Lebanese cabinet holds first session; President Suleiman calls ministers to cooperate and work

President Suleiman in Israel-Hezbollah prisoners' swap day assures working on liberating Shebaa farms & Kfar Shuba Hills

Israel informs US that Hezbollah turns Seneen Mount into military zone and rockets base

The celebration scene over the return of the five released prisoners was a first-degree national scene of unity between the Lebanese. The celebration was attended by political, party and spiritual leaders while very few only sent representatives on their behalf for different reasons. However, this did not have any undermining effect on this Lebanese scene of unity and solidarity confirming that this July achievement completes the achievements of the Resistance during the July War of 2006.

The atmosphere of celebration yesterday in Naqoura and Beirut International Airport prevailed over the memorial photo of the new reign’s first government, which the President of the Republic changed from the government of national unity to the government of “uniting national will”. The picture was taken in a hurry at the Presidential Palace after the constitution of a ministerial statement drafting committee, consisting of the following ministers: Elias Skaff, Tarek Mitri, Mohammad Fnaich, Fawzi Salloukh, Nassib Lahoud, Gebran Bassil, Wael Abou Faour, Youssef Takla and Mohammad Shatah, with a recommendation to complete the draft statement in the nearest time possible to be discussed and ratified during the first session of the Council of Ministers.

Despite the fact that the different members of the new government will be raising suggestions to be included within the items of the ministerial statement, the speeches of both the President of the Republic while receiving the released prisoners at the airport and the Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah made a considerable contribution to the efforts of the drafting committee by establishing most of the items and headlines, particularly after the political positions agreed to the approach to be used in reaching solutions for the political files, including Resolution 1701, relations with Syria, the defense strategy and other files that have always been classified as controversial up till yesterday.

The President of the Republic had indicated previously that the foundations of the ministerial statement would be inspired by the Document of National Accord at the Taef Agreement, the international law resolutions, the Security Council Resolution No. 1701, the resolutions of the National Dialogue of 2006 as well as the resolutions of the Arab Foreign Ministers in January 2008 and the oath speech. It is noteworthy that most of the items have already been stated in the “Memorandum of Understanding” signed between the Free Patriotic Movement and Hezbollah, except for certain unessential matters that came up after signing said memorandum.

Furthermore, the speech of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah stayed within the provisions of the “Memorandum of Understanding” with regard to their openness towards discussing the strategy of national defense and their willingness to discuss and resolve all the files, but adding one new position represented in asking everyone to contribute in defending and protecting the country, leaving a big impression of his openness and readiness for dialogue and understanding regarding all pending files, particularly after he focused on the point that “the government of national unity is not a tool for deceit, predominance or obstruction; it is rather an incentive for us to build Lebanon hand in hand”, consequently adopting every single point stated in the speech of the President of the Republic.

Accordingly, the basic headlines of the ministerial statement are almost ready, unless any of the members of the drafting committee comes forth and insists on approaches of personal backgrounds from outside the context of national agreement, particularly in comparing the arms of the Resistance parallel to the role of the Lebanese Army, for some look at the matter as having another army in spite of acknowledgments that a solution may be reached within the framework of the defense strategy, and the explicit opinion of the President of the Republic in this matter where he declared that the Shebaa Farms and Kfar Shuba Hills would be liberated using diplomatic means, and in case the diplomatic approach fails, then by means of military operations.

In this context, the Change and Reform Bloc leader, General Michel Aoun, confirmed that “there is no contradiction between the army and the Resistance” because “the matter of the resistance is settled within a national defense strategy as our vision has been since two years ago” … “and there is no contradiction between the spirit of patriotism and the Lebanese Army’s determination to defend the country and the prevailing spirit of the Resistance … when the only difference is in the method of fighting and not in its spirit or objectives”.

In brief, the consistent and compatible Lebanese scene, represented in the constitution of the government of national unity that coincided with the return of the prisoners from the Israeli prisons, is similar to the overall regional scene, represented in the progress of the negotiations on the Syrian-Israeli course under Turkish sponsorship, the advance towards the happy ending of the Palestinian-Israeli scene and Washington’s inclusion for the first time in the line of negotiations with Iran regarding its nuclear file, by means of its Under Secretary for Political Affairs, Nicolas Burns, … The important thing remains that the new government does not make any miscalculations.

Israel and Lebanon were making final preparations for a high-profile prisoner swap, with Hezbollah ready to celebrate what it hails as a major victory over its Israeli foes.

Israel is to free five Lebanese prisoners in exchange for two soldiers captured by Hezbollah in a deadly cross-border raid two years ago that triggered a devastating war in Lebanon.

It is also set to transfer to Lebanon the bodies of almost 200 Palestinian and Lebanese fighters, some from Hezbollah, as well as release a number of Palestinians under the swap mediated by a U.N.-appointed German diplomat.

Hezbollah plans a hero's welcome for its fighters, with celebratory banners and flags lining the main highway from the Israeli border at Naqoura to the southern port city of Sidon.

