Hizbullah in Moscow, STL Last in Budget, Strikes Loom

Here you are like a rebellious olive tree with a raised forehead.

Here you remain with a white heart, red blood, and green grass. Here or there you are the title of every pain and every triumph.

It is you Palestine.

Today, you wrote with your sun's rays, sea's strands, and extended breeze the ultimate dignity on your shore's sand: a type of dignity that was mingled with the taste of pride and odor of freedom achieved only by resistance.

Palestine from its river to its sea passing by al-Quds wore its wedding dress while a small child slept dreaming of a day on which the dawn of liberation rises on land, people, and more than 6000 prisoners who remained in jail as the wrinkles of his grandmother narrates to him that the dream's road starts and ends with resistance.

Lebanon Hails Palestinian Victory

Joy and tears governed the Palestinian as well as the Arab and Islamic scene Wednesday following the historic release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners freed in exchange for the captive "Israeli" soldier Gilad Shalit held in Gaza Strip.
Of 477 prisoners set free, 27 were women. More than twice as many went to Gaza as to the West Bank, while around 40 were flown from Cairo to exile in Turkey, Syria or Qatar. Under the deal, a further 550 will be liberated in the coming months.

In Lebanon, Lebanese from across the political spectrum hailed Tuesday's "Loyalty of the Free" swap as a victory for Palestinians against Zionist policy of aggression.
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said that ""Israel" should learn from the prisoner swap that its policy of aggression will fail and bring instability to the region."

For his part, Prime Minister Najib Mikati viewed that "the release of prisoners should be regarded as both a humanitarian and political accomplishment."

"This is a political lesson that the policy of aggression adopted by "Israel" cannot last or achieve its objectives and "Israel" must eventually surrender to a just and righteous cause," Mikati said.

Both Suleiman and Mikati telephoned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to congratulate him on the release of prisoners.
Hizbullah also hailed the Palestinian victory achieved by Hamas:

"The prisoners swap between Hamas and the "Israeli" entity is the fruit of the blood and sacrifices of the resistance fighters, and so resistance in Lebanon, Palestine and elsewhere in the Arab and Islamic worlds proved its success in retrieving the land and liberating its detainees," Hizbullah said in its statement.

"Loyalty to Resistance bloc" MP Ali Ammar congratulated the choice of resistance for this new victory.

Gov't Discussing Budget: STL Last

On the internal scene, the government began Tuesday discussing the 2012 draft state budget, avoiding as expected the issue of financing the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

"This item is mentioned in the draft budget which was presented by the finance minister. It will be addressed by the means proposed by each minister," Information minister Walid Daouq said after the meeting.

Tuesday's session, headed by President Michel Suleiman at Baabda palace, was the first in a series of meetings that the government will hold to discuss the budget drafted by Finance Minister Mohammed Safadi.

Noting that the government was 100 days old Tuesday, Suleiman acknowledged that "this is a good occasion to review achievements it has made. The basic and most important issue is the stability the country is enjoying."

Mikati said that "during its 100 days in office, the government has defined the Exclusive Economic Zone and approved a $1.2 billion plan to develop the electricity sector."

Describing the session as calm and quiet, ministerial sources informed "as-safir" Lebanese daily that "the ministers would likely tackle the STL funding after discussing all other articles in the draft budget, particularly that PM Mikati knows that the issue won't be approved either through consensus or through voting."

"Some ministers might propose to withdraw the article from the draft budget," they added noting that "despite the calm that prevailed during Tuesday's session, the debate would rage as discussions focus on the VAT hike."

In parallel, "Change and Reform" bloc leader MP Michel Aoun noted that a law in the STL stipulates that foreign powers can fund the tribunal if Lebanon fails to do so.

Rejecting to fund the STL, Aoun said that there is no crisis concerning this issue.
"Are the funds being paid according to the rules? We will question them if they place an article on funding the tribunal in the state budget," he stressed.

"It's unacceptable to approve funds whose fate we don't know and there are several projects that we will review," Aoun said.
A

oun Tuesday held talks with former PM Omar Karami at the latter's residence in Beirut, in the presence of Energy and Water Minister Gibran Bassil and Sports and Youth Minister Faisal Karami.

A statement issued after the meeting said the conferees discussed "the economic and social issues, topped by the issues of state budget and wage hike."

For his part, Aoun told reporters after the talks that "communication is necessary in order to coordinate the stances concerning the current situations."

Teachers' Strike? Hizbullah in Moscow

Meanwhile, the Union Coordination Committee, which includes teachers' unions and leagues in the public and private sectors in addition to civil servants, is staging a sit-in in front of the Serail Wednesday.

Separately, Education Minister Hassan Diab continued talks with the League of Lebanese University professors over their demand for a salary raise.

Receiving a delegation from the league, headed by its chair Charbel Kfoury, Diab called on professors to make proposals that could move dialogue forward.
In another context, a Hizbullah delegation arrived in Moscow Wednesday in the first official visit to the Russian capital.

Head of the "Loyalty to the Resistance" bloc MP Mohammad Raad headed the delegation that included MP Hassan Fadlallah and MP Nawwar al-Sahili.
The delegation will discuss with Russian officials the bilateral relations, issues of common interest and the developing situation in the region, mainly in Lebanon.

"As-Safir" remarked that the visit is of a parliamentary nature, as the Russian parliament is the side that invited Hizbullah's delegation.

The newspaper reported that the delegation will reiterate the resistances' role in protecting Lebanon, and the continuous efforts by the west to hit the resistance forces and to control decision-making in the region, in an attempt to control its natural resources and abilities.