“Israel” Toying with Fire, Lebanon into Confrontation

Moments passed before anybody could understand Hizbullah's Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah statement.

It was the Resistance 1st surprise

Five years ago on this day, the resistance men hit directly with their missiles the

jewelry crown of the "Israeli" Navy "Saar - 5". Trauma in the "Israeli" military, security officials, and politicians pushed them to pull their navy away from the battle.

However, on the other side the five years boy Ali slept deeply that night in one of Beirut shelters. Before closing his eyes he told his mother "Sayyed promised that we will win."

The Truthful Pledge turned into a Divine victory that still covers the Lebanese scene in spite of the "Israeli" threats.

Qassem: "Israel's" Threats Worthless

Hizbullah Deputy Secretary General His Eminence Sheikh Naim Qassem stressed Wednesday that "Lebanon will not tolerate whatsoever any breach of its oil, gas, water or territory."
"Lebanon will remain vigilant in order to regain its full rights, whatever it takes," Qassem vowed.

Voicing Hizbullah's support for "the national stance defending these maritime rights and the Lebanese government, in the steps and choices it will take to demarcate these borders," His eminence emphasized that "we will not be frightened by the "Israeli" threats and we will not change our stance in adhering to our rights, and "Israel" knows that its threats against Lebanon are worthless, after the bitter experiences it went through in the face of Lebanon's steadfastness and vigor."

Addressing the thorny issue Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Qassem stressed that "there will be no exchange between justice and stability; in other words: we want justice and we want stability, and we don't accept to separate between them or that one is at the expense of the other."

Sheikh Qassem added: "We consider the tribunal a part of the American-"Israel" plot, which will go on for years and years, and this tribunal has nothing to do with the assassinations, truth, justice or Lebanon's future."

Qassem hit out at "March 14" without naming them "We won't stage a Day of Anger ... if some are betting that will be incited and provoked, then they are mistaken."

Ministerial Meeting to Preserve Rights

In the same context, Prime Minister Najib Mikati stressed "Lebanon's right to protect all its borders and defend them against any violation as well as the country's right to exploit its natural resources."

During a ministerial meeting dedicated to discuss the issue of demarcating Lebanon's maritime borders, the specialists explained how the demarcation process takes place and how to follow up on the issue with Cyprus and relevant international organizations.

Ministers Jebran Bassil, Adnan Mansour, Ghazi Aridi, Shakib Qortbawi, Fayez Ghosn and Nicolas Nahhas attended the meeting.

"It turns out that "Israel" has bitten an area of approximately 800 to 1000 square kilometers of Lebanese waters within the economic zone, which represents 3 percent of the entire area of the economic zone of Lebanon," "as-Safir" Lebanese daily clarified.

PM noted that "the issue of the maritime borders will be discussed in government tomorrow in order to take the appropriate decision concerning the strategy to confront the "Israeli" ambitions and threats."

Makati's sources told "as- Safir" that during the meeting the prime minister would gave instructions to prepare a file to submit it to the U.N., after "Israel's" cabinet approved a map of the country's proposed maritime borders with Lebanon that conflicts significantly with those suggested by Lebanon in its own submission to the world body.

For his part, Energy and Water Minister Jebran Bassil hailed Wednesday's meeting at the Grand Serail as a "very important step."

"It reflects the importance of maritime borders and the keenness on Lebanon's right," he told the newspaper. "We asked during the tenure of the ex-PM Saad Hariri's government for such meetings more than seven times but no one met our request."

"We should immediately resort to the U.N. to confirm not only Lebanon's right to its oil and gas resources and the recognition of its maritime and economic borders but also to request it to respect its decisions and international law," Bassil said.

In the same context, Defense minister Fayez Ghosn informed "as-Safir " that "Lebanon will go to the end in the diplomatic battle to protect its marine rights that we won't compromise on," pointing out that the " "Israeli" attack on our marine sovereignty is a major assault that is no less dangerous than other attacks that affect the land and air."

