Iranian delegation visits Syria and Lebanon
A visiting high-level Iranian delegation held talks Thursday with top leaders on regional and international issues, as well as developing bilateral economic and cultural ties.
The delegation, led by the Deputy Speaker Mohammad-Reza Khatami, included MPs and leaders from the leading Reformist Party and the Islamic Participation Front, arrived in Beirut Wednesday as part of an eight-day visit to Lebanon and Syria.
After meeting President Emile Lahoud, Khatami said their viewpoints were “extremely identical” on regional issues and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
He added that no specific date had yet been set for a planned visit here by his brother, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami.
Mohammad-RezaKhatami also held separate talks with Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Discussions with the premier focused on developing bilateral economic ties by speeding up the work of joint economic committees.

UAE official briefs premier on de-mining program
UAE Information Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan briefed Prime Minister Rafik Hariri Thursday on Operation Emirates Solidarity Phase II, the $50 million UAE-funded de-mining program launched earlier this week.
The minister, who paid a similar visit to President Emile Lahoud Wednesday, was accompanied by UAE ambassador Mohammed Omran and several officers who are supervising the program.

Battle and Jisr share views on anti-terror campaign
Acting on recent reports released in the United States on global terrorism and human rights violations, US Ambassador Vincent Battle visited Justice Minister Samir Jisr Thursday to explore some of the bilateral elements on these issues.
“We looked at the US report on the patterns of global terrorism, talked about the human rights report, in particular the trafficking of people, and also discussed the issue of money laundering and the way local banks are fighting it,” Battle said.
For his part, Jisr said that the visit did not discuss whether Lebanon was on any terrorist list, adding that “the ambassador had inquired about the security situation asking if it constituted a general political atmosphere and I told him that these are isolated situations and are not inter related.”

MP claims youth more mature than in 1926
Kesrouan MP Neamatallah Abi Nasr declared Thursday that the voting age should be lowered to 18 because the “new generation” has greater responsibilities than those before it.
During a meeting with the Maronite patriarch, Abi Nasr indicated that young people today are more mature than in 1926, when article 21 of the Lebanese constitution, setting the voting age at 21, was drafted.
According to Abi Nasr, an 18-year-old has the right to dispose of his legacy and establish a company and so should be granted the “sacred” right to vote. However, he added that “amendments to the constitution should not be rushed.”

Former UN chief to present award to LU student
Kurt Waldheim, former Austrian president and United Nations Secretary-General, reviewed regional and international issues with President Emile Lahoud during a visit Thursday at Baabda Palace.
Waldheim, who arrived in Beirut Wednesday, told Lahoud the purpose of his visit was to present an international relations award named after him to a Lebanese University student. The student, Chantal Sarkis, will be presented with the award during a ceremony to be held at LU’s Faculty of Dentistry in Sin al-Fil Friday.
It is the first award of its kind at the university.
In turn, Lahoud praised Waldheim’s work as UN secretary-general in the 1970’s and Austrian president in the 1980’s.  He said that the biggest challenge facing the UN today lay in its capability to recover the confidence of the international community through the implementation of all its resolutions, as opposed to “selective” implementation.
Waldheim also held separate talks with Speaker Nabih Berri and Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Beydoun announces sell-off of North’s water
In a meeting held with water authority officials Thursday, Energy and Water Minister Mohammed Abdel-Hamid Beydoun indicated that the water sector in Lebanon was suffering from inadequacies on the technical, administrative and financial levels.
He added that participants in the meeting examined would examine a report prepared by the North Lebanon Water Authority and future projects related to Tripoli’s drinking water and sewage systems.
Beydoun also announced that the authority would be auctioned off to private investors in July.
Asked about the presence of oil in Lebanon and the government’s neglect in taking advantage of the resource, Beydoun said several companies carried out exploration in 1960 but found no oil.
However, the odds of finding natural gas in territorial waters were high, he said, adding that the ministry had commissioned a survey, the results of which would be announced soon.

