indictment on August 17 in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. Four suspects, Mustafa Amine Badreddine, a senior Hezbollah figure and brother-in-law of slain Hezbollah commander Imad Moughniyeh, Salim Jamil Ayyash, Hussein Hassan Oneissi and Assad Hassan Sabra were named and their methods of operation were detailed in the report....

The tribunal now also says three other assassinations may be connected.

Putting on full display the puppet state they have become, in the hands of Hizballah and its Syrian and Iranian backers. "Lebanon prevents UN condemnation of terror attack," by Yitzhak Benhorin for YNet News, August 20:

WASHINGTON – Murder of Israelis permitted? Lebanon, which is currently a member of the United Nations Security Council, prevented early Saturday a condemnation of the recent terror offensive in southern Israel.

Israel’s UN Ambassador Ron Prosor expressed his disappointment with Beirut’s move, noting that Lebanon is itself “a state controlled by a terrorist organization.”

The UN envoy said that the latest fiasco proved that the UN has become “blind and deaf” when it comes to condemning terror attacks against Israeli citizens.

"Deaf, dumb, and blind," if you will.

“The Security Council’s silence is deafening,” Prosor said.

Lebanon demands 'balance'

A draft proposal for a presidential statement was distributed to the Security Council’s 15 members Thursday. The United States, Europe and India vigorously supported a harsh UN denunciation of the murderous attack in Israel, yet the Arab representative in the Council, Lebanon, announced Friday that it will endorse such censure only if it is “balanced” with a condemnation of Israel’s retaliatory strikes in the Gaza Strip.

Europe, the US and Israel rejected the Lebanese equation, in essence burying the condemnation and demonstrating yet again that the UN is unable to address some of the most vital issues on its agenda.

Referring to the UN failure to condemn the terror offensive, Ambassador Prosor said that “we are dealing with a blatantly clear terror attack against innocent Israeli civilians.”

“The UN secretary general condemned it, the Americans condemned it, the European Union condemned it, yet the bottom line is that the Security Council again failed as a body,” he said. “Every time an issue pertains to Israel, we see deafening silence. They become blind and deaf.”

And you knew this was coming:

'Israel commits war crimes'

While the UN refrained from condemning Thursday’s string of terror attacks in Israel, which left eight people dead, Palestinian spokesmen were quick to issue scathing condemnations of Israel’s retaliatory operations in the Gaza Strip.

On Friday, Senior Fatah official Nabil Shaath accused Israel of committing war crimes in the Strip and seeking to escalate regional tensions....

Who fired the first shot on Thursday, Ernie and Bert?

One of the judges ordered Lebanon to hand over information about the other attacks. With the current Lebanese government dominated by Hizballah, good luck with that. An update on this story. "Lebanon tribunal orders probe of 3 more attacks," from the Jerusalem Post, August 19:

AMSTERDAM - The UN-backed Lebanon tribunal said on Friday it pursue investigations into three bomb attacks which it believes are connected to a separate bombing which killed Lebanese politician Rafik al-Hariri in 2005.

Daniel Fransen, the pre-trial judge for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), ordered the Lebanese authorities to hand over information about the attacks and assassination attempts on three other politicians -- Marwan Hamadeh, George Hawi, and Elias al-Murr.

Hamadeh is a former telecoms minister who survived an assassination attempt in 2004 while al-Murr, a former deputy prime minister and former defence minister, was wounded in a bombing in 2005.

Hawi, a former Communist Party chief and critic of Syria, was killed by a bomb in his car in Beirut in 2005.

"The (STL) prosecutor had presented prima facie evidence that each of the three cases are connected (to the Hariri killing), and are thus within the tribunal's jurisdiction," the court said in a statement.

The tribunal issued sealed arrest warrants for four members of the Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah in June over the assassination of Hariri, a billionaire Sunni Muslim politician and one time prime minister.

However, none of the four has been detained by Lebanese authorities and Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and Syria, says they will never be arrested.

The developments in this case from the U.N. increasingly have an air of "Hi, we're with the United Nations. Remember when we indicted these people for homicide? Anybody?"

Hizballah's parasitic pseudo-state has succeeded for the moment in partially devouring its host. In a Hizballah-dominated government, the political will to challenge a band of thugs who staged "coup drills" when they felt threatened over the pending indictments has been hard to come by. Both Lebanon and the U.N. have passed up chances to challenge Hizballah (or hold it to existing resolutions) before the group became better armed than the Lebanese Army, and entrenched in the Lebanese government. Doing so is certainly not going to get any easier anytime soon.

An update on this story. "Hariri tribunal publishes indictment to try Hezbollah members," by Jan Hennop for Middle East Online, August 17 (thanks to Twostellas):

The UN-backed court probing the 2005 murder of Lebanon's former prime minister Rafiq Hariri said Wednesday it had enough evidence to try four Hezbollah members, as it published the full indictment.

"The pre-trial judge has ordered that his decision confirming the indictment related to the 14 February 2005 attack, as well as the indictment itself, be made public," the Special Tribunal for Lebanon said.

The judge found "the prosecution has presented sufficient evidence on a prima facie basis to proceed to trial," the Hague-based tribunal added in a statement, welcomed by the court's chief prosecutor Daniel A. Bellemare.

Judge Daniel Fransen last month ordered confidentiality around the names and charges against Salim Ayyash, 47, Mustafa Badreddine, 50, Hussein Anaissi, 37 and Assad Sabra, 34, be partially dropped.

Ayyash and Badreddine face charges of "committing a terrorist act by means of an explosive device" and homicide, while Anaissi and Sabra faced charges of conspiring to commit the same acts in the massive bomb blast that killed Hariri and 22 others.

Tribunal prosecutor Bellemare welcomed the tribunal's order to unseal the indictment, saying he will push ahead with preparations for the trial.

"This order will finally inform the public and the victims about the facts alleged in the indictment regarding the commission of the crime that led to charging the four accused," Bellemare said in a separate statement.

More than 20,000 pages of evidence were filed with the indictment which Bellemare's office claimed "corroborates the following factual allegations and charges included in the indictment."

The prosecutor accused Badreddine of "being the overall controller of the attack," said a summary of the indictment.

"Ayyash coordinated the assassination team that was responsible for the physical perpetration of the attack," the summary added.

"Anaissi and Sabra, in addition to being conspirators, prepared and delivered a false claim of responsibility video, which sought to blame the wrong people," it said.

Most recently, Hizballah blames Israel, naturally.

It claimed an assassination team "consisting of Ayyash and others positioned themselves in several locations where they were able to track and observe Hariri's convoy," on February 14, 2005.

