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Friday, August 09, 2002 
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Government on Collision Course with Lebanon's Free Media

Naharnet -The government is taking legal proceedings against a second Beirut TV network, signaling a strong inclination to muzzle the media of the country that boasts the freest press in the Arab world.

The General Security Department under Brig. Gen Jamil Sayyed has formally accused Gabriel Murr's MTV network of slandering President Lahoud, abusing the army's intelligence apparatus and 'disturbing' Lebanon's relations with Syria.

Many eyebrows were raised about the timing of the move, targeting the main opposition station against the regime only three days after the loyalist pro-Lahoud LBCI was prosecuted for alleged sectarian agitation.

Leftist opposition leader Habib Sadek has recently warned of "ongoing attempts to turn Lebanon into a police state with a police-controlled media." The action against the MTV and LBCI was seen as corroboration of his charge.

"There is an unmistakable inclination by the authorities to restrict the Beirut media. The authorities are advised to remember, however, that every single attempt to control the press since independence has been resoundingly beaten," commented the Voice of Lebanon radio station.

The General Security Department charges were made in a letter to Lebanon's Prosecutor-General Adnan Addoum. "From now onwards the law will be applied on the media. Freedom of expression is guaranteed in Lebanon but within the frames of the law," Addoum told reporters.

The GSD letter complained about an MTV weekly political program entitled Plebiscite. Anchorman Ziad Njeim dedicated a two-week-old edition to the freedom of the media, interviewing ex-Information Minister Edmond Rizk and An Nahar's editorialist George Nassif

Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said he was taken aback by the GSD action. "I knew nothing about it. I am hearing about it from you for the first time," Aridi told reporters as he emerged from the regular weekly session of the government Thursday evening.

He pointed out that courts have no power to close any media outfit in Lebanon. "Only the Council of Ministers has the right to order a closure," said Aridi, who has no love lost for Gen. Sayyed.

Palestinian Fanatics Threaten to Turn Lebanon into 'Pool of Blood'

Naharnet -A shadowy group of fanatic Muslim renegades has threatened to turn the whole of Lebanon into a "pool of blood" should any harm befall the fugitives of the Dinniyeh insurrection sheltering at Ein El-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp.

The threat was made by Osbat Al Noor, or League of Enlightenment, which is headed by Sheikh Abdullah Shreidi, a fundamentalist Sunni extremist who broke away from notorious Palestinian terrorist mastermind Abu Mohjen's Osbat Al Ansar.

An Nahar carried the full text of a statement that was faxed to the newspaper by the Palestinian Osbat Al Noor. It was laced by an emblem of two assault rifles at the top of the statement and a hand holding a grenade at the bottom.

The statement contained a scathing attack on Sheikh Maher Hammoud, the fundamentalist cleric who personally delivered the killer of three troops to the Lebanese army at the entrance to the Ein El-Helweh camp two weeks ago.

The killer, Badi' Hamadeh, a Lebanese Muslim extremist who goes by the nom de guerre of Abu Obeidah, had sought refuge in the camp after killing three soldiers who tried to arrest him at his fiancé's house in Sidon's Hamshari neighborhood at midnight of July 11-12.

Gunmen of Osbat Al Noor and activists of the so-called Dinniyeh Group teamed together in guarding Abu Obeidah at Al Noor Mosque in Ein-El-Helweh's Safsaf neighborhood for five days.

But the bigger Osbat Al Ansar under Abu Mohjen's brother Tarek Al Saadi managed to seize Abu Obeidah and stuff him in the waiting car of Maher Hammoud, who drove through the blacked out camp to hand-deliver the troops' killer to the main army checkpoint at Ein El-Helweh's entrance.

"We have addressed a warning to Hammoud for his betrayal two weeks ago," said Osbat Al Noor's statement, referring to a bomb found at the bottom of the rostrum that Hammoud uses to deliver his sermons at Sidon's Al Quds mosque, two days after Abu Obeidah's arrest.

"It seems, however, that this warning was not enough to stop Maher Hammoud from conspiring with several factions in the camp to turn over the Dinniyeh group," the statement said. "We declare that we will turn Ein El-Helweh and the whole of Lebanon into a pool of blood if the conspirators press ahead with their plots," the statement threatened.

