Saturday 19 March 2005, 11:08 Makka Time, 8:08 GMT

A car bomb exploded on Saturday night in a predominantly Christian area of Beirut, wounding at least 8 people. The blast destroyed the front of the first and second floor of a building in the commercial area of New Jadida, on the northern edge of the Lebanese capital.
A seven-foot-deep crater reveals the exact point at which the car blew up.

Rani Ayub, an eye witness, told the press what he saw: "I was standing under this building and we heard a huge explosion and there was a big cloud of dust, and glass flew everywhere. We saw this car just fly into the air and land on the street right in front of us."

As reported by Bassem Mroue (AP), Lebanese officials speaking on condition of anonimity said that the explosion was caused by a time-bomb placed in the car of a Lebanese-Armenian resident of the damaged building.

"The ... car belonged to an Armenian living in the building in front of which the explosion took place. The explosive was placed under his vehicle," said a police official.

Other witnesses said that the driver first tried to park his vehicle in front of a Bingo hall.
When some guards forced him to move forward he decided to stop a few meters away and the blast was heard shortly afterwards.

Abbas Nasir, Al-Jazeera’s correspondent in Beirut, said that according to Lebanese security officials, the bomb was placed exactly between a wall in the parking garage of the building and a resident’s car. Even if it isn’t clear whether the bomb was meant to kill someone in particular or not, the site seems not to have any significance beside the fact that an employee of the American Embassy lives in the building.

Debris covered the street nearby the accident and has damaged shops and cars.
Citizens were able to clean their properties only after the police and other security forces cordoned the area and finshed their work.

CNN commented that the bomb could be an attempt to split Muslims and Christians, as theorized by some eyewitnesses. Others have said there could be a connection between the assassination of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who resigned from his job last October to protest against the presence of Syrian troops in his country and was killed on February 14, along with 17 people. Anti-Syrian politicians blame Damascus for his death. Syrian authorities, however, always denied the accusation.

Immediately after the explosion, Lebanon’s President Emile Lahoud asked for a crisis meeting with all the politicians.

"[President] Lahoud calls on the sides... to live up to their historic responsibilities to protect the higher interests of Lebanon at this sensitive stage by opening an immediate and direct dialogue to lay out all the outstanding problems and reach a consensus in the interest of Lebanon," as read in the official statement.

"The president affirms the need for such a dialogue meeting starting today in any place they agree on, including the presidential palace, which will keep its doors open."

Fares Soeid rejected the invitation saying, "It's too late. This subject is closed."

Immediate political concerns are obviously on the formation of the new government. Some have said that the bomb could be taken as an example of how useful the presence of the Syrian troops by pro-Damascus politicians was, like Omar Karami, who insisted on the necessity of a “national unity” cabinet. The opposition is, instead, demanding for a neutral government, an investigation on Hariri’s death and the resignation of the security chiefs.

Karami was even accused of “stalling”in order to postpone the election scheduled for April-May, because as it is now, they probably favor the anti-Syrian coalition.

"Why postpone the parliamentary elections? Let them hold the elections according to the electoral law they deem suitable, but we will not participate in the government," an opposition leader, Walid Jumblatt, said to Future Television.

Pierre Gemayel, a Christian member of the opposition, said to al-Jazeera that "This has been the message to the Lebanese people for a while - to sow fear and terror among Lebanese citizens." The meaning of this advice is, "if there is a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, this is what Lebanon will face."

The blast occurred right after the first Syrian withdrawal of troops since they invaded the country 29 years ago, during the civil war that devastated Lebanon for over fifeteen years (1975-1990).
The first stage of the Syrian pullback from Lebanon began last Thursday when at least 4,000 soldiers crossed the border into the eastern Beeka Valley.

A potential political split happening between Maronite Chistians and Muslims in the country will certainly slow down the unification process along with the inner stability of a new cabinet.
Generally speaking, that would favor those who have been in control of Lebanon, taking advantage of the divided powers that still exist.