It also gives a timeline of Hariri's movements up until 12:55 local time, when a "male suicide bomber detonated a large quantity of explosives concealed in the cargo area of a... van, killing Hariri and 21 other victims and injuring 231."

Apart from Ayyash's role, the prosecution alleged Anaissi and Sabra called two international news agencies shortly after the attack and told them they could find a video tape placed in a Beirut square, with the false information.

The tribunal itself stressed the prosecution's findings "does not imply that the individuals are guilty, but merely establishes that there is enough material for them to be tried."

"The prosecution will have to prove at trial that the accused are guilty 'beyond reasonable doubt," the tribunal said.

Fatah al-Islam was the group that engaged in a protracted battle with the Lebanese army while holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp. For all the trouble required to stop them, one would think they would be subject to higher security.

One would think. "Prisoners use bedsheets to escape Lebanese jail," from Reuters, August 13:

Five prisoners escaped from Lebanon's biggest jail on Saturday, using bedsheets to climb down a wall and then mingling with prison visitors before getting away, police said.

Security sources said four of them were believed to belong to the Fatah al-Islam group which fought fierce battles with the Lebanese army in a Palestinian refugee camp in 2007.

The Internal Security Forces said in a statement the five men, from Mauritania, Kuwait, Syria and Lebanon, escaped from Roumieh prison complex east of Beirut shortly before midday on Saturday. A sixth prisoner was caught as he tried to flee with them.

Four months ago two Roumieh inmates died in a riot by prisoners protesting against overcrowding. The jail was built to hold 1,500 inmates but is now crammed with over 3,000 prisoners.

Vintage Hizballah on display in two areas: challenging state power with near impunity, and positioning military assets in civilian areas to take as many unwitting human shields with them as possible if they are ever challenged. "'Hezbollah preventing police from probing Beirut blast'," from the Jerusalem Post, July 30 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

Hezbollah security forces prevented Lebanese police from investigating the scene of an explosion Friday overnight which rocked Hezbollah's headquarters in a south Beirut suburb, DPA reported Saturday.

The blast, which took place inside an apartment on the tenth floor of a building in the the Roueiss neighborhood, killed at least one person and injured another, DPA said.

Immediately after the explosion, the area was blocked off by Hezbollah security forces who. [sic] A Lebanese security source told DPA that Hezbollah forces fired into the air to disperse curious crowds who gathered at the site.

The circumstances behind the blast were unclear, but DPA cited some Lebanese newspapers as saying that a small bomb or hand grenade could have been the cause of the blast.

Lebanese website Lebanon Files also reported that Samir Kuntar, a terrorist previously jailed in Israel, was injured in the explosion. The report could not be confirmed, however it is believed that several Hezbollah members live in the Roueiss neighborhood.

Interpol has already issued a "red notice" for their arrests. Now that the four Hizballah men have been officially named, Lebanon has until August 11 to inform the U.N. tribunal of the action they will take. In a Hizballah-dominated government, the scope of possible responses is considerable.

They may well attempt to buy time indefinitely by asking to carry out their own "investigation." "Lebanon: UN names Hezbollah men in Rafik Hariri case," from BBC News, July 29:

A UN-backed tribunal has released the names of the four indicted suspects in the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

They are all connected with the Lebanese Shia movement, Hezbollah.

The wanted men are Mustafa Amine Badreddine, a senior Hezbollah figure, Salim Jamil Ayyash, Hussein Hassan Oneissi and Assad Hassan Sabra.

Hezbollah is a key part of the Lebanese government and has said it will not allow the men to be arrested.

Their identities had already been leaked, as had their association with Hezbollah.

The tribunal said it was releasing the information in order to facilitate the arrest of the men.

Pre-trial judge Daniel Fransen ordered the lifting of confidentiality on the names, aliases, biographical information, photographs and charges against the individuals named in the indictment, the tribunal said in a statement.

Following the issue of the arrest warrants, the Lebanese authorities have until 11 August to inform the tribunal of the action they will take in response....

The Shi'ites occupying the site claim it was previously the site of a mosque. If they get their way, the chapel will thus most likely become a trophy-mosque, like so many other churches, including the Hagia Sophia and the former Church of St. John the Baptist in Damascus. "In Lebanon, Shiites take possession of a chapel of the Virgin," by Fady Noun for Asia News, July 28:

Beirut (AsiaNews) – For over two week the Maronite Church has been involved in strenuous efforts to reclaim large areas of land which has been taken over by part of the Shiite population of Lassa, a village in the district of Jbeil Mount Lebanon. The affair erupted when official land surveyors tried survey land on which stands a chapel dedicated to Our Lady. Since 2011 the building has been used, against the advice of the Church as a place of worship for women. In spite of all the past efforts to regulate this sensitive and highly symbolic issue the chapel key was never returned to the Church. For several days the population has prevented the team, with the threat of arms, from carrying out the survey.

Their behavior only sends the message that they know the facts are not on their side.

The conflict has ancient roots, some details date as far back as the nineteenth century. So the Shiites population [sic] claims that the Maronite chapel was already a Shiite place of worship. The Maronite Patriarchate, for its part argues that the plot of land was purchased by the Maronite Church in the nineteenth century, as supported by documents such as title deeds and cadastral surveys dating to 1939. These are the facts that the Church seeks to confirm today, once and for all, with the help of the Lebanese state.

The use of threats by the Shiite population of Lassa has awakened feelings of confessional hostility in Maronite environments. Nurtured by certain personalities this anger has begun to manifest itself. To avoid exacerbating these feelings the patriarchate of Bkerke called a meeting involving all parties concerned, including representatives of Hezbollah and the Amal Shiite movement. The patriarch chaired the meeting, which was also attended by representatives of the police and army. Closing the meeting, and confirming his original direction, the Patriarchate has appointed a commission to resolve the legal problem, expressing the desire to confine the issue to a strictly legal framework and avoid any political and confessional drift.

Legal documents show that the land belongs to the Maronite Church in the village where a Shiite majority and a Maronite minority coexist in about 3.6 million square meters, divided into 95 plots. The plots were registered in 1939. Over 80 cases of trespassing on land belonging to the Maronite Church have been registered, in the form of illegal construction or unauthorised agricultural use. Most buildings were built at the beginning of this century, thanks to the mayor's illegal authorization of the village and with the passive complicity of the local police, responsible for repressing violations of construction law.

Moreover, not content with occupying the Church land illegally, the Shiite population prevents the development of Christian farmers on their own uncontested agricultural land. To the point that one of them was beaten and kicked off the land that he had rented. The lawyers of the Patriarchate, who are in direct contact with a Hezbollah official, Ghaleb Abu Zeinab, ensure that this party does not give political cover to the families illegally occupying the property of the Maronite Church, and that an attitude of firmness is required by all so that justice is done....

