June Monday 26-2000:

“Israeli” troops fired at Jordanian delegation (1)
Beirut and Amman condemn civilian shootings

According to Taher Shakshir, head of the visiting Jordanian delegation, the crowd at the Fatima Gate was chanting anti-”Israeli” slogans.
“The Jewish soldiers behind the barbed wire suddenly turned their rifles toward us and opened fire,” Shakshir said.
The “Israeli” soldiers were reportedly using a mixture of live ammunition and rubber-coated bullets. Ali Abu Sukkar, secretary-general of the Jordanian Engineers’ Union, was shot in the back and Ghassan Abul-Hajj, an engineer, was shot in the leg. Rashed Rahman and Said Salah sustained light wounds. All four were taken to Marjayoun Hospital and then to a Hizbullah-run hospital in Beirut. They left for Amman on Sunday.
Both the Lebanese and Jordan governments were swift to condemn the shooting.““Israeli” aggression confirms Lebanon’s worries regarding the “Israeli” enemy in the wake of withdrawal from the occupied zone,” President Emile Lahoud said in a statement on Saturday.
Lahoud received Shakshir on Sunday to ask about the health of the wounded Jordanians and thanked the delegation for its visit to Lebanon, which he said was a show of support for reconstruction in the South.
Prime Minister Salim Hoss said that Israel “ignored international laws” and said the incident should be placed “in the hands of the international community.”
Hizbullah condemned the shooting and issued a veiled warning. “We are following up carefully the “Israeli” aggression. We know their purposes and aims. We know how to deal with them with the necessary wisdom at the right time and under the right circumstances,” the party said in a statement.
The Jordanian government said “the flagrant attack on defenseless civilians … is unjustified under any pretext and sows suspicion about the honesty of Israel’s intentions.”
Jordanian Deputy  Prime Minister Saleh Irshaidat summoned the head of the “Israeli” diplomatic mission in Amman to request an “explanation and apology” for the incident.
The “Israeli” Army claimed that men were seen attempting to climb the gate at the border fence at Fatima Gate. Warning shots were fired in the air before a few rounds were fired at their legs, the “Israeli” Army said.
A Lebanese engineer who attended the conference on Sunday, said that it was unfortunate that the delegation was fired at when they were visiting the country to support the Lebanese after Israel’s withdrawal.
According to a statement released by the Lebanese Order of Engineers and Architects on Sunday, the “aggressive actions against the Jordanian brothers who were in Lebanon to support us and celebrate with us after the withdrawal” should be taken to the United Nations.
Since May 24, Lebanese and foreign tourists have visited the Fatima gate between Kfar Kila and the “Israeli” settlement of Metulla.
Nine other civilians have been wounded along the border since the withdrawal in May.

Fadlallah makes historic trip home to Bint Jbeil (2)
Resistance will remain reserve army

For the first time in almost 25 years, leading cleric Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah visited his hometown of Ainata near Bint Jbeil on Sunday, taking the time to also tour other liberated villages.
His first stop was Jibsheet, just outside the former “Israeli”-occupied zone, where he was received by scores of people, headed by Hizbullah’s top official in the South, Sheikh Nabil Qaouk. At the village cemetery, Fadlallah recited al-Fatiha, the first chapter in the Koran, in memory of Sheikh Ragheb Harb, Jibsheet’s imam and a founder of the resistance movement, who was killed in an “Israeli” attack in 1983.
“Jibsheet is my second hometown,” he told the crowds.
In Bint Jbeil, thousands of people had gathered to greet the visitor, and Fadlallah’s police guards had to elbow their way into the town’s main public high school to let the cleric enter. Fadlallah was greeted by MPs Mohammed Fneish, Nazih Mansour and Hassan Alawieh, in addition to Qaouk, Hizbullah official Hashem Safieddine, and Father Antonios Hajj Khoury, a priest from the border town of Rmaish. Also present were delegations from the Amal Movement and from Jezzine, who showered Fadlallah with rice and roses. Women ululated and sang religious hymns.
Calling Fadlallah the descendant of the “golden dynasty,” a reference to the cleric’s descent from the Prophet Mohammed, Sheikh Hussein Srour, a local cleric, recalled Fadlallah’s “religious rulings and financial and paternal support for the resistance movement.”
 Qaouk addressed the cleric, saying: “Being with you in one place is a message to the enemy that the resistance movement is still going on strong, even if the methods are different.”
Fadlallah, responded by hailing the resistance. He also argued, however, that “Arabs should overcome their long-term problem of serving leaders instead of institutions.”
Highlighting the importance of “the rare victory,” Fadlallah lashed out against “those who call for US and French intervention in our affairs and refuse the intervention of an Arab or an Islamic country,” a reference to Syria’s and Iran’s support for the resistance movement.
He also called “for protecting the victory by confronting those who warn against sectarian strife in the South, especially since the Islamic Resistance amazed the world with its civilized behavior in the liberated areas.” He added: “Muslims in Lebanon cannot live without the Christians and the Christians in Lebanon cannot live without the Muslims. Don’t talk anymore about sectarian shares in the government. The world is changing and we have to remake Lebanon in modern terms.”
Fadlallah said that the “cause is not over because Israel still occupies Lebanese land and holds Lebanese detainees.”
“Also,” he declared, “the US-sponsored United Nations is working against our interests.”
As long as “Israeli” threats continue, he added, “the resistance movement will remain a reserve army that should continue to coordinate with the official army.” He also accused the United States of “seeking to undermine the Palestinian cause and besiege Syria.”
He urged the government to “announce a state of emergency in the South to sort the economic needs of the area, which has been excluded from public spending for several decades.”
“Why doesn’t the government, which is cracking down on corruption, target leading figures who stole the people’s money?” he asked, suggesting that the embezzled money “be confiscated and spent on developing the South.”
Fadlallah then led prayers in Bint Jbeil’s main mosque.
After touring Ainata, he returned to Beirut, stopping on the way at Qana, where he recited al-Fatiha for the 107 civilians who were masscred by Israei shells there in 1996.

92 jailed for collaboration (3)

A military court sentenced 92 people to prison terms ranging from one week to five years, and fines of up to LL1 million each, on Saturday after finding them guilty of collaborating with Israel or entering enemy territory.
Two other defendants were sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison. They were among 152 people whose trials began on Friday. The remaining suspects will continue their trial in the next court session on Monday. So far, 404 people who were either members of or affiliated with Israel’s now-defunct proxy militia, have been sentenced since the trials began three weeks ago. Most received one-year jail terms.
Up to 2,200 suspects were captured or surrendered to authorities after the withdrawal.

Footnotes:

1-   The Daily Star 26-6-2000

2-   Same source

3-   Same source