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Monday, October 24, 2011

AFP report: US warns Lebanon... to not take sovereign decisions?!

Below is the position of the US regarding having Lebanon fund the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, as reported by AFP. Some in Lebanon see the STL as a politicized and unconstitutional court. It was supposed to investigate the murder of several eminent Lebanese victims but it reduced this list to one: Rafic Hariri. The STL was funded among others by the Saudi regime, who's agenda is to silence the minorities that oppose it, including the Shiite minorities in Bahrain, Lebanon and elsewhere. Using a sectarian label is regressive for some of us, but from the Saudi Regime's point of view, it's the norm. Hezbollah represent the ambition of a large fraction of rural shiites, to become citizens with equal rights. They have, for better or worse, taken matters in their own hands in the south of Lebanon and Beirut suburbs, built the infrastructure the government was denying them, and got help from illegal sources when they had to. Not exactly loyal to Lebanon, but ultimately a reaction caused by the extension of the Saudi cast system into Lebanon. Lebanon treated southern Lebanese as a bottom cast. Back to STL, it is funded in part by the Saudi regime who is intolerant of the minorities that oppose it. It's no surprise then that some see it as a tool to provoke a civil war in Lebanon. AFP misrepresented the facts by saying that Hariri's death almost plunged Lebanon into a civil war in 2008. It was foreign Saudi manipulation that attempted and failed to manipulate Lebanon into a civil war. This was described in the New Yorker's article The Redirection by Seymour Hersh (March 2007). He reported how a Saudi backed foreign mercenary group, Fatah el Islam, was smuggled into Lebanon and attempted to provoke Hezbollah. Hezbollah did not react and the Lebanese army apprehended these mercenaries. This is not Lebanon plunging into a civil war, this is the Saudi regime trying to fabricate one. The STL seems like another attempt to do the same. It operated in an unprofessional manner, overlooked witnesses that self-professed to be false, and conveniently framed the party that irks the Saudi king, with the murder of Hariri. The Saudi regime has pseudo-colonize most arabic countries, and propped banana republics in them until the Arabic spring challenged that status quo. Today Memorandum of understandings between political parties in Lebanon have made it difficult to control Lebanon through fabricated divides. AFP used a racist, or sectarian label to be exact by saying the "Christian leader and his patriotic party in Lebanon". He is a Lebanese leader who championed these memoranda of understanding. His party identifies with a principle, but AFP reduced it to a clan formed around an icon. It's in fact a pro-citizenry party that advocates equal rights to Lebanese of all backgrounds, and a functional country free of corruption. This is what the US is waving its finger at, and the STL seems like the excuse. Some Lebanese say that colonial time is over. The Lebanese, not the US, will decide what action Lebanon should be taking.

US warns Lebanon on Hariri tribunal funding

(AFP) – 8 hours ago

BEIRUT — The US ambassador to Lebanon on Monday warned of possible "serious consequences" if Lebanon fails to meet its obligations towards a UN-backed court investigating the murder of the country's ex-premier.

Ambassador Maura Connelly made the statement in a meeting with Christian leader Michel Aoun, whose Free Patriotic Movement is allied with the powerful militant group Hezbollah that has a key role in the Lebanese government.

"Ambassador Connelly told General Aoun that the US expects Lebanon to meet all of its international obligations, including Lebanon's obligation to cooperate with and fund the Special Tribunal for Lebanon," a statement issued by the embassy said.

"She expressed the United States' concern that a failure by Lebanon to meet its obligations to the tribunal could lead to serious consequences if Lebanon does not meet its international commitments," the statement added.

Hezbollah toppled the previous government headed by Saad Hariri over its refusal to cut ties with the tribunal, set up in the aftermath of the 2005 assassination of Hariri's father, Rafiq Hariri.

The tribunal has indicted four Hezbollah operatives for the February 14, 2005 bombing that killed Hariri and 21 others in Beirut.

But the Shiite party and its allies, which dominate the new government, have dismissed the court as part of a US-Israeli conspiracy and have vowed to block any efforts by the Lebanese government to contribute its share to the tribunal's funding.

Beirut has yet to pay what it owes for the year 2011 and in 2010 transferred the funds without government approval.

Hariri's killing plunged Lebanon into a series of political crisis that brought the country close to civil war in 2008.
No notice, no mention in that report of the failed Saudi-west backed attempt to provoke a civil war in Lebanon in 2007. This attempt was lead by AlQaeda mercenaries, which were indicted on July 19th, 2007: Lebanon Indicts Dozens From 2007 Clashes : NPR.

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