"We are a people who will not abandon our detainees in prison," reads one banner, taken from a pledge by Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. "Thanks to the weapons of the resistance, we will free our prisoners," says another.

The swap, which still requires final approval from the Israeli cabinet, is expected to take place with Red Cross supervision at around 0600 GMT at the Naqoura crossing point on the border.

The Lebanese daily As-Safir said: "In a few days, spring will come back... changing the cycle of the seasons."

Al-Akhbar, another pro-opposition daily, said the released prisoners were to appear in public in combat gear.

In contrast to Hezbollah's celebrations, the mood in Israel ahead of the swap is somber, reflecting the government's belief that the two captured servicemen -- Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev -- are dead.

An Israeli official said the exchange will take place after military authorities identify Regev and Goldwasser, either dead or alive.

Israeli cabinet ministers are expected to give final approval to the deal after being briefed by security officials on a Hezbollah report on the fate of Israeli airman Ron Arad, who went missing after his plane was shot down over Lebanon in 1986 during the civil war.

In its report, Hezbollah said Arad had died in captivity, but Israel remains skeptical.

Israel transferred four Lebanese detainees -- Khaled Zidan, Maher Kurani, Mohammed Sarur and Hussein Suleiman -- to another prison where they joined Samir Qantar, who is serving multiple life sentences for a triple murder in Israel in 1979.

A spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross said the ICRC was preparing to oversee the prisoner exchange.

"We will bring 11 Red Cross trucks from Jordan to transport the bodies and we will also interview the detainees before they are transferred to Lebanon," Yael Segev Eitan told AFP.

Lebanon is planning a welcoming ceremony in Naqoura, a security official said, adding that President Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and parliament speaker Nabih Berri would later greet the prisoners at Beirut airport.

Hezbollah is staging its own ceremony in its stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut, where a speech by Nasrallah is to be broadcast on a giant television screen.

In June, Hezbollah held celebratory ceremonies when Israel freed and then deported to Lebanon a convicted Hezbollah spy, Nessim Nisr, who had served six years in prison.

At the time, Hezbollah handed over the remains of Israeli soldiers in what was seen as a confidence-building measure.

Head of the Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun said that the Lebanese army and the Resistance are not on opposite sides

. “The Resistance protects the army, and the army protects the Resistance. The only difference is the method,” Aoun said.

“Honoring the detainees is a must,” he added, referring to the five Lebanese returning home as part of the Israel-Hezbollah prisoner swap. He expressed thanks to the negotiators, “who showed a high level of professionalism.”

“Today is a day of national unity,” Aoun said, adding that “Everything calls for optimism.”

“The issue of Hezbollah’s weapons will be dealt with by the defense strategy that was mentioned in the Memorandum of Understanding between the FPM and Hezbollah,” Aoun said.

Commenting on the newly-formed cabinet, Aoun said he hopes that all ministers will be up to handling their responsibilities.

British lawmakers voted to include the military wing of Lebanese-based group Hezbollah to Britain's list of banned terrorist organizations, charging it supported terror activities in Iraq and the Palestinian territories.

The action by the House of Commons would make it a crime to join or support the military wing of the radical group, which fought a bloody month-long conflict with Israel two years ago.

Britain's minister in charge of fighting terrorism Tony McNulty charged that the movement was linked to insurgent groups in Iraq that had attacked coalition soldiers.

"I can say unequivocally that Hezbollah's military wing is providing active support to Shia militant groups in Iraq," he said.

The ban passed the chamber unopposed. The measure will take effect with the House of Lords expected approval later this week.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown had told lawmakers earlier this month that he wanted to add the military wing of the organization to a list of banned terrorist organizations.

Britain lists 45 groups as banned international terrorist organizations, including al-Qaida and the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK. Hezbollah's external security organization has been listed since 2001.

McNulty insisted that Hezbollah's social and political work in Britain will be unaffected, but the ban will place tight limits on fundraising.

Economic developments in 2006 were significantly affected by the July-August conflict with Israel. Real GDP is estimated to have been flat, with strong growth in the first half of the year offset by the disruptions during and after the conflict. Inflation increased, mainly reflecting supply shortages during the conflict and the ensuing blockade. Financial pressures associated with the conflict were managed effectively owing to the banking system's strong liquidity position. Immediately after the conflict, donors pledged US$1.7 billion for relief and recovery (including at the Stockholm conference in August 2006), with disbursements in 2006 roughly offsetting the immediate fiscal costs of the conflict.

Nonetheless, the overall fiscal deficit increased in 2006 because of rising interest expenditures and higher than expected transfers to the power company, Electricité du Liban. Government debt rose to over US$40 billion (178 percent of GDP) at end-2006.

