I posted earlier yesterday that the Zahle incident was out of personal and not political reasons. Just to clarify one thing, personal does not mean the man had personal issues with those he killed, since he apparently was shooting randomly, but that the fight was initiated after an exchange of insult and curses between the killer and Kataeb supporters.

Joseph Zouki is a thug and a criminal and is very well known in Zahle. From what i heard, he killed his 19 year old cousin in a personal fight long time ago, shot him straight in the head. Later on he commited a crime in 1993 and was jailed for 12 years before being released.

Zahle’s sons are divided between Skaff supporters and 14March supporters and the situation is tense since ever between the two.
Even though Kataeb members are free to celebrate their new office, they were supposed to be more careful and take further precautions and alert the army.

I am sure they asked the army to be present during the ceremony and they were there, but in insufficient numbers and badly spread. They should have surrounded the area and isolated the region until the event is over, and they should AT LEAST waited till everyone left to leave the place, not after Sami Gemayel and few Kataeb officials leave.

There is a huge responsability here on the security forces and their laziness and major incompetence, and i have addressed on tons of occasions the major incompetence and infiltrations found in the army and the ISF.

How to react to this event ?

Sami Gemayel reacted wrongly in my opinion, what is the point of adding more fuel to the fire ??
What is the point of showing off and stretching our muscles ?? We are the biggest losers if war erupts ! we Christians only !!

As Sheikh Amine bravely reacted when his son Pierre was killed, Sami should have calmed everyone and let justice prevail.

Second of all, it should not be turned political because it is not. Its the law of the strongest in some regions in Lebanon and everyone knows it, i am sorry to say that bass fi 3alam rassoun tanke wou bi2awsso 2abel ma ye7ko !

Kataeb & all M14 parties should stay away from such thugish environments and discipline their supporters at all time.
It is shameful to see brave Kataeb members die this way, and it is more shameful to see politicians scoring points on their behalf !

I find it hard to believe that all this was planned .. and i find it ridiculous that M14 leaders are reacting that way !
We have a president to elect, we have deadlines and all of a sudden, such an incident occurs and we all lose our temper and get on the offensive !

If you really want justice to prevail, you elect a president, clean the security forces and track the criminals !
The masses are allowed to react instinctively, but leaders should be the ones leading, the wise ones who know how to calm things down and achieve justice in democratic ways.

Finally, all my respect to those brave men .. may they rest in peace and may God Bless their families.

After the incident yesterday, i spoke to some of my friends from Zahle and they confirmed to me that the fight that occured was out of personal reasons not more. The criminal had already a long record of murders at his name, he had just gone out of jail in 2005 after a sentence of 12 years for murdering someone from the Safar family in the same region.

For more details, Zouki was passing by with his brother when he exchanged some words with some Kataeb members which pissed him off apparently. So he went to his place, got his Rafal machine gun and went back and shot at the people celebrating the opening of the new Kataeb house.

The man MUST be delivered to the police and sentenced to death.

May all the victims rest in peace.

Latest Kataeb PR:
Two Kataeb supporters were killed and 10 injured after an Elie Skaff supporter delibraly opened fire on the house.

Salim Assi and Nasry Marouni are the victims ( noting that Nasry is the brother of Elie Maroni, head of the Kataeb sector in Zahle).

The Skaff supporters are from the Zouki family and according to some sources, they are the sons of Ibrahim Zouki, Joseph and Neemeh.

May the victims rest in peace.

Sheikh Amine Gemayel called for an urgent Kataeb meeting tonight.

Dr.Geagea will be visiting for the first time ( if am not mistaken) Mayfou2 and holding meetings with LFers from Batroun, as well as Fadi Saad, Bahij Abboud & Paul Andari ( author of Al Jabal 7akeeka la tar7am & hazihi Chahadati books).

The event will take place on Sunday the 20th of April in Mayfou2, however there is no mention to Hakim meeting with the Ilige league, the one that worked hard fo years to keep the LF mass alive and worked days and nights to restore the Church and the Martyrs’ graves.

I truly hope a reconciliation will finally occur, but i highly doubt it.

لقاء “ذكريات مع الدكتور سمير جعجع” نهار الاحد 20-4-2008 في سيّدة ايليج – ميفوق

تقيم القوات اللبنانية – البترون لقاء ” ذكريات مع الدكتور سمير جعجع ” وذلك نهار الاحد 20-4-2008 في سيّدة ايليج – ميفوق .

