Interior minister empowers ISF to enforce diesel ban
Interior and Municipalities Minister Elias Murr gave  the Internal Security Forces the green light on Thursday to end the use of all diesel-powered taxis and mini-buses.
Murr indicated that the ministry would go ahead with implementing the law, issued in April, banning by all taxis running on diesel mid-June and mini-buses by mid-July.
Drivers protesting against the implementation of the law and demanding the use of “European-standard” diesel will meet on Wednesday in a general assembly and discuss their strategy to confront the decision, which they say is an unfair blow to their livelihoods.

Order of Malta representatives pay visit to Baabda
A delegation from the Association of the Sovereign Order of Malta announced to President Emile Lahoud on Thursday that its week-long meeting was under way in Beirut.
Organized in conjunction with Marwan Sehnaoui, president of the Lebanese chapter of the association, the triennial meeting will take place for the first time in Lebanon.
The delegation members assured Lahoud that holding the meeting in Beirut was meant to provide support for the Lebanese association, shed light on Lebanon’s culture and emphasize the organization’s role as a “bridge between religious sects.”
Lahoud praised the Knights of Malta’s social, humanitarian and medical activities here and congratulated the Lebanese association on its 25th anniversary, adding that the group has been active in the country for more than 900 years.

Decision to quash Hrawi lawsuit stands
The Prosecution Committee, chaired by Zahi Kenaan, on Thursday endorsed a decision taken by the Beirut Chief Investigating Magistrate Hatem Madi on a case filed by a former president against a legislator.
Madi had decided to drop the case pertaining to libel charges filed by former President Elias Hrawi against Zahle MP Elie Skaff over an article the latter published in Ad-Diyar newspaper. In the article, Skaff criticized Hrawi’s 1989-1998 term in office as being full of corruption and squandering public funds.
The investigating magistrate based his decision on the fact that the charges did not constitute a criminal offense but merely expressed an “opinion” about some facets of Hrawi’s mandate.

Hamade promises support for displaced
Following a meeting with Prime Minister Rafik Hariri at the Grand Serail on Thursday, Minister for the Displaced Marwan Hamade pledged that the government would protect the financial rights of the wartime displaced.
Hamade said the meeting, which was also attended by the head of the Central Fund for the Displaced, Fadi Aramouni, focused on the pressing need to settle compensation owed to the displaced.
He added that the issue should be settled “carefully,” taking into account the country’s financial and economic difficulties. “However, ‘carefully’ does not mean stopping the plan and forgetting the rights (of the displaced),” he added.
The minister also urged all squatters who receive compensation to vacate their properties at the risk of being punished by the law. He added that the ministry would not accept any delay in the settlement of the issue.

Authorities release picture of alleged transsexual thief
Upon the request of Mount Lebanon Chief Public Prosecutor Jean Fahd, the General Directorate of the Internal Security Forces on Thursday published the photograph of a transsexual accused of robbing citizens after seducing them.
According to an ISF statement, Mohammed Hussein Berro, 19, also known as “Linda,” is accused of robbing individuals of both money and jewelry with a knife that was seized upon his arrest.
Interrogated at the Jounieh police department, the suspect confessed to his crimes.
According to the statement, the suspect had previously been arrested for committing robberies with  a plastic gun.
Victims are asked to report to the Jounieh police department at the Jounieh Serail or contact the department at 09/930302 to facilitate the investigation.

Japanese ambassador kicks off cultural project
Japanese Ambassador Naoto Amaki has inaugurated a project to provide musical instruments, including a grand piano, to the Lebanese-German Association for the Promotion of Culture, Kultuzentrum.
According to a statement, the event on Wednesday was marked with a piano recital in the Jounieh association’s concert hall given by Motoi Kawashima, “a young Japanese pianist,” under the auspices of the ambassador.
It added that the project totaled $15,155 provided by the Japanese government’s Grassroots Grants Program. To date, the program has extended some $2.5 million to Lebanon since 1996. Its purpose is to provide financial assistance to municipalities, NGOs, hospitals, private schools and other nonprofit organizations.

Islamic hospitals sign cooperation accord
The Makassed Charity Hospital and the Dar al-Fatwa-sponsored Mohammed Khaled Institutions signed an agreement on Thursday for cooperation in medical care.
The agreement, which was signed at the Makassed Hospital, called for “complete cooperation between the two hospitals and similar cooperation at the level of patient rehabilitation, doctors’ and nurses’ training, academic education and scientific research.”
The signing ceremony was witnessed by Sheikh Abdel-Latif Daryan representing Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani.
In an address, the president of the Makassed Foundation, Mohammed Amin Daouq, called for greater cooperation between private institutions “to strengthen such institutions in a globalized world.”
He added that Islamic institutions had a responsibility to cooperate among themselves.

Beydoun announces latest fuel prices
Energy and Water Minister Mohammed Abdel-Hamid Beydoun on Thursday announced a LL100 decrease in the price of a tank of 90 octane unleaded fuel and a LL100 rise in the price of a tank of kerosene.
According to a statement, the price of a 20 liter tank of 90 octane unleaded fuel will now cost LL19,200, whereas a 20 liter-tank of kerosene will be LL7,700.
The statement added that the prices of a tank of 98 octane leaded fuel and 95 octane unleaded fuel as well as a 10 kilogram canister of butane remained unchanged at LL21,600, LL19,400 and LL9,500, respectively. The price of a kiloliter of fuel oil also did not change and remained at $175.