The economic situation continues to be overshadowed by the political stalemate and episodes of violence, including the assassination of a member of parliament in June 2007 and a fifteen-week long battle between the army and Fatah al-Islam militants in northern Lebanon. In this environment, economic activity, including tourism, remains subdued, and real GDP is expected to rebound only slowly in 2007. Inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index declined through mid-2007 from its 2006 peak, notwithstanding the depreciation of the U.S. dollar to which the currency is pegged. Trade flows have recovered from the near- standstill during and after the conflict, with the trade deficit in the first half of 2007 deteriorating slightly relative to the same period in 2006.

The financial system has remained resilient to the political uncertainty. Owing to moderate capital inflows and slow deposit growth as well as limited donor disbursements, international reserves declined by US$300 million to US$11 billion in the first quarter. However, deposit growth accelerated subsequently, and by end-June broad money was already 4½ percent higher than prior to the conflict with Israel, with international reserves more than recovering to US$11.6 billion at end-June 2007. Still, the political deadlock has increased risks, as reflected by Eurobond spreads of 495 basis points as of end-August and deposit dollarization of around 76 percent, significantly higher than prior to the 2006 conflict. The recent turbulence in international financial markets has not had, up to now, a significant impact on Lebanon. While spreads have increased by around 80 basis points between mid-July and mid-August, there has been no pressure on the currency, and deposit inflows have remained robust, though at a more moderate pace than in the second quarter.

On another hand, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed a prisoner swap between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah amid Palestinian and Lebanese national consensus on celebrating the event. According to the swap deal, the bodies of 199 Arab resistance fighters, thought to be mostly Palestinian, who were killed in decades of conflict with the Israeli occupying power, will be taken in a convoy to Beirut where some will be buried in the Martyrs Cemetery.

The exchange was mediated over the past 18 months by a U.N.-appointed German official and began in the morning with the return of the two Israeli soldiers in simple black coffins.

Exhumed from numbered graves in a cemetery in northern Israel, the dead include the Palestinian freedom fighter Dalal al-Mughrabi, of Fatah.

Mughrabi became a prominent symbol of the Palestinians’ fight for statehood. Her body was received with military honors by Hezbollah — a fighting force which did not even exist when the 20-year-old law student and her team of Palestinian fedayeen (guerrillas) sailed from Lebanon to Israel in small rubber boats. They landed on a beach in northern Israel, where they were shot dead in a confrontation with the IOF troops.

Born in Beirut to a Lebanese mother and a Palestinian father, Mughrabi led a secret life as a guerrilla in late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement. Before leaving the family home for the last time, she handed her mother a portrait photo of herself.

“She said ‘take this picture’. I felt great sadness and distress. I asked myself ‘why has she brought me this,’?” said her mother, 70-year-old Aminah Ismail. “As she got further away she kept looking back and waving goodbye. She crossed the road and she was still waving to me.”

Mughrabi’s body was accompanied by the remains of three other members of the raiding party whose attack triggered Israel’s 1978 invasion of south Lebanon — territory controlled by Palestinian factions at the time.

“She had wanted to be in Palestine — her country,” Ismail said, explaining her daughter’s wish to be buried within the borders of mandate Palestine. “But this is also her country,” Ismail told Reuters.

The Islamist Palestinian movement Hamas said a prisoner swap between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah was a "victory for the resistance."

"Hamas considers the exchange of prisoners between Hezbollah and the Israeli occupation to be a great victory for the resistance and Hezbollah," spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement.

"It proves that a useful way to liberate prisoners from the jails of the occupation is to capture Zionist soldiers, since the occupation refuses to release prisoners and keeps arresting more of them," it added.

The reaction came as Israel and Hezbollah were in the process of exchanging the remains of two Israeli soldiers captured in 2006 for five Lebanese prisoners and the remains of some 200 Lebanese and Palestinian fighters.

The capture of the two soldiers in a deadly cross-border raid in 2006 sparked a 34-day Lebanon war that killed some 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and some 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

Hamas, which has ruled the impoverished Gaza Strip since seizing power in June 2007, has for months been negotiating a similar exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, captured in a June 2006 raid.

It has demanded the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Shalit, including several veteran fighters accused of carrying out deadly attacks on Israelis.

Hamas vowed to "exert every effort to free our prisoners" and said Israel bore sole responsibility for delaying Shalit's return to his family.

Isma'il Haniyeh, Prime Minister of the Hamas de facto government in Gaza, visited Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, to congratulate Um Jabir Washah, the adoptive mother of Samir Al-Quntar, over his imminent release.

Al-Quntar, who has been in prison since 1979 for the killing of three Israelis, is due to be released as part of the prisoner swap between Hezbollah and Israel. His release was one of Hezbollah's key demands in the negotiations to secure the deal

Um Jabir became Al-Quntar's adoptive mother when her son was imprisoned in the same jail as the Lebanese militant. After her son was released, Um Jabir continued to visit Al-Quntar, providing him with the support usually reserved for a real son.

The Palestinian organization, Detainees' Support, also distributed sweets in the streets of Gaza City in celebration of the prisoner swap. Families of Palestinian prisoners still being held also expressed their happiness over the prisoners swap and declared the hope that their sons would soon be released in a similar deal with Israel.