Sleiman urges world to open up to Syria

President Michel Sleiman on Wednesday urged the international community to open up to Syria because of its key role in the region.

"The international community must open up to Syria, following the example set by France, because Syria plays a fundamental role at the regional level," Sleiman said in a statement released by the presidential palace.

He made his remarks at a meeting with an American delegation led by Deputy Assistant to the Undersecretary of State for Near East Affairs David Hale.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is set to visit Damascus on September 3 and 4 in the wake of the announcement by Syria and Lebanon that they will establish diplomatic relations for the first time.

To read the full article, click here..
To read the ePaper, visit: http://epaper.dailystar.com.lb

Divided Parliament approves new unity Cabinet

Lebanon's new na tional unity government won a vote of confidence in Parliament on Tuesday following stormy debates among rival lawmakers on the thorny issue of Hizbullah's arms.

"One hundred MPs have given their confidence to the cabinet, five voted against and two abstained," Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri announced to the assembly, which currently has 127 MPs.

The vote of confidence was made after 62 lawmakers delivered speeches in seven sessions which extended from Friday to Tuesday.

MPs Solange Gemayel, Bahij Tabbara, Atef Majdalani, Mohammad Kabbara, and Ousama Saad voted against, while MPs Ghassan Tueni and Elias Atallah abstained from voting.

To read the full article, click here..
To read the ePaper, visit: http://epaper.dailystar.com.lb

Hopes high for Lebanon-Syria ties on eve of Moallem's visit to Beirut

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem is to visit Beirut on Monday a week after Lebanon and Syria agreed to establish diplomatic relations between the adjoining nations.

Moallem is to deliver an invitation to Lebanese President Michel Sleiman from his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad to visit Damascus – a trip the Lebanese press said would take place within a week or 10 days.

Moallem last visited Beirut on May 25 to attend the election of Sleiman.

Sleiman and Assad met last weekend at the sidelines of the Mediterranean Union summit in Paris and reportedly agreed on establishing diplomatic ties for the first time since their independence from French colonial rule more than 60 years ago.

"It is expected that the question of diplomatic relations will be raised during the visit. We hope it will mark a new step in Syrian-Lebanese ties," said Syria's Al-Watan newspaper, which is close to the government.

It added that during his visit, Moallem would discuss "ways of improving relations given the favorable circumstances with the election of a consensus president in Lebanon and the formation of a national unity government."

To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://epaper.dailystar.com.lb

Lebanese American University graduates 1,381 students at Beirut, Byblos campuses

The Lebanese American University's two campuses in Beirut and Byblos graduated 1,381 students on Thursday and Saturday. Among those in attendance were several representatives of President Michel Sleiman, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

The commencement exercises in Beirut began with a speech by LAU president Joseph Jabbra. He noted the progress that LAU has made toward several of its financial, academic, and professional goals, in accordance with its five-year strategic plan that it implemented in September 2005. According to Jabbra, the plan "gave our university a renewed sense of purpose."

"We have adopted the best practices in student recruitment, kept tuition increases low, increased … financial aid to over $10,000,000 … [and] attracted brilliant students," he added.

Jabbra also detailed the progress the university was making toward achieving full certification with an American accreditation agency, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.According to Jabbra, LAU received accreditation candidacy confirmation in September 2007, and he said he felt "very strongly" that LAU would receive full accreditation in 2009. Jabbra also described the progress toward enrollment at the new LAU Gilbert and Rose Marie Chagoury School of Medicine,by next year, students from the pre-med undergraduate program will begin enrolling in the new medical school.

At the Byblos campus graduation, an honorary doctorate was awarded to businessman and banker Francois Bassil. In his acceptance speech, Bassil described some of the current challenges faced by the Lebanese state and its populace, including his sentiment that Lebanese citizens "[do] not belong to the nation, but [are] still confined to the family and sect."

To read the full article, click here..
To read the ePaper, visit: http://epaper.dailystar.com.lb

Lebanon's Antonine Sisters open new school in Canada

Lebanese-Canadians made history in July by consecrating a full-time educational institution in the heart of Canada's capital, which is a ma jor milestone for the community.The school is called the Providence Academy and is run by the Antonine Sisters, a Maronite Catholic order that originates in Lebanon.

The head of the school, Sister Félicité Daou,called it a "blessed and remarkable leap for the mission and a graceful moment in our dedication to the service of the people of Ottawa." The Antonine Congregation has operated in Ottawa for 20 years and the opening of the school was a turning point and a great accom plishment for hard work. Sister Daou stressed the role of this new school "in a society, where respect for individuals inherently implies respect for diverse cultures and religious beliefs."

The new school will be added to the kindergarten that was opened five years ago.Alongside the provision of "an exceptional pedagogic program," the school pamphlet says, "the school nurtures students spiritually, culturally and morally, so they may grow up to become living testimonies to the biblical word while meeting with their parents pedagogical and moral expectations from our mission." It also instills in students a sense of national commitment,"to become responsible citizens well aware of their role in the community and capable of successfully functioning in a multicultural environment."

