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The
Lebanese Catholic Bishops were joined the; Lebanese people, political
leaders and the international support, and asked the Syrian regime to pull
its troops from Lebanon and quit interfering in its affairs and ruining
its economy.
Meanwhile, the United States, France, Germany and other countries are
preparing through the UN to force the Syrian regime to end its 28-year-old
occupation of Lebanon and submit to previous UN resolution No. 520 (1982).
The
Syrian Baath decided to extend the term of the Syrian-appointed president
in occupied Lebanon last week. It is the third time in which the Syrian
regime breaks the Lebanese constitution since Syria started appointing the
president of Lebanon after it fell to its troops in 1990.
Lebanon was one of the very few democracies in the entire Middle East with
a constitution agreed upon in 1926. Today, being occupied by the Syrian
regime for the past 27 years, Lebanon lost its major features of democracy
and human right
1.UN draft Resolution
about Lebanon
RECALLING ALL ITS PREVIOUS
RESOLUTION IN LEBANON IN PARTICULAR RESOLUTION 425 (1978) AND 426 (1978)
OF 19 MARCH 1978. RESOLUTION 520 (1982) OF 17 SEP 1982, AND RESOLUTION
1553(2004) OF 29 JULY 2004 AS WELL AS THE STATEMENTS OF ITS PRESIDENTS ON
THE SITUATIONS IN LEBANON, IN PARTICULAR THE STATEMENT OF 18 JUNE 2000.
REITERATING ITS STRONG SUPPORT FOR THE TERRITOTIAL INTEGRETY, SOVEREIGNTY
AMD POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE OF LEBANON. ITS TERRITORIALLY RECOGNIZED
BORDERS:
NOTING THE DETERMINATION OF
LEBANON TO ENSURE THE WITHDRAWAL OF ALL NON-LEBANESE FORCES FROM LEBANON.
GRAVELY CONCERNED AT THE CONTINUED PRESENCE OF ARMED MILITIAS IN LEBANON,
WHICH PREVENT THE LEBANESE
GOVERNMENT FROM EXERCISING ITS
FULL SOVEREIGNTY OVER ALL LEBANESE TERRITORY:AS AFFIRMIMG THE IMPORTANCE
OF THE EXTENSION OF THE CONTROL OF THE GOVERNMENT OF LEBANON OVER ALL THE
LEBANESE TERRITORY.
MINDFUL OF THE UPCOMING LEBANESE
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS AND UNDERLINING THE IMPORTANCE OF FREE AND FAIR
ELECTIONS ACCORDING TO LEBANESE CONSTITUTIONAL RULES DEVISED WITHOUT
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE OR INFLUENCE
1- REAFFIRMS ITS CALL FOR THE
STRICT RESPECT OF LEBANON’S SOVEREINTY, TERRITORIAL, INTEGRITY, UNITY, AND
POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE OF LEBANON UNDER THE SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE AUTHORITY
OF THE GOVERNMENT OF LEBANON THROUGHOUT LEBANON.
2- DEMANDS THAT SYRIAN FORCES
WITHDRAW WITHOUT DELAY FROM LEBANON.
3- CALL FOR THE DISBANDING AND
DISARMAMENT OF ALL LEBANESE AND NON-LEBANESE MILITIAN.
4- SUPPORTS THE EXTENSIONS OF THE
CONTROL OF THE GOVERNMENT OF LEBANON OVER ALL LEBANESE TERRITORY.
5- DECLARES ITS SUPPORT FOR A FREE
AND FAIR ELECTERAL PROCESS IN LEBANON’S UPCOMING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
CONDUCTED ACCORDING TO LEBANESE CONSTITUTIONAL RULES DEVISED WITHOUT
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE OR INFLUENCE
6- CALLS UPON ALL PARTIES
CONCERNED TO COOPERATE FULLY AND URGENTLY WITH THE SECURITY COUNCIL FOR
THE FULL IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS AND ALL RELEVANT RESOLUTIONS CONCERNING
THE RESTORATION OF THE TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY, AND POLITICAL INDEPENDENCE
OF LEBANON
7- DECIDES TO REMAIN ACTIVELY
SEIZED OF THIS MATTER AND REQUESTS THE SECURITY -GENERAL REPORT TO THE
SECURITY COUNCIL WITHIN THIRTY DAYS ON THE IMPLEMENTATION BY THE PARTIES
OF THIS RESOLUTION AND DECLARES ITS READINESS TO CONSIDER ADDITIONAL
MEASURES TO FURTHER THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS RESOLUTION AS IT REVIEWS
THE PROGRESS BEING MADE.
2.Maronite-Catholic
Bishops: Syria is to Blame for Lebanon crisis
Maronite (Catholic) church blasted
Syria's dictation of General Lahoud as president for three more years in
Lebanon and demanded that the Syrian government withdraw its army from
Lebanon and terminate its 28-year-old tutelage over the country. The
outburst came in a statement released by the monthly conclave of the
Maronite bishops under Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir at his summer residence
in North Lebanon's Diman monastery.
