Lahoud to visit Cyprus for signing of three accords
President Emile Lahoud is to start a three-day visit to Cyprus Friday for the signing of three accords and for talks with his Greek Cypriot counterpart, Glafcos Clerides, officials said.
Lahoud, who is making his first official visit to Cyprus, and Clerides would oversee the signing of accords on combating illegal immigration and drug trafficking as well as on cultural cooperation, a Foreign Ministry official said.
Lahoud will be accompanied by his wife, Andree, Deputy Prime Minister Issam Fares, Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud and Major General Jamil Sayyed, director-general of Surete Generale.
On the economic front, Cyprus and Lebanon opened talks earlier this year on plans for joint exploration of offshore oil and gas reserves. The east coast of Cyprus lies only 160 kilometers northwest of Lebanon.
Two-way trade is heavily in favor of Cyprus, which in 2000 exported $30 million worth of goods to Lebanon and imported only $4 million worth of Lebanese goods, according to official figures.

Sfeir defends ‘moral values’ against ‘offending’ billboards
Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Nasrallah Butros Sfeir called Wednesday for the removal of racy advertisements from the country’s roads.
“We want to safeguard moral values in this country,” Sfeir told a delegation of clerics representing various religious denominations who came to complain to him about the proliferation of the billboards.
He agreed that the advertisements, which have been criticized by a number of religious figures in recent months, “offended the pride of women.”
The patriarch added that it was not admissible to “undermine women’s dignity so much,” saying the ads were “an invitation to young people to unleash their instincts.”
In reply to arguments that the advertisements were “works of art,” the patriarch said that the “arts should address an audience that appreciates it (as art).”

Frem expresses optimism about industrial sector
Industry Minister George Frem said Wednesday he was upbeat about the industrial sector, boasting that 10,000 new jobs had been created last year.
Speaking to graduates at the American University of Science and Technology’s job fair Wednesday, Frem outlined a new economic strategy that would “play an essential role in the recovery” of the country’s economy.
According to the minister, the plan’s goals were to increase industrial output 15 percent annually, raise industry’s share of GDP to exceed 20 percent, double the volume of industrial exports from $700 million to $1.4 billion, and create 50,000 new jobs during the plan’s initial four to five year phase.
In 2001, Frem continued, export growth of 25 percent had translated into 10,000 new jobs.
“We are optimistic and convinced that we can achieve these goals. We have done it in the past,” the minister said, outlining industrial statistics from the country’s glory days in the 1960s and early 1970s.

Latest Lebanese airspace violation brings total to 4,989 incidents
Israeli warplanes overflew Lebanon Wednesday, bringing registered violations of the United Nations-demarcated Blue Line by Israeli forces to a total of 4,989 incidents, according to Hizbullah.
A Hizbullah statement said Wednesday’s overflights broke the sound barrier over several southern cities and drew retaliative anti-aircraft fire from Hizbullah fighters.
Another statement added that 26 violations were registered July 9-17: Israeli planes violated Lebanon’s airspace five times; Lebanese territorial waters were violated 20 times; and Israeli land forces violated Lebanese territory on one occasion.
The total of 4,989 violations were counted from June 17, 2000, the statement said.

Detainees’ group in solidarity with Palestinian MP
Participants in a meeting for solidarity with detainees in Israeli prisons said Wednesday that the trial of Palestinian MP Marwan Barghouti was “unjust” and contradictory to all international laws.
Organized by the Follow-up Committee for the Support of Lebanese Detainees in Israeli Prisons, the meeting was held at the Press Federation offices in protest of Barghouti’s trial and in solidarity with Palestinian and Arab detainees.
Barghouti, who was arrested on April 13 in Ramallah, is staging a hunger strike to protest the conditions of his detention.
Participants called for the “largest Arab and international move against that unjust trial which is considered a trial of the Palestinian people.”
They also called for staging demonstrations and sit-ins throughout the world on the day of Barghouti’s trial, including a demonstration outside the offices of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia in Beirut.

Israeli tests conclude forensic samples not those of airman
Israel’s Institute for Forensic Medicine has analyzed samples of blood and saliva conveyed from Iran and determined that they were not from an Israeli airman shot down over Lebanon in 1986, Israeli Army Radio said Wednesday.
Israeli businessman Nati Meir, who lives in Romania, received the samples from Iran through a Romanian diplomat with connections in the Islamic Republic, the radio said as reported on the online version of the Haaretz newspaper.
The two demanded $150,000 in exchange for the samples, but Israel said it would pay the money only after it was determined that the sample belonged to the missing navigator, Ron Arad.
Arad was captured in 1986 in Lebanon when his warplane was shot down as he carried out a raid against residential areas in Sidon.
Israel believes Arad was captured by Mustafa Dirani, who split from the Amal Movement, and who later handed Arad over
to Iran.

Kesrouan mayors thank president for Shabrouh Dam
A delegation of Kesrouan mayors thanked President Emile Lahoud Wednesday for approving the long-promised Shabrouh Dam.
During their meeting with the president at Baabda Palace, the mayors invited Lahoud to participate in the dam’s groundbreaking ceremony during the first half of next month.
Addressing the delegation, Lahoud said approving the dam was not enough.
“We shall see its implementation to the finish, bearing in mind the large benefits of the dam, which extend beyond the Kesrouan area to other adjoining areas and the capital,” Lahoud said.
Lahoud added that in all cases national interests should get priority over the interests of separate districts.

