Ain-Al-Yaqeen - September 1, 2006

		September 1, 2006

ANOTHER BATCH OF SAUDI RELIEF SENT TO LEBANON.
KOFFI ANNAN CONTINUES HIS MIDDLE EASTERN TOUR WITH A SERIES OF MEETINGS IN ISRAEL, GAZA, JORDAN AND SYRIA.
THE KING OF JORDAN STRESSES THE UN RESPONSIBILITIES IN SUPPORTING THE PEACE PROCESS AND OLMERT INSISTS ON HIS CONDITIONS TO LIFT THE BLOCKADE ON LEBANON.
SANIORA POINTS OUT TO A COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAMME TO REBUILD LEBANON AND EXPECTS THAT THE BLOCKADE WILL SOON BE LIFTED.
PRESIDENT JACQUES CHIRAC WARNS OF THE RESULTS OF THE ISRAELI BLOCKADE.

Saudi popular campaign for relief of Lebanese people continued distribution of thousands of food rations in Lebanon's Bekka region.

A new batch of trucks coming from Saudi Arabia and carrying various relief supplies has crossed Syrian Lebanese borders.

These relief efforts are part of the campaign by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz to help the Lebanese people.

The Saudi field hospital in Lebanon continued provision of health care to the Lebanese.

Since opening about a month ago, the hospital has received 21,000 patients, director of the hospital Dr. Saud Alomani told Saudi Press Agency.

The hospital was set up in Lebanon by an order by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz.

On the other hand UN chief Kofi Annan urged Israel to end its crippling blockade of war-devastated Lebanon, but failed to extract any public promise for an immediate halt to the near seven-week siege.

Annan also demanded the release of two soldiers whose capture sparked Israel's deadly offensive against Hezbollah, and said a full implementation of the UN resolution that brokered a cease-fire could lead to a "durable peace" between the two countries.

"The blockade should be lifted," Annan told a news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on the second leg of a Middle East tour intended to underpin a UN-brokered truce that ended the 34-day conflict.

"It is important not only because of the economic effect it is having on the country but it is important to strengthen the democratic government of Lebanon with which Israel has repeatedly said it had no problems," he said.

Annan had described the air and sea blockade of Lebanon, still in place despite an Aug. 14 cease-fire, as a "humiliation." It has undermined an economy which imports 85 percent of its consumer goods. Petrol stations are still experiencing shortages and some stores are unable to restock their shelves.

Olmert said however that Israel would only lift the blockade as part of a full implementation of UN Resolution 1701 which calls for Israeli troops to withdraw from south Lebanon along with the deployment of the Lebanese Army and an enlarged UN peacekeeping force. "As far as we are concerned we entirely accept that it is a fixed menu and that everything will be implemented, including the lifting of the blockade as part of the entire implementation," Olmert said.

His government has said the blockade would only end after international forces and the Lebanese Army deploy fully in southern Lebanon and along the Syrian border to stop arms smuggling to Hezbollah.

Olmert nonetheless expressed hope for direct contacts between his government and Beirut.

"We certainly hope the conditions will change rapidly in order to allow direct contact between the government of Israel and the government of Lebanon in order to hopefully soon reach an agreement between the two countries."

Annan voiced a similar hope for peace between Israel and Lebanon, which have had no relations since the creation of the Jewish state in 1948.

"The full implementation of 1701 gives us a foundation and a basis on moving forward and settling the differences between Israel and Lebanon once and for all, and establishing a durable peace," he said.

But Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who has accused Israel of waging crimes against humanity against his country and trying to push it back 50 years, was critical of Israel. "Lebanon will be the last Arab country that could sign a peace agreement with Israel," Siniora told a news conference in Beirut.

"There will be no agreement with Israel before there is a global peace deal that is just and lasting." Siniora added that there had been no "direct or indirect" contacts with Israel on a peace agreement following the monthlong conflict.

At least 1,287 people in Lebanon, nearly all of them civilians, were killed during the conflict as well as 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

Annan expressed sympathy for the loss of life on both sides, saying "it is high time that civilians in this part of the world are allowed to live in peace and dignity."

He said he expected a swift doubling in size of the existing UN force, which Resolution 1701 foresees swelling to an eventual 15,000. "We have about 2,500 troops on the ground and we're trying to get 5,000 in the coming days and weeks," by which time Israel can withdraw from Lebanon.

UN chief Kofi Annan demanded an immediate end to the offensive in Gaza as nine Palestinians were killed by Israeli troops, taking the toll to more than 200 killed in two months.