Phone subscribers have nine extra days to pay bills
The Telecommunications Ministry announced on Thursday that the deadline for settling local and international telephone bills had been extended from June 6 to June 15.
It said in a memorandum that a fine would now be imposed on defaulters in effect after June 17.
It added that the decision to extend the deadline was prompted by the fact that it has not been possible for all subscribers to settle their bills within the set period.

Hariri receives delegation from pilots’ group
Rafik Hariri on Thursday met with pilots from Trans Mediterranean Airways who expressed their concern to the prime minister that their jobs were at risk.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Hariri on Thursday, the president of the Lebanese Pilots Association, Mahmoud Houmani, said the delegation was worried that persistent financial “problems” would lead the company to bankruptcy.
In turn, the premier reportedly promised to “look into the matter.”
“We hope he will attach due importance to the aviation sector, particularly in light of the … tourist season, Houmani added.

Shura Council reinstates official sacked by Hoss in 1999
The anti-corruption drive launched at the beginning of President Emile Lahoud’s mandate received another blow on Thursday when the Shura Council nullified a decree that removed a high-ranking civil servant from office.
The council announced a May 8 decision nullifying a 1999 decree endorsed by the Salim Hoss government that dismissed professor Mounir Abu Asli, the former head of the National Center for Research and Development.
On Feb. 23, 1999, Abu Asli lodged a challenge to the decree before the council, claiming that his reputation was undermined by the corruption charges leveled against him.
The Shura Council, comprising magistrates Khaled Qabbani and advisers Suleiman Eid and Daher Ghandour, accused the Hoss government of being unjust toward some civil servants, including Abu Asli.  The government was ordered to pay all court costs involved in the case and to reinstate Abu Asli on the grounds that the decree was not binding.

Berri pays tribute to ‘victor’ of 1973, Hafez Assad
Speaker Nabih Berri paid homage to Hafez Assad on Thursday, lending much credit to the “prevailing peace” in Lebanon and the Arab world to the efforts of the late Syrian president.
In an interview with the official Syrian Arab new Agency marking the second anniversary of Assad’s death, Berri said that death “does not mean the end of great men, their dead bodies are like trees seeking to be planted in the ground.”
Assad was a man who “earned Syria’s glory by beating the Israelis in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war in the Golan Heights,” Berri declared, adding that Assad was also responsible for the “victory by the Lebanese resistance over the Israelis” in May 2000.
Assad ruled Syria from 1970 until his death in June 2000.

Karami holds court with leading politicians
Tripoli MP and former Premier Omar Karami met with a number of political leaders on Thursday to discuss the latest domestic developments.
Karami met former Economy Minister Elias Saba, Qornet Shehwan Gathering member Samir Franjieh and Michel Mouawad, the son of former President Rene Mouawad. Earlier in the day, Karami met with former Premier Amin Hafez, and former ministers Issam Naaman and Albert Mansour. Karami also met with the secretary-general of the Christian Leagues, Habib Frem, and members of a local group that supports Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.
Karami is also calling for a change of government, but demurred on his own ambitions. He told the French-language Magazine, in its issue due out on Friday, that the government had failed because it was “not built on a compromise between the country’s leaders.”
“I am not a member of the opposition just to become premier,” added Karami, who also called for a new and fair electoral law.

Irani family decries cynical attempt to cash in on tragedy
Relatives of Ramzi Irani, the pro-Lebanese Forces engineer who was kidnapped and later found dead in the trunk of his car last month, accused “certain unknown quarters” of exploiting his name for material gain, in a statement issued Thursday.
The relatives said that statements and posters had been distributed with the aim of raising funds and selling lottery tickets exploiting Irani’s name. The relatives said they had nothing to do with such moves and called for an end to them.
Meanwhile, State Prosecutor Adnan Addoum chaired a meeting of the special committee entrusted with uncovering the identity of Irani’s assailants and referring their findings to Chief Beirut Investigating Magistrate Hatem Madi. Sources close to the investigation said no progress had so far been made in identifying the perpetrators.

Young boy reported shot in occupied border village
A young boy was wounded by gunfire near a tense Israeli-occupied village in the Golan Heights, villagers and Lebanese security officials said Thursday.
Khaled al-Jassem, Syrian 9-year-old, was shot in his right leg while standing outside his home in the Lebanese village of Wazzani, a few hundred meters from Ghajar in the Israeli-occupied Golan and close to the disputed Shebaa Farms area. Wazzani villagers reported hearing shooting from a nearby Israeli military position. Lebanese security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the boy’s wound but were unsure of the gunfire’s source.
An Israeli Army spokesman said no shooting incidents were reported in Ghajar
on Thursday. ­ AP

Hariri maps out trip to London with British ambassador
British Ambassador Richard Kinchen met Prime Minister Rafik Hariri on Thursday to discuss the latter’s upcoming visit to London, during which he will have talks with his counterpart, Tony Blair, Foreign Minister Jack Straw and other officials.
Kinchen told reporters the talks would focus on the regional situation and ways of moving beyond the current cycle of violence toward a peaceful solution.
The talks will also touch on bilateral ties, notably economic and trade relations, as well as the possibility of Lebanon signing the European-Med association agreement.

Jumblatt discusses regional crisis with Shaath
Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt received Palestinian Cabinet Minister Nabil Shaath on Thursday to discuss the “serious developments” in the Occupied Territories.
Shaath arrived in Beirut on Monday and has met with top leaders for talks on the situation in the region and the need to adopt a coordinated Arab stand to counter Israeli policies.
Shaath also met with PSP official and Information Minister Ghazi Aridi.
The Palestinian minister also visited the executive secretary of ESCWA, Mervat Tellawy.

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