What remains to be seen is whether there is any political will to hold the four accountable in Lebanon, which is now under a Hizballah-dominated government. Left unchallenged for far too long, Hizballah's parallel state has become a sort of suicide vest wrapped around Lebanon, and an instrument of blackmail whereby Hizballah can threaten to blow the country apart. An update on this story. "'Interpol issues 'red notice' for Hariri suspects'," from the Jerusalem Post, July 9:

Interpol issued "red notices" for the four suspects named by the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005, Lebanon's Daily Star reported on Saturday.

The notices, which are not international arrest warrants, are a request that the wanted person be arrested with a view to extradition. The four Lebanese men who were named in an STL indictment last week are wanted for trial in the Netherlands, where the STL sits.

The UN-backed tribunal handed indictments and arrest warrants to Lebanon just over a week ago, that officials said accused Hezbollah members of involvement in the assassination of Hariri.

The long-awaited move was hailed as a "historic moment" by Rafik Hariri's son, Sa'ad, but poses an immediate challenge to the new government of Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, whose cabinet is dominated by Hezbollah allies.

Prosecutor Saeed Mirza gave no details of the indictments. Lebanese officials said four warrants were issued for Hezbollah members including senior leader Mustafa Badreddine, who was jailed in Kuwait in 1983 over a series of bombings and is a brother-in-law of slain Hezbollah commander Imad Moughniyeh....

Unfortunately, for as long as Hizballah's country-within-a-country with its own standing army has gone unchallenged in Lebanon and allowed to become ever more entrenched in society and government, there may indeed not be the political will in Lebanon to hold the group accountable.

An update on this story. "Hezbollah leader rejects Hariri court indictments," by Dominic Evans for Reuters, July 2 (thanks to all who sent this in):

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Saturday that authorities would never arrest members of the Shi'ite militant group indicted by a U.N.-backed tribunal seeking the killers of statesman Rafik al-Hariri.

In his first comments since the indictments were handed to the state prosecutor on Thursday, Nasrallah dismissed the accusations as unfounded and a failed attempt to sow strife and bring down Lebanon's new Hezbollah-backed government.

He cares about not bringing down this government, unlike the one Hizballah toppled in February to create a diversion from the Hariri case. At that time, Hizballah even staged "coup drills" aimed at intimidating any potential challengers.

The tribunal has not named the suspects but Lebanese officials said they included Mustafa Badreddine, a senior member of the movement and brother-in-law of slain Hezbollah commander Imad Moughniyeh, and three other members of the group.

"They cannot find them or arrest them in 30 days or 60 days, or in a year, two years, 30 years or 300 years," Nasrallah said. Under the court proceedings, Lebanese officials have 30 days to make arrests after receiving indictments.

And Hizballah maintains Israel did it anyway.

Hezbollah, both a Shi'ite Muslim political movement and guerrilla army, denies any role in the huge explosion on the Beirut seafront which killed Hariri, a Sunni Muslim who served several terms as prime minister, and 22 others in February 2005....

Hizballah knew this was coming, and knew it would be damaging. They have been maneuvering all along to shield themselves, trying to create a diversion by triggering the collapse of the Lebanese government in February. Now entrenched in the new government dominated by the group and its allies, they can resort to a wide array of diversions and provocations to attempt again to avoid being held accountable.

"Lebanon receives Hariri killing indictments," by Miriam Karouny for Reuters, June 30:

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A U.N.-backed tribunal seeking the killers of statesman Rafik al-Hariri handed indictments and arrest warrants to Lebanon on Thursday that officials said accused members of the militant Hezbollah group of involvement.

The long-awaited move was hailed as a "historic moment" by Hariri's son, opposition leader Saad al-Hariri, but poses an immediate challenge to the new government of Najib Mikati whose cabinet is dominated by Hezbollah allies.

Prosecutor Saeed Mirza gave no details of the indictments. Lebanese officials said four warrants were issued for Hezbollah members including senior leader Mustafa Badreddine, who was jailed in Kuwait over a series of bombings in 1983 and is a brother-in-law of slain Hezbollah commander Imad Moughniyeh.

The assassination on February 14, 2005 plunged Lebanon into a series of political crises, killings and bombings which led to sectarian clashes in May 2008, dragging the country back to the brink of civil war.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on nations to support the tribunal, a hybrid international and Lebanese court established under Chapter Seven of the U.N. charter, granting the U.N. wide powers to address violations.

But a Hezbollah television station said the indictments showed that the tribunal was politicized.

Analysts said Mikati, whose government has yet to win a confidence vote in parliament, now faces irreconcilable demands from Hariri's domestic and international allies -- who want Lebanon to comply with the court -- and the majority of his cabinet who reject any cooperation with it.

Lebanese analyst Oussama Safa said that refusal to comply would lead to Lebanon's isolation. "Now the government of Mikati has to decide what it is going to do. If it does not cooperate it risks putting Lebanon in trouble," he said.

The United States welcomed the delivery of the indictments, saying it marked "an important step toward justice and ending impunity for political assassinations in Lebanon."

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Lebanon's government should now hand them over to the special prosecutor.

"We're looking for it to take action," he said.

The other three suspects were named by Lebanese officials as Salim Jamil Ayyash, Hassan Issa and Assad Sabra. It was not clear how many belonged to Hezbollah or what positions they held.

Hezbollah, both a Shi'ite Muslim political movement and guerrilla army, denies any role in the huge explosion on the Beirut seafront which killed Hariri and 22 others.

There have been fears in Lebanon that indictments of Hezbollah members over the assassination of the prominent Sunni Muslim leader, who was prime minister for several terms between 1992 and 2004, could raise sectarian tensions between factions still struggling with the legacy of its 1975-90 civil war.

Mikati urged Lebanese to be "reasonable and far-sighted" to ensure that "those who want to target the country and push us toward strife miss their chance."

Hezbollah has vowed to thwart attempts to detain any of its members and -- as the country's pre-eminent military force --could easily prevent security forces making any arrests even if the government approved them. It wants Lebanon to end cooperation with the tribunal, withdraw Lebanese judges and halt contributions to its funding....

