Un informe israelí revelaría la victoria de Hizbullah en la guerra del pasado verano, informa la prensa libanesa

Israeli report 'confirms' Hizbullah victory
By Hani M. Bathish
Daily Star staff
Thursday, May 03, 2007

BEIRUT: Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Wednesday a report released by the Israeli Winograd Commission two days earlier had conclusively affirmed Hizbullah's victory and Israel's defeat in the summer 2006 war. "Sadly we wait for an Israeli commission to tell us we have won," Nasrallah said, criticizing those in Lebanon and elsewhere who questioned Hizbullah's victory in the conflict.

The commission's report into the Israeli government's conduct of the war last summer was deeply critical of Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert, charging him with a "severe failure" of leadership.

Immediately after the cessation of hostilities on August 14, 2006, Hizbullah deployed a media campaign referring to the conflict as "The Divine Victory."

"It is worth every respect when a commission appointed by Olmert condemns Olmert," Nasrallah said at the opening of a book fair in Dahiyeh.

Referring to a lack of accountability among Arab leaders, Nasrallah said that compared to the "other side," the level of commitment and faithfulness the Israeli commission had displayed to Israel was cause to respect it. He said he respected Zionist leaders who work ceaselessly to ensure the release of their prisoners, dead or alive.

"Israel is committed and faithful to its own existence. Israel's existence is linked to its military might and terrorizing its neighbors, it cannot forgive an incapable leadership. The Winograd Commission was faithful to Israel's existence, they are ready to sacrifice one hundred Olmerts for [Israel's] survival," Nasrallah said.

He said Arab and Muslim states should study both Israel's defeat and its victory as well as Hizbullah's victory over Israel to garner lessons from experience.

He said Israel was studying its own defeat in order to learn from it, in contrast with the Lebanese, who he said had failed to recognize their victory in order to study it or learn from it.

Referring to a statement by Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz that Nasrallah would not forget Peretz' name, the Hizbullah leader said: "Yes, I will not forget his name, since such a defense minister provided us with a historic victory over Israel."

Nasrallah did not delve into internal Lebanese politics, promising his audience that he would do so in an interview in the coming days.

The Hizbullah leader said that US desires in the region were twofold: to secure vital oil reserves that would outlast the country's own meager reserves by a hundred years, and to secure Israel's military supremacy.

"Olmert's aim was to destroy the resistance, not merely disarm it, but to destroy its spirit, its economy, its determination, women, children, homes and our ability to rise again," he added.

Premier Fouad Siniora, in a statement issued Wednesday, criticized the Winograd Commission's interim report as failing to say a word over the destruction Israel had wrought on Lebanon as a result of the war, as if the Israeli casualties were the only casualties of that war.

Almost 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 158 Israelis, 119 of whom were soldiers, died in the conflict, according to official accounts from the two sides.

Siniora called for solidarity in the face of Israeli plots aimed against Lebanon.
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"The commission's conclusions coincide with talk in Israel of the need to launch new military operations … against Lebanon to limit the adverse effect of the last war," Siniora said.

He added that facing Israeli aggression requires national unity and a strong state with authority over all its territory and the ability to mobilize all its resources.

Siniora said the Winograd report had not drawn necessary lessons from the summer war and previous Israeli attacks and invasions of Lebanon.

"Israel's aggressive wars against Lebanon have not achieved their goals and have proved they are not the means through which to ensure security for Israelis nor to estab-

lish peace with its neighbors."

As the one-year anniversary of Israel's most recent invasion approaches on July 13, political divisions within Lebanon, which have grown steadily since the war, materialized on Wednesday with pro-government politicians' unconditional rejection of an opposition suggestion to hold popular presidential elections.

Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun suggested Tuesday that a one-time exception be made to allow for a national poll to elect President Emile Lahoud's replacement.

"We have a democratic system and we have to respect it, we have to go back to the people when all other outlets are closed off between governing constitutional institutions, in order to reconstitute authority. This happens either through reaching a consensus or through elections," Aoun said, speaking at a gathering of FPM teachers on Tuesday

The Constitution calls for Parliament to choose the president.

Lebanese Forces MP Georges Adwan on Wednesday said that given the "overwhelmingly Christian migration" and the current demographics, direct presidential polls would be "like asking our Muslim brothers to elect our president."

Adwan was speaking from Parliament Wednesday, where majority MPs gathered for the seventh consecutive week to demand that Speaker Nabih Berri convene the legislature before the end of an ordinary session of Parliament in mid-May. Twenty-four majority MPs and 14 opposition MPs attended the gathering, a precipitous dropoff from previous weeks.

Former President Amin Gemayel, in comments Wednesday from his home in Sin al-Fil, expressed regret at the timing of Aoun's suggestion, since "Lebanon is going through a tough time constitutionally."

Gemayel asked politicians not to make suggestions "outside what is reasonable or possible," explaining that the direct election of a president is "resorting to majority rule which is incompatible with the Lebanese consociational system."

Telecommunication Minister Marwan Hamadeh, speaking to Voice of Lebanon radio Wednesday, called Aoun's suggestion a "new trend that does not suit the Lebanese political system."

"We see trend upon trend and suggestions that are completely incompatible with the Constitution and with the National Accord document. Lebanon is not a presidential system of government for them to come up with a direct election of the president by the people," Hamadeh said.

comnetar 3 Mayo 2007

Siria y Estados Unidos celebran un encuentro crucial con escaso eco en los medios de comunicación

 Al-Molallem Reviews with Rice Situation in Iraq, Bilateral Relations

Thursday, May 03, 2007 - 06:10 PM

SHARM AL-SHEIKH, (SANA) - Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem met on Thursday with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Sharm al-Sheikh in the presence of members of the Syrian and US delegations.
 
Talks during the meeting dealt with the situation in Iraq and necessity of achieving stability and security in it.
 
Both sides also reviewed the bilateral relations between Syria and USA and the importance of developing them to serve peace, security and stability in the region.
 

comnetar 3 Mayo 2007

En la Turquía de la “alianza de civilizaciones” no hay libertad religiosa, señala AP

U.S. commission finds obstacles to religious freedom in Turkey
Thursday, May 3, 2007

WASHINGTON - Associated Press

   A congressionally funded commission says the majority Muslim community in Turkey as well as the faithful in minority religions do not have full freedom to practice their religious beliefs.

  The report was prepared by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which advises the U.S. government on ways to advance freedom of worship around the world.

  A commission delegation traveled to Istanbul and Ankara in November and looked into broader issues of democracy, human rights, rule of law, and civil liberties within Turkey, as well as related questions of Turkey's model of secularism.

  According to the report, the commission was informed during its travels about:

  -Restraints on Muslim's ability to manifest their religious beliefs in public places;

  -State actions that effectively prevent religious minority communities from maintaining themselves, denying them full property rights, including the right to own and maintain property, and to train clergy.

  -Incidents of anti-minority violence, especially against Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Protestants, as well as growing anti-Semitism in some sectors of the country.

  The report noted that Muslim's are "prohibited from wearing certain kinds of religious garb in state institutions, including government offices, the parliament, judicial buildings and both public and private universities."

  In addition, it said, religious minority communities, despite the rights their members do enjoy, are not recognized as legal entities in Turkey, which results in "serious difficulties for these groups and endless legal wrangling over property rights and the ability to train clergy and select leaders for future generations."

  Although some of these concerns have been addressed through demands of the European Union before Turkey can become a member, many are still to be resolved, the report said.

comnetar 3 Mayo 2007