| Lebanon News in Brief Lahoud sends best wishes to Kuwaiti emir
President Emile Lahoud conveyed congratulations to Kuwait’s emir, Sheikh Jaber
al-Ahmad al-Sabah, Tuesday on the 42nd anniversary of the Gulf state’s independence.
In a telegram, Lahoud wished prosperity, development, peace and security for Kuwait.
“I seize the opportunity to reiterate to Your Highness Lebanon’s gratitude and
appreciation for Kuwait’s support to Lebanon on all levels and for Your
Highness’ measures to promote solidarity and help Lebanon overcome its ordeals,
especially on the economic level,” the president said.
He added that Kuwait’s initiative during the “Paris II” donor conference
last November and other previous contributions highlighted the fraternal relations between
the two countries.
“I see in these relations an example of Arab solidarity, which Your Highness called
for and strived to achieve,” Lahoud said.
Beirut angered Kuwait during a Arab ministerial meeting in Cairo last week, with Kuwait
MPs calling for a freeze in aid to Lebanon and a recall of its ambassador from Beirut.
Hizbullah supporter held for contempt after
insulting judge
A man affiliated with Hizbullah was arrested in Beirut on Tuesday for contempt of court.
Judge Maher Shiito was examining a case against the man, Yasser Fares, on charges of
attacking a plaintiff at Beirut’s Penal Court when Fares launched a verbal tirade
against the court.
“If it had not been for the martyrs’ blood, a Jew would be presiding over the
court session instead of you,” Fares said.
Fares’ comments prompted Shiito to order his arrest and he was detained at the jail
in Beirut’s Justice Palace.
The judge accused Fares of the slandering the judiciary, which carries a sentence of two
years in prison. The suspect was referred to Beirut Public Prosecutor Majed Mezeem for
investigation.
Hadath gets new center for disabled youth
An EU-funded center for young disabled people was opened in Hadath Tuesday in cooperation
with the Kafaat Foundation and the League for the Adaptation of the Physically Disabled at
Work.
The ceremony was attended by several officials, including the EU Ambassador Patrick
Renauld.
According to statement from the EU delegation in Lebanon, Renauld said the center would
improve the foundation’s ability to provide care and services for disabled
people, “allowing them to live with dignity and offering them the chance to find
their place in society.”
Tokyo donates equipment to Aley healthcare facility
Japan has donated some $48,000 to help equip a healthcare center in Aley run by the
Motherhood Committee, the embassy announced Tuesday.
According to a statement, Japanese Ambassador Naoto Amaki signed the money over to the
head of the committee, Zeina Talal Arslan, the wife of Minister of State Talal Arslan,
during a ceremony at the embassy on Tuesday.
The donation is part of the Japanese government’s Grassroots Grant Program, which has
extended some $3 million in aid across Lebanon since 1996.
The program targets development projects at the grassroots level by providing local
nonprofit groups with needed funds.
Hariri to host delegation of Lebanese from Abu
Dhabi
A delegation from the Council of Lebanese Action in Abu Dhabi will be visiting Beirut to
prepare for the Lebanese Exhibition and Gathering to be held in the Gulf emirate from
April 15-19 under the patronage of Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The delegation, which will include the head of the council, Albert Matta, and eight
members of its board, will be received by Hariri Thursday. The delegation will also visit
several ministers and leading businessmen to prepare for the exhibition.
A statement quoted Matta as saying the event, organized by the council in cooperation with
the Industrial Marketing Company, would promote Lebanese exports and investment in
Lebanon. It will also contribute to strengthening and developing bilateral economic ties,
the statement said.
Lebanese-born director runs afoul of Egyptian
censors
CAIRO: French film-maker Jocelyne Saab, who was born in Lebanon, has had a fresh taste of
the taboo surrounding female sexuality in the Arab world when Egyptian authorities refused
her permission to shoot a movie addressing the issue.
The director recently lodged an appeal against Egypt’s censorship committee over its
decision to reject the script of her Egyptian-French financed movie entitled Dunia, a
girl’s name that also means “life” in Arabic.
“It touches on taboo issues such as love and sexual relationships, female pleasure
and excision,” Saab said during a trip to Cairo.
The censorship committee decided the movie would “harm Egypt and Islam and incite
depravation,” she said.
The director of artistic censorship, Madkour Thabet, said that the “censors who read
the script unanimously rejected it, because it harms traditions and seeks to show that
there is no hope for reform in Egypt.” AFP
Red Cross official takes tour of Ain al-Hilweh
The head of the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) in Lebanon, Antoine
Belair, inspected the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp Tuesday and met with local officials.
He was accompanied on a tour of the Sidon-area camp by the ICRC delegate to the South,
Riad Dbouq. They met with Palestinian officials Abed Maqdah, Adnan Rifai, Jihad Maarouf
and Ghazi Assadi to discuss the latest developments in the camp.
Belair was informed of the camp’s deteriorating living conditions “in light of
lower services provided by the UNRWA and donor states,” camp sources said.
Belair deplored the “lack of interest shown by the international community in the
refugees.”
Sidon MP rips Salameh for not visiting damaged
citadel
Sidon MP Osama Saad accused Culture Minister Ghassan Salameh on Tuesday of neglecting his
duties by failing to visit the city’s seaside citadel to inquire into the collapse of
one of its facades during recent storms.
“The Culture Ministry should assume its responsibilities fully and if it lacks the
means to do so,
it should call for the international community’s help, as the citadel is considered
part of the world’s heritage,” Saad said.
He added that it was the duty of international organizations to help preserve the Crusader
area citadel.
Saad criticized Salameh for not looking into the issue, “a negligence that has become
the characteristic of this government.”
A section of the wall on the northeastern edge of the citadel collapsed last Tuesday. The
damage was attributed to the collapse of cement pillars fixed on rocks in the sea and
upset by heavy storms.Work to rehabilitate the damaged wall has been slowed by continued
storms.
Prosecutor hears testimony from MCI-Ogero chief
Assistant Public Prosecutor for Financial Fraud Roukoz Rizk heard testimony from Nizar
Dalloul over charges that his company, MCI-Ogero, had failed to pay the state its dues.
Some two months ago, Telecommunication Minister Jean-Louis Qordahi blamed Dalloul, the son
of Zahle MP Mohsen Dalloul, for the telephone company’s failure to pay its operating
fees.
Dalloul heads the company’s board of directors.
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