يشارك في اللقاء ويتحدث فيه مسؤول منطقة البترون في حزب القوات اللبنانية الدكتور فادي سعد والاستاذين بهيج عبود وبول عنداري . ويقدمهم الشاعر الاستاذ باخوس عساف . ويبدأ اللقاء بقداس الهي تمام الساعة التاسعة صباحاً في كنيسة سيّدة ايليج .

Earlier last week, reports were made by few people (Jacqueline Elias al-Rai, Milad al-Rai and Joseph Abi Sharr) and a journalist Manal Shaayaa about a mass grave in Halat, and as soon as the authorities were alerted, digging started looking for that mass grave and yesterday it was announced no mass grave was found.

Noting that Halat was mainly an LF controlled region, and that Aounist mps (Shamel Mouzaya and Abbas Hashem) who apparently were backing up that search, were dissapointed of the result and even doubted the seriouness of the digging operation.

Even though i dont find it hard to believe that Aounists must be spreading rumors, what caught my attention was Ghazi Aad’s reaction who reassured that the grave existed and that the search was unprofessionally directed ..

Is there or is there not a grave ??
I am not sure we will ever find it, however i do support that all mass graves are revealed once and for all, so those innocent people rest in peace once and for all .

As for Aoun’s reaction, i wish he spent more time revealing the mass graves of his soldiers that the Syrians left as he was fleeing to the French embassy like a coward.

Tent City Militiamen Attack Restaurant Clients

MP Atef Majdalani on Monday accused militiamen deployed at the Hizbullah-controlled Tent City in downtown Beirut of attacking with daggers clients at a nearby restaurant wounding some of them.
Majdalani, in a statement, said the restaurant clients were attacked Saturday evening by “militiamen based in the tents.”

The victims, according to Majdalani, sought police help but were told the area is off limits to law enforcing agencies.

The Hizbullah-led opposition set up Tent City in downtown Beirut 16 months ago with the declared objective of toppling Premier Fouad Saniora’s government that remains in office.

It was reported today in several papers ( Reuters, Sofia News Agency, etc .. ) that profits from drug trafficking through Bulgaria is being used to fund terrorist organizations like Hezbollah & the Islamic Jihad.

So we have a terrorist party who is accused of drug traffic, crimes against humanity (July war), assassinations, plots against the government and getting armed illegaly, and yet we are still thinking of holding dialogues with them to elect a president !

Not to forget they are still invading the downtown and ruining hundreds of businesses.

Bulgarian crime groups trading in synthetic drugs and Arabs linked to militant groups had been cooperating in the trafficking, said the draft report obtained by Reuters and due to be debated in parliament this week.

MP Michel Murr officially announced on Monday that he broke away from the Change and Reform Parliamentary bloc to “maintain my independence.”
“I am neither with the opposition, nor with the majority,” Murr told reporters.

“I’ve been independent ever since I started my political career … I support any side that can promote a settlement,” Murr added.

He declared support for the separate Arab tours launched by Premier Fouad Saniora and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

However, Murr said he has “high hopes” on the outcome of Berri’s Arab tour.

“Every body awaits the outcome of Speaker Berri’s Arab tour, especially his visits to Damascus and Riyadh. These are the two major capitals and Speaker Berri can play a major role during this tour,” Murr added.

“If (Berri’s) Arab tour was positive, and if Syria and Saudi Arabia dismantled major obstacles … that would reflect positively on dialogue,” Murr said.

Beirut, 07 Apr 08, 17:20

Balamand students and officials were surprised to find flyers all over the campus signed by Fath el Islam. The flyer was a threat against the University and its students, however as reported in Al-Akhbar and other papers, it seems it was a prank considering the unprofessional writing and the lack of Islamic verses.

I believe it was a really bad joke done by some students and i hope the University will catch them and kick them out.

Another basketball game that is followed by fights outside the bbal court. This time, Hekmeh & Mouttahed fans beat up each other. How did it start ? No one knows ..

All i saw was a group of Hekmeh fans being pulled back by the police, and some policemen beating up violently two Sagesse supporters, which enraged the other supporters who just stormed the police lines and started cursing for Hariri & Tripoli etc ..

