Hammoud, Amr discuss date for peace committee meeting
Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud contacted by phone Friday Arab League Secretary-General Amr Musa and conferred with him about setting a date for the meeting of the Arab League follow-up committee before the end of June.
The meeting, which is due to take place in Cairo, is expected to focus on the implementation of the Arab peace plan adopted at the Arab summit in March.
Hammoud also received a phone call from Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri. The two men discussed bilateral relations and the upcoming meeting of the committee.
It is likely that they also discussed the issue of the Kuwaiti detainees in Iraq. Kuwait has made appeals to Lebanon to actively pursue the issue due to Lebanon’s capacity as holder of the Arab League chairmanship.

Jumblatt offers condolences to Irani family
Chouf MP Walid Jumblatt Friday offered his condolences to the family of Ramzi Irani, the pro-Lebanese Forces engineer who was kidnapped and later found dead in the trunk of his car last month.
The visit to the Irani family home in Achrafieh comes as the Druze leader has been making efforts to shore up his relations with the country’s Christian opposition factions.
Jumblatt has criticized the sectarian tone of Gabriel Murr’s Christian opposition coalition in the Metn by-election, but has called on the interior ministry to announce his victory over Mryna Murr in the poll.
Jumblatt, who visited Metn MP and opposition heavyweight Nassib Lahoud Wednesday to congratulate him on the Metn victory, is expected to visit Bkirki next week.

Different lessons drawn from Metn by-election
Reactions to Gabriel Murr’s victory in Metn by-elections varied Friday as tension rose with the announcement of the results.
Deputy Premier Issam Fares said in a statement that the Metn elections and their aftermath should serve as an incentive to endorse a new electoral law that would provide a better division of the electoral districts and improve elections by modernizing the electoral mechanism.
In a separate statement, Beirut MP Adnan Araqji denied rumors of Interior Minister Elias Murr’s resignation, saying no resignation had been submitted to the Secretariat-General of the Cabinet.
For his part, National Liberal Party president Dory Chamoun told the weekly magazine Najwa Al-Massira that President Emile Lahoud should have demanded, upon the declaration of the first results, that the interior minister declare Gabriel Murr winner.

Lawyers call strike in memory of massacred judges
The Beirut Bar Association urged lawyers Friday to participate in a symbolic strike in the South and Nabatieh areas to mark the third anniversary of the killing of four judges in Sidon.
A statement, which called upon the lawyers to participate in a commemorative ceremony at the Justice Palace in Sidon Saturday, also expressed surprise that the perpetrators of the crime had not yet been found and punished.
Four judges were assassinated on June 8, 1999, inside a courtroom in Sidon. It is believed that the killers were Palestinians who then took refuge at the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp.
It further described the assassinations as “the most serious crime in Lebanon,” and asked, “how can confidence in the law be developed if the criminals were not punished and not even exposed?”

Gina Hobeika chosen to lead Waad Party
Gina Hobeika was elected head of the Waad Party Friday, replacing her husband Elie Hobeika who was killed in a car bomb explosion in January.
The Waad party is no longer represented in parliament following the deaths of Hobeika and Baabda MP Jean Ghanem, who also died in January in a car crash.

Shiite cleric demands end to sectarian wrangling
A leading Shiite cleric criticized Friday what he described as political and sectarian wrangling, saying the country had paid a high cost and was still suffering from the “bitterness of in-fighting,” a reference to the 1975-l990 civil war.
Speaking during a sermon in the southern village of Mais al-Jabal, Sheikh Abdel-Amir Qabalan, vice-president of the Higher Shiite Council, said: “After this bitter ordeal, it is not permissible to turn the clock backward.”
Qabalan added that all Lebanese should be aware of the significance of division and change in “sectarian discourse,” uniting political, economic and social efforts “to build the Lebanon we dream of.
The country can no longer withstand such squabbling, and … all people in Lebanon strongly reject the logic of personal aims and interests and are desperate of the policy of sharing the booty,” he said.

Nasrallah calls for nation to continue resistancea
Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, urged Lebanese to continue to work toward the liberation of their remaining land under occupation.
Speaking Thursday at a dinner reception he hosted for delegates to a Beirut conference on the differences between Arab national and Islamic principles, he also urged Arabs not to weaken their resolve in their fight against the Israelis.
Commenting on Israeli claims that Hizbullah was about to launch large-scale operations against Israel, Nasrallah said that Hizbullah “does not care whether the Zionists are concerned or not.”
“Actually, it is quite natural to make the Israelis feel worried. And it is not natural for them to feel safe and secure,” he added.
Nasrallah also praised the recent suicide operations launched by Palestinians against the Israelis.

Hrawi urges end to discussion of ‘sensitive issues’
Defense Minister Khalil Hrawi urged political forces Friday to avoid sensitive issues and personal interests in order to achieve prosperity for the country.
Speaking at the rally held in Baalbek by the Baath Party’s Bekaa branch marking the second anniversary of the death of Syrian President Hafez Assad, Hrawi called for refraining from battles for temporary objectives in favor of working toward “long-term goals and essential interests.”

Jerusalem church official visits Ain al-Hilweh camp
The official spokesman of the Orthodox Church in Jerusalem, Archimandrite Atallah Hanna, visited Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp in Sidon Friday.
Hanna, who was warmly welcomed by the camp’s officials and residents, said the Palestinian people was “one” both within and outside the Occupied Territories.
“Muslims and Christians ­ nothing separates us. We don’t accept being divided. We will have one struggle until we achieve our goals: freedom and independence.”
Refugees showered Hanna with rose petals and rice and played national songs.
Hanna said that “all Arabs are forced to be Palestinians” until Palestine is liberated and the Palestinian state is established.
He stressed the importance of the return of the refugees to their homeland, adding that “the right of return was sacred and is not less important than the issue of Jerusalem.”
He asserted that the Palestinian people would be victorious “despite US and Israeli plots.”

