Shaath rules out exclusion of Lebanon from peace summit
Nabil Shaath, the visiting Palestinian minister of planning and international cooperation, said Monday the that Palestinian Authority would not participate in any international peace conference that did not include Lebanon.
Speaking to reporters, Shaath said: “We are fully committed to the Beirut summit’s outcome and continuous consultations with Lebanon on the future.
“We are also committed to all provisions of the Arab initiative, on top of which is the return of Palestinian refugees to their homeland, something which concerns Palestine but which is also of concern to Lebanon,” he said.

Maronite bishops descend on Bkirki for annual conclave
The doors of Bkirki have closed for the annual Maronite bishops conclave, due to take place under the chairmanship of Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, an official statement from Bkirki said on Monday.
Maronite bishops from here and abroad are participating in the conclave, which will run from Monday through Wednesday.
The conclave is divided into two parts, the first of which is a spiritual period consisting of praying, meditating and spiritual guidance. The second is devoted to issues and problems related to the Maronite community.
The conclave is also intended to pave the way for new Maronite bishops to be elected to fill vacancies.
An official statement is due to be issued Saturday explaining decisions taken at the conclave.

Fadlallah preaches similarities between Christianity, Islam
Senior Shiite cleric Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah said Monday that both Islam and Christianity reject atheism and vanity.
The cleric made the statement during a lecture at the Sayyeda Zaynab Muslim shrine in Damascus, entitled: Toward a Christian-Islamic Front Aimed at Saving Civilization.
“The main problem today was that people were drifting away from God,” Fadlallah said, calling for cultural activities to “bring man back to God.”
He said out that most of the religious gatherings that take place in the West were official in nature or were based on “mutual lies.”
The lecture was attended by several personalities, including Orthodox Patriarch Ignatius IV Hazim.

Military Tribunal postpones trial of alleged collaborators
The Military Tribunal has postponed until July 4 the trial of an alleged espionage ring that includes former Amal official Hassan Hashem.
Other members of the ring include the former head of civil administration for the dismantled pro-Israeli South Lebanon Army; Redwan Hajj, the former financial manager at the Middle East Hospital; Imad Rozz, the former manager of the Banque Nasr Libano-Africaine; Mohammed Abdel-Aziz; a woman named Hanadi Ramadan; Mohammed Abi Melhem and Raymond Geryes Abu Daher, who remains at large.
The six are being prosecuted on charges of providing Israel with classified security, political and economic information.
The postponement resulted from the failure of Hanadi Ramadan to attend the hearing.

Court holds first hearing in Sharon-Peres case
The first hearing in the case against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres began at the Nabatieh Court, a statement by prosecuting attorney May Khansa said on Monday.
Legal proceedings started against the Israeli politicians by attorneys Hussein Ali Sharafeddine and Rida Farhat for Khansa.
Nabatieh Chief Investigating Magistrate Assem Sharafeddine issued a court order to start an inquiry into the whereabouts of Sharon and Peres “to prosecute them for the murders they committed” in Lebanon during the 1982 Israeli invasion.
According to Khansa, Sharon and Peres were served a notice, posted on the gate of the Lebanese University’s Business Administration Faculty, near the Kuwaiti Embassy in Jnah ­ the alleged last known address of both men during their stay here.

Fuleihan calls for more cooperation with Syria
Economy and Trade Minister Basil Fuleihan stressed on Monday the need for consolidating cooperation with Syria to confront what he described as “world challenges and changes on the commercial and economic levels.”
The minister was speaking at a meeting of the Joint Lebanese-Syrian Economic Committee held in Damascus following the total removal of customs fees between the two countries at the beginning of the year in line with an accord reached in 1999.
Fuleihan affirmed the importance of economic cooperation with Syria, while his Syrian counterpart, Ghassan Rifai, expressed hope that bilateral trade would increase with the aim of exporting the two countries’ products to European markets.
The discussions, attended by representatives from the Chambers of Industry and Commerce, covered moves to establish the nucleus of an Arab economic bloc to face groups such as the World Trade Organization, as both states conclude association agreements with the European Union.

Kuwaiti official approves project to help schools
The head of the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development, Badr Homeidi, on Monday announced the signing of a project worth $50 million to build 22 schools in Greater Beirut.
In comments made following a meeting with Prime Minister Rafik Hariri at the Grand Serail, Homeidi said that future projects would also include the reconstruction and equipping of certain hospitals throughout Lebanon and the building of roads in the South.
The meeting was attended by Homeidi’s delegation, Council for Reconstruction and Development president Jamal Itani and Hariri adviser Fadi Fawaz.
According to Homeidi, Hariri said the economic situation here was improving due to the government’s reform policy to reduce public debt, including, for example, the implementation of the value-added tax and the privatization process.

MPs lead delegation on trip to Iraq
A Lebanese delegation on Monday left for Iraq on a six-day trip during which it is expected to hold talks with Iraqi officials, including that country’s parliamentary speaker, Saadoun Hammadi, and other officials.
The delegation included Metn MP Antoine Haddad, Rashaya MP Faisal Daoud, Akkar MP Mohammed Yehya, Jezzine MP George Najm, and Beirut MP Ghinwa Jalloul as well as two consultants ­ Fares Saad and Joseph Sebaali.
The visit is aimed at “strengthening relations between the two countries with regard to various legislative issues,” Haddad told reporters before leaving for Baghdad.
During the visit, the delegation will also work to consolidate“Lebanon’s solidarity with Iraq and condemn the siege it has been facing” under UN sanctions, Haddad added.