Describing as 'unconstitutional' the proposed constitutional amendment to
extend Lahoud's term, the statement called on MPs to disregard the
'threats' they are receiving and to 'place before their conscience the
future of their children' in the upcoming vote on the amendment.
Turning to Syria, the bishops
unleashed their heaviest yet tirade against its role in Lebanese politics.
"The Syrian army has been in
Lebanon since 1976…and the Taef accord states that the Syrian army should
withdraw from Lebanon two years after it was signed…but things are still
the same," the statement read.
The statement went on to say
flatly that Syria deals with Lebanon as though it were a 'Syrian
province', citing a quote from Syrian newspaper that bragged Syria was
the 'major, if not the only, voter in Lebanon'.
"This statement was verified by
the latest events, and Lebanonization has turned into pure Syrianization,
devoid of any Lebanese opinions."
"While Syria may have helped
Lebanon in some respects, it has exhausted it in others…as it appoints
leaders, organizes elections, parliamentary and otherwise, includes and
excludes whomever it wants, and interferes in all of Lebanon's sectors:
administrative, judiciary, the economy, and especially politics, through
its representative in it (Lebanon) and his aides, and compromises Lebanese
interests in international forums, and protects the corrupt…
".. bribery has flourished, and
the culture of corruption prospered as the Lebanese people, and especially
the youth, immigrate in large numbers, and those who stay become poorer
every day, and Lebanon is burdened by heavy debts that threaten its
collapse, and if it collapses, Syria won't escape unscathed, and that is
what we do not wish for Lebanon, or for Syria.
Drawing parallels between Syria's
refusal to remain united with Jamal Abd al-Nasser's Egypt in the sixties
of last century, and the current Lebanese fury at Syrian intervention in
its affairs, the statement said that while the bishops do not wish to
'clear the Lebanese of any blame' or 'express hostility to Syria', good
relations between the two countries must be based on mutual respect
Finally, it warned that "what harms Lebanon will definitely harm Syria,
and will have negative implications for both countries."Beirut, Updated 31
Aug 04, 18
3.Lebanese-American
delicates calls on the President to remove Syria from Lebanon
Anis Karam on al Jazeera today, on
CNN tomorrow,Lebanese-American delegate to express the views on war on
terror, Iraq, Syrian occupation of Lebanon
New York, September 1, 2004
tayyar.org
The representative of the
Mideastern-American Coalition at the Republican National Convention in New
York will be on al Jazeera today Tuesday at 5 PM and tomorrow Wednesday on
CNN International at 10:30 AM (US EST)
Dr Anis Karam, chairman for
Information with the World Lebanese Cultural Union, and member of the
American Lebanese Alliance, heads a delegation of Mideast-Americans at the
RNC. Meeting earlier with US Republican leaders, Karam has stated earlier
today that "millions of Mideast-Americans stands firmly behind the
strategy of freedom in the Middle East. Liberating Afghanistan, liberating
Iraq and spreading the principles of democracy and human rights in the
region is the only way to win the war on Terrorism." Karam, who has met
with the chairman of NRCC Congressman Tom Renolds of New York, the former
speaker of the US House Newt Gingrich, Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn from
Tennessee and Congressman Bev Kilmer from Florida as well as many
lawmakers from LA, NY, Georgia, Iowa, and Texas said: "we are here to
express the views and aspirations of the vast majority of Americans from
Middle East and Arab-speaking descent. We have many concerns which we are
expressing in this g! reat convention. We support the Government of Iraq
and our attempt to consolidate pluralism there. We support the Government
of M Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan against the Terrorists. And we oppose the
Syrian occupation of Lebanon."
Karam said "this week, the Syrian
regime is about to commit a constitutional massacre in Lebanon. They are
trying to force a President on the Lebanese people at a time we in America
have deposed a dictator in Iraq."
Lebanese-American republican
George Kassas calls on the President to remove Syria from Lebanon
New York
Another Lebanese American
Republican delegate, George Kassas, has already met twice with US
President George Bush and called on him to do all he can in his next term
to remove the Syrian occupation from Lebanon. Kassas, who joins Karam in
the delegation in New York said "Lebanese Americans and Mideast Americans
are joining hands to express these views about democracy and human rights
in the Middle East at all opportunities. On October 1, said Kassas, we are
organizing a great event to bring together Americans from Mideast descent.
We will share with the American public what we really feel about the US
strategy to spread freedom and democracy in the Middle East. Kassas, a
member of the WLCU-US board and of the Lebanese Information Center is a
businessman from NH.
Sources from the American Lebanese
Coalition, a federation of six Lebanese American groups, and from the
Assyrian Federation and US Copts confirmed that the Middle
Eastern-American Convention will take place on October 1 in Washington. An
official release is expected to be issued soon.
More About Syrian Baath:
http://www.2la.org/syria/
More about Lebanon:
http://www.lgic.org
Syrian Occupation of Lebanon:
http://www.lgic.org/en/help_syria.php
More about Syrian opposition
groups:
http://reformsyria.org/
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