Israeli army chief of staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi said Monday that the military underwent significant improvements since the 2006 war with Hizbullah and “has the answer” to any future conflict.
“Since the Second Lebanon War, we have done an all encompassing review of the possibility we may need to fight again in the North. We understand what we need to do next time and the IDF has the answer,” Ashkenazi told Army Radio in a question and answer session.

“It is a strong and high quality military, and I trust it,” he stressed.

Ashkenazi added, however, that it was not in Hizbullah’s interest to start a new conflict.

“We are monitoring closely what is happening inside of Lebanon. Hizbullah continues to become stronger,” he said.

Turning to Iran, the general said the best way to deal with Tehran’s nuclear threat is sanctions.

“If (sanctions don’t work), Israel has the right to defend itself, and all means can be used to achieve this,” Ashkenazi added.

About a U.N. report on Israel’s winter offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the general said the document was “biased and unbalanced.”

Referring to Richard Goldstone, the South African prosecutor who wrote the report, the Israeli military chief told Army Radio: “He ignored Hamas (rocket) fire. As the one who planned the operation, I say that we have a moral army; we did everything we could to lessen the harm to noncombatants.”

Parliamentary consultations kicked off at Baabda Palace on Tuesday with Saad Hariri having advance knowledge that he will gain the support of all 71 majority lawmakers for his renomination as prime minister.
In addition to the 71 MPs, two deputies from the Armenian Tashnag party will also rename Hariri for the premiership post.
Free Patriotic Movement leader Michel Aoun, Speaker Nabih Berri and Hizbullah refrained from renaming Hariri.

While Berri left the presidential palace in Baabda without making any statements, Aoun came out to announce that differences with Hariri are “enormous.”

“The Change and Reform bloc has reservations about naming Hariri. We did not name anyone to form the government,” Aoun said after consultations with President Michel Suleiman.

Aoun complained that the political “tone is still escalatory,” and urged the various political leaders to commit to dialogue “because it is the only way to salvation.”

MP Mohammed Raad, head of Hizbullah’s Loyalty to the Resistance bloc, told reporters that his bloc did not name anyone as premier.

Raad offered cooperation to form a national unity government.

MP Ali Hassan Khalil from Berri’s Development and Liberation bloc also came out to say that his bloc did not name anyone as premier.

“We will cooperate with the PM-designate and the Lebanese President on the basis of a national unity government based on the 15-10-5 formula,” Khalil told reporters from Baabda.

Deputy Parliament Speaker Farid Makari and former Premier Najib Miqati also named Hariri as premier.

“Reaching national consensus does not mean that the losing party should get the priority in forming a Cabinet; that decision should be taken by the majority,” Makari said.

Miqati, for his part, hoped that various politicians would exert every effort to “remove all obstacles and conditions because the country needs a government that stands up to challenges.”

Before starting the second round of the Parliamentary consultations, President Suleiman invited General Aoun to lunch, in the presence of caretaker Minister Jebran Bassil in an attempt to discuss with FPM’s leader the appropriate solutions that would facilitate the Cabinet lineup.

The lunch outcome was negative as “no breakthrough was reached and corners could not be rounded,” reported VOL Radio.

Lebanese Forces’ MP Strida Geagea confirmed the party’s re-designation of Hariri to form the Cabinet on the basis of “the 2009 electoral results that proved the existence of a majority and a minority.”

She added that the Majority unanimously supports PM Hariri who “has been loyal to the Cedar Revolution’s principles.”
To Baabda, Zahleh’s MP Fattoush arrived surprisingly, “non-accompanied” by his Parliamentary Bloc. He re-mamed Hariri, accusing “those who did not accompany” him of “having received orders from their leaders to give up concerns for Zahleh’s issues”.

Few hours later and as it looked like a response to Fattoush’s earlier statement , “Zahleh in the Heart” bloc met Suleiman and confirmed Hariri’s nomination as PM-designate, stressing on its commitment to “Zahleh’s bloc unity and to the interests of the city.”

Almost at the end of the second round consultations , the Democratic Gathering leader Walid Jumblat met with President Suleiman and reiterated his Parliamentary bloc position to re-name Saad Hariri.

Finally, the outcome of the first day of Parliamentary consultations showed that 54 MPs out of 97 (instead of 98 MPs as caretaker PM Fouad Saniora is in Saudi for al-Umra) re-named Saad Hariri as PM-designate to form the Cabinet.

Lebanon has formally charged prominent Shiite businessman Salah Ezzedine with fraudulent embezzlement, a crime punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Ezzedine, who has close links with Hizbullah, is suspected of depriving investors of hundreds of millions of dollars.

He turned himself in to authorities last month after declaring bankruptcy and has since been held in custody.