In search of dialogue
Senior Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah met a delegation from the Democratic Renewal Movement Wednesday to discuss the need for national dialogue.
The delegation, headed by the party president, Metn MP Nassib Lahoud, said those “in public affairs” were concerned about national reconstruction, Lebanese-Syrian relations and strengthening the Arab position against Israel. Lahoud renewed his call on President Emile Lahoud to sponsor such efforts.
Fadlallah warned against “unbalanced performance” by politicians, saying it would revive “sectarianism.”

Technology forum to issue recommendations
A forum on alleviating technology, employment and poverty in Arab countries ended Wednesday and will issue recommendations later.
Sudanese Education Minister Mubarak Majzoub presided over the morning sessions, which covered topics such as sustained development and new technologies.
Hussein Yaghi, a professor at the American University of Beirut, called for merging technology and education as a long-term strategy to help build successful development projects. He also said that many of today’s teachers are unable to follow the fast progress of technology and information.
Yaghi also called for a clear and common vision between the private and public sectors.
The three-day forum was organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and the International Labor Organization.
Other speakers focused on the need to draw a national strategy, renew mentalities and create more job opportunities.
Earlier, Ahmed Zweil, a Nobel laureate for Chemistry, proposed the creation of an Arab administrative board to follow the course of scientific research as well as the creation of a plan for scientific research development and the announcement of a clear picture on technology in the Arab world.

Tourist facilities told to solicit complaints
Tourism Minister Karam Karam issued a decree Tuesday requiring that stickers soliciting complaints be displayed at the doors of all tourist institutions that operate with a ministerial permit.
The ministry statement added that the stickers will be distributed to the institutions within two weeks.
The ministry’s related surveillance systems will oversee the implementation of the decree and will record all complaints submitted to anyone calling 01/752429 or by those who send faxes to 01/743763.

EDL says power plant finally operating at peak capacity
Electricite du Liban announced that the Zahrani power plant has been operating at its full power of 450 megawatts since July 6 ­for the first time since the first unit began operating five years ago.
This step is part of EDL’s policy aimed at increasing production, reducing costs and solving pending problems such as the disagreement between EDL and the Council for Development and Reconstruction on one hand, and the firms Ansaldo and Siemens, said a Wednesday statement.
The CDR contracted the two firms to equip the Zahrani and Deir Ammar plants according to a memorandum of understanding.
The power plant is comprised of two gas-powered units, each capable of producing 150 megawatts of power, as well as one steam-powered unit capable of producing 150 megawatts, which was put into full service Saturday.
According to the same memorandum of understanding, the Deir Ammar power plant is expected to operate at maximum capacity by mid-September.
CDR joins efforts to extinguish blaze at dump The Council for Development and Reconstruction has joined efforts by the Public Works and Transport Ministry and several north Lebanon municipalities to help fight a fire that broke out at the Madjlaya waste dump.
As of Wednesday, a contractor in charge of the dump was instructed to extinguish the flames, but has been unable to entirely do so.
The contractor was told to spread a layer of dirt and solid waste over the flames to ensure that they do not erupt again, a statement by the CDR said Wednesday. However, this was not successful.
The contractor was also instructed to treat the fires according to international fire-extinguishing standards, by cooling them first and then by covering them with a layer of dirt.
The CDR’s statement predicted that the fire would be extinguished within 25 days; local groups, however, insist that immediate action be taken.

Committee discusses draft for e-government
The ministerial committee for information technology and telecommunications met Wednesday to discuss a draft strategy for e-government prepared by the office of the Minister of State for Administrative Development’s legal and computer experts.
Presided over by Administrative Development Minister Fouad Saad, the meeting was attended by Economy Minister Basil Fuleihan and Telecommunications Minister Jean-Louis Qordahi.
The strategy includes a legal framework for the concept of electronic services, their security and protection and a technical framework with a secure infrastructure for telecommunications both locally and internationally.
It also includes a framework for services and the development of resources, marketing and operation. This includes developing human resources both in the government and in Lebanese society, as well as computer training within public administration.
The draft will be submitted in its final form to the committee in mid-August before being summarized and translated into Arabic and French.

First lady tours convent with Japanese delegation
As a complementary step to a previous visit to the Deir al-Qalaa Convent in Beit Mery, first lady Andree Lahoud toured the site Wednesday with a delegation from the Japanese Embassy headed by its cultural attache, Susumu Yoshida.
Accompanied by the head of the convent, Father Roland Mrad, Lahoud and the delegation enquired as to assistance that the Japanese government could provide to renovate the convent, which was originally a fortress.
During their tour, Mrad provided the delegation with detailed explanations on the convent and its renovation plans. Susumu expressed satisfaction with the explanations and pledged to submit a detailed report to the Japanese government, including suggestions for contributing to the historic site’s rehabilitation.
Lahoud thanked the embassy for its cooperation in promoting Lebanese tourism and giving hope to the Lebanese in the revival of their country.

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