Further exact information about the bomber or the reason why he placed the bomb is still not available and agents are investigating to find out more details.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/44EB4799-838E-4278-AD8C-5A30B5D4013A.htm
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LEBANON_SYRIA?SITE=NDBIS&SECTION=HOME
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/03/19/lebanon.bombing/index.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4363325.stm

ALSO IN BLOGGERNEWS

Il Romanaccio at 2:03 PM

Friday 18 March 2005, 15:17 Makka Time, 12:17 GMT

Al-Jazeera announced that the Popular Resistance Comittees did not take part in the Cairo general truce singed by the 13 main Palestinian groups. The Prc was not repersented at the conference and declared itself not to be part of the agreement.
In a statement read by the main media outlets in Gaza city, the Palestinian group announced the following,

"We totally reject the results of the Cairo meeting, having not taken part, and we are not bound to respect the outcome."

Al-Jazeera

Il Romanaccio at 2:40 PM

Thursday 17 March 2005, 12:16 Makka Time, 9:16 GMT

The diplomatic trip around Asia brought Condoleeza Rice in Afghanistan, meanwhile a car bomb exploded in the city of Kandahar, killing five people.

Rice's task in Afghanistan is to talk with the authorities about the main political issues.

"We'll continue to talk with the Afghans about reconstruction, about building an economy there, because that can be self-sustainable ... about the problems that they continue to face, continuing in the war on terror, and of course on the counter-narcotics side as well," she said when still in Washington D.c.

Al-Jazeera

Il Romanaccio at 11:47 AM

Silvio Berlusconi was present yesterday on the TV program “Porta a Porta”, a famous political talk show invented by the journalist BrunoVespa. The Italian Prime Minister expressed his desire to pull back the troops from Iraq starting from this September. "I've spoken about it with Tony Blair, and it's the public opinion of our countries that expects this decision," Berlusconi said, and “starting with the month of September, we would like to proceed with a gradual reduction of our soldiers."
Berlusconi is going to run has Prime Minister again in 2006 and the opposition that his country is showing to the war in Iraq might have forced this decision.

His nickname, “The Knight”, refers to the fact that he actually is a “knight among workers” according to an Italian tradition that concedes this title to extraordinarily valuable working people. He immediately highlighted that an Italian pullback depends on whether Iraqis will be ready to manage their country. Italy has deployed about 3,000 soldiers in Iraq, (which means the fourth power) and most of them are acting as peacekeepers in the town of Nassiriya. In November of 2003, 16 Italian soldiers died when a car bomb hit their headquarters there.

While the “coalition of intents” that President Bush created is facing a difficult period, this announcement does not fit the American will to maintain a certain number of soldiers as long as is deemed necessary.

Both Bulgaria and the Ukraine are also starting to leave and Poland (which is involved with 1,700 troops) wants to reduce its military effort. Holland has a combined army of 2,900 in Iraq (with Ukraine) and is starting to pull back its troops even while Britain and the US asked them to wait longer. Spain already brought its 1,300 soldiers home last year. Other nations that pulled back their troops in the last year are Hungary, New Zealand, the Philippines, the Dominican Republic, Norway, Portugal and Bulgaria.

According to William J.Cole of the Associated Press, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Barry Venable said that this reduction of the troops is a part of the natural process that is intended to leave the security of the country to the new Iraqi Government and "the plan is to have the Iraqis fill in everywhere," and added, "that process will continue and indeed accelerate."

Condoleeza Rice announced from New Delhi that it is certain that the Italian withdrawal will not be problematic for the US, adding that this country has already shown is dedication to the United States. The US Secretary of State was also sure that a pullback will be “fully coordinated with the US [security forces]”. She also talked about the “proven experience” of the Italian Foreign Affairs Minister, her past experience with the Italian government and her trust in these elements.
Similar announcements, in diplomacy, are usually intended simultaneously to be clear messages and compliments so that they can be understood quickly by the subject. A good translation of Rice’s announcement would be the following: “We understand the Italian political situation and Berlusconi’s personal intersest in being re-elected in the forthcoming elections, along with the loyal commintment that Italian troops have shown to us, but must underline the fact that it could be too early to move in September or, in the case that it will be the right time, we want to coordinate better with the Italian army in order to avoid international scandals like Calipari’s.

White House Spokesman Scott McClellan remarked on the fact that the withdrawal will be tied to the Iraqi political situation. He said, "this will be based on the ability and capability of Iraqi forces and the Iraqi government to be able to assume more responsibility and that he will work in agreement with allies in the region before taking those steps," as quoted in the New York Times.