"Good women are obedient....As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them and send them to beds apart and beat them." -- Qur'an 4:34

"If a husband calls his wife to his bed [i.e. to have sexual relation] and she refuses and causes him to sleep in anger, the angels will curse her till morning." -- Sahih Bukhari 4.54.460

"By him in Whose Hand lies my life, a woman can not carry out the right of her Lord, till she carries out the right of her husband. And if he asks her to surrender herself [to him for sexual intercourse] she should not refuse him even if she is on a camel's saddle." -- Ibn Majah 1854

Can we get a condemnation of the Dar al-Fatwa from any Islamic spokesman in the West? Honest Ibe Hooper? Boy Reza Aslan? Feisal "Man of Peace" Rauf? Anyone? Anyone? "Lebanon Sunni clergy reject domestic abuse law," from AFP, June 24 (thanks to all who sent this in):

BEIRUT — Lebanon's highest Sunni Muslim authority on Friday rejected a bill aimed at protecting women against domestic violence and marital rape, saying it would lead to the demise "of the family as in the West."

"Islam is very aware of and concerned with... resolving problems of poor treatment... but this should not happen by cloning Western laws that encourage the breakdown of the family and do not suit our society," said the influential Dar al-Fatwa in a statement on its website.

Dar al-Fatwa also slammed as "heresy" a clause in the bill that criminalises marital rape, accusing those behind the draft law of "inventing new types of crimes."

"This will have a negative impact on Muslim children... who will see their mother threatening their father with prison, in defiance of patriarchal authority, which will in turn undermine the moral authority" of fathers, it said.

"We must continue to follow sharia (Islamic law) as concerns the Muslim family," it added.

Since Hizballah is a proxy for Iran's jihad against Israel, any talk along these lines recalls the takeover of the embassy in Tehran. Hizballah would like that. They'd like that a whole lot. And for any potential future conflict, Hizballah has publicly marked the embassy as a target. "Hezbollah: US Embassy in Lebanon spies for Israel," from the Associated Press, June 24:

BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of Lebanon's Shiite militant group Hezbollah has accused the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon of spying for Israel.

Sheik Hassan Nasrallah spoke Friday in a televised speech. He said his group has information that the U.S. Embassy is "a spy and recruitment center for Israel."

He says the group has discovered several cases in which the CIA recruited Lebanese agents to gather information about Hezbollah for Israel.

Hezbollah and Israel are sworn enemies.

But only Hizballah exists to destroy its "sworn enemy."

Last year, there was also a measure that attempted to cut aid to Lebanon's army over concerns about collusion with Hizballah. As Hizballah's tentacles lengthen their reach, the response from the Washington must evolve as well to ensure, in Rep. Berman's words, that "no US taxpayer funds benefit the terrorist organization Hezbollah or any party that allies itself with Hezbollah." "US congressman introduces bill to cut off Lebanon aid," from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, June 19 (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

LOS ANGELES - A Jewish congressman has joined with three Lebanese-American colleagues to sponsor a bill to cut off American aid to Lebanon, as long as Hezbollah remains part of the ruling coalition government.

The unusual alliance, cutting across ethnic and political lines, was initiated by Democratic Rep. Howard Berman of Los Angeles and includes Reps. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), Charles Boustany (R-La.) and Nick Rahall (D-W. Va.).

Designated as the Hezbollah Anti-Terrorism Act, or HATA, the bill seeks legislation “to make certain that no US taxpayer funds benefit the terrorist organization Hezbollah or any party that allies itself with Hezbollah,” Berman said in a phone interview Friday from his Washington office.

Berman drafted and introduced HATA a few days after the formation of a new Lebanese government “forged by Hezbollah and led by a Hezbollah-designated prime minister [Najib Mikati],” Berman said.

The California legislator, formerly the chairman and now the ranking democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, termed his alliance with the three Lebanese-American congressmen as “very unusual.”

He attributed the support by his three colleagues to their deep concern over Hezbollah’s threat to freedom and democracy in their ancestral homeland, overriding any differences with Berman on Israeli-Palestinian issues.

Issa commented that “Hezbollah is a terrorist group and a cancer on Lebanon. This bill surgically targets this cancer.”

Currently, Lebanon annually receives $200 million in aid from the United States, of which $105 million goes for security assistance. The new bill specifically provides for continued support for humanitarian, educational and democratic institutions in Lebanon.

Berman said that the White House and State Department “knew generally” about the contents of HATA, before he introduced the bill.

The state-within-a-state continues to devour its host, as Lebanon's transformation into Iran's latest forward operating base continues. The country runs the risk of becoming like that sad little local station in many television markets that used to have a recognizable identity and original programming, but faded into reruns interspersed with a perfunctory station identification.

You're watching Hizballahvision. "Lebanese PM forms cabinet 5 months after taking office," from the Jerusalem Post, June 13 (thanks to WeaselZippers):

BEIRUT - Lebanon's Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced on Monday a long-delayed new government dominated by allies of Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which is likely to cause alarm among Western powers.

Mikati was appointed to form a government after Hezbollah and its allies toppled Western-backed former premier Saad Hariri's coalition in January over a dispute involving the UN-backed tribunal investigating the assassination of statesman Rafik al-Hariri, Saad's father.

The Cabinet's majority is made up of the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition, and Mitaki was quoted as saying by the Lebanese Daily Star that the "government will be a government for all Lebanon and will work for all the Lebanese people without discrimination."

"Let us go to work immediately according to the principles and basis that we have affirmed our commitment to several times, namely ... defending Lebanon's sovereignty and its independence and liberating land that remains under the occupation of the Israeli enemy," Mikati said at the Baabda Presidential Palace.

Political wrangling had held up the formation of the cabinet, including disagreements over sensitive posts.

The new government gave three ministers to President Michel Sleiman, seven to Mikati, and three to Walid Jumblatt's Progressive Socialist Party, with the March 8 coaltion claiming the remaining 18 seats.

Mohammed Safadi, the former economy minister, was named finance minister and will try to improve Lebanon's growth outlook which stands at about 2.5 percent this year, driven down by the political stalemate.

Fayez Ghusn was named defense minister and Marwan Charbel as the interior minister. Nicolas Sehnawi was given the telecommunications portfolio, a post ridden with controversy due to disagreements over privatizing the sector.

Hariri, who is supported by the West and Saudi Arabia, has refused to join Mikati's government.

A main aim of the government will be to agree on a unified stand to face indictments by the tribunal expected to implicate members of Hezbollah in the 2005 killing of Hariri. The group denies any link to the attack....

The trail may lead through Hizballah all the way back to Iran and the Ayatollah Khamenei.

"Most of these weapons are stored in some 100 villages around southern Lebanon."

An update on this story, which also detailed Hizballah's deliberate placement of weapons and military assets near "hospitals, private homes, and schools." "IDF identifies thousands of Hezbollah sites in Lebanon," by Yaakov Katz for the Jerusalem Post, June 10:

The IDF has identified thousands of Hezbollah sites throughout Lebanon, making its “target bank” many times larger than it was in 2006 on the eve of the Second Lebanon War, a senior IDF officer told The Jerusalem Post ahead of the fifth anniversary of the start of the conflict.

