Ban Ki-moon’s Middle East envoy, Terje Roed-Larsen, said the U.N. chief is very concerned about clashes this week between Shiite supporters of Hezbollah and Sunni supporters of the pro-Western government.

“The secretary-general is deeply concerned about the evolving situation in Lebanon. … He calls for all parties now to show restraint, to find a solution to the current impasse and the current violence through peaceful dialogue,” he said.

Fierce street fighting continued Thursday in Beirut, as well as in the Bekaa Valley, shutting down the airport, seaport and roads.

In televised remarks Thursday, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah upped the rhetoric saying the Lebanese government’s allegation that his group’s private telecommunications network is illegal amounts to a “declaration of war.”

In New York, U.N. envoy Roed-Larsen warned that Lebanon could slide deeper into conflict.

“I think Lebanon, for a long time now - for several months or more - has been on a slippery slope of violence and turmoil. At the core of this are political issues. One of the pressing issues at hand is to have parliament meet and to allow it - according to constitutional rules - to elect a new president,” he said.

Lebanon’s parliament has not met in two years and the country’s political crisis has deepened over the past six months, as the legislature keeps postponing a vote on a new president because of factional in-fighting.

The Security Council met Thursday to hear the secretary-general’s semi-annual report on the implementation of resolution 1559, which calls for the disarming and disbanding of all militias in Lebanon.

Roed-Larsen, who delivered the report, said there has not been any tangible progress on that front over the past six months and that the situation has instead regressed.

“Unfortunately, the clashes which we have seen over the last few days and also the arming of the main militias in Lebanon, has unfortunately, led over time to the establishment and rearming of a range of other militias in Lebanon,” he said.

He warned that Lebanon faces serious challenges not seen since the end of its 15-year civil war. He said political paralysis and the arming of militias are threats to Lebanon’s ability to operate as a sovereign, democratic and independent state.

In a statement, the Security Council expressed its deep concern about the unrest and urged calm, saying the best way to diffuse tensions and avoid further instability is to resolve the political crisis, calling on all sides to work together.

Source:  VOA News

The station is owned by Saad al-Hariri, a leader of Lebanon’s governing coalition. A rocket also slammed into the perimeter fence of his west Beirut home without causing injuries.

Saudi Arabia called Friday for an emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers to discuss the fighting that erupted in Lebanon Wednesday.

Hezbollah’s al-Manar television has quoted an opposition source as rejecting ideas for ending the conflict other than those proposed by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

The fighting escalated Thursday after Nasrallah called the Lebanese government’s crackdown on his group a “declaration of war.”

The United States and the United Nations have both expressed concern about the violence.

Lebanon has been in a political stalemate since last year, with the ruling coalition and the opposition unable to pick a new head of state and form a unity government.

Parliament is scheduled to vote next week (May 13th) for the country’s new president. It will be the 19th time parliament will try to vote for a successor to former pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, whose term expired in November.

Source:  VOA News

Military preparedness guaranteed Israel’s survival 60 years ago - something Israelis have never forgotten.

Celebrations this year showcased the country’s military might, a reminder to Israelis, if one was needed, that their country should remain the pre-eminent military power in the Middle East - in the face of threats from Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas and other enemies of the Jewish state.

The cost of the celebrations - budgeted at $28 million has many Israelis grumbling.

Ron Avni, an earthquake expert at Ben Gurion University in the southern city of Beersheba organized a petition drive against the festivities. Avni says the money could have been better spent.

“First let them find a budget for all the things that the country needs,” said Avni. “Money should not be wasted on festivities whose primary purpose is to give a stage to the politicians.”

Israelis are also preoccupied this Independence Day by allegations of political corruption surrounding Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Police have begun a new investigation into the prime minister’s ties to an American businessman linked to past questionable campaign contributions in Israel.

The director of a leading conference center in Jerusalem, Uri Dromi, says Israelis are used to questions about their prime minister, but the latest allegations come at a bad time.

“This series of scandals really bothers Israelis. Especially on Independence Day when you want to focus on the celebrations, festivities and achievements, and all people do is look at the internet and try and get from sources what is going on with this recent scandal.”

Many Israelis fear that Mr. Olmert’s negotiations with the Palestinians could be put on hold if his government loses support because of the investigation.

Meanwhile, Palestinians marked Israel’s Independence Day with observances to commemorate what they describe as the al-Naqba, or the catastrophe - their description of the loss of their homes after 700,000 Palestinians fled the fighting in 1948.