In the crucial part of the war, 38 coutries were present with their troops, bringing coalition forces to a total of about 300,000. This war was inteded from the begining to be less “expensive” in terms of troops. The superiority of equipment that the US G.I.s can count on is the “technological gap” the Iraqi resistance fighters have to face. G.P.S. satellites, nocturnal infravisors, fully defensive uniforms and modern guerrilla tactics were the base of any US soldier.

Iraq’s former Baath party members and other fighters have already been more restistant than expected. Saddam himself, speaking about a possible war against the United States, said it was impossible to think of a victory in the case of a frontal attack. Instead, the fight had to be conducted as a guerrilla war, like in Vietnam, constantly keeping the American army occupied and attacked from every possible direction and in any possible way, as the only chance Iraqis had to defeat such an enemy.

Australia, Britain, South Korea, Albania and Georgia are, however, still standing fiercely with the United States and NATO is still involved with the Iraqi security forces’ training mission.

Some secret agents from Iraq pointed out that Italian agents are not fully collaborating in the search for Sgrena’s kidnappers, and the Italian government has always unofficially declared that they do not want to collaborate with any other intelligence, if not forced, because they only trust their 007s.

As the coalition and American soldiers are starting to leave, the US troops remaining have more responsibility and are more exposed than ever. The operation “Iraqi Freedom” is ending and the new Iraqi Parliament just had is first sitting yesterday. The whole situation allows us to think about an opportnunity for a real Iraqi government coming from the January 30 election. This cabinet must be able to face a difficult internal religious and economic split. This country is about to witness its first freely elected National Assembly, and Shia Muslims already announced that they failed to discuss a common political line with both the Kurds and the Sunni Arabs, as reported by al-Jazeera.
Jalal Talabani will be Iraq’s first Kurdish president and the Sunni are supposed to participate in this government but still did not make any move toward this goal.

We sincerely hope the new cabinet has the “physique du role” to face this situtation.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/FEB50942-9D86-4202-9BF7-2AF21DF0572A.htm
http://www.freep.com/news/nw/troops16e_20050316.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/16/international/europe/16italy.html?ex=1111640400&en=180ba9dbdc888998&ei=5053&partner=NYTHEADLINES_INTL

Il Romanaccio at 11:37 AM

Monday, 14 March, 2005, 22:46 GMT

BBC-Almost a milion people protested for the Syrian occupation of Lebanon today, in the biggest demonstration ever held in this country.

Protesters remained in silence at 1255 (1055 GMT) to commemorate Mr. Hariri's death, happened a month ago. The politician was assassinated after his resignation as a Prime Minister on last October to proptest against the Syrian occupation.

BBC-

Il Romanaccio at 11:01 AM

March 14, 2005

According to Robert F. Worth (NyTimes) two Saddam Hussein's relatives were arrested by the Iraqi security forces in Tikrit thanks to some residents' tips and suggestions.

The statement released from the Iraqi government, dated March 8, reveals the arrest of Abdullah Maher Abdul Rashid and his cousin Marwan Taher Abdul Rashid.

Marwan Taher Abdul Rashid simply was a bodyguard of the dictator, while Abdullah Maher received money from Qsuay Hussein (Saddam's son) to finance insurgent attacks.

The New York Times-

Il Romanaccio at 10:49 AM

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan met Ariel Sharon in Ramallah on Sunday, just after Israel offered to the Palestinian Authorities the opportunity to leave and dismantle 24 illegal outposts in the West Bank.

Abbas previously said he hopes that every Palestinian faction would join the general ceasefire during the conference scheduled this week in Cairo.

Mr.Annan already had a meeting with Abu Mazen early in February in Sharm el-Sheik on the Red Sea, but on that occasion Palestinian groups did not officially join the truce. However, the towns of Qalqilya, Tulkarm, Jericho, Bethlehem and Ramallah decided to be re-assigned to the Palestinian Authorities.

When a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a Tel Aviv disco killing 4 people and wounding 50, it serioulsy compromised the situation. Even if the Islamic Jihad groups declared themselves innocent, hopes for a ceasfire were quickly disappointed after that event.

Abbas seems to be more optimistic this time, as he said on TV news that the forthcoming meeting in Cairo was going to be very important. "God willing, we will go there to declare a ceasefire... for the sake of giving the peace process a chance to begin and to return to its normal path," said the Palestinian leader.