Gebran Tueni Urges People to Take State to Court

Naharnet -Gebran Tueni wrote on Thursday that the people of Lebanon should take their state and their government to court on charges of conspiring against national unity, starving out the population and failing to do anything to recover the nation's sovereignty and independence.

"It should not be the other way round, the government filing suits against the people and the media," Tueni wrote in a page-one An Nahar editorial. It is the state who should be behind bars, not the free media, or the students, or the suffering population."

Tueni recalled that President Lahoud complained lately that Lebanon was still a combination of sectarian entities. "This, your excellency, is the fault of the government, which had done nothing to restore sovereignty and independence."

Tueni contended that the government had also failed to bring about a true national reconciliation, end the injustices and fears, terminate Syrian interference in Lebanon's domestic affairs and the anarchy in the Palestinian camps.

"The state has instead persecuted the people and plunged into power wars from within that are occasionally interspersed by interim cease-fires . So how would the country enjoy a feeling of confidence and security while its rulers are so far away from trusting each other?" Tueni added.

Tueni used the Aug. 7 anniversary of the state's savage military crackdown on the opposition a year ago as a platform to wage a scathing attack on the lawsuit the information ministry has lodged against the LBC.

The minister of information stood strongly last year against his government's arrests, persecutions and physical beating of students in addition to attempts to muzzle the free media, Tueni recalled. "He took an opposite stance this year."

The writer suggested that it was high time for he state of Lebanon to "exercise self-accountability" instead of holding the media accountable for the state's tragic blunders and disastrous incapacities.

Fatah Threatens to Expel Dinniyeh Rebels by Force from Ein El-Hilweh

Naharnet -Yasser Arafat has directed his Fatah force in south Lebanon to evict the wanted Dinniyeh rebels from the tension-ridden Ein El-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp by force unless they chose to leave peacefully on their own.

The timeless ultimatum was reported by Arafat's top Lebanon representative Brig. Gen. Sultan Abul Ainein from his headquarters in he Rashidiyeh refugee camp near Tyre, some 20 kilometers south of Ein El-Hilweh.

But local Fatah militia commander Col. Munir Makdah in Ein El-Hilweh counseled restraint, saying the 15-man Dinniyeh group were already leaving the camp out of their own volition.

"At least two of them are already out of Ein El-Hilweh and the rest were in the process of leaving. They have turned their homes in the camp to the landlords," Makdah told reporters.

Asked whether Ahmed Mikati was among the two who already had left the camp, Makdah said "I am not sure. It could be."

Mikati is on Lebanon's most wanted list for masterminding the Dinniyeh insurrection that was snuffed out by the Lebanese army in eight days of close-quarter combat from cave-to-cave on the mountain peaks of the district.

Media reports have frequently described Mikati as Osama bin Laden's man among extremist Salafi Sunni Muslims sworn to the creation of an Islamic state in Lebanon patterned after the Caliphate government system that prevailed in the early days of Islam.

Salaf is the Arabic word for ancestor.

Splits Surfaces among Opposition Groups as Activists Mark Anniversary of Security Clamp down

FUTURE NEWS -Splits among influential opposition groups in Lebanon have surfaced in the aftermath of a ceremony marking the first anniversary of a security clampdown on opposition activists. Separate events took place on the occasion. The main rally was organized in Antelias, but some heavyweights did not appear at the gathering, which witnessed a barrage of attacks against Syria and the state.

Report: Some 2,000 opposition activists gathered at Antelias to mark the first anniversary of a crackdown by the security forces on opposition groups. A year ago, dozens of opposition activists and members of banned movements in Lebanon were rounded up and security forces clashed with college students, drawing harsh condemnation from across the Lebanese political spectrum.

But the scene was different on Wednesday. The opposition appeared divided and did not enjoy the support it did during last year's confrontation with the authorities, mainly due to a recent meeting of Christian Maronite figures which was held in the US city of Los Angeles.

That gathering backed an anti-Syrian bill in the US Congress. The Antelias rally was organized by the Free Patriotic Movement of former Lebanese Army commander General Michel Aoun, who addressed the crowd via phone from his Paris exile. Aoun, who led a so-called war of liberation against Syrian troops just before the 1975-1990 civil war ended, urged activists to pursue their drive for quote sovereignty and accused the US of supporting what he described as Syrian custodianship over Lebanon.