Speaking at one such observance, moderate Palestinian Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad said current Israeli-Palestinian talks were full of problems, but that was all the more reason for Palestinians to never give up the effort for a state of their own.

Source:  VOA News

Street clashes in Beirut have taken an ominous new turn after Lebanon’s top Sunni and Shi’ite Muslim leaders accused each other of taking orders from foreign powers to provoke religious strife.

Sectarian clashes between pro-Hezbollah Shi’ite militiamen and Sunni supporters of government majority leader Sa’ad Hariri prompted Lebanon’s Sunni Mufti Mohammed Rashid Qabbani to accuse Hezbollah of “trying to seize control of the country” with the help of Iran and Syria.

Shi’ite Mufti Abd al Amir Qabbalan replied angrily that it was the United States and Israel that were trying to  ”set fire to Lebanon and the Middle East.”

The Mufti said, Arab patriots and Muslims are facing an American-Israeli plot to create religious strife, and destroy the noble resistance to Israel.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah supporters continued to set tires on fire and pile mounds of sand to block major roads, including the highway from Beirut to Damascus, the coastal highway south of Beirut and the road to Beirut Airport. Activity at the airport remained paralyzed for a second day.

Lebanese Army tanks also positioned themselves along key intersections where Hezbollah and anti-Hezbollah partisans were throwing rocks and exchanging gunfire.

Army Commander Michel Suleiman reportedly refused a government plea to impose a curfew to stop the violence.

Nearly a dozen people were wounded in clashes around the mixed Shi’ite and Sunni neighborhood of Mazraa, where businessmen piled sandbags to protect their shops and burned-out vehicles littered the roadside.

Cabinet member Marwan Hamadeh, a pillar of the March 14 ruling coalition, warned Hezbollah and its allies the government would not back down in its conflict with the opposition and was taking its case to the U.N. Security Council.

Hamadeh says the Lebanese government is appealing to the Arab League and the United Nations to condemn both Iran and Hezbollah for undermining Lebanon’s independence. He says the government will not back down on any of its demands, and will say ‘enough, enough, enough.”

The head of Lebanon’s pro-government National Liberal Party, Dory Chamoun, argues that violence could get worse if Hezbollah does not realize where its policies are leading.

“Well, it could be something very dangerous, it could if they realize the mistakes that they are making, the Hezbollah people, it could probably calm down by tomorrow, but I doubt very much whether they haVe got that much acumen to realize how dangerous the situation has gotten,” said Chamoun.

The latest clashes were sparked Tuesday after the government voted to fire the pro-Hezbollah security chief of Beirut Airport, General Wafiq Shuqair, amid reports that Hezbollah was using cameras to spy on the private jets of top leaders with possible plans to assassinate one of them.

Hezbollah insisted that the cameras were “needed to fight the Israeli enemy.”

Speaking on the group’s al Manar TV, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah insisted that the only way out of the current crisis is for the government to revoke its ‘unfair and illegal’ demands, which he says are part of a U.S.-Israeli strategy to destroy Hezbollah.

Source:  VOA News

U.S. diplomat Stephen Mull said Wednesday in Warsaw that the two sides will form working groups of experts to explore issues of concern. He said Washington would seek other deployment sites in Europe if the current talks fail.

Bilateral talks have been going on for months, aimed at reaching agreement on the deployment of 10 missile interceptors in Poland. The U.S. plan calls for guidance radar in the Czech Republic.

Tuesday, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said his government will block U.S. deployment plans, if Washington fails to satisfy Warsaw’s demands for assistance in upgrading Poland’s military.

U.S. officials say the system would defend against the missile threat from countries such as Iran. Russia firmly opposes the system, saying it is a threat to its security.

Source:  VOA News

U.S. officials were deeply disappointed that Greece and Macedonia failed to resolve the name issue before last month’s NATO summit in Bucharest, prompting the Greek veto of Macedonia’s membership bid.

In a joint appearance here with Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki, Rice urged both countries to re-double their efforts in negotiations mediated by United Nations envoy Matthew Nimitz so that Macedonia can join the alliance very, very soon.

U.S. support for Macedonian NATO membership was also reaffirmed in a joint declaration of strategic partnership and cooperation signed by Rice and her Macedonian counterpart at a State Department ceremony.

