Heavy Bomb in Sidon, Ki-Moon in Beirut
After decades on what it called US war against terrorism, specifically al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, quibbles turned into pieces of a puzzle that draws the international image.
On the same issue, "as-Safir" quoted the top US counterterrorism official Daniel Benjamin admitting that "there are sympathetic groups to al-Qaeda in Lebanon."
It is politics: a game of bets, accounts and international interests. And in the international game where everything is allowed and there are no red lines or real commitments, facts are unfolded on major shifts titled: who rules the world.
Washington will begin a dialogue with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Qatar is to host the first political office of the movement.
As more than decade passed, what was alleged concerning war on terrorism turned with time to a sought alliance with al-Qaeda and the real target is: controlling the region after the resounding defeat of Uncle Sam in Iraq.
In Syria, where international observers found no effect of what was said about serious violations, the battle turned into a war of wills through which the regime proves day after day that the West's and some Arabs' bets are merely wrong.
This comes as Lebanese political scene is moving on many fronts perhaps the most notable ones are both oil and al-Qaeda.
Lebanon Moves into Oil
Finally, the Lebanese government recorded a great achievement resembled by approving Wednesday the executive decrees for the law on oil excavation in Lebanon's territorial waters.
The approval of the decrees would open the door for the Prime Minister Najib Mikat's government to draw tenders to start oil exploration off the Lebanese coast.
After the session, acting Information minister Wael Abou Faour informed reporters that "the decrees include the financial and administrative regulations as well as organization of employment in the sector, as recommended by the relevant panel."
For his part, Energy and Water minister Gebran Bassil considered that "with the governmental adoption of decrees, Lebanon has crossed a basic station concerning oil exploration."
In an interview with "as-Safir" Lebanese daily, Bassil hailed the effort of his ministry by saying "the issuance of oil excavation decrees is the culmination of the ministry's efforts over a year and the working of the competent Committee for three months."
"The new challenge now lies in the appointment of the governing body of the oil sector during a maximum of a month, and the launch of tenders for drilling in three months," he added.
Stressing the importance of the government's keeping of the track, the minister noted that "in the appropriate time we will talk about quantities."
"I assure the Lebanese that there is a nice surprise waiting for them at the oil's level, in sea and land," he concluded.
Similarly, Lebanese House Speaker Nabih Berri congratulated Lebanon on the oil step.
"Congratulations to Lebanon... And we wish that this will lead to happy endings. We have now entered a phase of work on sub-contractions, and we must intensify our efforts to compensate the lost time."
Qahwagi Informed of al-Qaeda, US: Sympathetic Lebanese Groups
Meanwhile, the Defense minister Fayez Ghosn information regarding the infiltration of al-Qaeda members from Lebanon to Syria is still governing the Lebanese political debate.
"AL-Akhbar" daily confirmed Thursday that "the Commander of the Lebanese Army General John Qahwagi had information about the infiltration of terrorists from Syria to Lebanon through the Bekaa town of Arsal."
"A member of al-Qaeda was monitored and arrested by the army before Arsal people intervened by force i.e. they surrounded Lebanese army members and succeeded in smuggling this person," "al-Akhbar" reported.
Stressing that the army knew that "the price of Kalashnikov has risen from $ 500 to 1000," the paper unveiled that the "army arrested some of the arms smugglers as it was well aware of the ease of crossing the river from Northern Lebanon to Syria."
"We certainly know that there have been sympathetic groups to al-Qaeda in Lebanon for many years," he added.
Recalling the Lebanese army battle with Fatah al-Islam, the official asserted that "it is certainly true that there have been elements like that in Lebanon over the years."
"Whether that had anything to do with what's going on in Syria is another matter entirely," Benjamin noted.
Bomb in Sidon
At another security level, a 6 kg TNT bomb was found and detonated overnight in the parking lot of a business center in this southern Sidon city.
The bomb was discovered around 10:00 p.m. Wednesday in the parking lot of Hijazi Center in Sidon's Quds Square.
"The parking space lies near the building where Sheikh Maher Hammoud resides," "as-Safir" mentioned.
Security forces and Lebanese Army sealed off the area around the center as bomb disposal experts detached the detonator that was primed to trigger an explosion.
"The bomb that weighed around 6 kg was connected to a mobile phone and was found in a box," the daily confirmed.
Ki-Moon in Beirut
In parallel, United Nation's Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon is expected to visit Lebanon for three days starting from the 13th of the current month.
While "as-Safir" mentioned that UNIFIL and renewal of Special tribunal for Lebanon are on top of Ki-moon's agenda, sources informed "an-Nahar" that "Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn's revelations concerning al-Qaeda and the contradictory statements made by officials later on, have forced Ban to discuss with the Lebanese officials about a request to demarcate the border in accordance with UN Security Council resolution 1680."
Source: Lebanese newspapers, Translated and Edited by moqawama.org