Yep LFers cursing for Hariri & the ISF… how ironic is that ? wen sarit el strategic alliance ??

I was even told by a friend of mine that in a previous game, two Sagesse supporters were fighting, so the ISF came and beat the hell out of them instead of calming them, which enraged all the supporters who taught the ISF a lesson later on.

I always supported Sagesse before 2005 and during the Syrian presence, this team was all we had left to show we are here to stay against the Syrians and Lebanese traitors ( Riyadi and co ). This team is probably the only one that has real fans in Lebanon, not fans that we pay to come and cheer.

However, i dont think it is wise to keep sticking politics into bball games that way ..

Why do we need an LF flag in a bball game ?
Why do we need to cheer for Hakim in a bball game ??

It is wrong and Sagesse’s president should take the necessary measures ..
It is a shame to see such a beautiful team and its amazing crowd get its image polluted by few thugs ..

Israel is gonna perform one of the biggest military manoeuvres in its history tomorrow.

A second round btw Hezbollah & Israel is inevitable … the question is when and more importantly where it will occur ?

Lebanon PM wary of Israeli manoeuvres

Hizbullah believes Israel preparing for new war

After his long visit to the US, where he met American officials and most importantly Condoleeza Rice, Hakim held a press conference today to display the results of his visit as well as answer few questions concerning the Lebanese presidency and the Arab Summit in Damascus.

Geagea Wants U.N. Help to Control Lebanese-Syrian Borders
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea said Tuesday he has asked for international help to control the Lebanese-Syrian borders, noting that the United States Middle East policy serves the interests of the Lebanese people.
Geagea, addressing a press conference about outcome of his recent visit to the United States, said “we’ve asked for international help because Lebanon’s internationally-recognized borders lack control. All efforts exerted by the government to work out a settlement with Syria to the borders issue have been blocked.” [Read More]

Arabic Version:
جعجع: افضل ما نستطيع فعله للمسيحيين هو ابعاد سوريا عن لبنان واقامة الدولة الحقيقية

Gemmayze residents organized a small demonstration few days ago and blocked the main road protesting against the noisy night clubs that are keeping them from sleeping.

As a result, the ministry of tourism met with few concerned people and decided to close 20 pubs and restaurants which were judged inadequatly positioned and causing uncomfort ..

I think they are right, this used to happen in Monot street before. The street should be made for pedestrians only (at least on weekends) and nightclubs and pubs must install a proper soundproof system.

وزارة السياحة قررت إقفال 20 مقهى وحانة في الجميزة لا تراعي راحة السكان

I say let them go down and have a drink and they ll forget about all the noise

The Lebanese crisis pretty much damaged the Arab Summit badly. Lebanon boycotted Syria and as a result, KSA, Egypt & Jordan followed Lebanon’s step and lowered their level of representation.

The summit has no major heads of states or kings attending, except few unimportant and useless ones. Ghaddafi of course was nominated as the Summit’s clown. As for Bashar el Assad, he will start his list of lies by an opening speech and at the end of the summit will present us with a summary of these lies.

In his opening speech around noon on Saturday, Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad refused to admit interference in Lebanese internal affairs, despite widespread accusation that his country is a major player in the current political crisis that has gripped Lebanon since the withdrawal of the Syrian troops that occupied Lebanon for almost 30 years.

One answer to that quote:

As long as Hezbollah exists in Lebanon, Syria is more than ever present.

Syria is our enemy, We must boycott Syria, close our borders and show some balls as long as the international community is behind us. It is time to act March 14!

On Wednesday, General Wafiq Jizzini, head of general security directorate, which handles censorship, told AFP he had decided to ban the film after Shiite officials expressed concern that its content was offensive to Muslims and to Iran.

“The office that handles censorship matters informed me in their report that the film attacks Islam and the Iranian regime, and this could spark tension with Iran,” Jizzini said.

The decision was massively critisized by many parties, among them Walid Jumblatt’s psp, Culture minister Tarek Mitri and Bassam Eid production manager with Circuit Empire, who blasted the ban as ridiculous and unwarranted, especially since pirated copies were widely available in Hizbullah’s stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

I join other fellow bloggers in condeming this banning, specifically BeirutSpring who decided to put the film for all to watch for free until the movie was unbanned.

