“Next Monday: the launch of the second stage of the opposition’s uprising”
“Next Monday: the launch of the second stage of the opposition’s uprising”
Ibrahime Al-Amine, chairman of the board of directors of Al Akhbar, an independent pro-opposition newspaper, commented in the January 5 issue on the latest political developments in Lebanon. Al-Amine wrote: “The opposition embarked upon a new stage in the sharp confrontations with the ruling team. The discussions that have going on since the holidays focused on coming up with an agenda for protests that aim at tightening the stranglehold on the ruling team and for dealing with any reconciliatory initiative according to a mechanism that doesn’t allow the ruling team to waste more time especially as the opposition has become convinced that the Arab forces handling the initiatives are endorsing the point of view of the ruling team which belongs along with themselves to the ‘moderation’ camp which is supported by the United States and France. This attitude practically lays the ground for dealing differently with any future Arab movements amidst information that the forces of the 14 of March directed a request to the secretary general of the Arab League Amr Moussa to return quickly to Beirut.”
Al-Amine added: “It seems that the attention [of 14 of March forces] is focused on facilitating the Paris-3 conference which makes the 25th of the current month a target by itself for both the ruling team and the opposition. According to the information of those concerned, the discussions [among the opposition] are now based on the fact that the ruling team wants one thing only: to waste time, and the strategy of sabotaging the initiatives used by this team has its supporters outside. There are incessant reports about a role played by the ex Saudi ambassador to Washington the current head of the Saudi national security council Bandar Bin Sultan who is said to practically head the front which considers the opposition in Lebanon “as an extension of the new strategic enemy which is Iran and Syria”. The current actions of the American and French ambassadors in Beirut Jeffery Feltman and Bernard Emie fall in the context of looking for means used by the ruling team to defend itself against the opposition including attempts to revive the “Quartet Alliance” [between Hezbollah, Amal, Future movement, and the Progressive Socialist party] which provides an explanation for the newly found warmness in the relationship between Egypt and Saudi Arabia and Hezbollah.”
Al-Amine continued: “The visit by Hezbollah’s delegation to Saudi Arabia aroused the anger ‘of the remaining neo conservatives’ in Riyadh and Beirut which resulted first in the infamous Junblatt (the media spokesman for the American-Arab moderation campaign) interview on the Al-Arabiya channel with which he wanted to move the confrontation to another level by giving an extra dose to the issue of the international tribunal by accusing Hezbollah of being involved in the assassinations. Junblatt’s live interview on a network funded by Saudi Arabia, and run by Bandar Bin Sultan’s group and his allies in the Jordanian intelligence services and the CIA, which came a few days after he called for the assassination of Bashar Al-Assad, is linked to Saudi Arabia’s attitude towards what is going on which has not been explained so far except in the context of the raging battles on the Arab scene with Junblatt being a direct member of the axis that supposes that getting rid of Syria and its allies in Lebanon is a prerequisite for guaranteeing the stability of the regime in Lebanon as well as in the other countries…”
Al-Amine added: “There were meetings up till yesterday between the poles of the opposition to prepare for laying a plan that is based on forming a committee that represents the main factions in the opposition and handles the daily coordination that guarantees that the action plan for the protest is ready before the end of this week so that it could be put before the leaders of the opposition which will be followed by drawing timetables to implement it…According to observers, the discussion is revolving around several issues: Reiterating the slogans of the opposition and moving forward in the battle to form a transitional government that would supervises early parliamentary elections. Preparing a paper by the whole opposition that focuses on the economic situation and imposes it on the agendas of the current government or any government that will rise in the future. Preparing a unified attitude regarding dealing with any local or foreign initiative to solve the crisis. Endorsing practical suggestions for union and student protests that would immobilize all the institutions of the state and focusing the movements on killing the government and not the people without stopping too long on the considerations heeded in the past period which focused on avoiding the direct confrontations. After next Monday we will be facing a different reality between the opposition and the authority.” - Al Akhbar Lebanon, Lebanon
Ibrahime Al-Amine, chairman of the board of directors of Al Akhbar, an independent pro-opposition newspaper, commented in the January 5 issue on the latest political developments in Lebanon. Al-Amine wrote: “The opposition embarked upon a new stage in the sharp confrontations with the ruling team. The discussions that have going on since the holidays focused on coming up with an agenda for protests that aim at tightening the stranglehold on the ruling team and for dealing with any reconciliatory initiative according to a mechanism that doesn’t allow the ruling team to waste more time especially as the opposition has become convinced that the Arab forces handling the initiatives are endorsing the point of view of the ruling team which belongs along with themselves to the ‘moderation’ camp which is supported by the United States and France. This attitude practically lays the ground for dealing differently with any future Arab movements amidst information that the forces of the 14 of March directed a request to the secretary general of the Arab League Amr Moussa to return quickly to Beirut.”