According to the officer, the IDF had approximately 200 pre-designated targets on July 12, 2006, when Hezbollah set off the war by abducting reservists Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. Those targets included close to 100 homes and other storage sites where the Islamist group had deployed long-range missiles it received from Iran. The targets were destroyed on the first night of the war.

Today the bank has thousands more sites throughout Lebanon that would constitute legitimate targets in the event of a future war with Hezbollah, the officer told the Post. Earlier this year, the IDF released a map showing 950 locations scattered across the country – a majority of them bunkers and surveillance sites.

According to the officer, Hezbollah is also believed to have passed the 50,000 mark in the number of rockets and missiles it has obtained. Most of these weapons are stored in some 100 villages around southern Lebanon. [...]

UNIFIL’s mandate will be up for extension in August, and the IDF is hoping that by raising awareness of Hezbollah’s growing presence in these villages it might succeed in getting the UN to enforce a tougher mandate.

Currently, peacekeeping troops who want to enter villages need to coordinate their moves with the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), which in many cases warns Hezbollah.

“UNIFIL is doing an effective job in open areas, and for that reason we don’t really see Hezbollah positions there,” the officer said. “Instead, Hezbollah is based inside villages, since UNIFIL cannot go there freely.”...

Ah, life in the suburbs

What a sad story this is: a happy Shi'ite nuclear family enjoying a quiet evening of bombmaking in their modest suburban home, when it all goes tragically, tragically wrong. Premature Detonation Alert from Lebanon: "Two Killed in Explosion in Southern Beirut," from Reuters, April 5 (thanks to Bill):

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Two people were killed when a man accidentally detonated a bomb in his southern Beirut home on Tuesday, a security source said. The source said Ali Jaber, a member of the Shi'ite party Amal, and his wife were killed in the explosion in the southern suburb of the Lebanese capital. Their son was also wounded.

In 2004, U.N. Resolution 1559 demanded the disarmament of all Lebanese militia groups. Hizballah is the only group from Lebanon's civil war that failed to do so, and the world has largely looked the other way from its violation of the U.N. Resolution. It is encouraging to see such public opposition to Hizballah's country within a country, complete with its own army. "Lebanese opposition rallies against Hezbollah," by Catherine Viette and Cyrielle Abehsera Agence France-Presse, March 13:

AFP - Tens of thousands of Lebanese opposition supporters on Sunday demanded Hezbollah be disarmed as they rallied to mark the sixth anniversary of a popular uprising against Syrian troops in the country.

"It is impossible that any of us here accept tutelage over Lebanon again, whether foreign domination or the domination of arms within Lebanon working for foreign interests," said outgoing prime minister Saad Hariri, in reference to the arsenal of the Iranian-backed Shiite militant group.

"It is impossible to accept that these weapons ... continue to be turned against the democratic will of the people," said Western-backed Hariri, son of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri whose 2005 assassination sparked the uprising that led to the departure of the Syrians.

A massive crowd thronged Martyrs' Square in central Beirut, focal point of the protests six years ago, waving the national flag and the banners of pro-Western political parties.

"The people want the fall of arms," the demonstrators chanted amid tight security.

"We are here to say yes to life and no to their arms," said Adnan Antar, 65, who travelled from the northern port city of Tripoli to attend the rally with his family along roads clogged with convoys blaring songs and displaying pictures of Rafiq Hariri.

"There can be no rule of the state in Lebanon as long as there is the rule of arms," he added.

Hariri's assassination in a February 14, 2005 Beirut bombing saw the rise of a US- and Saudi-backed alliance that became known as March 14, named after a day of massive anti-Syrian protests dubbed the "Cedar Revolution."

Combined with international pressure, the protests in the weeks after the killing led to the pullout of Syrian troops from Lebanon in April 2005, ending 29 years of military and political domination by Damascus.

The rally this year comes as Hezbollah's military might is once again the focus of a deadlock between rival Lebanese camps.

"We will not accept that the Lebanese economy continue to be paralysed... nor that our history be distorted," Christian leader Samir Geagea, head of the Lebanese Forces party, said at the rally.

"We say no to the exploitation of Lebanon for the benefit of Iran," Hezbollah's main backer, said Geagea.

Several demonstrators carried banners reading "NO to the dictatorship of arms" and "God has no arms," in reference to Hezbollah, Arabic for "Party of God."

The last slogan may have picked up some extra meaning on being translated into English.

"We will not stand by as witnesses who fear their reaction which could turn violent," said Salim Eid, 46, a supporter of the Christian Lebanese Forces party.

"Let's hope they don't have a violent reaction to this rally here today."

The anniversary comes amid a drawn-out political crisis which saw Hezbollah topple Saad Hariri's unity government in January, capping a long-running feud over a UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

The tribunal -- tasked with investigating the Rafiq Hariri murder -- is reportedly readying to implicate members of Hezbollah in the killing.

An update on this story:

Sunni Muslim billionaire Najib Mikati, appointed with Hezbollah's backing, has been tapped to succeed Saad Hariri and has since January 25 sought to form a government.

The Hariri-led opposition has announced it will bopycott [sic] Mikati's government, which it accuses of being "Hezbollah's cabinet".

Lebanon's opposition has accused Hezbollah, the only party not to have turned in its arms after the 1975-1990 civil war, of having used its arsenal to intimidate MPs into voting against Hariri's re-appointment after his unity cabinet collapsed.

The March 14 camp also accuses Hezbollah of using its arms during the events of May 2008, when a protracted political crisis culminated in a week of street clashes that killed 100 people.

With the Muslim Brotherhood advancing in Egypt and talking already about setting aside the Camp David Accords, and with Barack Obama abandoning the U.S.'s most reliable Middle Eastern ally, Nasrallah no doubt sees his best chance coming soon. "'Prepare to Invade Israel,' Hezbollah Leader Tells Followers," by Bassem Mroue for Associated Press (thanks to Weasel Zippers):

Beirut (AP) - Hezbollah's leader told his Shiite guerrilla group Wednesday to be prepared to invade northern Israel, a day after Israel's defense minister warned that the quiet along the tense border could erupt into violence.

The comments by the two sides illustrate the fragile situation along the frontier since they Israel and Hezbollah fought a bitter, six-week war in the summer of 2006. The war ended in a U.N.-brokered truce but officials on both sides of the border believe it is only a matter of time before hostilities resume.

"I tell the holy warriors of the Islamic Resistance to be ready for a day when, if war is imposed on us, your command might ask you to control the Galilee area," Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech Wednesday. The Galilee refers to land in northern Israel....