Eight people died in the Shejaiya neighborhood of Gaza City, where Israeli soldiers have been operating since late Saturday in the latest thrust of a wider assault designed to retrieve a captured soldier and fight Palestinians.

They included a 14-year-old boy shot in the chest, two men in their 30s also shot and five others who died from tank fire, medical officials said.

The operation is part of a two-month Israeli offensive in the territory that has targeted fighters but killed scores of civilians and left Gaza riddled with electricity shortages after its power plant was bombed.

Although Palestinian medical sources said most of those killed yesterday were civilians, the Israeli Army said its troops only opened fire in response to attacks, admitting that forces were coming under heavy attack.

"I know of four different incidents in which gunmen either fired anti-tank missiles or they were approaching the forces," a spokeswoman said.

She said troops were operating in Shejaiya to "destroy terror infrastructure" and that everything the military did in the Gaza Strip is to create the right conditions for the return of Cpl. Gilad Shalit. Yesterday's deaths bring to 19 the number of Palestinians killed in the Shejaiya neighborhood since Israeli tanks and troops rolled in.

At least 204 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier have been killed in Gaza since June 28, when Israel launched its offensive to stop rocket attacks and recover the missing Shalit, captured three days earlier.

Annan, in the West Bank on the third leg of a major Middle East tour, called for Israel to stop its offensive, "all incursions" and its closure on Gaza, and demanded Palestinian fighters to stop firing rockets into the Jewish state. "Two hundred Palestinians have been killed since the end of June," Annan told a news conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.

"This must stop immediately," he said. "The closure of Gaza must be lifted, the crossing points must be opened." He also called for a "cessation" of the Qassam rockets fired at Israel by fighters, and for Israel to release Palestinian parliamentarians and officials from the Hamas-led government arrested in the West Bank in late June.

"The creation of a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel is the key to solving the problems in this troubled region," he said.

Abbas, whose moderate Fatah party is working toward a possible national unity government with the governing Islamist party Hamas, warned there could be no security until Israel ends its occupation and a Palestinian state emerges. "Continued occupation of the Arab and Palestinian territories will not achieve peace," he said. The Palestinian leader earlier renewed calls for fighters to stop firing rockets into Israel, warning that such missiles were sowing "death and destruction" for the Palestinians.

Five Israelis have died as a result of homemade rockets fired from Gaza since the start of the second Palestinian uprising in September 2000, with most of the missiles causing property damage or landing in open spaces. Back in Gaza, the Israeli Army said it had discovered a large tunnel, 13 meters deep and 150 meters long, running from a house in Shejaiya toward the Karni Crossing with Israel, and released photographs.

Jordan called for stopping the Israeli violations of Security Council resolution 1701 and full Israeli withdrawal from all Lebanese territories.

In a joint press conference with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Thursday, Foreign Minister Abdel Ilah al Khatib renewed Jordan's condemnation of the Israeli air and sea blockade on Lebanon, calling for lifting this blockade, which harms Lebanon and its people.

Earlier, His Majesty King Abdullah II met Annan, who visits Jordan within his regional tour to discuss implementation of resolution 1701 as well as the need to revive the peace process.

Khatib said that King Abdullah's talks with Annan covered the situation in the Palestinian lands, where the Palestinian people suffer from difficult circumstances caused by the Israeli practices.

'' The King stressed that the Palestinian issue is the core of the regional conflict and that the region will not enjoy peace and stability without finding a settlement that ends the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian and Arab lands,'' Khatib told reporters, noting that His Majesty called for finding a just and comprehensive settlement that leads to the establishment of an independent, contiguous, and viable Palestinian state.

'' Events occurred over the last two months taught us that using force will not improve the situation,'' the Foreign Minister said, adding that the peaceful solution is the only outlet to end this situation.

He also underlined efforts exerted by Jordan, within the international community's efforts to reach a settlement through direct negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis away from any unilateral solutions, pointing to Jordan's keenness on continuing cooperation with the UN Secretary General and the concerned parties to achieve this goal.

On the other hand, Khatib stressed Jordan's support to the Lebanese government to extend its authority to all Lebanese territories.

Responding to a question on Jordan's role in the Arab initiative, the Minister highlighted King Abdullah's contacts with the Arab countries to form a unified Arab stance to achieve the settlement that we all look forward.

'' The Arab initiative forms a comprehensive stance for the Arab counties that seek regional peace on the base of the restoration of the Palestinian rights,'' Khatib added.

For his part, Annan stressed the importance of respecting the Security Council resolution 1701, calling for an immediate and quick implementation of the resolution.

He also expressed hope that the resolution would lead to realizing stability in the region.