As a result of the large critics,
Lebanese authorities on Thursday legalized the screening of the prize-winning animated film “Persepolis”, following an outcry and accusations that the banning it by the censors was aimed at pleasing Iran and Shiite clerics.

“We have given the green light for the film ‘Persepolis” to be screened in cinemas across Lebanon,” an official from the censorship bureau, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Agence France Presse. She did not elaborate on the remark.

[Read Full Article]

Lebanon Boycotts Damascus Summit

As i was hoping for, Lebanon boycotted the Arab Summit being held in Damascus and most of the major Arab countries showed support by sending low-level delegations.

It is refreshing to see M14 boycotting Syrians officially and the Arabs almost boycotting Syrians as well.
I truly hope the next step will be closing the borders and stoppig all diplomatic relations until Syria leaves us alone ..

We shall never win any battle against this barbaric regime unless we take extreme and decisive measures ..

Thank you Mr.Mehlis for shutting Jamil el Sayyid’s mouth once and for all.

This came in part of his last interview concerning the tribunal and Lebanon in general hosted by May Chidiac on LBC.

Mehlis insisted that the detainment of the four former security chiefs is legal.

“As an observer, I think their detainment is fully legal,” he said.

Surete Generale’s Jamil al-Sayyed, Ali al-Hajj of the Internal Security Forces, Raymond Azar of the Army Intelligence and Mustafa Hamdan of the Presidential Guards Brigade have been detained since August 2005 for alleged involvement in Hariri’s killing.

“We had indications that they were planning to leave the country and most importantly we had indications of their strong involvement in the murder,” Mehlis told Chidiac, adding that he had never seen “an official U.N. recommendation to release the suspects.”

Qatar has 70,000 Christians nowadays.

Work has begun on the construction of Qatar’s first purpose-built church in the desert outside Doha, the country’s capital.

Although the country’s native inhabitants are entirely Muslim - and are prohibited by law from converting to another faith - the new Catholic church will cater to the large number of Christian migrants who have come to the Arabia Gulf state in search of work.

Roman Catholics from all over the Arabian Peninsula - many of them migrant workers - are helping to pay for the $15m building, which is scheduled to open at the end of the year.

Overseeing the church is Paul Hinder, the Catholic Church’s Bishop of Arabia. A Christian in the heart of the Muslim world, his diocese is the entire Arabian peninsular, encompassing six countries.

[Read More]

In a desperate and unsucessful try to get back on the political scene and show his strengh, Michel Aoun revived today his version of the 14th of March in Dbayyeh, and proved yet again, that he is the sole responsible for the destruction of that memory, simply by differentiating himself from the Cedars Revolution and taking credit for what our martyrs achieved ..

To start, the event took place in Emile Lahoud’s center .. i think this speaks for itself.

Second, the speeches were filled with lies, hypocrisy and deception …

Michel Aoun never tried to liberate Lebanon ..
Michel Aoun was refused by the Syrians, this is why he attacked them ..
Michel Aoun then was defeated and needed to get back on his feet, thats why he attacked the LF ..

Enough falsifying history and lying to people .. The sole Christian leader that was capable of liberating us was Bashir Gemayel and even him knew it would be a suicide to attack the Syrians .. instead he held ground and stood against them and lobbied against them in the world and WON !

He did not turn all the countries against him and then tried to liberate us by few thousands against tens of thousands ..
He did not leave his people unprotected and without shelter and food and went to war ..

14th of March belongs to the martyrs ya General … only them deserve this achievement …
Even those people who trusted you and died for you .. i feel sorry that they followed such a traitor but they still believed in Lebanon and wanted to fight for it ..

You tried to ally yourself to the Syrians in 1989-1990 to get the presidency, and you failed.
You ‘fought’ them for 15 years then tried to ally yourself to them in 2006 to get the presidency another time, and you failed.

You are a general who never won a battle and left his men behind.
You are a politician who never implemented his program.
You are a man who never kept his word.
You are a parent who left his family behind.

You are a failure, this is how history will remember you.

Dr.Geagea continues his visit to the USA and het met along with Condoleeza Rice a number of American officials. ( Stephen Hudley, Garry Akerman, David Welsh etc ..)

Hakim Visit to the US (Arabic):

Geagea Urges Arabs To Boycott Damascus Summit ( English)