There's really only one appropriate soundtrack for this development (Hint: not "Love Train"). An update on this story. "Hezbollah moves toward Lebanon government control," by Zeina Karam for the Associated Press, January 24:

BEIRUT - Iranian-backed Hezbollah moved Monday into position to control the next Lebanese government when the Shiite militant group secured enough support in parliament to nominate the candidate for prime minister.

Protests by Hezbollah's Sunni rivals erupted quickly and they declared a "day of rage" Tuesday against "Persian tutelage" over Lebanon -- a reference to Hezbollah's patrons in Iran. Monday's protests were widespread, but there were no immediate reports of casualties or serious violence.

Nearly two weeks after Hezbollah brought down the unity-government led by Western-backed Sunni Prime Minister Saad Hariri, it lined up the needed backing of at least 65 of 128 parliament members to nominate billionaire Sunni businessman Najib Mikati to form the next government. Voting in parliament on the new candidate began Monday and was to conclude on Tuesday.

Hezbollah's opponents say a government led by the militant group would be disastrous for Lebanon and lead to international isolation. The United States, which considers Hezbollah a terrorist organization, has tried to move Lebanon firmly into a Western sphere.

A Hezbollah-led government would also raise tensions with Lebanon's southern neighbor Israel, which fought a devastating 34-day war against Hezbollah in 2006 that left 1,200 Lebanese and 160 Israelis dead.

By securing an ally at the helm of the government, Hezbollah has capped its steady rise from a resistance force against Israel in the early 1980s to Lebanon's most powerful military and political force today. After the war with Israel, Hezbollah briefly took control of the streets of Beirut in 2008 sectarian clashes that killed 81 people and angered many who accused the group of breaking its promise never to use its arsenal against the Lebanese.

In 2009, the group joined the government with virtual veto power over all its decisions. Hezbollah brought that government down on Jan. 12 after Prime Minister Hariri refused the group's demand to cease cooperation with a U.N.-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of his father, former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The tribunal is widely expected to indict Hezbollah members in the assassination, something that has raised fears of renewed violence in this tiny, volatile Mideast country.

The indictment could also implicate the highest levels of Iranian leadership, including the Ayatollah Khamenei.

Hezbollah chose a candidate for prime minister seen by many Lebanese as a neutral figure more focused on development and business rather than politics -- as opposed to a staunchly pro-Syrian candidate, such as Omar Karami -- even though the group has secured enough power to govern on its own.

Several hundred Hariri supporters protested Monday in the northern city of Tripoli, a predominantly Sunni area and a hotbed of fundamentalists. They chanted slogans against Mikati, a lawmaker from Tripoli.

The protesters waved pictures of Hariri and shouted: "Mikati you are not one of us, leave Tripoli and go away." Some banners read: "The blood of Sunnis is boiling."

In Tripoli, Hariri's Future bloc declared a day of peaceful protests Tuesday -- but called it a "day of rage" and played on the sectarian dimension of the conflict.

The Party of Allah signals its intention to go from a state-within-a-state, which Beirut has failed to resist, to just being the state.

The drills are "a rehearsal for what might happen if Hezbollah is accused of involvement in the bombing that killed Hariri's father and 22 others in 2005," and preliminary indications have been that the indictment could be quite damning, all the way up the chain of command to Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei. "Hezbollah stages coup drills in Beirut as indictments loom, newspapers say" from CNN, January 19:

Militants fanned out across Beirut and reportedly staged coup drills as political unrest continued to percolate in the country, Lebanese and Israeli media outlets reported.

Operatives from Hezbollah and Amal, both Shiite groups, gathered in groups of up to 30 at a dozen strategic points in the Lebanese capital Tuesday, The Jerusalem Post said. Included were sea ports, the airport and entries to the city, the newspaper reported.

Though Ghaleb Abu Zeinab, a member of Hezbollah's political bureau, told The Post he wasn't aware of any such drills, parents pulled their children from school after seeing people dressed in black and carrying hand-held radios.

A mother of three picking up her children in the Hamra area of the capital said the school contacted her "because the security situation is not good," The Daily Star in Beirut reported.

One gathering was about 400 yards from the Grand Serall, downtown Beirut's government seat, forcing security officials to close the roads to the building, The Post said. The men were unarmed and no trouble was reported, according to various media.

Sources told The Daily Star that the men appeared well-organized and were seen in west Beirut, downtown and in the southern suburb of Hadath.

The drill came as Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan sat down for talks with Lebanese politicians, including Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, aimed at heading off sectarian strife in the country, The Daily Star reported.

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is also involved in the talks, and he met with Lebanese Army Gen. Jean Kahwaji to discuss a potential role for the Syrian army in achieving security and stability in Lebanon, the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency said.

An earlier joint mediation effort by Syria and Saudi Arabia fell apart this week, and Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal told al-Arabiya that his nation abandoned its efforts because the situation was dangerous.

"If the situation reaches full separation and (regional) partition, this means the end of Lebanon as a state that has this model of peaceful cohabitation between religions and ethnicities," al-Faisal told the station.

A coalition led by caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri viewed the drills as a rehearsal for what might happen if Hezbollah is accused of involvement in the bombing that killed Hariri's father and 22 others in 2005, according to The Daily Star.

Look for a reasoned, mature, statesman-like response of hurling conspiratorial allegations about Zionists and the Great Satan, and making threats directly or through proxies like Hizballah, which already attempted to retaliate preemptively and create a diversion by causing the collapse of Lebanon's government.

We might also see the end of whatever remaining, token cooperation Iran has maintained with the U.N. over its nuclear program. They will find a way to do less. "'UN tribunal to link Iran's Khamenei to Hariri murder'," from the Jerusalem Post, January 15 (thanks to G&C):

A UN tribunal investigating the assassination of Lebanese former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri is expected to accuse Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei of giving the order to murder Hariri, according to a Saturday report by news website Newsmax.

The report suggested that the investigative body will lay out evidence showing that the murder was committed by Iran's Quds force and their allies, Hizbullah in Lebanon.

The order to murder Hariri was transmitted to Hizbullah's military leader, Imad Mughniyeh, by Quds force chief Qassem Suleymani, sources told Newsmax.

According to the report, Mughniyeh put together the hit team that carried out the attack, with the help of his brother-in-law.

"The Iranians considered Hariri to be an agent of Saudi Arabia, and felt that killing him would pave the way for a Hizbullah takeover of Lebanon," the sources told Newsmax.

Lebanon has not done much there to help itself, allowing Hizballah to flourish as a state-within-a-state -- sort of a "Hizballebanon."