Ezzedine is suspected of creating a phony embezzlement scheme that promised investors returns of up to 40 percent a year. His case has drawn comparisons in Lebanon with that of Bernard Madoff.

Acting financial prosecutor Fawzi Adham charged Ezzedine and a partner, Youssef Faour, with fraudulent embezzlement, issuing bad checks and violating the Lebanese monetary and loan laws.

Five others have also been charged with involvement in the case, but are on the run, a court official said.

Ezzedine and Faour have been referred to an investigating magistrate for further investigation before a date is set for their trial.

Ezzedine, a wealthy tycoon from the village of Maaroub near the southern port city of Tyre, is a prominent financier, particularly among Shiite circles in Lebanon.

He is the owner of Dar al-Hadi Publishing House, which has published religious Shiite books, including books by Hizbullah officials.

The allegations have tarnished a reputation Ezzedine had as a devout man involved in charity work. He headed an institution that organized pilgrimage trips to Muslim holy cities of Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia.

Recent media reports in Lebanon have said that Hizbullah has had business dealings with Ezzedine, somewhat shaking the Shiite group’s image as an austere resistance movement. Hizbullah, however, has denied any involvement in Ezzedine’s business dealings.

Many Muslims consider interest paid by banks as un-Islamic and therefore prefer to invest their money in businesses such as the ones run by Ezzeddine.(AP photo shows a man checking books at Dar al-Hadi.)

BEIRUT: Investigations into an alleged Fatah al-Islam militant revealed that the man arrested had no connection with the group, a well-informed security source told The Daily Star Tuesday. Earlier this week, police raided the house of Ahmad Shamaa in Jiyyeh, suspecting he had engaged in fighting with Internal Security Forces in the northern port city of Tripoli in 2007. Police seized 40 Kalashnikov rifles, two M-16s, four handguns and B-7 rocket launchers from Shamaa’s house. Security sources said Monday the wea­pons were stolen from a Hizbullah arms cache in the southern town of Harouf, near Nabatieh. The serial numbers of weapons stolen from the Hizbullah arms cache matched those on weapons found inside Shamaa’s home. – The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Hizbullah in association with the Telecommunications Ministry helped locate bankrupt businessman Salah Ezzedine in his hideout in the Beirut southern suburbs, well-informed judicial sources told The Central News Agency (CNA) on Friday. According to the judicial sources quoted by the CNA, Hizbullah carried out “a quick raid” of his hideout, “questioned him and later handed him to judicial authorities.

Earlier reports had mentioned that Ezzedine gave himself up to authorities.

The sources added that one of Ezzedine’s associates, a businessman only identified as “Youssef F” had been recently arrested by the judiciary.

Ezzedine, a wealthy businessman from the town of Maaroub near the southern port city of Tyre, is a prominent financier particularly among Shiite circles in Lebanon. He is the owner of Dar Al-Hadi Publishing House – one of Lebanon’s most prominent publishers of religious Shiite books that also prints books written by Hizbullah officials – and Al-Hadi TV for children.

As-Safir newspaper reported on that Ezzedine’s publishing house Dar al-Hadi was shut down on Thursday based on a court order to close down some of Ezzedine’s enterprises. More than 250 employees lost their jobs overnight as a result of the court’s decision.

The judicial officials said Ezzedine had major business interests, particularly in oil and iron industries, in Eastern Europe and suffered substantial losses when oil prices dropped starting mid last year.

He tried to make up for his losses by taking money from Le­banese investors, promising up to 40 percent interest which he could not repay, the officials said on condition of anonymity.
Many Muslims consider interest paid by banks as un-Islamic and therefore prefer to invest their money in businesses such as the ones run by Ezzeddine.

Media reports said that those who invested with Ezzedine includd high-ranking members of Hizbullah, as well as Shiite investors
from south Lebanon and the Hizbullah stronghold south of Beirut.

Former Hizbullah MP Amin Sherry denied any links to Ezzedine in a statement re­leased on Friday.

Earlier Friday, Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya news channel had reported that Sherry, along with the head of Hizbullah’s parliamentary bloc MP Mohammad Raad and the party’s politburo member Wafiq Safa, were among those who invested their money with Ezzedine.

As-Safir newspaper also interviewed a relative of Ezzedine who inistsed that his kin was not the only person implicated in the bankruptcy case. “He is one of five associates,” he said, adding that one of them had fled the country.

Judicial sources told the CNA that one of Ezzedine’s relatives “stands behind or knows the true reasons behind the bankruptcy.”

The bankruptcy case made headlines earlier this week as Ezzedine gave himself up to authorities after declaring himself bankrupt. The officials said he was then taken into custody and was investigated for possible crimes including “the fraud of large amounts of money.” – The Daily Star

Hizbullah officials MP Mohammed Raad, Amin Sherri and Hajj Wafiq Safa are on the list of people who were affected by Lebanese businessman Salah Ezzidine’s bankruptcy, according to a report by Al-Arabiya television.

