Security Prevails, Abbas to Beirut

Mariam Ali

The sunrise had a different sight.

The light beam which flashed out that day was brighter than ever. The waterfall's fantastic image declared that the Mujahedeen were there in every heart and in every house.

From Ayta, Maroun, Aynata, Taybe, Southern Suburbs of Beirut, and Bekaa the birds raised Azan calls out of the destroyed domes.

Once again, August 14 returned with all its brightness that covered the whole scene as the resistance children raised their victory waving fingers.

On the ruined houses, the resistance people erected tents on top of each a yellow flag tells the tale of a Divine Victory their Resistance has recorded.

Qassem: "Israel" Our Single Enemy, Full Stop

The anniversary was, is and will remain engraved in the Lebanese, Arab and Islamic world conscience for a long time while the defeat will continue to haunt the enemy, who could not after five years find a recipe to erase the taste of humiliating defeat.

"On this anniversary, we must redirect our compass to the "Israeli" enemy to know that it is after many hidden issues related to problems, dissension, and internal movements aimed at disturbing Lebanon," The Deputy Secretary General of Hizbullah His Eminence Sheikh Naim Qassem said.

In an interview with "as-Safir" Lebanese newspaper, Qassem stressed that "after the failure of the enemy to use the last paper that he expected to use in producing a solution to its situation a through the great aggression on July 2006, it has become clear that "Israel's" preparations were designed to eliminate Hizbullah and thus eliminating the resistance project, symbol, and project in Lebanon and the region."

Stressing that "Israel" is incapable of waging a new war, His Eminence told "as-Safir" that the Zionist entity is marred by problems on living conditions and economic hardships.

"Before the developments in the Arab region this year, the enemy was in a difficult situation and had not resolved its ability on a military confrontation with the Hizbullah," he clarified.

"Despite all the exercises conducted by the "Israeli" enemy which aimed at strengthening the internal civil front, it was unable to address the difference in the ability nor the capacity in development of July 2006, i.e. if we compare the enemy's capabilities and potentials in July to the resistance preparations during the same period, it is clear that Hizbullah is far beyond prepared and the enemy knows this well."

Emphasizing that the resistance was on the right track no matter how much Lebanon witnessed clashes among different political parties and no matter how critical the situation in the Arab world became, Qassem informed "as-Safir " that "we always stress Hizbullah's readiness because it is not linked to negative or positive political developments."

He assured that the developments in Syria will not affect Lebanon, which is characterized by the bond between the army, the people and the resistance. "I advise those who are betting that the changes in Syria will affect the resistance not to waste their time or wrongly mobilize their supporters."

When asked about President Michel Suleiman's invitation for national dialogue, Qassem said: "We support the dialogue to discuss the national defense strategy and we reject any preconditions and changes."

"Lebanon has a single enemy which is "Israel" and we should discuss the defense strategy to protect Lebanon in the appropriate way. Full stop," he said.

"It is time for all in Lebanon to put things on the right path by separating between two things: first, resolving the issue that our only enemy "Israel" and this requires being well prepared so that this enemy doesn't surprise us on one day. Second, that everyone moves to people's issues and domestic interests," His Eminence concluded.

Resistance Century Model, Raad: Our Guns towards "Israel"

On the anniversary, "as-Safir" reported American Studies that states "Hizbullah depends on a type of fighting that is based on the tactic of hide and seek the game keeping in mind that the hiding player has more options that the one who goes out to search for it."

"This allows Hizbullah to own a new advanced approach for guerrilla war which may be named as the century atheist having the most dangerous methods in the field of guerrilla war," the paper added.

For his part, head of Hizbullah's "Loyalty to Resistance bloc" MP Mohammed Raad stressed that "the resistance's guns will remain pointed at the "Israeli" enemy no matter how much we suffer harm domestically."

"We will only point our guns at the "Israeli" enemy, which is the enemy of the nation and humanity," Raad added.

The MP vowed that "this "Israeli" enemy, which we defeated in 2006, should not be given a chance neither now nor in the future to wage an aggression against Lebanon another time, and the enemy must know that the era of its wars against Lebanon is over."

"Today, war is not measured by the number of its days anymore, it would rather be a war that would decide the fate of the region and the "Israeli" enemy realizes this," Raad concluded.

Security on Top:

Moving to the internal Lebanese scene, three people belonging to "al-Marada" Movement were injured Sunday after men in a car shoot fire near the mansion of late former President Suleiman Franjieh in the mountain village of Ehden in Northern Lebanon.

Informed sources told "al-Akhbar" newspaper that 5 people were inside the car, and not two as was rumored by some media outlets."

"They were listening loudly to songs in support of the Lebanese Forces, and that as they passed in front of the palace, the guards asked them to lower the volume and walk away from the place but they refused and started firing on the palace," the source added.

Marada movement leader MP Suleiman Franjieh said in a statement later Sunday that the shooting near his grandfather's house should not be exaggerated and that the incident would not affect the tourism season in Ehden.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati telephoned Franjieh and followed with Interior Minister Marwan Charbel the investigation into the Ehden incident.
In a parallel security context, Lebanese Interior Minister Marwan Charbel announced that the officers and security members in Roumieh prison clearly neglected their duties when five inmates escaped over the weeken.

"This is proved and doesn't require any investigation," Charbel informed "as-Safir" newspaper.

Five inmates including "Fatah al-Islam" members escaped the prison by scaling down the building's walls with bed sheets before mixing with visiting relatives and walking out of the compound with them.

State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr ordered the arrest of two officers and nine guards on Sunday.

Stressing that the decision to punish all those responsible for the break out of the inmates has been taken, Charbel added that "right now we're probing whether or not any conspiracy occurred to facilitate the prisoners' escape."

"This time the escape happened in a more comfortable way, which raises many questions that should be answered through the investigation."

For his part, Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi told the Lebanese dailies that "he has asked the competent judicial authorities to continue their investigations until we obtain a clear image of what has happened and determine those who are responsible."

Qortbawi told "as-Safir" that the work is done on two levels; the first is through taking immediate and decisive measures to avoid any future attempts to escape from prison. While the second is through setting an integrated and comprehensive plan which allows transferring the authority of Lebanese prisons from the Interior Ministry to the Justice Ministry.

Noting that "prisoners should be treated as human beings who need rehabilitation and not just punishment, which requires a specialized and trained staff, "al-Akhbar" daily reported that "PM Mikati will head a meeting on Tuesday at the Grand Serail with the Interior and Justice Ministers to discuss ways to handle the prisons case."

Abbas in Beirut

Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who visits Beirut on Tuesday, is expecting that the Palestinian bid for United Nations recognition will receive a boost from Lebanon's taking over the presidency of the U.N. Security Council.

In an interview with "al-Liwaa" daily published Monday, Abbas hoped that "Lebanon would play an effective role in his bid for U.N. membership on September 20, despite "Israeli" opposition."

Diplomatic sources told "an-Nahar" daily that "Abbas' two day visit will be aimed at discussing with Lebanese officials the issue of Palestinian camps, armed bases outside the shantytowns and the improvement of the humanitarian conditions of refugees."

During his visit, Abbas will inaugurate the Palestinian embassy and hoist the flag after the Lebanese cabinet officially recognized the state of Palestine and approved to raise the level of diplomatic representation with it.

Sources: Lebanese Newspapers