Iran was not the only country involved in the assassination plot, according to the sources that spoke to Newsmax. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and his brother-in-law, Assef Shawkat, the head of Syrian intelligence, also played key roles in the plan to murder Hariri, a source was reported as saying.

The UN tribunal intended to submit a draft indictment later in the day Saturday, according to report by Lebanese daily An Nahar.

According to the An Nahar report, the tribunal is set to hand in a draft indictment to Pre-Trial Judge Daniel Fransen in the afternoon on Saturday.

We are hearing this so often, it is clearly a line that some group has settled upon and sold to the rest. "Lebanese Political Party: 'The Alexandria Bombing Was an American-Zionist Production,'" from Translating Jihad, January 4:

[...] (Link to original Arabic.)

Lebanese Popular Congress: The Alexandria Bombing Was an American-Zionist Production

alintiqad.com, 3 Jan 2011

The Lebanese Popular Congress opined that "the wicked terrorist bombing which targeted Christian worshipers in the Churches of Saints George and Peter in Alexandria coincides with the suffering of Christians in Iraq and Palestine from crimes and displacement under the American and Zionist occupations, which share the same goal: to bring about Islamic-Christian and Islamic-Islamic sectarian fighting. This furthers a plot to divide the Arab world into rival sectarian and ethnic countries, to strike at Pan-Arab unity on one hand, and also to justify the Jewishness of the Zionist entity, and make it the only power in all the region."

According to a report issued by the Congress, it stated that "What happened in Egypt, and what is happening in Iraq, Yemen, Sudan, and Lebanon, and what will happen in other Arab-Islamic countries, is all occurring within the framework of this hellish plot, whose components were carefully crafted in the Zionist-American Greater Middle East project. No one imagines that the success of the colonialists in stripping southern Sudan from the north, or in sowing Sunni-Shi'a fitna in Lebanon, or in dividing Iraq and Yemen, will result in (anything) good for the Arab inhabitants of the region, whether Muslim or Christian. [...]

And again -- more antisemitic conspiracy mongering, denial and obfuscation. "Former Lebanese Minister: 'The Alexandria Church Bombing Was a Zionist-Western Attempt to Target the National Fabric of Egypt,'" from Translating Jihad, January 3:

[...] These comments come from former Lebanese defense minister 'Abd-al-Rahim Murad, and appear to be following a pattern for him, as he also previously blamed the Jews for the 9/11 bombings. (See original Arabic here.)

Murad: The Alexandria Church Bombing Was a Zionist-Western Attempt to Target the National Fabric of Egypt

alintiqad.com, 2 Jan 2010

The president of the Unity Party, former minister 'Abd-al-Rahim Murad, condemned the attack on the Coptic Church in Alexandria, stressing that it is "clear evidence of Zionist-Western attempts to target the national fabric of Egypt, and the unity of the sons of this ancient Arab country, which has long enriched us with its national solidarity, and its ability to overcome foreign attempts to sow sedition and division."...

And if Israel had targeted those ambulances, you can just imagine the international outcry. "US memos: Iran armed Hezbollah through ambulances," from AP, November 29 (thanks to JCB):

BEIRUT - Iranian Red Crescent ambulances were used to smuggle weapons to Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group during its 2006 war with Israel, according to newly leaked U.S. diplomatic memos.

The memos say the "IRC shipments of medical supplies served also to facilitate weapons shipments."...

The balance of power has changed in this age of Obama, and Saad Hariri knows it. And so he is in Tehran currying favor with the new masters. "Lebanese PM seeks support in Iran visit," by Ali Akbar Dareini for Associated Press, November 27 (thanks to JCB):

TEHRAN, Iran - Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri expressed concerns for stability in the Middle East as he began a visit to Tehran Saturday to rally Iran's support for his efforts to keep Lebanon stable amid tensions over a U.N. probe into the assassination of his father, Rafik Hariri.

The visit follows President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's October tour of Lebanon, during which the Iranian leader reinforced Tehran's ties to the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group, a longtime protege of the Shiite powerhouse.

The exuberant welcome the Shiite Hezbollah staged for Ahmadinejad in Lebanon threw Hariri's Western-backed factions in the government on the defensive.

After touchdown in Tehran, Hariri was greeted by Iran's Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi and reviewed an honor guard before heading in to meetings....

Iran, whose ties to Hezbollah date back nearly 30 years, allegedly funds the militant group to the tune of millions of dollars a year and is suspected of supplying much of its arsenal.

In remarks in English, released by his office ahead of the Iran visit, Hariri underlined concerns for stability.

"Impairing the stability of any country of the region is a threat to the interests of Arabs and Iran at the same time," Hariri said. "Therefore, I consider that Iran is concerned by all effort to provide elements of stability in all countries of the region, including Lebanon."

Hariri is expected to meet Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Ahmadinejad during the two-day visit, as well as other top Iranian officials, Iranian state television reported....

Allah willed otherwise! An update on this story. "Radical Preacher Bakri Mohammad Arrested," by Huw Borland for Sky News Online, November 14 (thanks to Steven):

Lebanese police have arrested radical Islamic preacher Omar Bakri Mohammad days after he boasted he would "not spend one day" of a life sentence behind bars.

A security official said Lebanese intelligence agents seized the cleric near his home in the northern city of Tripoli....

Sky's home affairs correspondent Mark White said Mohammad was stopped by intelligence agents who had been following a vehicle he was travelling in.

White said: "Omar Bakri Mohammad was pulled from the car at gunpoint. It was members of the Lebanese internal scurity forces who arrested him."

Mohammad, who lived in Britain for 20 years, is a fundamentalist Sunni Muslim.

He has praised the September 11 attacks on America in 2001 and hailed the terrorists as the "magnificent 19"....

Another chapter in the unending jihad looms. "Hizbullah: We are ready for another war with Israel," from Jerusalem Post, November 11 (thanks to Elvis):

Nasrallah says group will "cut the hand" of anyone who tries to arrest any member of the party in connection with Hariri assassination. Hizbullah is ready for another war with Israel, said the group's leader Hassan Nasrallah in a televised speech on Thursday evening.

Referring to what he termed Israel's habit of becoming involved where it is not welcome, he emphasized that his Lebanese terrorist group is not at all afraid of future conflicts.

With progress in the UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), charged with investigating the 2005 Rafik Hariri assassination, and the Hizbullah indictments expected, Nasrallah also said that Hizbullah will "cut the hand" of anyone who tries to arrest any member of the party.

"Those who imagine that we will allow the arrest or detention of any of our fighters are mistaken," he told thousands of supporters in south Beirut through video link. "We will cut the hand that reaches out for any one of them."...