The school accepts girls and boys, offering classes from kindergarten to grade 8 and progressing over the years to add classes up to the secondary level (grade 13). The academic program is trilingual: French and English are taught as a first language and Arabic (or another international language) as a second language. The academy offers a trilingual program devel oped in accordance with the Ministry of Education in the province of Ontario.

To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://epaper.dailystar.com.lb

Small earthquake shakes rattled residents of Southern town

An earthquake of 3.1 magnitude on the Richter scale occurred around 7:30 a.m in the Southern town of Srifa Wednesday, following a report from Israeli experts on Monday saying they were expecting a high magnitude earthquake in Lebanon soon.

Some residents had already been sleeping in tents due to the Israeli warnings.

Engineers from the Italian contingent serving within the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon conducted a soil study and inspected the river area on a hill overlooking the town of Srifa on Wednesday.

The troops began clearing paths leading to the hill from Srifa to allow the town's residents access to safety in the event of a quake.The Italian engineers also pitched some 40 tents on the hill.

Maryam Noureddine, a Srifa resident, decided to set up a tent on the roof of her house, saying that she feared a possible landslide if she stayed in a tent on the ground.

Moueen Hamzeh, secretary general of Lebanon's National Scientific Research Center, said that ever since February 12, Srifa and the whole Southern region had witnessed at least 800 quakes that reached magnitudes of up to 5.1 on the Richter scale.

In Srifa, the recurrent earth quakes have damaged 353 houses, causing cracks in walls and ceilings.

Hamzeh added that earthquake activity had intensified during the past two months, which implied a need for urgent "prevention measures" from the authorities.

According to Lebanese experts, an earthquake of a magnitude ranging from 5 to 6 on the Richter scale, like the one that shook Lebanon in 1956, killing 136 people and devastating 6000 homes, could hit Lebanon soon.

Moreover, Israeli seismologists seem to believe a high-magnitude earthquake is likely to hit the region soon, as it has been noticed that tremors have historically rocked the area every eight decades.The last important quake in the area occurred 81 years ago, in July 1927 and had devastating consequences.

Israeli Health Ministry Director General Avi Yisraeli said the seismic activity in South Lebanon was abnormal. He added that in May, as the tremors had intensified, they were felt in Northern Israel.Yisraeli urged his government to take measures to protect citizens from a possible high-magnitude earthquake.

To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://epaper.dailystar.com.lb

Beirut must be weaned off local banks – Bassil

Lebanese banks need to lower their lending to the government and focus more on the private sector in order to achieve good growth, the head of the Associations of Banks in Lebanon said on Monday.

"We have been financing the public for a long time and I think it is time for the government to tap other markets," Francois Bassil told The Daily Star in an exclusive interview.

Lebanese banks hold over 54 percent of Lebanon's public debt, which now stand at more than $43.5 billion, or 176 percent of the country's GDP.

Bassil said that this ratio of lending to the state is extremely high by any standard.

"If we look at other countries the total bank loans to governments do not even exceed 20 percent of their loan portfolio and the rest goes to the private sector," he said.

But the outgoing Lebanese government under Premier Fouad Siniora succeeded in securing massive cash injection from the donor countries that met in Paris in January 2007.The donor states pledged $7.6 billion in soft loans and grants to Lebanon to reduce the country's debt-servicing costs and finance some infrastructure projects.

Thanks to this cash injection, the Finance Ministry was able to secure funds for the rest of 2008.

In February 2008 the Finance Ministry had little raising $885 million in Euro bonds to roll over existing loans.As usual, the Lebanese banks were the main subscribers for this issue.

Bassil said that if the next government secured billions of dollars from the privatization of the telecommunications sector, the state would not have any difficulty in tapping international markets for fresh loans.

"We don't want to stop completely lending the government but this pattern needs to change gradually over time," he said.

He added that the government may have a hard time financing outstanding debts in foreign currency in 2009 if economic reforms and the privatization of the cellular networks do not materialize this year.

The private sector has complained in the past that the government is unfairly competing with it for loans from commercial banks.

To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://epaper.dailystar.com.lb

Israeli Cabinet approves prisoner swap with Hizbullah

The Israeli Cabinet gave its green light Sunday for a prisoner exchange with Hizbullah, even though two soldiers captured by the resistance two years ago are assumed by Israeli officials to be dead.

Twenty-two of the 25 Cabinet members voted in favor of the deal under which the two soldiers – or their remains – are to be handed over in exchange for five Lebanese fighters and a yet undetermined number of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

The deal was approved even though Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Cabinet the two soldiers, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, were dead.

"Our initial theory was that the soldiers were alive … Now we know with certainty there is no chance that is the case," said Olmert, who nonetheless urged his ministers to approve the deal.

"We have no illusions: There will be much sadness in Israel, much humiliation considering the celebrations that will be held on the other side," he said in reference to neighboring Lebanon.

The soldiers were captured on July 12, 2006, prompting the Jewish state to launch a devastating 34-day war on Lebanon.

"In exchange for the return of the soldiers, the state of Israel will release prisoners and detainees being held in its prison facilities, and will transfer bodies and information," the government said in the document approved by the cabinet. "Prisoner Samir Kontar and four illegal Lebanese fighters being held by Israel will be released to Lebanon," the document said.