On the international forces in Lebanon, Annan said Islamic countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia will take part in the forces, expressing hope that the size of the UN force would reach 5,000.

On the situation in the Middle East, Annan expressed belief that an opportunity to achieve peace and establish relations is available despite the difficult circumstances.

'' Lifting the air and sea blockade imposed by Israel on Lebanon is a logic thing due to the need for rebuilding Lebanon,'' Annan added.

In Damascus U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan won a pledge from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to help implement a U.N. resolution that halted fighting between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah group, a spokesman said.

"It was a very good meeting. The president and Mr. Annan discussed the implementation of Security Council Resolution 1701 and the president told Mr. Annan that Syria supports and will help its implementation," Ahmad Fawzi, Annan's spokesman, said.

Asked whether Annan and Assad's talks covered Lebanese-Syria border issues, Fawzi said: "Yes, they discussed everything."

The U.N. chief told the Lebanese government at the start of his tour that he would press Syria to open an embassy in Beirut and conduct normal diplomatic relations with Lebanon.

"They also discussed all tracks of the peace process," Fawzi said, referring Israel's stalled negotiations with Syria and the Palestinians over territory occupied by Israel in the 1967 war.

During a tour that has already taken him to Lebanon, Israel, the West Bank and Jordan, Annan has demanded that Israel quickly lift a blockade of Lebanon and withdraw fully from the country as soon as 5,000 U.N. peacekeepers are in the south.

Israel has rebuffed both demands, saying all the other provisions of a U.N. Security Council resolution that led to the August 14 truce with Hezbollah must be implemented first.

On the other hand Prime Minister Fouad Saniora said his government planned to pay 33,000 dollars in compensation to families whose homes were destroyed in southern Lebanon during the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Saniora, who spoke before heading to Sweden to attend an emergency conference on humanitarian and reconstruction needs, said 130,000 homes had been destroyed or damaged in Lebanon during the war, including 50,000 in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

He said the compensation package of 33,000 dollars, plus 7,000 dollars for furniture, did not concern the latter, but did not provide details on the number of homes destroyed in the south of the country.

Saniora said he planned to ask countries attending the meeting in Stockholm to sponsor rebuilding in around 38 southern Lebanese villages that suffered heavy damage during the 34-day conflict.

It was sparked by the July 12 capture of two Israeli soldiers during a cross-border raid by Hezbollah.

The Lebanese premier also said he would appeal for mobile homes to temporarily house thousands displaced by the war.

Saniora rejected criticism of his government in the aftermath of the war saying that while it may have been slow to respond at the beginning it was now "present and active" in tackling the huge challenges it faced.

"The government is bearing up to its responsibilities ... and will do its utmost to improve services," he said.

The Lebanese government has come under intense criticism for reacting too slowly to the population's needs once the war ended, while Hizbullah moved quickly to compensate victims.

Saniora appealed for national unity, saying that Lebanon's various factions needed to stick together to help the country recover.

"Today more than ever, we need national unity to help the government stand on its feet," he said.

Saniora said the conference in Stockholm was only an initial step in efforts to help Lebanon and should be followed by a donor's conference.

Much of southern Lebanon lies in ruins following the war and the government has estimated the overall cost of damage at 3.6 billion dollars.

Saniora also said that he refused to have any direct contact with Israel and Lebanon would be the last Arab country to ever sign a peace deal with the Jewish state.

"Let it be clear, we are not seeking any agreement until there is just and comprehensive peace based on the Arab initiative," he said.

He was referring to a plan that came out of a 2002 Arab League summit in Beirut. It calls for Israel to return all territories it conquered in the 1967 Mideast war, the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and a solution to the Palestinian refugee problem -- all in exchange for peace and full normalization of Arab relations with Israel.

Israel has long sought a peace deal with Lebanon, but Beirut has hesitated as long as Israel's conflicts with the Palestinians and Syria remained unresolved.

Saniora said Lebanon wants to go back to the 1949 armistice agreement that formally ended the Arab-Israeli war over Israel's creation.

The European Commission said it will pledge $54 million at the conference on top of the $64 million that the European Union's head office has already earmarked for emergency relief to Lebanon.

Meanwhile Donor countries meeting in Stockholm pledged $940 million in aid to help reconstruction efforts in Lebanon as UN chief Kofi Annan arrived in Syria to shore up the truce between Israel and Hezbollah.

"An amount exceeding $900 million was pledged at the Stockholm conference," Swedish Foreign Minister Jan Eliasson told delegates, later updating the sum to $940 million (732 million euros).

"This conference has met its objectives by a wide margin," he added.