Among other things the document calls for broader cooperation in trade, security and people-to-people ties.

At the ceremony, Rice voiced strong support for Macedonia joining NATO as soon as the name issue is settled, saying it deserves membership because of its contribution of troops to the U.S.-led coalitions in Iraq and Afghanistan:

“Macedonia is a good friend of the United States. Greece is a good friend of the United States. And it is our great hope that with enough will, and with enough effort and enough flexibility that this issue can be resolved,” she said. “Because during the NATO meetings in Bucharest, it was very clear that the members of NATO want Macedonia to be invited into NATO, and that we hope to have that happen as soon as possible.”

Foreign Minister Milososki, for his part, said the Skopje government, through its reforms and record of support for NATO, has proven its readiness for membership:

“Our soldiers are serving side-by-side, shoulder-to-shoulder, with American and other soldiers in NATO missions in the world,” he said. “And Macedonia has proven that as a peaceful nation in southeastern Europe, it could really contribute to the peace, stability and economic development in our region.”

After its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, Macedonia became a U.N. member under the provisional name of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia or FYROM.

That was at the insistence of Greece, which contends the name Macedonia implies a territorial claim on its northern province of the same name.

The United States in 2004 announced it would henceforth refer to the Skopje government as the Republic of Macedonia, the name it prefers.

Negotiations with Greece on the name issue have been underway on-and-off since 1994. Ambassador Nimitz, a veteran U.S. diplomat, became the United Nations’ special mediator four years ago.

Source:  VOA News

Industry and Minerals Minister Fawzi Hariri says rebuilding and expanding Iraq’s economy amid civil strife in the aftermath of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion has been, as he put it, “challenging.” Among his goals is to transform industrial output from outdated, state-owned operations to modernized production that responds to the free market.

“The vision that we have is to open up the state-owned enterprises for the private sector, and develop a partnership or joint venture. And that will be a first in the history of Iraq,” he said.

Hariri, who spoke to reporters at Washington’s National Press Club, says domestic and foreign investment is flowing into Iraq, and the country’s private sector is expanding. He also says that Iraq is beginning to make the political progress necessary to solidify and sustain economic progress.

But he says the security situation remains fragile, and Iraq will continue to need the backing of U.S. military forces if it is to prosper.

“Clearly, Iraq as it stands and its military capacity is unable to sustain any foreign intervention on its own,” he added.  “And therefore, we believe we need to have the U.S. forces still present in Iraq. The removal of forces, especially in a fast or quick way, will not only put Iraq in danger, it will put the whole regional stability in danger.”

Both major Democratic presidential candidates have pledged to withdraw U.S. forces from Iraq, arguing that the indefinite presence of American soldiers has made it easier for Iraq’s leaders to put off painful decisions necessary for national reconciliation. President Bush and the presumed Republican presidential nominee, Senator John McCain, have pledged to retain U.S. forces in Iraq until lasting democracy is secured.

Recent weeks have seen media reports of vast oil profits in Iraq, leading some U.S. politicians to question why the United States is spending billions of dollars to rebuild the country. Minister Hariri said it is only in the last year that Iraq’s national finances have improved, and that Iraq is doing all it can to invest in reconstruction projects. He added that Iraq is willing to repay foreign governments that take part in efforts to rebuild his country.

Source:  VOA News

Corn prices worldwide have increased by 50 percent over the past year. John Sununu, a Republican senator opposed to farm subsidies, says corn prices have risen in part because America is using increasing amounts of corn to produce fuel for automobiles.

“When you’re diverting a third of the [corn] crop to ethanol it has a real impact on prices,” said Senator Sununu. “To produce a gallon of ethanol takes 1700 gallons of water. Thirty million acres of land, going to produce the corn for ethanol.”

Calling the US ethanol program a disaster, Sununu said it is replete with taxpayer subsidies as both farmers and ethanol producers receive tax breaks from the government. In addition, he said, imports of cheaper sugar-based ethanol are blocked by high tariffs.

David Beckmann, the president of a church-based anti-hunger agency, says US farm subsidies should be abolished. Such a move, he says, would help bring down food prices.

“To have a more dynamic, responsive [subsidy free] agriculture, that is going to bring down food prices in the medium term,” said David Beckmann.

Both Beckmann and Sunnunu spoke at a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Other experts told the committee ending the ethanol program could reduce corn prices by about 15 percent.