Former President Amin Gemayel also addressed the crowd, but sought to stem off the anti-Syrian slogans they were shouting. He accused the authorities of being protected by security services and like all speakers at the rally, he called for a Syrian pullout from Lebanon, and in his words a restoration of sovereignty. Gemayel told activists those who call for Lebanon's sovereignty are immediately branded extremists and are accused of threatening civil peace.

The head of the National Liberal Party Dory Chamoun repeated much of the same of what Gemayel told the rally, and appeared to defend participants at the World Maronite Congress which was held in Los Angeles. Chamoun said participants were only reacting to what he claimed was their forced exile from Lebanon by a quote fraternal country, in reference to Syria. He said they were seeking US support since it is the only super power left.

The rally received a boost of support from New York Congressman Eliot Engel, who serves on the International Relations Committee. He sent the gathering a telegram to back those arrested during last year's security clamp down on the opposition and against quote Syria's occupation of Lebanon. He vowed to use his Congressional seat to press for the passage of an anti-Syrian bill in Congress and in his words the restoration of Lebanese sovereignty.

There were major absentees from the Antelias rally. The head of the Progressive Socialist Party Deputy Walid Jumblatt, who had lashed out at the authorities during last year's clamp down and backed the activists, opted this year for a meeting and lunch with President Emile Lahoud at the Baabda Palace. He said it was a coincidence that his meeting with Lahoud occurred on Wednesday. But Jumblatt said a year has made a difference and called for sidelining what he described as extremists who managed to ruin some of the benefits of a landmark reconciliation visit the Maronite Patriarch, Cardinal Nasrallah Boutros Sfeir, to the Chouf mountains, where he urged former warring communities to cement civil peace.

Jumblatt has warned that the time is not right to advocate animosity against Syria as the Middle East tatters on the brink of explosion. He defended President Lahoud's backing of the armed forces during last year's showdown, saying it supported the army's morale.

There were also other absentees from the Antelias rally, including some key figures of the Christian opposition front known as the Qornet Shehwan Gathering. Many of its members attended a news conference, where former leftist MP Habib Sadek of the Democratic Forum group urged shoring up public freedoms and Lebanon's human rights record. He accused the authorities of seeking to set up a security state.

Sadek also claimed officials here have been drawing power from Syria. Meanwhile, the Maronite Council of Bishops called on the state to respect human rights, and said in a statement those quote unfairly locked up in jail should be released, in reference to Toufi Hindi, an advisor of the imprisoned Lebanese Forces militia chief Samir Geagea, whose movement is banned, and journalist Antoine Bassil. They were both arrested last year during the security sweep and have been convicted on charges of collaborating with Israel.

Kaddoumi Holds Middle East Talks in Beirut

FUTURE NEWS -The head of the Palestine Liberation Organization's political department, Farouk Kaddoumi, has reiterated backing to military operations against Israel, saying resistance remained the only path towards ending Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.

Kaddoumi, who is holding talks with senior officials in Beirut on developments in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, told reporters after a meeting with Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud he is in Lebanon to step up contacts over the Mideast conflict. Kaddoumi reaffirmed backing for an Arab peace plan that was reached at a summit in Beirut. It called for Israel's pullout from occupied Arab lands in return for full relations with Arab states.

Minister Hammoud said Lebanon would press ahead with efforts to help the Palestinians create their independent state.

Hariri Surprised by Rumsfeld's Comments on Occupied Territories

Lebanon Wire -Prime Minister Rafik Hariri expressed great surprise Thursday over remarks made by US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in which he referred to the "so-called Occupied Territories" of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

He said such remarks worsened an already difficult situation in the region because they contradicted international law and UN resolutions, the most recent of which was a General Assembly resolution calling specifically for an end to "Israeli occupation."

Speaking during a meeting with the visiting political chief of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Farouk Kaddoumi, Hariri said the statements reflected poorly on Washington's credibility as a leading sponsor in the Middle East peace process.

He added that the remarks had caused "anxiety" in the Arab world, especially as they came in the wake of a Pentagon advisory council report describing Saudi Arabia as potential enemy.

Hariri underlined the "positive and constructive role" played by Saudi Arabia within the Arab world and in the international arena.

Government Says Investigations on Killings Yet to Produce Results

Lebanon Wire -In response to an inquiry submitted by nine MPs requesting an update on investigations into a recent wave of high-profile murders, the government said investigations had yet to produce concrete findings.