"The government will follow up this file, and the Council of Ministers will take the appropriate position today. We will resort to the United Nations to expose the "Israeli" piracy as some people in Lebanon ask us to be committed to international institutions and decisions," Ghosn stressed.

"Israel" Toying with Fire

Meanwhile, senior Lebanese and "Israeli" military officials met Wednesday under the supervision of United Nations peacekeepers, in the first tripartite discussions since U.N. slammed "Israel" for using excessive force in Nakba Day.
Wide military sources told "as-Safir" that "the representative of the army Major General Abdul-Rahman Ahiteley informed the "Israeli" side that the line of maritime demarcation approved by the "Israeli" government is contrary to international law and forms a blatant assault on the rights and sovereignty of Lebanon."

"You are playing with fire, and what you're doing drag major problems and we will not accept what you are trying to impose, and the first step is to resort to international forums," Ahiteley stressed.

A UNIFIL statement said "during the meeting issues related to the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon's mandate were discussed, including the situation along the Blue Line, violations and incidents as well as the issue of withdrawal of "Israeli" forces from northern Ghajar,"

Speaking after Wednesday's discussions, UNIFIL force commander Maj. Gen. Alberto Asarta Cuevas said that relative calm had returned to south Lebanon in recent weeks.
"The situation in the area of operations is generally quiet and stable, with parties maintaining their commitment to the cessation of hostilities," he said.

Safadi Slams Hariri

On the internal political scene, Finance Minister Mohammed Safadi slammed on Wednesday former Prime Minister Saad Hariri's "inciting remarks" against PM Mikati and himself on Tuesday, saying they "will provoke people against each other in Tripoli and other areas."

"We had hoped that Hariri would have attended the parliament sessions to grant cabinet confidence instead of talking about in Paris through statements that don't reflect his position," said his press office in a statement.
"Hariri did not have to resort to inciting sectarian instincts in order to wage a campaign against Mikati and Safadi," it continued.

"Through such practices, he is tarnishing the legacy of his father all for uncovering the truth behind his assassination," he remarked.
"Hariri did not present an opposition plan to topple the government because he wants to do so through street action and not through parliament," the minister added.

"It's unfortunate that Hariri had made such offensive statements against Mikati and Safadi. We can overlook personal insults, but we will not allow Tripoli's dignity to be attacked," the statement said.
"Tripoli doesn't belong to anyone or the Sunni sect," it declared stressing that "just as no one is greater than his country, no one is greater than their sect."
"Despite their security implications, Hariri's statements of incitement against Mikati and Safadi also incite the residents of Tripoli and other areas against each other," it noted.

The statement added: "The history of Sunni leaders has never witnessed such remarks of incitement because the Sunnis don't discriminate against others."
"Lebanon is in need of asserting its national unity through words and actions and not base rhetoric that takes it several steps back," it concluded.

Appointments: Yes or NO?

On the other hand, the appointment of army intelligence Chief Abbas Ibrahim as the new head of General Security raised the appointments issue on the governmental meeting Thursday.

Sources from Hizbullah and the majority revealed to "as-Safir" that the results of the contacts to secure agreement on a proposed profile for the post of Director-General of Public Security, made great strides in the direction of keeping it within the Shiite share.

It was learned that President Michel Suleiman has not resolved its final position till overnight. However, Lebanese news paper reported that there is a critical decision within the new majority, including PM Mikati and MP Walid Jumblatt, regarding the necessity of the adoption of the first batch of proposed appointments as an integrated basket, without any partition.

In parallel, the global police agency Interpol issued on Wednesday Red Notices, or international wanted persons alerts concerning STL indictment.
Interpol said the names would be distributed to police forces but not made public at the request of the U.N.-backed court, although they have already been leaked in Beirut.

The identities of the suspects have been distributed to all 188 Interpol member states, whose police forces have been asked to assist in their arrest, a statement from the French-based agency said.