The amount was nearly double the $500 million that had been expected from the more than 50 countries and organizations attending the emergency conference in Sweden.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Saniora earlier made an impassioned plea for aid at the meeting, telling delegates that damage to his country from the 34-day war was in the billions of dollars.

"The direct damage from this last invasion to our infrastructure and to our public and private property is now running into the billions of dollars," Saniora said. "Loss to GDP, job losses and the long-term direct and indirect costs to the economy, including lost revenues in tourism, agriculture and industry are expected to be billions more."

Saniora strongly rejected suggestions that the aid money would trickle down to Hezbollah and strengthen the group's position in southern Lebanon.

"This idea, that it will be siphoned in one way or another to Hezbollah is entirely, completely, a fallacy. It is not true," Saniora said at a news conference.

Earlier, in his opening speech, Saniora told delegates that the direct damage of the conflict was in the "billions of dollars" while the indirect cost including lost tourism and industry revenue would cost billions more.

"Moreover, Lebanon's well-known achievements in 15 years of postwar development have been wiped out in a matter of days by Israel's deadly military machine," Saniora said.

He said reconstruction efforts would be "severely undermined" if Israel doesn't lift its sea, air and land blockade of Lebanon. UN Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown also urged Israel to immediately lift the blockade, saying it was hampering relief efforts in Lebanon. "Aid when there is a blockade is like putting someone on life support when there is a foot on their windpipe," he said in a speech to delegates.

Israel has said it would not lift its blockade until UN peacekeepers take positions along the Syrian border to block arms shipments to Hezbollah from its two main supporters, Iran and Syria.

In a report to the conference, the Lebanese government projected that early recovery efforts would cost about $540 million.

Conference host Eliasson said aid would strengthen the Lebanese government's control of its country. "This conference aims at strengthening the central government of Lebanon and in that government Hezbollah is only a minor part," he said.

The fighting started July 12 when Hezbollah guerrillas crossed the Lebanon-Israel border at Aita Al-Shaab, killed three Israeli soldiers and seized two others.

The attack provoked a fierce onslaught from Israel, which pounded Hezbollah strongholds as well as Lebanon's roads, bridges and other key infrastructure, including the international airport in Beirut. Large sections of southern Lebanon and whole neighborhoods south of Beirut were left in ruins. An estimated 1 million people fled their homes.

Saniora said a prisoner swap with Israel was being considered by his government but "nothing has materialized." "I hope the Israeli government will respond to the call of reason so that we can finish with this and everybody will return to his home," he said.

Both UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert have demanded the soldiers' unconditional release.

The Lebanese government, along with the United Nations Development Program, said early recovery efforts would focus on finding housing for displaced families, rebuilding infrastructure, improving social services, cleaning up an oil spill of Lebanon's coast and clearing unexploded ordnance.

Some research has estimated that up to 70 percent of Israeli bombs failed to explode initially. The Lebanese report said more than 50 people have been killed by such munitions since the cease-fire took hold this month and more than 4,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance have been destroyed.

Lebanese Economy Minister Sami Haddad said the most urgent need was 10,000 prefabricated houses for families whose homes were destroyed by Israeli bombing.

Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson urged aid ministers to open their wallets for Lebanon and show their support to the Lebanese people. "Our message...should be clear and firm: You are not alone," Persson said. "War may be the business of some, but peace will always be our common duty."

He also said he supported Annan's call for an end to the Israeli blockade of Lebanon.

French President Jacques Chirac said violence would erupt afresh in Lebanon, as there was no long-term settlement involving all parties in the region.

At an annual gathering of French ambassadors in Paris, Chirac said the United Nations Resolution 1701 offered "the framework for a durable settlement based on Israel's security and Lebanon's sovereignty over its whole territory".

The resolution, adopted unanimously by the 15 members of the U.N. Security Council, established a truce between Israel and the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah following their one-month conflict.

"The choice is between a resumption of hostilities, creating a permanent rift between two neighboring peoples, and the political option of a global and durable settlement," he said.

Chirac said the resolution "outlines a process which must lead to the disarmament of militias and the settlement of border questions, including that of the Shebaa Farms," a territory situated at the borders of Lebanon, Syria and Israel and disputed by the three countries.

Chirac also called for Israel to lift its six-week air and sea blockade against Lebanon, which was aimed at cutting Hezbollah's supply lines.

He said it was "seriously harming the Lebanese economy" and was" preventing a return to normal".

Meanwhile, the French leader also urged Syria to "move beyond its isolationist logic".

"The Middle East needs Syria to be active in the service of peace and regional stability," he said, adding that all the countries of the region should understand that a sovereign and independent Lebanon was the best guarantee of their legitimate interests, and security in particular.