Hizbullah claims new fence proves Shebaa is Lebanese
Hizbullah’s commander in the South said Thursday that the erection of a barbed wire fence separating the occupied Shebaa Farms and the Golan Heights is an “indirect recognition” that the farms are Lebanese.
Speaking at the inauguration of a school exhibition in Sharqieh, qada of Nabatieh, Sheikh Nabil Qaouk said the fence was also significant because it proved that the Jewish state was “preparing to withdraw from our land … thanks to the resistance.”
“Zionist documents, statements and newspapers refer to a group of Israeli commandos having attacked Palestinian groups in south Lebanon in 1968 and 1969, specifically in the Zibdin and Wadi Aasal areas, a self-acknowledgement of the identity of the Shebaa Farms,” he added.
He said Israel was in no position to delineate the borders between Lebanon and Syria, as this right was confined to the two countries, and accordingly “all measures taken by the Zionist army in the region do not concern us.”

Hariri briefed on Italy’s plans for EU presidency term
Italian Ambassador Giuseppe Cassini briefed Prime Minister Rafik Hariri Thursday on his country’s plans for its presidency of the European Union next year.
Speaking to reporters, Cassini said his country believed 2003 would be a “crucial year” for peace in the Middle East.
He added that Italy had drawn up a plan to help rehabilitate the Palestinian territories as well as an Euro-Med ministerial meeting to be held next year.

US Embassy announces new fees for consular services
The US State Department has revised its schedule of fees for consular services, the US Embassy said on Thursday.
The new schedule will take effect June 1 for all consular services except passport services.
The fee for nonimmigrant visa applications will increase from $45 to $65, while immigrant visa fees will rise $10 to $335.
For US citizens abroad, the Consular Report of Birth Abroad documentation fee will be raised from $40 to $65, while the fee for notary services will be lowered from $55 to a two-tiered schedule costing $20-$30, depending on the service rendered.
The State Department is required by US law to recover the cost of most consular services through user fees and must adjust its fee schedule accordingly. The last major fee adjustment was in 1998.

IHT director visits Baabda
The International Herald Tribune’s executive editor, David Ignatius, stopped in Lebanon on Thursday as part of a regional tour, during which he will visit with several IHT partners in the Middle East.
Ignatius, accompanied by The Daily Star’s publisher and editor in chief, Jamil Mroue, met with President Emile Lahoud and gave him a book, Agents of Innocence ­ a fictitious story about the life of Abu Hassan Salameh, a leader in the Palestinian Fatah faction, who was assassinated by Israel in the early 1980s in Lebanon. Lahoud also presented Ignatius with a silver plaque.
Ignatius later met with Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and visited Parliament, finally ending his trip with a meeting with senior Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah.

Journalists ‘blocked’ from covering Zahrani blaze
Reporters in Sidon denounced the attempts by security guards at the Zahrani power plant to prevent them from investigating a fire that damaged one of the plant’s power units.
In a statement on Thursday, the reporters said they were forced to take pictures from a distance after guards insulted them and threatened to destroy their cameras if they entered the property.
The statement questioned the credibility of the plant’s administration and insisted that Energy and Water Minister Mohammed Abdel-Hamid Beydoun discipline the guards.
For his part, Beydoun said the fire would not affect the electricity supply, as damage was minor. He said repairs were under way and that inspectors needed 48 hours to draft a report detailing the fire’s cause.
The plant’s second steam-powered unit caught fire Wednesday; however, plant administrators said the blaze did not reach the oil storage facilities.

Dinnieh suspects suffering from hunger strike
The lawyer for several suspects being held following the January 2000 Dinnieh clashes said his clients were on the verge of suffering serious health problems.
The men began an open-ended hunger strike on May 17.
Hani Suleiman, the attorney for several of the detainees, said Thursday that he had been denied access to his clients.
Some 30 Islamist militants were killed during the clashes with the army, and a number of others were arrested.
“The denial is due to the hunger strike of some 15 detainees who are protesting against neither being released nor having their case examined and dealt with,” said Suleiman.
He added that his clients wanted to be released from solitary confinement as “they are suffering from extreme fatigue and are in danger liver failure.”
Relatives of the detainees have tried to gain access and provide food for their loved ones, but say they have been denied entry to the facilities.

