US will assist Lebanon in securing its border with Syria, says envoy

Zoi Constantine

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BEIRUT // The crisis in Syria must not be allowed to spill over into neighbouring Lebanon, warned Washington's top Middle East diplomat during talks with senior government officials.

Jeffrey Feltman, the assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs, arrived in Beirut for an official visit on Wednesday.

"[Mr Feltman] highlighted US concerns that developments in Syria not contribute to instability in Lebanon or in other countries in the region," said a statement issued by the US Embassy in Beirut. "Ambassador Feltman shared the grave concerns of the US for the people of Syria and our desire to see the Syrian government end its brutality against them immediately."

The envoy's comments came on the same day that a US television network broadcast excerpts of an interview with the Syrian president, Bashar Al Assad, in which he denied ordering the killing of civilians.

The UN estimates that more than 4,000 people have been killed during the crackdown on pro-reform protests nine months ago.

The movement has since swelled into an open revolt against Mr Al Assad's government.

Mr Feltman's visit comes amid increased tension along Lebanon's border with Syria and political stalemate at home, where pro-Syrian sentiment remains strong.

Thousands of Syrians have fled into Lebanon across the northern border.

There have also been reports of Syrian army incursions into Lebanon. Mr Feltman, who served as ambassador to Lebanon from 2004 to 2008, also stressed US support for Lebanese institutions, particularly the country's armed forces.

The embassy statement described these armed forces as "Lebanon's sole legitimate defence force", a clear repudiation of the claim by the Islamist movement Hizbollah that its militias are essential for maintaining the country's security.

Under the UN resolution that ended the Lebanese-Israeli war in 2006, all of Lebanon's militias are required to disarm. Hizbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said earlier this week that his group was increasing its stockpile of weapons.

During his meeting with the prime minister, Nejib Mikati, Mr Feltman delivered a letter from Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, welcoming his government's funding of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).

Earlier this year, Mr Feltman warned the Lebanese government against failure to pay the country's 49 per cent share of this year's budget - $32 million (Dh117 million) - for the UN tribunal, which is investigating the assassination of the former prime minister Rafiq Hariri.

Mr Mikati announced last week that the money had been transferred to the Netherlands-based tribunal, diffusing a brewing political crisis.

Some cabinet members, including those aligned with Hizbollah, had opposed the payment.

zconstantine@thenational.ae

Last Updated:Dec 8, 2011

The area surrounding the port of Beirut now hums to the chit-chat of creative entrepreneurs and the well-heeled, the port itself though is unsure as to what the immediate future holds.

Michael Karam

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Gazans cross a border as Rafah opens

Hugh Naylor (Foreign Correspondent)

RAFAH BORDER CROSSING, THE GAZA STRIP // Twice this month, Samah Ahmed, 30, tried and failed to enter Egypt. In her first attempt, she said, Egyptian border agents turned her back for lacking "proper co-ordination". The second, on May 26, failed for reasons she does not fully comprehend.

Yesterday, though, Ms Ahmed was on hand when the creative director for a group of Gazan artists stepped onto a bus at the Rafah border crossing and into what for many in this war-ravaged, isolated Palestinian enclave anticipate could be a new era of hope. Ms Ahmed, who was stopped each time she tried to cross previously by an Israeli blockade administered by Egypt on her native Gaza, was one of about 450 Gazans attempting to travel to Egypt yesterday under relaxed border restrictions introduced by the country's interim military rulers.

"I've come here to see with my own eyes if Egypt will do what it says it's going to do," she said, quipping that "if they send me back again, well, I guess I'll have another story to tell."

Ms Ahmed, along with students, people seeking medical treatment and some non-Palestinian Arabs, eventually made it through after a relatively short queue at the crossing terminal in southern Gaza.

The run-up to the border opening generated much attention here, drawing swarms of journalists documenting the inaugural passage into Egypt yesterday. Palestinian politicians boasted in front of television cameras that four years of Israel's US-backed attempt at isolating Hamas had failed.

"This is a significant day for the world," announced Ghazi Hamad, Hamas's deputy prime minister. "Enough of the siege and the collective punishment of Gaza."

Palestinians hope the May 4 reconciliation accord between Hamas and the West Bank-based Fatah will yield benefits beyond the opening of the Rafah border.

Fanning these hopes was an announcement on Thursday by the Palestine Investment Authority of planned reconstruction projects for Gaza worth $1 billion (Dh3.67). The funding is partly intended for the tens of thousands of homes still in disrepair from Israel's 22-day war on Gaza in 2008, known as Operation Cast Lead.

In Israel, the country's main opposition, Kadima, capitalised on the development, accusing the ruling coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of endangering Israeli security by not preventing the border opening.

"The Rafah border was opened for the first time in direct opposition to Israel's interests," the Kadima party said in a statement.

Israel imposed heavy sanctions that included severe restrictions on incoming goods and construction materials after Hamas, which is considered a terrorist group by the US and European Union, violently took control of Gaza in 2007 from the Palestinian Authority. Israel has long feared weapons imports from Egypt to the Islamist group but has failed to curtail its increasing power.

"Netanyahu's government talks a hard line against Hamas, but in reality during the time of its leadership, Hamas has become stronger than it has ever been in the past," the Kadima statement added.

Mr Netanyahu's office appears to be responding cautiously, declining to comment yesterday on the border opening.

The issue is poised to further strain Israel's relationship with Egypt's transitional military government, which has come under popular pressure to alter its relationship with Israel and adopt a more pro-Palestinian policy.

Hosni Mubarak, who was overthrown by nationwide demonstrations in February, played a crucial - and highly unpopular - role in helping to impose Israel's Gaza blockade.

After years of decrying Egypt's role in isolating them, Gazans yesterday still seemed uncertain whether they would actually be allowed to pass into Egypt from the Rafah crossing.

"The bureaucracy has been so difficult on the Egyptian side," said Halema Radwan, 51, who was preparing to travel to Cairo for medical treatment.

"Sometimes we'd wait from 10 in the morning to three in the afternoon just to get through. God willing that won't happen today." Still, she added, "All of Gaza is happy today."

While officials expect as many as 1,000 people to pass through the border, about 450 had showed up by midafternoon.Some said it was the result of final examinations for primary and secondary school students, which would have delayed family travel. For others, it was a matter of wait-and-see. Next page

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Samah Ahmed was one of about 450 Gazans attempting to travel to Egypt yesterday under relaxed border restrictions introduced by the country's interim military rulers.

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