The government was responding to questions about the murders this year of Ramzi Irani and former warlord Elie Hobeika, as well as the 1999 murder of four Sidon magistrates.

"The committee in charge of the inquiry into the (Irani) murder still meets every week and reviews progress," the reply said, adding that the government was unable to comment on some evidence relayed to the magistrate in charge of investigations.

Investigations into the 1999 murder of four sitting magistrates in Sidon established that members of Islamist group Esbat al-Ansar were involved, but the perpetrators have yet to be identified.

Madi Urges Death Penalty for Esbat Al-Ansar Deputy

Lebanon Wire -Chief Beirut Investigating Magistrate Hatem Madi has requested the death penalty for the deputy leader of Esbat al-Ansar and six other members of the Islamic fundamentalist group, for their role in the 1996 murder of a Sidon man.

In a Thursday indictment, Madi accused Mahmoud Hussein Mustafa, the deputy of Abdel-Karim Saadi, also known as Abu Mohjen, of killing Ali Hamze Suheil with the help of Shadi Ahmad Sobha, Mustafa Nabil Sharqawi, Shehade Tawfiq Jawhar, Abdullah Hisham Shreidi and Tareq Shawqi Ghalban.

All are believed to be hiding at the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp near Sidon, with the exception of Ghalban, who is currently in custody.

According to the indictment, Mustafa allegedly issued a fatwa ordering the death of Suheil, who aided the Lebanese Army in the handover a Palestinian murder suspect.

Fatah Chief Says Camps Will Not Be 'Dagger' in Lebanon's Side

Lebanon Wire -Fatah's commander in Lebanon, Brigadier Sultan Abul-Ainayn, said Thursday that the Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian camp and other refugee camps would not be a "dagger in the side of Lebanon."

Speaking to the Middle East News Agency from his office at the Rashidiyeh camp near Tyre, Abul-Ainayn said Ain al-Hilweh would not be a refuge for outlaws, adding that wanted suspects should be handed over to the Lebanese authorities.

Fatah officials and some Lebanese parties are attempting to force several people, suspected of participating in the 2000 Dinnieh clashes with the army and who allegedly took refuge in the camp, to leave Ain al-Hilweh.

Abul-Ainayn said some parties could resort to assassination to create instability in Palestinian camp, and that the nature and geography of Ain al-Hilweh did not allow any party to fully control security and maintain order in the camp.

MP Denies Group Will Oppose Qornet Shehwan Gathering

Lebanon Wire -Metn MP Emile Lahoud Jr., one of several Maronite MPs who have been meeting to form a pro-Syrian gathering, denied claims that the new group's aim was to oppose the Qornet Shehwan Gathering, one of the country's main opposition groups, which seeks for a Syrian withdrawal.

"This gathering is not meant to oppose anyone … but this is a democratic country and it consists of several viewpoints," he told the French-language periodical Magazine in an interview that to be published Friday.

"They say they are seekers of dialogue … (considering it) a priority, so with whom do they wish to engage in dialogue? Is it with those who share their opinion or differ with them?" Lahoud asked.

Lahoud criticizes wording of UN report on Jenin

Lebanon Wire -President Emile Lahoud criticized Wednesday a United Nations report that fell short of describing as a "massacre" an Israeli military operation that targeted a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank in April.

The report, issued last Thursday, concluded that there was no evidence to support Palestinian claims that more than 400 people were killed by Israeli forces in the Jenin camp offensive.

"The credibility of the UN is at stake by the fact that the report of the inquiry commission did not qualify as a massacre the acts committed by Israel in Jenin," said Lahoud in a statement, as chairman of the Arab summit.

"We welcome the attitude of Sweden, which considered the report biased because Israel had refused to cooperate and had forbidden access to the international inquiry commission into Jenin," he added.

Lahoud called on the UN to "remain an example in neutrality and objectivity" and said that depriving the international body of its role "endangers world peace." - With agencies

Popular Decision Bloc Calls for Change in Government Mentality

Lebanon Wire -The Popular Decision Bloc called Wednesday for "a complete change in the government officials' mentality and a better respect for the Constitution through swift action by the Parliament."

The bloc held a news conference during which it highlighted its opinions toward the latest developments on the local scene.