Kontar, a member of the Palestine Liberation Front, is serving a life sentence after being sentenced in 1980 to 542 years in prison for killing two men and a 4-year-old girl in a 1979 attack in northern Israel.

Israel will also hand over the bodies"of dozens of infiltrators and terrorists, including eight members of Hizbullah," the document said.

Once the deal is carried out, Israel will release Palestinian prisoners. "The number and identities of the prisoners will be determined at the sole discretion of the state of Israel," it said.

Olmert said Hizbullah's goal from the very beginning had been to secure Kontar's release.

"Hizbullah's capture of two soldiers was aimed at forcing Israel to free Samir Kontar," Olmert said during the meeting.

To read the full article, click here..
To read the ePaper, visit: http://epaper.dailystar.com.lb

Vatican delegation beatifies Lebanese priest

Miraculous, perhaps,Tens of thousands of Lebanese gathered in Martyrs Square in Downtown Beirut on Sunday to witness the beatification of Yaaqoub Haddad, the late Capuchin priest who gained fame for his prolific work in founding an order of nuns, expanding the Capuchin school network and conceiving or establishing a number of religious and social institutions, some of which have gained iconic status in Lebanon.

Haddad, who died more than 50 years ago, took a step toward sainthood in the first beatification ever to take place outside the Vatican – and people flocked to the capital to observe the ceremony.

The service itself was presided over by a representative of Pope Benedict XVI, and the head of the Vatican's office for sainthood, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, in tandem with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir.

Attended by a litany of Eastern Christian prelates, other clerics, international envoys and local political figures, the event also included the Lebanese political troika of President Michel Sleiman, Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

Thunderous applause greeted Sleiman as he arrived minutes before the Mass, and ovations were repeated many times during the ceremony, which bestowed one of the highest hon ors in the Christian tradition upon a Lebanese priest mere meters away from an Ottomanera mosque in the heart of the capital. Indeed, while respectful or appreciative clapping often arose, the loudest rounds of applause came after "the nation" or the "Lebanese cedars" were mentioned in one context or another.

A procession of the cross was held before Western Catholic – Latinized – renditions of Syriac and Arabic Christian chants held the massive gathering rapt.

As Cardinal Martins read out a message from the pope, "hoping that this beatification will lift Father Yaaqoub of Ghazir as a happy servant of the Lord," a white veil cloaking a portrait of the late priest was lifted, symbolizing recognition of Haddad's beatification.

"The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father," the Maronite patriarch said as he took the pulpit, evoking reverent silence through the assembled thousands. "The hope of so many Lebanese was realized today – that hope was the raising of Father Yaaqoub's portrait above the altar of the Catholic Church."

To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://epaper.dailystar.com.lb

Bush, Sarkozy pressure Syria over Lebanon

The United States and France on Saturday jointly called on Syria to establish "friendly" diplomatic ties with Lebanon.

A joint statement following talks in Paris between President George W. Bush and President Nicolas Sarkozy called on the two countries to "quickly establish full diplomatic relations" based on "respect, equality, security and sovereignty."

Syria, the former power broker in Lebanon, withdrew its troops in 2005 in the aftermath of the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, ending a military presence of nearly three decades.

The absence of formal diplomatic relations between Lebanon and Syria is seen by some Lebanese as a sign of Syrian designs on their country.

The United States and France also called for "supporting the international investigation and creation of a special tribunal" to try the perpetrators of Hariri's assassination.

Syrian President Bashar alAssad earlier this month said Damascus was ready to open an embassy in Lebanon once a unity government is formed and develops good relations with Syria.

To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://epaper.dailystar.com.lb

Visit by Sarkozy will send ‘message from French democracy to Lebanese democracy'

French President Nico las Sarkozy is due in Beirut on Saturday to meet his counterpart Michel Sleiman, a rare move intended to send out a "message of unity" to the country.

French opposition leaders will join Sarkozy on his five hour visit to Lebanon.

Sarkozy will be the first Western head of state to meet Sleiman since the former army chief was elected president on May 25 following a Qatari-brokered deal to end an 18-month political crisis.

Sarkozy arrived in Greece Friday along with Defense Minister Herve Morin. He will go on to Lebanon on Saturday, joined from Paris by Prime Minister Francois Fillon and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. Kouchner arrived in Beirut late Friday evening.

Also he will be key opposition leaders: socialist Francois Hollande, centrist Francois Bayrou, communist Marie George Buffet and left-wing hard-lines Jean-Michel Baylet.

The ruling Union Pour un Mouvement Populaire chief and its leader in Parliament, Patrick Devedjian and Jean Francois Cope, will also be present, along with former Premier Jean-Pierre Raffarin.

French-Lebanese writer Amine Maalouf will also be part of the French delegation which will meet with leaders of 14 Lebanese political parties.

Sarkozy's office said he invited the opposition leaders to convey a "message of encouragement, of friendship and hope" as Lebanon emerges from months of sectarian strife.

"This is a message from French democracy to Lebanese democracy," an aide said.

To read the full article, click here...
To read the ePaper, visit: http://epaper.dailystar.com.lb