Of course, so is he.

As expected: "Ahmadinejad, near Israel border, says 'Zionists mortal,'" from by Yara Bayoumy for Reuters, October 14 (thanks to Block Ness):

BINT JBEIL, Lebanon (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaking on Thursday close to Israel's northern border, praised what he called Lebanon's resistance against Israel and declared that "Zionists are mortal."

Addressing thousands of cheering Hezbollah supporters in Bint Jbeil, scene of fierce fighting between the militant Iranian-backed group and Israeli soldiers in 2006, Ahmadinejad said the town was a symbol of resistance to Israel.

"The world should know the Zionists are mortal ... today the Lebanese nation is alive and is a role model for the regional nations," the Iranian president said.

Ahmadinejad, who has called for the Israeli state to be wiped from the map, told Lebanon's government on Wednesday that Iran would support it in confronting what he said was Israeli hostility.

Bint Jbeil is just 4 km (2.5 miles) from the border and Israel's Channel 2 Television said echoes of Ahmadinejad's welcome ceremony were audible on the Israeli side minutes before he arrived.

The town was heavily bombed in the 34-day conflict four years ago and most of the houses around the stadium where Ahmadinejad spoke had been rebuilt since then.

"I announce that Bint Jbeil is alive and is standing. The world should know that Bint Jbeil is proud and will stand against the enemies till the end," Ahmadinejad said.

"They (the enemies) have no way but surrender to the nations and go back to their first homes ... Palestine will ... be freed."...

Iranian flags and posters lined the main roads leading to Bint Jbeil and at the entrance to the town a giant banner read "welcome" in Farsi and Arabic.

Signs on billboards and banners said: "The south welcomes the protector of the resistance."

The commander visits his troops. "Ahmadinejad boosts Hezbollah with Lebanon visit," by Elizabeth A. Kennedy and Bassem Mroue for Associated Press, October 13 (thanks to Maxwell):

BEIRUT - Welcomed by thousands of Shiite supporters throwing rose petals, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sought to pull Lebanon firmly into his country's fold Wednesday in a visit that underscored the growing power of Tehran and its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah.

Ahmadinejad's trip is a bold demonstration by Iran that it is undeterred by U.S. attempts to isolate it and roll back the clout Tehran has built up around the Middle East through its alliances with militant groups like Hezbollah and its accelerating nuclear program.

It also underlines the eroding position of the West's allies in the country. While he was greeted with joy by many Shiites, Ahmadinejad's dramatic arrival only exacerbates fears among many Lebanese that Iran and Hezbollah are seeking to impose their will on the country and possibly pull Lebanon into a conflict with Israel.

Standing alongside Lebanese President Michel Suleiman at a press conference, the Iranian leader sought to depict his country as an ally of the entire nation -- not just the Shiite Hezbollah movement.

"We seek a unified, modern Lebanon, and we will stand with the people and government of Lebanon -- and with all elements in the Lebanese nation -- until they achieve all their goals," Ahmadinejad said, adding that both countries oppose Israeli aggression.

"We completely support the Lebanese people's fight against the Zionist enemy," he said.

The U.S., Israel and Western-leaning Lebanese expressed concern over Ahmadinejad's two-day visit, saying support for Hezbollah militants undermines Lebanese sovereignty. "We reject any efforts to destabilize or inflame tensions within Lebanon," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said. "We would hope that no visitor would do anything or say anything that would give cause to greater tension or instability in that country."

Allies of the Western-backed, mainly Sunni parties that hold a slim majority in parliament were showing their worries over Ahmadinejad's presence.

A group of 250 politicians, lawyers and activists wrote an open letter to Ahmadinejad, criticizing his support of Hezbollah.

"Your talk of 'changing the face of the region starting with Lebanon' and 'wiping Israel off the map through the force of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon' ... makes it seem like your visit is that of a high commander to his front line," the letter said....

Yep.

Human shields, and war crimes waiting to happen on Hizballah's part. And nothing will be done to stop them. There is certainly no political will in Lebanon or at the U.N. to do so, just as prior calls for Hizballah to disarm have not been worth the paper they're printed on.

No, if and when hostilities resume (and Hizballah isn't amassing all these arms to sit and look at them), this report will be long forgotten, and almost everyone will blame Israel. "US envoy Oren warns: Hizbullah has 15,000 rockets on border," from the Jerusalem Post, September 3:

Hizbullah has an arsenal of approximately 15,000 rockets amassed on Lebanon's border with Israel, including some with a long enough range to hit the southern city of Eilat, US envoy Michael Oren told AFP on Friday.

"The Syrian-Iranian backed Hizbullah poses a very serious threat to Israel...Hizbullah today now has four times as many rockets as it had during the 2006 Lebanon war. These rockets are longer-range. Every city in Israel is within range right now, including Eilat," he said.

Oren expressed Israeli concerns with Hizbullah's concealment of the weapons as well.

"In 2006, many of their missiles were basically out in the open, in silos and the Israeli air force was able to neutralize a great number of them...Today those same missiles have been placed under hospitals, and homes and schools because Hizbullah knows full well if we try to defend ourselves against them, we will be branded once again as war criminals."

This was not the first time that Oren has warned of the threat that Hizbullah poses to Israel. Following a clash on the northern border between the Lebanese Army and IDF soldiers last month, in which Lebanese soldiers opened fire on two IDF officers, killing one and seriously wounding the other, Oren warned that the distinction between Lebanon's Army and Hizbullah has become "cloudy." He expressed concerns that advanced weaponry given to the regular army could find its way into the hands of the Islamist group.

Following the border clashes and Oren's warnings, the US Congress voted to suspend $100 million in aid to the Lebanese Armed Forces.

Coincidentally, Hizballah had a three-story arms depot blow up just today. No word in this report what this building may have been near, but it is in what is supposed to be a demilitarized zone following the 2006 war. "Middle East: 'Hezbollah arms depot' explodes," from AdnKronos International, September 3:

Beruit, 3 Sept. (AKI) - A suspected Hezbollah arms depot in southern Lebanon caught fire on Friday setting off a series of explosions and injuring five people, according to the NowLebanon website.

The three-floor building in the southern Lebanese coastal city of Chehabiyya - about 80 kilometres south of Beirut - was being used as a Hezbollah arms depot, NowLebanon reported, citing unnamed sources quoted.

Nothing to see here:

Lebanese soldiers arrived to cordon off the area and prevent access to media, according to the report.

Chehabiyya is part of a volatile border zone south of the Litani River in which Hezbollah has been banned from having weapons under a U.N. resolution that ended the 2006 war between the militant group and Israel....