September Friday 17 -1999:
Introduction
The Islamic Resistance (IR) militants staged a series of military operations
against the "Israeli" occupation forces in South Lebanon. "Israel's" Army
acknowledged that one of its soldiers and another settler working with
the occupation troops were wounded in Western Sector of the occupied zone.
In the meantime, a UN Interim forces in Lebanon officer affirmed that two mortar shells fell ten meters away from a position manned by Unifil's Finnish battalion in Qsair area. A Unifil APC was damaged whereas its occupants were miraculously escaped death.
However, the secretary General of the Interim Executive Committee of the Lebanese National Anti-Normalization (with the Zionist Enemy) Council (LNANC)) Retired Gen Yassine Soweid held a press conference in which he presented the council's working plan and interim members.
IR wounded two Israeli soldiers
The Islamic Resistance (IR) team of martyrs Ali Fawaz and Hussein Mohammad
Mohsen attacked, at 00,00, Blat post with the adequate arms scoring direct
hits.
In the meantime, the IR unit of martyrs Hassan Mahmoud Ammar and Youssef Nassif Izzeddine was targeting Radar outpost with the suitable weapons chalking up direct and certain goals.
At the same time, the IR squad of martyrs Ali Hassan Tarhini and Zakariah Jawad Harb fell upon Tair Harfa compound with the proper arms. Direct and accurate hits were chalked up, the militants reported.
Also, the IR group of martyrs Ibrahim Hussein Khalil and Abdel-Karim Mohammad Kiki attacked, at 15:50, enemy movements inside Rshaf outpost. Using the appropriate weapons, the mujahedeen were able to score direct and definite goals.
For its part, a group of the Lebanese Resistance Brigades (LRB) attacked,
at 6:20, Sojod outpost with the machine guns and
rocket-propelled grenades. The ten-minutes attack resulted in scoring
direct hits
(1).
" In this connection, "Israel's" army announced that one of its soldiers and another "Israeli" settler working with occupation forces in the south were injured in a resistance mortar attack in the western sector of the occupied zone" (2)
More "Israeli" aggressions, Unifil APC hit
(3)
"A UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (Unifil) officer affirmed that two
mortar rounds fell 10 meters away from a position manned by Unifil's Finnish
battalion in the Qsair area. A Unifil APC was damaged and the troops in
it miraculously escaped death.
"An investigation has been launched into the reasons behind the incident and the source of the fire, the Unifil officer said.
"Lebanese security sources said the "Israeli" occupation forces often resort to attacking Unifil troops to protest the international forces' failure to report resistance men movements to the "Israeli" occupation army.
"Moreover, the occupation's artillery in the morning sporadically shelled Iqleem al-Toffah hilltops, the areas surrounding Kfar Romman, Baraasheit, Qabrikha, Majdel Selem and Touline with a number of rounds.
"On the other hand, the occupation's aircraft at around 11:00 a.m. circled at a low altitude in the skies of Beqaa. The enemy warplanes were intercepted by the Lebanese army's anti-aircraft fire".
LNANC launched
(4)
"Secretary General of the Interim Executive Committee of the Lebanese
National Anti-Normalization (with the Zionist Enemy) Council (LNANC) Retired
Gen Yassine Soweid held a press conference in which he presented the council's
working plan and interim members".
"Swaid talked about the objectives of normalization which is "a reward
for the humiliating settlement accords that resulted from the colonial
oppression and Arab disintegration and not from the desire of the peoples
or the forthcoming generations".
LNANC stressed that normalization aims at:
1- making the "Israeli" enemy partner to formulating the future of the
region, the Arab world in particular,
2- erasing the historic memory of the Arab generations,
3- wiping out from the Arab memory the pains caused by the Zionists,
especially those resulting from the "Israeli" massacres (Dair Yassine,
Qana, etc.),
4- imposing barriers to hinder spreading religious creeds,
5- corrupting social and moral values,
6- distorting the Nation's history and spreading defeatism in its ranks,
7- the so-called peace cancels the right of the Palestinians to return
to their homeland and imposes on them to be settled where they are,
8- and dominating Arab resources and making the enemy the ruling master
of the Arab national economy.
LNANC was legally registered by the Lebanese state with the number
20 AD 11/3/1999. The council members included:
-Retired Gen Yassine Soweid (Secretary General),
-Adnan Borji (Secretary),
Members: Minister Dr. Issam Naaman, MP Ahmed Soweid, MP Mohammed Raad,
MP Yassine Jaber, MP Ali Hassan Khalil, MP Abdel-Rahman, MP Akram Sh'haib,
former MP Foad al-Saad, former MP Zohair al-Abaidi, former MP Soud Rofail,
Mr. Jobran Arabaiji, Hajj Mohammed Saed Khansa, and Sheikh Abdel Karim
Atwi.
Visits to Khiam resumed
(5)
"Following a three-week halt, the International Committee for the Red
Cross (ICRC) resumed organizing the weekly visits by relatives of al-Khiam
detainees to meet their loved ones imprisoned in the "Israeli" notorious
detention center.
"An ICRC bus this morning transported 27 people through the Kfar Tibbneet crossing to al-Khiam prison. They met detainees: Hussein Awad, Adnan Yahia, Mohammed Harisi, Jerjes Abu Karam, Yahia Abboud, Youssef Ali Ahmed, Ahmed Jaafar, and Hussein Aqeel.
"As the relatives and ICRC refused to tell why visits had been halted, Lebanese official sources said the "Israeli" occupation is facing a real crisis due to the prisoners' uprising against the detention conditions.
