60% of Lebanese: STL Politicized, Asarta Proposes UNIFEL A Maritime Mediator

There, in Byblos where the mosque salutes daily the surrounding churches they tried to agitate sectarian strife. There, where the first letters of coexistence are embedded in hearts as well on every ancient stone they held the religion flag to achieve cheap political greeds. But, there where love and respect is the language they found no place to avenge their political defeat.

All "March 14" came out to attack Hizbullah. They used everything in their strategic stock. Their media used all methods of incitement. To them, Lhasa has become an armed center and a security square.

Lhasa: End of Claims

The follow-up committee that emerged from the recent broad Maronite meeting in Bkirki on Wednesday put an end to all claims.

The conferees reached an agreement under which the committee tasked with surveying lands would resume its work in two months and the two sides would halt provocative media statements.

The meeting, which was chaired by Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi, was attended by Hizbullah official Ghaleb Abu Zainab and Hassan al-Moqdad.

Change and Reform bloc MP Simon Abi Ramia, who is a member of the follow-up committee, told NTV television that "the issue of Lhasa was blown out of proportion by the media."

"The dispute erupted in the 1940s and the property is neither Maronite nor Shiite and there is a committee that will follow up on the issue transparently and clearly and we have set a timeframe for finalizing the issue of the land survey," Abi Ramia added, stressing that "things are back to normal."

Gov't Approves Iranian Energy MOU

Away from the political pressure that will not feed hungry mouths, government achieved a breach in the citizen's life domain after the recent basket of appointments.
The government on Wednesday approved the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Lebanon's energy and Water ministry and Iran's oil ministry which opens a broad prospect for Lebanon to take advantage of the Islamic Republic possibilities.

The MOU includes "a cooperation agreement in the field of energy worth $50 million," al-Manar television reported.
During the government's session, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Najib Mikati urged ministers to address the socio-economic needs of the Lebanese and combat growing inflation.
Speaking to ministers during the government meeting at Baabda Palace, Suleiman described the government as an "efficient team" and urged ministers to address issues pertaining to the daily lives of the Lebanese.

Suleiman also stressed the need to combat inflation and swiftly carry out a number of pending administrative appointments based on merit and according to the procedure already approved by the government.

After its third meeting Thursday, the Lebanese government enters a week of vacation parallel to the start of Holly Ramadan to resume its sessions on the second of August at ten-thirty in the morning, and on its agenda "heavy files" more than one minister informed "as-Safir" Lebanese newspaper.
"An-Nahar" daily learned that Mikati will hold a meeting Thursday morning with State Minister for Administration Reform Mohammad Fneish to lay out the groundwork that will be adopted in the next batch of public appointments.

"Mikati and Fneish are set to discuss a mechanism for top public posts to fill 65 vacant jobs - 27 positions for Christians, 28 for Muslims, one for minorities and five governors' posts as well as newly established positions," "an-Nahar" added.
Moreover, Information published Thursday in "al-Joumhouria" Lebanese newspaper indicates that Mikati plans to refer the issue of "false witnesses" issue to the Judicial Council in accordance with a plan prepared by Justice Minister Shakik Qortbawi in a first practical step.

Saniora Responds, Berri Appoints Sessions

Meanwhile, the debate over the president's call to revive dialogue sessions among the country's rival factions continued to rage.
Head of Future Parliamentary Bloc ex-Prime Minister Fouad Saniora stated on Wednesday that "the call that Hizbullah's arms be the only issue at the national dialogue table cannot be considered as a precondition as this is the only issue left to be discussed at the table."

Saniora defended the bloc's call for the Arab League's participation at the dialogue, saying that "this was agreed upon by all the concerned sides prior to holding the talks."

"Hizbullah's arms is the only pending issue out of a number of matters proposed by Berri during his press conference on March 3, 2006, so why is he questioning our demand to return to his suggestions?" wondered Saniora's statement.
House Speaker Nabih Berri criticized Wednesday the Future statement noting: "The bloc had long considered dialogue to be the best way to solve disputes."
Furthermore, Berri stressed that Lebanon is determined to defend its rights and it will not tolerate the violation of its land, water or oil wealth.
Declaring during Wednesday's parliamentary meeting that Lebanon will confront any "Israeli" attempt to take advantage of Lebanon's maritime border and offshore resources, MPs quoted Berri as saying "Lebanon should speed up the decree of the demarcation of its maritime border."
Earlier on Wednesday, the speaker called for a parliamentary session on August 3 and 4 at 10:30 am.

Concerning the electoral law, Berri said that parliament is working on a draft law that will be issued during the August 3 parliamentary session.
"The MPs revealed that the speaker had called on the government to change the mechanism that was adopted by previous governments." "as-Safir" Lebanese daily reported.

"The government should specify the basis that this election system is based on and form a specialized committee to reach a law agreed upon by the concerned sides," Berri stated.

Asarta: UNIFIL A Maritime Mediator

Parallel to calls to protect Lebanese maritime borders and resources, United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon Commander Major General Alberto Asarta revealed that he suggested that the international force act as a mediator between Lebanon and "Israel" in demarcating the maritime border.

"Al-Akhbar" Lebanese newspaper published on Thursday an interview with Asarta in which he hopes that "this issue will be resolved during his tenure and that efforts would be made to completely designate the Blue Line as well."
Asarta uncovered that he presented his proposal during the recent tripartite meeting between Lebanon, "Israel" and UNIFIL at Ras al-Naqoura.

Stressing that "by December, 80 percent of the markers would have been set on the Blue Line with the remainder being disputed territory with "Israel", Asarta denied claims that the international troops are seeking to decrease the number of its units.

Away from Russia, the "National struggle Front " Leader MP Walid Jumblatt said on Wednesday that Lebanon is committed to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon's decisions, adding however "that this does not mean that foreign meddling in Lebanon is permitted."

After holding talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during his ongoing visit to Moscow, the MP noted that some sides in Lebanon, including Hizbullah, view the STL as a conspiracy against them, pointing out that "these powers are also part of the Lebanese government."
Earlier on Wednesday, the MP stressed after holding talks with Deputy Russian Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov that dialogue is necessary in resolving disputes in Lebanon and Syria, reported Moscow News.

Poll: STL Politicized

In the same STL context, an opinion poll conducted by the Beirut Center for Research and Information and published by "al-Akhbar" daily shows that the majority of the Lebanese believe that the Special Tribunal of Lebanon is politicized.

According to the poll, which dealt with the confidence of the Lebanese to the independence of the international tribunal, nearly two-thirds felt that the issuance of the indictment is deliberately to coincide with the adoption of the ministerial statement, while 64% considered that the indictment's leaks in media along the past two years puts the credibility of the court in doubt.

It is worth mentioning that 46% of Sunni respondents had this view while more than 60% considered that General Prosecutor Bellemare's dealing with evidences presented by the Secretary General of Hizbullah His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was not professional.

Survey was conducted between 13 and July 16, 2011 including a sample of 800 pollsters. The survey adopted a statistical methodology that notes sectarian and regional distribution in addition to different age groups from both sexes.

On the question of the stakeholders in Hariri's assassination, the majority of the respondents accused "Israel" and US while only 13.8% accused Hizbullah and Syria.

The survey also showed that the majority of respondents felt that the forces in support of the tribunal aimed to achieve political ends and not justice.