Tripoli municipal workers press demand for back pay
The Tripoli Municipal Workers’ Union has demanded that the local municipal council speed up its work in releasing back pay which has been accumulating since April 2002.
In a statement issued on Monday, the workers said that the “Independent Municipalities Fund continues to pay our financial dues, which exceed LL4 billion due to the salary increments.”
The workers also rejected plans to have a private company collect municipal waste “at the expense of our livelihood.”
The statement added that the percentage of savings and profits for the municipality had not been disclosed to workers yet.
Nonetheless, it stressed that the municipality’s workers continued in performing their duties.

UN agency plans to offer computer training
The director of the United Nations Socio-Economic Development Program in southern Lebanon on Monday announced upcoming plans to train municipal employees on how to run development projects.
Mohammed Maqlad visited the fishermen’s port which is being rehabilitated by the group and a fish market which is being built in Naqoura and said the program aimed to draw a socio-economic action plan for the liberated areas within the next few months.
The project is being funded by UNDP, the British Embassy and Naqoura’s municipality and carried out by the Council for Development and Reconstruction.
Maqlad said the program succeeded in establishing 24 youth clubs in various areas formerly occupied by Israel, adding that six other clubs were in the process of being created.
According to Maqlad, the UNDP also intends to open seven computer training centers in Bint Jbeil, Marjayoun, Aita Shaab, Mais al-Jabal, Shebaa, Hasbaya and Khiam.
He added that the Bint Jbeil center has already began to receive trainees.

Bahiya Hariri opens exhibit by French photographer
Sidon MP Bahiya Hariri on Monday inaugurated a photographic exhibit by French photographer Jean Luc Moulene in Sidon’s Bab al-Serail Square.
The exhibit, called Les Heures Immobiles (The Fixed Hours), depicts daily life in the Old City, where photographs of Sidon’s residents will be plastered across the walls and alleyways indefinitely.
Last year Moulene spent one month in Sidon, where he took around 400 photographs.
The exhibit falls within the framework of French-Lebanese cultural cooperation and the activities that accompany the Francophone summit, which scheduled to be held in Beirut later this year.
The exhibit was organized by the French Museum Niecephore Niepce, France’s Foreign Affairs Ministry and in cooperation with the French Embassy and its cultural center in Beirut as well as the Hariri Foundation, the Arab Photograph Institution and the municipality of Sidon.

Baalbaki urges state to punish assaults on journalists
The Press Federation’s ruling council on Monday strongly condemned recent assaults against journalists and expressed hope that the concerned authorities would deal with the issue to preserve the dignity of reporters and express  appreciation of their efforts in serving the country.
During the monthly meeting, federation president Mohammed Baalbaki informed the council about contacts he had made with the concerned authorities to put an end to such practices and punish their perpetrators.
Last week, several men in Akkar tried to ram a car carrying Akkar and the North magazine publisher Mokheiber Ashqar.
In another incident, reporters were verbally attacked last week when they tried to cover a fire that erupted at the Zahrani power plant in the South.
Also, a suspicious fire destroyed the offices of Hawaa magazine in Corniche al-Mazraa over the weekend.

Akkar hosts new home for cured lepers
Salam Jisr, wife of Justice Minister Samir Jisr, represented first lady Andree Lahoud on Monday at the laying of the cornerstone for the Home of Cured Lepers in the village of al-Mounseh in Jebel Akroum, Akkar.
Those present included Association for Eradicating Leprosy head Antoine Farajallah, mukhtars of Akroum and Wadi Khaled, several inhabitants, and Ali Hamido family members who have returned to the village after treatment for leprosy in Damascus.
Al-Mounseh Mukhtar Ahmed Fahl thanked the association for its efforts to return village inhabitants to their homes after providing treatment for them in Syria.
Raymond Midlej, speaking for Farjallah, said that there were about 40 leprosy cases in Lebanon and 30 others were undergoing treatment in Damascus. Treatment is being provided by the Health Ministry and efforts were continuing to eradicate the disease, he added.
He said that thanks to collective efforts, out of the world’s 12 million people affected with the disease, only 2 million remained symptomatic at present, with the others having been cured.

Health group to focus on media’s role
The Lebanese Healthcare Management Association announced Monday that it would hold a seminar on the media’s role in the health sector.
The group, which is a chapter of the Lebanese Management Association, said that the seminar, entitled The Role of the Media in Health Development, will begin at 6pm at the Gefinor Rotana Hotel on June 10 and be sponsored by leading pharmaceutical research company Merk, Sharpe and Dohme.
Minister for the Displaced Marwan Hamade will chair and moderate the conference, the LHMA added.
The keynote speakers will be: Nasser Safieddine from NBN television; Nabil Dajani, professor of Communications at the American University of Beirut; and National Audiovisual Council member Adib Farha.

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