Earlier reports said Hizbullah MP Hussein al-Hajj filed a lawsuit against Ezzidine requesting him reimbursement of his $ 200,000.

Ezzidine, who is said to have close ties with Hizbullah, has declared himself bankrupt, leaving thousands of citizens unemployed in Beirut’s southern suburbs as well as in south and east Lebanon.

The daily As-Safir had said the job loss of these people was estimated at millions of dollars.
Ezzidine, who hails from the village of Maaroub near the southern port city of Tyre, is director of Dar al-Hadi for publication and owner of al-Hadi television station for children.

“Al-Safir” said Friday that Speaker Nabih Berri, Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and Shiite cleric Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah have been following up on this issue, especially since a large segment of Shiites has been affected by the bankruptcy.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: Israeli prosecutors have indicted an Israeli Arab for passing information on the country’s military chief of staff to the Lebanese group Hizbullah, according to court documents made public Monday. Israeli defense officials said the information given to Hizbullah by Rawi Sultani, 23, was meant to facilitate a plot to assassinate Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi in retaliation for the killing of a top Hizbullah commander last year in a bomb attack widely attributed to Israel.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The indictment alleges Sultani, who maintains he is innocent, worked out at the same health club as Ashkenazi and agreed to give information to a Hizbullah agent he met at a youth camp in Morocco in August, 2008.

He later met a different agent in the Polish city of Lodz and passed on information about the health club in the Tel Aviv suburb of Kfar Saba, including details of access routes and security measures and information on Ashkenazi’s personal security detail, according to the court documents.
The agent also gave Sultani encoding software to enable secure communications after the Israeli returned home, the indictment says.

Sultani was arrested on August 10, but his arrest was only made public Monday. He was represented in a court hearing on Monday by his father, attorney Fouad Sultani.

While at the camp in Morocco his son “thoughtlessly” mentioned that he worked out at the same club as Ashkenazi, the attorney said, and wasn’t aware the men he met were Hizbullah agents.
“He sat with people and bragged that he knew the chief of staff, or sees him, and that’s why someone tried to exploit him,” the attorney said, calling the actions of the alleged Hizbullah agents a “cynical exploitation of my son’s naivety. In the end we will prove that this is simply not what the security officials thought,” he said.

Rawi Sultani is active in the National Democratic Assembly, an Arab political party represented in the Israeli Parliament. The party’s former leader, Azmi Bishara, fled Israel in 2007 after police charged him with passing information to Hizbullah during Israel’s war against the Lebanese militia the previous year.

That case sparked concerns of political persecution among Israel’s one-fifth Arab minority, and also fueled fears among Israel’s Jewish majority that the country’s Arab citizens are too closely linked to the country’s enemies.

Other Israeli citizens have been convicted of passing information to Hizbullah, including a 24-year-old Israeli Arab woman jailed in 2007 for contacts with Hizbullah agents she met while studying in Amman, Jordan.

In 2006, an Arab colonel in the Israeli army was sentenced to 15 years in prison for giving information about tank positions, troop deployments and the whereabouts of top Israeli commanders to Hizbullah in exchange for heroin, hashish, and thousands of dollars.
In recent months Lebanon has also arrested a string of suspects it accuses of spying for Israel.

Israel has been concerned about a possible revenge attack since February 2008, when Imad Mughniyeh, a top Hizbullah military commander, was killed by a bomb that ripped through his Pajero SUV in Damascus, Syria.

Speaker Nabih Berri said Monday that Hizbullah is a must not only to drive Israel out of Lebanon but also to make sure that it never returns.
“The Amal movement sees the resistance as a necessity not only for withdrawal but also to make sure that Israel never returns. The movement is surely against naturalization (of Palestinians),” he said on the occasion of the 31st anniversary of Imam Moussa Sadr’s disappearance.

“I still believe that the Saudi-Syrian equation is the key to Lebanon’s stability,” he said during the speech in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

However, he refused to make comments on cabinet formation, saying the upcoming government should reset its priorities and declare an economic emergency.

He requested the president to find feasible ways to tackle the economic and social crisis and called for increasing health insurances as well as implementing a new tax policy.

Berri believed that the planning ministry should be established to eliminate all funds.

On the 31st occasion of the disappearance of Imam Moussa Sadr and his two comrades, Hizbullah called for action to force the Libyan regime to release them.
A statement issued by Hizbullah in remembrance of Sadr called for “recalling the tremendous sacrifices at all levels of the leader and the founder (of AMAL movement) for the sake of preserving Lebanon’s unity, identity and coexistence as well as safety of its people.”