Annan and Abbas were supposed to talk about the “road map”plan pushed by the United States and recently held in larger consideration by international relations since the death of Yassser Arafat, considered by many to be the cause of an impossible dialogue with the Israeli leader, Ariel Sharon.

A main point of the discussion was the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the occupied territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which are Palestinian areas under the military occupation of Israel that the United Nations claims to be illegal. Israel invaded this area during the “Six Day War” in 1967. There are now approximately 190,000 Israeli settlers living among more than two million Palestinians.

Abbas does not want the pullback to be fully organized and controlloed by the Israeli authorities themselves and would prefer to coordinate every step taken in this area, in close contact with his counterpart in Israel and with the Islamist jihad movements and their desires for revenge.

Sharon already decided to free many of the Palestinan political prisoners in the Israeli jails who were not involved in any attack against his country.
In his meeting on Monday with Kofi Annan, the Israeli leader pointed out the fact that a complete redeployment of his troops also depends on the Palestinian resistance fighters’ decision of a complete ceasfire and violence stop. This indirectly puts responsibilities for the attacks organized by these movements on the Palestinian authorities. “Without genuine action by the Palestinians against terrorism, it will be unable to move anything forward,” said the Israeli leader.

The peace plan strongly favored by Abbas is supposed to completely establish a Palestinian state. Israeli withdrawal from the five towns is intended to fulfill a request of a total control above this area by the authorities and is a crucial point of the “road map” sponsored by the UN, Russia, the United States and the European Union.

There have already been some disagreements between the two countries and this is the reason why Israel has delayed dismantling the unhathorized settlements in the five towns. To try to resolve this complicated issue, the Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz is supposed to meet Palestinian Interior Minister Nasser Yousef, in the next few days. ”Dismantling these unauthorized settlements is a part of the Israeli commitment under the road map that was approved by the government,” said Sharon.

Also on BloggerNews-http://www.legendgames.net/showstory.asp?page=blognews/stories/WN0000045.txt

http://www.middleeastdaily.com/p/d8/9b9d0ba62a8019.html?id=WNATfa28390ad180200b02552344bf5ff81d
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=ad01nsf1u_H4&refer=top_world_news
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/4346395.stm

Il Romanaccio at 1:05 PM

Sunday 13 March 2005, 12:56 Makka Time, 9:56 GMT

(Al-Jazeera)-Two American contractors were killed and another one wounded in a blast south of Baghdad.

Us embassy spokesman Bob Callahan explained, "It happened around 2pm (1100 GMT) on the road to al-Hilla. Two Blackwater employees were killed by an improvised explosive device."

The two contractors died were employees of the Blackwater security firm wich helps US officials in Iraq.

Meanwhile another US soldier lost his lilfe in a gun battle in the north of Iraq.

As reported by the military statement the soldier, a member of the Task Force Freedom, was killed in Mosul, on Saturday.

US military sent a notice to the family of the deceased, "The Soldiers of Task Force Freedom send their condolences to the family of the deceased."

Il Romanaccio at 11:33 AM

Sunday, March 13, 2005 Posted: 0316 GMT (1116 HKT)

After the United States decided on Friday not to veto the entrance of his country in the World Trade Organization, Iranian president Mohammad Khatami announced that they will temporarily stop the uranium enrichment project.

"We have accepted postponing the activities of uranium enrichment in a voluntary way and only temporarily, even though we have no obligation. We are doing this for moral reasons," he said.
"We are ready to cooperate with the world to give more certainty that Iran is not moving toward the creation of nuclear arms."

The three European countries involved conviced president Bush not to drop the WTO for Theran.

A responsable for the nuclear dialogue between Iran and the other countries, Cyrus Naseri, said the offer was "it is too ridiculous to be called an offer." And he added that, "It is like trading a lion for a mouse," he told CNN. "Would the United States be prepared to give up its own nuclear fuel production against a cargo of pistachios delivered in truckloads?"

During the past months the United States, along with Britain, France and Germany had several meetings to discuss the situation. President Bush seems not to be conviced of the fact that such an oil-rich country really needs a nuclear power plan.

Meanwhile Iran asked Russia to collaborate at this project wich became a reality thanks to Putin's help.

Khatami is now showing that Iran does not want to use the nuclear technology to build warheads, but he also repeated that his country will not give-up this project.

Il Romanaccio at 11:18 AM