Energy Ministry publishes new fuel prices
Energy and Water Minister Mohammed Abdel-Hamid Beydoun announced Thursday a LL100 hike on 90 octane unleaded gasoline.
According to a statement, the price of 20 liters of 90 octane unleaded gasoline will now cost LL19,300. The price for one kiloliter of fuel oil also rose $2 to $175. The prices of a tank of 98 octane leaded gasoline and 95 octane unleaded gas remain unchanged at LL21,600 and LL19,400, respectively. The price of a 10-kilogram tank of butane also remains unchanged at LL9,500.

Taxi drivers press Siniora with list of demands
Taxi drivers asked Finance Minister Fouad Siniora on Thursday to proceed with decisions regarding the settlement of their dues and regulating the public transportation sector.
After gathering near the General Labor Confederation’s headquarters in Corniche al-Nahr, a delegation from the Confederation of Taxi Drivers Unions went to Siniora’s office to lobby for speeding up the implementation of a government decision exempting taxis made after 1999 from custom duties.
The delegation sought LL1 million for every taxi driver as compensation for replacing diesel engines with gasoline ones. Demands also included covering the cost of engines for public buses.
The delegation also repeated its demand that taxi drivers be permitted to buy 30 liters of gasoline per month at cost price.
Siniora promised to raise the matter at the next Cabinet meeting.

Australian ambassador visits special education centers
Australian Ambassador Stephanie Shwabsky visited two special education facilities in Antelias on Thursday.
According to an embassy statement, Shwabsky visited the Anta Akhi and Sesobel centers, both of which provide education and development activities for handicapped children with physical and mental disabilities.
The embassy purchased a stove for the two centers.
Shwabsky pronounced herself “pleased” with the visit, adding that she hoped the gesture would “strengthen this link between Australia and Lebanon and assist with (the) provision of services for the handicapped” here.
The statement also said the Australian Lebanese Association of New South Wales had a long history of raising funds for the Sesobel center.

Government urged to watch out for forest fires
The Lebanese Fire Prevention Committee urged the government on Thursday to implement much-needed fire-safety measures.
Following a meeting with the Scientific Research Association, the committee urged the government to begin a forest clean-up campaign to reduce any possible fire hazards. The committee also called on the government to forest the liberated areas in the South and install control towers in areas threatened by possible fires.
The committee also urged prosecutors to track down those who set fires in forests and called upon the Internal Security Forces to arrest farmers who illegally burn their lands.
The Public Works and Transport Ministry and the Order of Engineers and Architects should examine the quality of the construction materials and their resistance to fire, the committee said, adding that fire escapes and fire alarms should also be installed in every building.

Roadworks to affect traffic between Zouk, Jounieh
The Interior Ministry said Thursday that roadworks along the highway from Zouk Mosbeh to Jounieh will slow traffic overnight on June 2-3.
According to a ministry statement, sewer pipes will be installed under the highway on Sunday at 7pm. Work should finish by Monday at 9am.
One lane will be open for cars heading to Jounieh. Drivers are asked to respect traffic signs and follow the instructions of the Internal Security Forces personnel.

EDL announces power cuts for Beirut neighborhoods
Several neighborhoods in Beirut will experience morning power cuts on Sunday, Electricite Du Liban has announced.
In a Wednesday statement, the giant utility said maintenance work at the main Basta power station would mean cuts for areas powered by the plant on Sunday from 3am until 9am.
The following areas should experience three hours of cuts: Basta, Moseitbeh, Tariq al-Jadideh, Hawd al-Wilaya, Noueiri, the Municipal Stadium area, the Beirut Arab University area, Cola, Bourj Abi Haidar and Ras al-Nabaa.

UNESCO sponsors contest for best Arab handicrafts
The Social Affairs Ministry announced Thursday that UNESCO was running a contest for the best handicraft of the Arab world for 2002.
Artisans who wish to enter should inquire at the ministry about the submissions deadline and necessary procedures.
The best handicraft will win a prize of $10,000.
For further information, potential contestants are asked to contact the ministry’s Handicrafts Department at 01/612852.

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