Participants questioned the aims behind the "phenomenon of political trials," which included Tawfiq Hindi, political adviser to the imprisoned Samir Geagea, leader of the Lebanese Forces, and other activists - criticizing it as "a cultural retardation that tarnished Lebanon's reputation before international and human rights organizations."

The bloc also denounced charges against the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International, describing its prosecution as "one of Aug. 7 chapters (of repression)."

Bloc member and Kesrouan MP Fares Boueiz stressed the importance of "defending freedoms through democratic means since other measures might be harmful."

Senior Shiite Cleric Accuses Arab Leaders of Subservience to US

Lebanon Wire -Senior Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah accused Arab leaders of allowing themselves to be manipulated by Washington Wednesday.

Speaking at a reception held in honor of donors to an orphan assistance campaign organized by a Shiite benevolent association, he said the world was "getting increasingly savage."

He indirectly accused Arab monarchs of being blindly subservient toward Washington. "Monarchs tilt their heads to those in the Central Intelligence who appointed them as kings, princes and leaders," the cleric said, adding that Arab heads of state were "imposing themselves on plain people in order to safeguard the interests of their superiors."

According to Fadlallah, the region's leaders were bowing down to George W. Bush, who was "covering up daily Zionist massacres committed against Palestinian children."

Beydoun Criticizes US Foreign Policy of 'Regime Change'

Lebanon Wire -Energy and Water Minister Mohammed Abdel-Hamid Beydoun said Wednesday that "danger" lay in the US administration's attitude toward changing regimes in the region.

During Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Ali Sobhani's farewell visit to Beydoun, the minister praised the ambassador's efforts to consolidate ties between both countries, highlighting Iran's role in support of Arab causes.

Asked about the Washington Post's claims that Saudi Arabia might become an "enemy state," Beydoun criticized as "hallucinations" the American administration's belief that it was entitled to change regimes, including those in Saudi Arabia and Iraq. "Real danger lies in the US belief that the American administration is entitled to decide on international regimes and impose its sole vision," he said.

Speaking about continuous Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, Sobhani said despite the "terrorism" and pressure exerted by Israel with US help to change the Palestinian leadership, it could never repress the Palestinians' rights.

Government Pledges Payment to Independent Municipal Fund

Lebanon Wire -The government announced Wednesday that the state's contribution to the Independent Municipal Fund had been partly settled for 2000.

In a statement issued by the prime minister's office, in response to an inquiry by Marjayoun-Hasbaya MP Nazih Mansour about unpaid 2000 and 2001 allocations to the Independent Municipal Fund, the office said that the allocations were being settled in four installments per year.

The "first installment for 2000 has been paid," the statement said, adding the second installment would be paid soon and the third and fourth installments in the "upcoming four months."

Former MPs Question State's Inability to Disarm Factions

Lebanon Wire -The league of former MPs asked Wednesday why the authorities were unable to break up Lebanese and non-Lebanese armed factions and ensure their handover of weapons to the state.

In a statement issued after its regular meeting, the league said the 1989 Taif Accord's second clause stipulated that all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias be disbanded and that they hand over their arms to the Lebanese government within six months.

The statement condemned the recent shooting at the private teachers' pension fund, saying: "The presence of weapons in people's hands encouraged criminals to commit their barbaric crimes."

The league said successive governments had failed to reform the public administration, which led to further corruption and public squandering "in the absence of accountability and supervision."

Bishop Accuses Government of 'Destroying Trust'

Lebanon Wire -Zahle's Melchite bishop, Andre Haddad, accused the government Wednesday of letting down the people and destroying "trust."

Speaking at a mass held at the Our Lady of Zahle Church in Tal Shiha, the bishop said the Lebanese wanted their state to be ideal.

"Our state does not help prosperity, progress and success, but destroys people's trust in the authorities," Haddad said, adding that the situation was getting desperate. He said public funds were being "stolen for none other than personal and private interests." The public is willing to "renew trust in the state," provided the state shows improvement in its performance, according to Haddad.

The bishop called for "listening to the voice of forgiveness" and raising such a voice "in the face of anyone, regardless of whether he belongs to the rulers or the ruled."

