‘Lebanon set to recover from near-zero growth’ By Will Rasmussen , Daily Star May 25, 2005 BEIRUT: Lebanon is “on the eve of a historic reform opportunity” which could boost foreign investment and shave the public debt to 130 percent of GDP in four years – down from around 180 percent today. A report released […]
Liberation Day celebrated in South Lebanon
Lahoud says struggle with Israel continues
By Mohammed Zaatari and Nafez Qawas , Daily Star
Wednesday, May 25, 2005
SIDON: Five years after the liberation of South Lebanon from Israeli forces, dozens of Israeli tanks remain scattered in various towns and villages as living proof of the major defeat of the Israeli Army in Lebanon.
Southerners still remember the withdrawal of Israeli troops under the fire of the Islamic resistance party Hizbullah in May 2000 as a turning point and a reason for celebration.
President Emile Lahoud described the event as “an occasion to learn from past experience and consolidate solidarity.”
“Such a unity and solidarity among the Lebanese has in the past helped Lebanon to establish an unprecedented glory by forcing Israeli troops of occupation out of South Lebanon and by liberating the Lebanese territories.” He added: “Liberation would not have been accomplished without the resistance and assistance of sister Syria and other friends of Lebanon worldwide.”
Lebanon election promises sea change
Source : Aljazeera , May 25 , 2005
Free of the shackles of its powerful neighbour Syria, Lebanon votes on Sunday in what is being hailed as the first truly free elections in three decades – with the anti-Damascus opposition set to win.
Many of Syria’s once-powerful allies have already thrown in the towel and key opposition figures including veteran Druze leader Walid Jumblatt and Saad al-Hariri, son of slain ex-prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri, are assured of victory.
The real litmus test for the opposition, which is offering Lebanon’s more than two million voters no real manifesto, will be the turnout – a key indicator of any new government’s legitimacy.
The four-round election, which kicks off on 29 May in Beirut to be followed by three more rounds on consecutive Sundays, is the first to take place under international supervision.
Nine candidates on Saad al-Hariri’s list have already been elected without a single vote being cast, and another 10 are almost assured of victory.
Lebanon
As unexpected electoral alliances emerge Aiming for a Parliament to forge a
Lebanon
ANALYSIS
Hizbollah’s fate to loom large after Lebanon polls
By Mariam Karouny , May 24 , 2005
BEIRUT, May 24 (Reuters) – With Syrian troops gone, a U.N. demand for Lebanon’s Hizbollah guerrillas to disarm poses a challenge for any government that emerges from forthcoming elections.
The Syrian withdrawal last month fulfilled the first part of U.N. Security Council resolution 1559. The second demands that the hardened Shi’ite Muslim fighters who helped drive Israeli troops from Lebanon exactly five years ago give up their guns.
“Hizbollah is a Lebanese matter and we understand that so far, but the new Lebanese authority must disarm the group,” a Western diplomat said. “There is no place for a private army in the region any more. Both Hizbollah and Lebanon know that.”
Hizbollah won popularity and prestige in Lebanon and the Arab world when its relentless guerrilla attacks helped drive Israel from the south in May 2000 after a 22-year occupation.
Lebanon’s Aoun, Jumblatt set for electoral battle
May 24, 2005
Mideast econ forum ends with questions, few answers
May 24 , 2005
DEAD SEA, Jordan, May 23 (Reuters): The World Economic Forum’s third attempt to come to grips with the economic and political intricacies of the Middle East and North Africa ended Sunday with a surfeit of questions over answers.
Is there really an “Arab spring” under way with democracy blossoming across the region, as U.S. officials claimed?
Why did so few senior European officials and business leaders turn up for the three-day event in Jordan?
How can the Arab world possibly compete when the World Bank says it needs growth rates akin to those of Asian tiger economies if it is going to avoid an unemployment meltdown?
Syria stops work with CIA, military
By Douglas Jehl , and Thom Shanker , The New York Times , May 24 2005
WASHINGTON