Suleiman Stresses Rights, Electricity Shines the Parliament
Some of the Arabs might have needed what was left of Palestine to discover the extent of their weakness.
Some of the breathless behind White House gestures needed Palestine to uncover the mask of the so-called international justice.
Maybe they were in need of a slap from the palm of the New "Israeli" First Ambassador-US President Barack Obama to discover that the Arab Spring roses are only a part of a play in which the wolf eats buds of dreams that have not opened yet.
Palestine into UNSC
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is to present today his apply to become a UN member state despite Obama's declaration that Washington is to use veto against the Palestinian State.
Last minute behind-the-scenes wrangling continued in New York, with a meeting of the Middle East Quartet dragging on late into Thursday night in an effort to prevent the Palestinian step.
In the same context, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman who chaired the Security Council meeting on preventive diplomacy Thursday will chair another meeting later
Friday, during which the Palestinian bid for full UN membership will be put to a vote.
Suleiman announced that prevention of conflicts requires the implementation of the binding resolutions issued by the UN Security Council.
Upon Lebanon's heading to the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council, Suleiman stressed that dialogue, communication and tolerance are the best way in confronting extremism and bigotry," calling to strengthen "the culture of peace in order to prevent conflicts."
"The issuance of UNSC Resolution 1701 formed a necessary measure in order to stop the devastative war, and the Security Council should halt "Israel's" threats and violations and force it to withdraw from the occupied Lebanese territories," he emphasized.
Addressing world leaders, Suleiman noted that "the conflict between Lebanon and "Israel" wouldn't have escalated following the UN Security Council resolution 425 in 1978 ... and the resistance wouldn't have fought against the "Israeli" occupation, if the UN had forced "Israel" to comply with its resolutions."
Concerning Lebanon's Exclusive Zone, "as-Safir" Lebanese newspaper reported that a Lebanese delegation met with the UN Secretary-General Assistant for Legal Affairs, Patricia O'Brien while President Suleiman raised the same subject in his meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Electricity Shines on Both Sides
In the internal scene, electricity lightened the Lebanese hope in a better future as the Parliament approved the electricity bill.
Ending six weeks of political wrangling, the Parliament took only minutes to pass the bill calmly.
The law is designed to boost Lebanon's electricity supply by 700 MW to end the chronic power shortage.
"This is the achievement of the energy minister and his team, along with Parliament which endorsed the bill; it is a victory for all the Lebanese and all those who want electricity," "Change and Reform bloc" Leader Michel Aoun said.
Addressing a news conference later at the Energy Ministry, Energy Minister Jibran Bassil, described the unanimous vote as "a great achievement," and dismissed accusations by "March 14".
"The bill passed without deals ... and exposed the lies of the other side which claimed that the bill lacked transparency," Bassil said.
"They initially objected to the cost of the bill but endorsed it, what changed?" he asked.
High level political sources informed "al-Akhbar" daily that the "Change and Reform Bloc" is to move soon to research the judiciary and regulatory bodies' appointments as the electricity file came to happy ending.
"In the end, the majority managed to prove it in both the parliament and the government, which has been the first target of the opposition first," "as-Safir" daily commented.
"The Lebanese are now able to celebrate the electricity plan approved by Parliament Thursday, a plan which was lost for two decades in the midst of the mafias' oil and electricity considerations," "as-Safir" added.
"If Mikati's government has registered an achievement in history, the magic solution offered by Berri made everyone meet halfway on the road," it sressed.
Berri: Oil after Electricity
For his part, House Speaker Nabih Berri voiced relief over the approval on energy law.
"The energy law is now behind us and we have ahead of us the oil exploration file that will be our priority in the coming days," Berri told "an-Nahar" newspaper.
"The United Nations informed Lebanon that it would assign experts to help it with the oil exploration issue," he said revealing that "Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour, who is currently in New York, will meet with his Cypriot counterpart and discuss demarcating the maritime borders."
Similarly, "National Struggle Front" leader MP Walid Jumblatt said that the energy law was approved thanks to the efforts made by House Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Najib Mikati.
In an interview with "al-Jumhuriya" newspaper, Jumblatt acknowledged that "the rule of the law triumphed with the government's decision,"
Asked whether he congratulates the Lebanese people on the energy law, Jumblatt said that, "it's all about the implementation of the law. But at least, some restrictions were added for the management and the supervision of the project."
MPs also passed an urgent law proposal to subsidize taxi drivers for gasoline and diesel prices, by paying them the equivalent of the price of 250 liters of gasoline or diesel once a month over a period of three months.
The government has promised that, after the three-month period, there would be other means to address the demands of taxi drivers.
Smuggling Toxic Uncovered
In parallel, smuggling operation attempting to bring in toxic pesticides into Lebanon was uncovered at Beirut port on Thursday.
Minister of Agriculture Hussein al-Hajj Hassan, in collaboration with the customs directorate, intelligence bureau, and port security, uncovered the smuggling of Methyl Bromide.
"An international decision was taken to limit the consumption of this substance and Lebanon should terminate its use of Methyl Bromide by 2015," he stressed.
Noting that "the substance is permitted to be used in Lebanon within certain restrictions and there are only two companies licensed to use it," Hassan revealed that "the smuggling operation sought to import the pesticide through a nonexistent company."
An investigation has been launched to uncover the sides behind the operation.
"There are several problems in this matter and cooperation is ongoing with all the security forces," Hassan emphasized.
At another level, second round of discussions between rival Maronite leaders and lawmakers kicks off in Bkirki on Friday to discuss suggestions for a new electoral law.
Source: Lebanese newspapers, Translated and Edited by moqawama.org