Economic forum invites Lahoud to Davos meet
A delegation from the International Economic Forum invited President Emile Lahoud to participate at the forum’s next session in Davos, Switzerland, to discuss Lebanon’s situation on the political, economic and social levels.
The delegation, which included the head of the Middle East department at the forum, Alexander Theocharides, and the group’s regional director, Fouad Ghanma, informed Lahoud about its activities.
Delegation members praised Deputy Prime Minister Issam Fares’ participation at the forum held last year in New York.
They group expressed hope that Lahoud would answer the invitation, especially since the subcommittees specialized in Middle Eastern affairs, pointing out the “great benefits” that it could have for Lebanon.
The delegation also visited Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in Koraytem.

Taxi drivers call strike as diesel deadline looms
With the approaching ban on diesel engines, taxi drivers have less than a week to convert their engines to gasoline, an operation that many cannot afford.
On Thursday, Interior Minister Elias Murr issued a memo to the Internal Security Forces to start implementing the law by forbidding the use of diesel engines for cars as of June 15 and for mini-buses as of July 15.
“We will not stop using diesel,” Abdel-Amir Najda, president of the Confederation of Land Transport and Taxi Driver Unions, said Friday, adding that the law was unfair in that it included cars and mini-buses but omitted busses that carry over 15 passengers.
Najda said that a strike was scheduled for Wednesday.
Also, General Labor Confederation Vice-President Bassam Tleis called for an extraordinary general assembly at the GLC headquarters Saturday.

ISF calls on robbery victims to help identify gang
The Internal Security Forces’ Public Relations Office called on the public Friday to help identify a gang of thieves who operated in the Sabra area.
The gang, including Ahmad Sabri Hammana, 23, Mouin Hussein Qaddour, 21, Hassan Ali Alauddine, 23, Hisham Ibrahim Safi, 19, and Ali Ahmad Haidar, 19, confessed to more than 50 armed robberies and petty theft using motorcycles.
They also confessed to using firearms during their crimes, which covered an area that included Beir Hassan, the Sports City, Sabra, Tallet Khayyat, Barbir, UNESCO, Achrafieh, Bourj Hammoud, Dora and Nahr al-Mott.
The gang admitted to police that they stole a number of motorcycles and were found in possession of firearms and knives.
The police urged anyone who may have been a victim of the gang to come and identify them at the Joseph Daher Barracks on Camille Chamoun boulevard.

US names Lebanon as center for human trafficking
Lebanon is a destination country for trafficked persons, creating a problem exacerbated by the fact that the country has no laws guiding the prosecution of  such cases, according to a report issued by the US State Department.
According to the annual Trafficking in Persons Report, “many trafficking victims come to Lebanon in search of work voluntarily and legally, but are put into situations of coerced labor.”
It added that “some are put into situations with slave-like conditions, or in which they become victims of sexual exploitation.”
According to the report, women from Ethiopia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and to a lesser extent Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Bulgaria are the most likely to be victims.
The statement further said that, although the government is taking some measures to counter trafficking, it “does not provide foreign workers relief from deportation, shelter or access to legal, medical or psychological services.”

Businesswomen call for economic renewal
The head of the Lebanese Businesswomen’s Gathering, Leila Salhab Karami, called on Arab leaders Friday to rally behind a comprehensive economic development program that would “revive hope in
the hearts and souls” of the people.
She made the call during a meeting with Qatari Ambassador Abdullah
al-Khater, at which she reviewed the main activities planned by the gathering, underlining the importance of the current phase through which the Arab region was passing.
A statement said Karami expressed hope that the ambassador would keep the gathering informed of Qatari delegations planning to visit the country to spend the summer vacation in order to facilitate their stay and organize tourist trips for them.

Security reviewed ahead of Russian envoy’s visit
The Foreign Ministry’s director of political and consular affairs, Naji Abi Assi, Friday conferred with Russian ambassador Boris Bolotin on the precautions underway for the upcoming visit of Andre Vdovin.
Vdovin, who is Russia’s special envoy for the Mideast peace process,
is due to arrive in Beirut Monday for a three-
day visit.
Bolotin told reporters that Vdovin’s visit here was just one stop in a tour that also includes Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Israel.
Bolotin added that Vdovin’s main mission was to help resume political negotiations as a prelude to reaching a comprehensive solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Bolotin said that Vdovin, who would arrive here from Damascus, would meet with local officials Tuesday.
He added that a Russian economic delegation would arrive here Monday.

Itani discusses economic plans with Chinese delegation
Council for Development and Reconstruction President Jamal Itani discussed bilateral relations with a visiting Chinese delegation Friday.
According to a statement, the delegation included members from China’s Foreign Commerce and Economic Cooperation Ministry, the Finance Ministry, the Import and Export Bank and the Company for Export and Investment Insurance as well as delegates from major Chinese business companies.
Itani and the delegation, which arrived here Wednesday for a three-day visit, discussed bilateral economic cooperation and future projects to be financed by Beijing.
The delegation also visited on Friday the Investment Development Authority of Lebanon to discuss investment opportunities here, especially since the company was given larger authority to promote foreign investment in the country.
The company’s vice-
chairman, Alain Bejjani, explained to the delegation the services and projects carried out by IDAL, including the program of agricultural support
“Export Plus.”
Another Chinese delegation is expected to visit Lebanon later this year to study a financial agreement between both countries.

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