Josette Sheeran, the head of the Rome-based United Nations World Food Program, says the high price of oil has boosted the demand for food-based alternative fuels. This, she says, has contributed to the overall rise in food prices.

“And so what we’re finding is that often energy bidders can outbid food buyers and consumers, and the higher the price of oil is the higher the price the energy producers are willing to pay,” said Josette Sheeran.

Sheeran said in Africa palm oil and cassava are increasingly being used as alternative fuels.

Source:  VOA News

President Bush says the new Cuban leadership is not serious about reforms.  He says the transition to Raul Castro has produced only empty gestures.

“Until there is a change of heart and a change of compassion and a change of how the Cuban government treats its people, there is no change at all,” Mr. Bush said. 

Mr. Bush says he knows critics of his policies want him to ease pressure on the Cuban government.  But he leaves no doubt he intends to stand firm, saying Cuba is still ruled by the same group that has oppressed its people for half a century.

“Cuba will not be a land of liberty so long as free expression is punished and free speech can take place only in hushed whispers and silent prayers,” Mr. Bush said. “And Cuba will not become a place of prosperity just by easing restrictions on the sale of products the average Cuban cannot afford.”

Mr. Bush says he has heard the stories of Cuban dissidents first hand.   He says he took part in a videoconference earlier this week with pro-democracy activists in Cuba and was impressed by their bravery

The comments came in a speech to the Council of the Americas, a business group that promotes free trade and democracy in the Western Hemisphere.

The president used the opportunity to not only reaffirm his policy on Cuba, but to call on the U.S. Congress to support pending trade pacts with two hemispheric countries.

Democratic Party leaders in the U.S. Congress have blocked a vote on an agreement with Colombia, and taken no action at all on a pact with Panama.

President Bush says they are making a big mistake, noting these deals lift tariffs on American goods and services, and boost U.S. exports.

“With our economy slowing, it seems like to me that we should be doing everything possible to open new markets,” Mr. Bush said.

The president says in the case of Colombia the benefits are not just economic but strategic.

“Approving this agreement is an urgent national security priority.  Colombia is one of our strongest allies in the western hemisphere,” Mr. Bush said.

The president says he also wants lawmakers to back the joint effort by the United States, Mexico and Central American nations to combat the drug trade.  Mr. Bush has asked Congress for $550 million for the so-called Merida Initiative.

Source:  VOA News

Speaking at Washington’s Peterson Institute, Sheeran said the increase in food prices is costing the lives of 250,000 people every 10 days. Up to 100 million people are being pushed back into poverty by what has been often a doubling of food prices over the past year. Sheeran, who heads the Rome-based World Food Program, said the world’s poorest are the most vulnerable.

“Countries that are most at risk are developing nations that are import dependent and already experiencing an additional shock from conflict, drought, floods or storms,” said Josette Sheeran. “Think here: Afghanistan, Somalia, Haiti, Burundi, Mauritania, and others.”

Sheeran said that the cyclone that has ravaged Burma may have devastated that Asian nation’s principal rice-producing area. Rice prices have gone up 250 percent in the past year while wheat has doubled and corn is up 50 percent. While world grain stocks are at their lowest level in 30 years, Sheeran said much of the price spike is due to panic buying and export bans in several countries.

“A range of major food exporters have put blocks on exports almost overnight; from China, Vietnam, Argentina, to Kazakhstan,” she said. “This global rash of “beggar thy neighbor” [protectionist] responses will not provide a solution. In addition, many countries who can afford to are stockpiling, further tightening supply and driving up prices.”

Sheeran outlined numerous causes for the sudden rise in prices. These include the rapid increase in oil prices - a major input for fertilizer as well as fuel for tractors and transportation, the proliferation of food for fuel programs, natural disasters, and increasing demand. She is not optimistic that prices will fall significantly over the next three years. Sheeran, who recently visited the Riff Valley of Kenya, is alarmed that farmers there are reducing their plantings.

“Fertilizer has gone from 1,700 shillings there in December to 12,000 shillings just 12 weeks later,” said Sheeran. “This, in the bread basket of Kenya, farmers are planting one third of what they planted a year ago.”

Sheeran said that supply concerns have resulted in 12,000 tons of food her agency purchased in Kenya for emergency feeding in Somalia being stranded in Kenya. She said immediate action is needed to get food aid to the hungry.

Source:  VOA News