Anti-Drug Delegation Tours Cannabis Eradication Zone

Lebanon Wire -An international delegation of anti-drug officers toured Wednesday the Baalbek villages of Boudai, Iaat, Shleefa, and Flaway to inquire about the cannabis eradication campaign, which has targeted over 70,000 dunums in the past two weeks.

According to the National News Agency, US liaison officer B. J. Lawrence praised the security forces' joint efforts, adding that following the tour the delegation would submit a report to Washington and the US Embassy here.

Judicial Police commander Colonel Samir Sobh said destroyed cannabis fields increased to about 71,000 dunums in the Baalbek-Hermel areas and 2,110 dunums in the North. He added that eradication work in the North was completed two days ago.

Some 90,000 dunums will be destroyed by the end of the campaign late this month, particularly after additional fields were discovered in remote mountainous areas. The cost of the campaign has exceeded LL400 million, Sobh said.

Chinese Ambassador Assures Beirut of Beijing's Solidarity

Lebanon Wire -Outgoing Chinese Ambassador Liu Zhentang said Wednesday his country supported Lebanon on the "moral, economic and commercial" levels.

Speaking after a meeting with Prime Minister Rafik Hariri at the Grand Serail, Zhentang said China is seeking greater cooperation with the Lebanese government to expand bilateral trade.

He added that in 10 or 20 years China would become a large market for Lebanese products.

Discussions between the two men focused on the implementation of agreements during the prime minister's April visit China.

The ambassador, whose appointment expires soon, described Lebanon as "a paradise for diplomats," owing to the hospitality of its people.

He also said Beijing supported Arab countries in the Middle East conflict.

Longest-serving Detainee Sends Condolences on Death of Saad

Lebanon Wire -The longest-serving Lebanese prisoner held at an Israeli detention camp in the Negev described in a message of condolence released Wednesday the passing away of Sidon MP Mustafa Saad last month as a great loss.

Samir Qantar said in his message that Saad, president of the Popular Nasserite Organization, died at a time when Palestine was most in need of him and the homeland was being exposed to a campaign designed to "eliminate the gallant resistance movement." "The desperate and feeble situation of the Arab nation makes us feel the extent of the loss of a man like Abu Maarouf (Saad)," he added.

He called for "continuing the march that was led by Saad in defense of the (Arab) nation, the homeland and Palestine and in defense of fishermen and the poor in the country."

Army Calls on Men Born in 1973 to Settle Military Status

Lebanon Wire -The Directorate of Mobilization of the Army Command called on all Lebanese born in 1973 to report to its offices or its various branches before year's end to "settle the status" of their military service requirements.

In a Wednesday statement, the directorate said those failing to meet their service obligations would be subject to the penalties stipulated in decree 102/83.

The decree prevents draft dodgers from enjoying certain rights, including participating in elections. It also withdraws their right to be employed in the private and public sectors, leave Lebanese territory or enroll in educational institutions.

One Year On, Activists Mark Aug. 7 Crackdown

A changed political climate saw separate events on Wednesday to mark the first anniversary of the state's security crackdown on pro-sovereignty groups, but Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt chose to skip the proceedings.

Some 2,000 people gathered in Antelias for an evening rally organized by the Free Patriotic Movement of former army Commander General Michel Aoun, who addressed the crowd by telephone from Paris.

The rally was broadcast live by MTV and LBCI.

A noon news conference was held by former MP Habib Sadeq to mark Aug. 7. His Democratic Forum provided the leftist component to last year's rally for public freedoms in the wake of the crackdown.

Meanwhile, a year after railing against the authorities' harsh response to the crackdown, Jumblatt lunched with President Emile Lahoud at Baabda Palace and spoke of the need to reject the "extremists" who ruined the Maronite patriarch's historic visit to Chouf last year.

The Antelias gathering only attracted Christian opposition groups, with some key opposition figures notably absent, such as Qornet Shehwan Gathering members Gebran Tueni and Samir Franjieh, National Bloc leader Carlos Edde, Sethrida Geagea, and Jumblatt allies Baabda MPs Salah Honein and Abdullah Farhat.

Former President Amin Gemayel criticized the country's political authorities, saying that it was "doomed" to remain under the wings of the security apparatuses. Like everyone at the event, he called for a Syrian withdrawal and a restoration of sovereignty. "Whoever calls for sovereignty is met with … harsh words and accusations of radicalism and threatening civil peace," he said.