"The occupation is also annoyed by the showers of memorandums sent by human rights groups criticizing the cruel treatment of prisoners, the sources said.
"Furthermore, the occupation wants to conceal the fact that some of the hostage-prisoners were taken to hospitals due to their tragic conditions, the sources added, stating that the "Israelis" wanted to pressure the prisoners' relatives and ICRC indicating that more action on the prisoners' plight could mean canceling the visits".
LEBANON PRAISES FILMMAKER FOR REFUSING TO SHARE PRIZE WITH "Israeli"
(6)
" Lebanese Information Minister Anwar al-Khalil praised Franco-Lebanese
filmmaker Randa Chahal Sabbag for refusing to share a UNESCO movie prize
with an "Israeli". Khalil said in a telegram to Sabbag, published by the
official ANI news agency in Beirut, that her refusal "emphasizes her deep
patriotic and national commitment and highlights the importance of art
to the cause of Arabs and their rights." Sabbag was offered the UN Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization prize for her film "Civilize" along
with "Israeli" Amos Gitai for his film "Zion". On Monday, Sabbag announced
from her home in Paris that she had refused to accept the prize, awarded
September 7. In an interview published Wednesday with the Lebanese paper
Al-Mustaqbal, she said her refusal was for nationalist reasons. She said
that Gitai himself was "known for his excellent political positions and
constantly participated with Palestinians at demonstrations and published
statements against "Israeli" repression."
Friends stage sit-in for local journalist held by "Israelis"
(7)
"Friends of Cosette Ibrahim, the journalist abducted by "Israeli" forces
in the occupation zone last week, gathered outside the International Committee
for the Red Cross on Thursday to protest her continued detention.
"Organized by the Follow-Up Committee for the Support of Detainees in "Israeli" Prisons, the sit-in included some 50 students and teachers from the Lebanese Universitys school of journalism, from which Cosette graduated this year.
"Cosette, 25, was detained by occupation forces last week during a sweep of the village of Rmeish in the western sector of the occupation zone. She was taken to the Khiam detention center with two other village residents, Samir Khiami, 22 and De Gaulle Bou-Taleb, 40.
"In New York, the Committee to Protect Journalists sent a letter to "Israeli" Prime Minister Ehud Barak urging him to personally intervene to secure her release.
Its not the first time the occupation forces detained a journalist or coerced a correspondent living in the occupation zone which is their way of covering up for the troubles theyre going through, said Mohammed Safa, head of the Follow-Up Committee. The "Israelis" are afraid that families of journalists detained at the camp will report about the horrific acts to the media.
He called upon the United Nations, the government and the civil service to make Cosettes case a priority and to secure her release.
Cosettes parents, who were at home at the time she was arrested, were not present at the sit-in and could not be reached for comment since they are not allowed to use telephones.
"Israeli" troops broke into the family house a few days after they arrested Cosette, ransacked her room, stole some of her books, and threatened to use force against her parents if they launched a media campaign for their daughters release, said Safa.
Cosettes friends flew kites with her picture printed on them and her teachers held aloft a banner calling for her immediate release.
Weve been calling for the release of Cosette for almost two weeks now but it seems that the international community has turned a deaf ear to our pleas to cover for yet another of "Israel's" terrorist acts, said Amer Mashmoushi, who heads the school of journalisms alumni association. All Cosette has done was refuse to collaborate with the enemy. This deserves a salute, not silence and indifference.
Nathalie Kayrouz, a former classmate of Cosettes, said the demonstration had not been called simply because she was a friend.
Were here because shes a Lebanese citizen suffering in the enemys detention camp while people around the world watch in silence, she said.
In a statement entitled An Urgent Call to the World, Hala Faqih described the lamentable conditions to which her friend Cosette had been subjected at the camp.
Cosette suffers from bad ulcers and needs special food and medicine which she is being denied. She has been tortured during interrogation and her family has been threatened, said Faqih.
Safa delivered Faqihs message to the ICRCs media officer, Mohsen Jamal.
According to preliminary information, the statement said, Cosette had been charged with writing reports about conditions in the occupation zone, submitting information to the Lebanese Army and refusing to cooperate with "Israeli" forces.
But Rola Rashed said that the only article her friend, Cosette, ever wrote for the university newspaper about the occupation forces was an opinion piece on the 1996 Qana massacre.
Shortly after the crowd dispersed, a group of Cosettes former classmates gathered on the sidewalk to discuss their next move. We launched a media campaign the day after Cosette was detained and we wont stop until shes released, said Janine Abu Jaoude, Cosettes best friend.
Cosette lived at the universitys dormitories in Beirut and visited her family in the village during holidays. She also spent her summers in Rmeish.
How do Cosettes friends remember her?
Shes very funny. Thats one thing we always remember about Cosette said Dima Saad, another close friend.
Charges filed against Mossad agents in Switzerland
(8)
" Swiss judicial authorities on Wednesday filed charges against an
agent of the Mossad Intelligence Agent in connection with illegal phone
taps against persons in Switzerland suspected of being connected to Hizbullah".
"According to Swiss authorities, the agent has already admitted to illegal activities to install the phone-tapping device as well as falsifying information to enter into the country.
The office of the Swiss prosecution filed the charges against the "Israeli" agent with the nation's Supreme Court".
"The agent was released on bail in an agreement made with the government of "Israel", in which bail was paid in the amount of $2 million. "Israel" agreed that if and when the agent was summoned back to Switzerland for questioning or legal proceedings, he would be returned unconditionally".