Al-Amine added: “It seems that the attention [of 14 of March forces] is focused on facilitating the Paris-3 conference which makes the 25th of the current month a target by itself for both the ruling team and the opposition. According to the information of those concerned, the discussions [among the opposition] are now based on the fact that the ruling team wants one thing only: to waste time, and the strategy of sabotaging the initiatives used by this team has its supporters outside. There are incessant reports about a role played by the ex Saudi ambassador to Washington the current head of the Saudi national security council Bandar Bin Sultan who is said to practically head the front which considers the opposition in Lebanon “as an extension of the new strategic enemy which is Iran and Syria”. The current actions of the American and French ambassadors in Beirut Jeffery Feltman and Bernard Emie fall in the context of looking for means used by the ruling team to defend itself against the opposition including attempts to revive the “Quartet Alliance” [between Hezbollah, Amal, Future movement, and the Progressive Socialist party] which provides an explanation for the newly found warmness in the relationship between Egypt and Saudi Arabia and Hezbollah.”
Al-Amine continued: “The visit by Hezbollah’s delegation to Saudi Arabia aroused the anger ‘of the remaining neo conservatives’ in Riyadh and Beirut which resulted first in the infamous Junblatt (the media spokesman for the American-Arab moderation campaign) interview on the Al-Arabiya channel with which he wanted to move the confrontation to another level by giving an extra dose to the issue of the international tribunal by accusing Hezbollah of being involved in the assassinations. Junblatt’s live interview on a network funded by Saudi Arabia, and run by Bandar Bin Sultan’s group and his allies in the Jordanian intelligence services and the CIA, which came a few days after he called for the assassination of Bashar Al-Assad, is linked to Saudi Arabia’s attitude towards what is going on which has not been explained so far except in the context of the raging battles on the Arab scene with Junblatt being a direct member of the axis that supposes that getting rid of Syria and its allies in Lebanon is a prerequisite for guaranteeing the stability of the regime in Lebanon as well as in the other countries…”
Al-Amine added: “There were meetings up till yesterday between the poles of the opposition to prepare for laying a plan that is based on forming a committee that represents the main factions in the opposition and handles the daily coordination that guarantees that the action plan for the protest is ready before the end of this week so that it could be put before the leaders of the opposition which will be followed by drawing timetables to implement it…According to observers, the discussion is revolving around several issues: Reiterating the slogans of the opposition and moving forward in the battle to form a transitional government that would supervises early parliamentary elections. Preparing a paper by the whole opposition that focuses on the economic situation and imposes it on the agendas of the current government or any government that will rise in the future. Preparing a unified attitude regarding dealing with any local or foreign initiative to solve the crisis. Endorsing practical suggestions for union and student protests that would immobilize all the institutions of the state and focusing the movements on killing the government and not the people without stopping too long on the considerations heeded in the past period which focused on avoiding the direct confrontations. After next Monday we will be facing a different reality between the opposition and the authority.” - Al Akhbar Lebanon, Lebanon