The audience booed President Emile Lahoud and chanted curses against Syria, although Gemayel tried to calm them down.

Like Sadeq, Gemayel also called for devising a new electoral law to ensure better representation of all groups, and suggested that small electoral districts should be adopted.

National Liberal Party leader Dory Chamoun also lashed out at the ruling regime, accusing those in it of having "toyed" with its existence and of bringing the country's finances, economy, judiciary and security situation to ruin.

Chamoun responded to those who recently criticized Maronites who participated in the Maronite World Congress in Los Angeles for having tried to ally themselves with the United States against a "fraternal" country - i.e. Syria, when they called for Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon.

"Those who were forced to leave the country because of the actions of a fraternal state should (not be blamed) for calling for the withdrawal of those who ousted them from their own home," he said.

Chamoun also argued that the Syrian presence in Lebanon since 1976 had "US approval and blessing."

For this reason, he said it was natural for those wanting to see Syria withdraw its troops and political influence from Lebanon to approach Washington for help.

"Whose help should we expect them to seek? … Some African country?" he asked. For his part, Aoun hinted that Syria had originally allied itself with the United States at the expense of Lebanon and with Israeli approval.

"US influence in the region and the world exists on its own by virtue of it being the only superpower," he said. "We are not the ones who are calling for it."

Aoun also said that then-Assistant US Secretary of State Joseph Cisco had forged an agreement between Israel and Syria, by virtue of which Israel allowed Syria to enter Lebanon in 1976, "and we were not present (at that meeting)."

He also argued that in 1988, a US delegation headed by James Murphy had met with Syrian leaders and decided to place Lebanon under "Syrian custodianship."

New York Congressman Eliot Engel, who serves on the International Relations Committee, sent a telegram in support of those who were arbitrarily arrested last August "for simply opposing the Syrian occupation of Lebanon."

"I will continue to use my seat in Congress … to press for full restoration of Lebanese sovereignty and to ensure passage of the Syria Accountability Act," said Engel's telegram.

Jean Aziz, representing the banned Lebanese Forces, Metn MP Gabriel Murr, professor Philip Salem and human rights activist Wael Kheir also delivered speeches.

Earlier in the day, Sadeq accused the authorities of seeking to set up a "security state," as witnessed by its latest crackdown on the media.

"The Democratic Forum … warns the authorities of undermining freedoms, in particular press and media freedoms," Sadeq said.

The Cabinet recently pledged to implement the 1994 Audiovisual Media Law, and Information Minister Ghazi Aridi has warned stations to tone down criticism of items such as Syrian-Lebanese relations.

Sadeq also accused authorities of "annihilating the other" and "blocking" constructive dialogue. "The ruling regime has insisted on an exclusionary approach … deriving its strength from Syrian custodianship, ignoring the winds of change in the world," he said.

Sadeq denied that animosity between the forum and the FPM led to the holding of a separate news conference rather than join the FPM-organized meeting, entitled Civic and Political Rights and Freedoms.

Although Jumblatt was among the first to condemn the Aug. 7 clampdown last year, he was absent from the news conference, which was attended by Qornet Shehwan members Samir Franjieh, Metn MP Nassib Lahoud, who heads the Democratic Renewal Gathering, Zghorta MP Nayla Mouawad, Jbeil MP Fares Soueid, and Metn MP Gabriel Murr.

Jumblatt recently shifted his position, saying the time was not right to express animosity toward Syria, with the current critical regional situation.

Sadeq said the responsibility of initiating dialogue fell on the authorities, whom he accused of inciting sectarianism and "quelling every voice that is working for national dialogue."

Sadeq said he believed there would be no hope for Lebanon without national consensus, adding that the ruling regime was preventing dialogue from taking place in order to keep the status quo, "which would ensure the conditions that would allow them to stay in power, (by exercising) a ruling style that derives its strength from Syria."

Sadeq said his group was willing to reach out to all opposition groups, including the FPM and Gemayel's faction of Phalange Party supporters, "without exception."

Sadeq also criticized the regime for its economic and financial policy and the manner in which it failed to identify the culprits behind several murders, including the slaying of four judges in Sidon in 1999.

"The forum … does not believe condemning acts will stop their occurrence," said Sadeq, "but by pressuring the authorities using all democratic means, this would compel the regime to change its style and its policies."