Posted on 09/24/2001 7:43:58 PM PDT by Ranger
NICOSIA — Lebanon has ruled out helping the United States in the fight against terrorism.
Lebanese officials said the government in Beirut has agreed that it will not relay information on those living in the country. In addition, the officials said, Beirut will not extradite Lebanese residents believed by the United States to be involved in terrorism.
The United States has asked the Lebanese government to hand over at least 40 suspected terrorists, many of them from the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah group, Lebanese sources said. The Al Muharer weekly said one name is Imad Mughniyeh, said to have been responsible for the 1984 kidnapping and death of CIA station chief William Buckley.
"Our position is that there is absolutely no way that we could agree on considering the resistance and those who resisted Israel as terrorists," Lebanese Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said. "I hope the United States and others would consider this Lebanese position."
Aridi told Lebanese television on Saturday that so far the United States has not submitted a list of names to Beirut. Other Lebanese officials said Washington has not threatened to attack insurgency bases in Lebanon. Hizbullah spiritual leader Sheik Mohammed Fadlallah also ruled out Lebanese support to the United States. Fadlallah said Washington wants to use any campaign against Bin Laden as a pretext to attack the Palestinians.
"Why should we be asked to support the United States, which extends unlimited support for Israel's war of annihilation against the Palestinians and makes no effort to save the Palestinians from Israeli terrorism?" Fadlallah asked.
From DailyStar online Beirut (24/09/01)
Government ad gives show of support for US
The government took out a full-page advertisement in several leading newspapers in the United States Sunday, expressing Lebanon’s sorrow at the attacks in America two weeks ago. “This proactive government initiative implies a cohesive Lebanese stand and sends a message of sympathy, solidarity and condemnation in an assertive, Western yet locally relevant tone that’s likely to be adequately received by the US public, as well as Lebanese expatriates and Arab-Americans,” a source close to the government said.
The advert ran as follows: “We the people … “‘It felt like Beirut …’ on the morning of Sept. 11, the words of a young New Yorker struck a haunting chord in the hearts of a people an ocean away. Watching the unspeakable unfold, the people of Lebanon felt a pain all to chillingly familiar: the immeasurable human suffering and the assault on the principles of civilization.
“The values which make America great are cherished the world over. These shall never perish. Tolerance, democracy and freedom will emerge intact from the ashes. “We the people of Lebanon, stand by the people of the United States of America, in this hour of sadness and anger. We are joined in sympathy for the innocent and in our condemnation of deeds beyond imagining. We are also joined in the determination to see peace reborn. “What joins us makes us strong.”
Imad Mughniyeh is the Lebanese who runs overseas operations for Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terrorist group. I seem to remember Colin Powell having a hissy fit not long ago when the Israelis had had enough of him. So how can we go after him now? I guess we have to wait for him to blow up one of our embassies,
I just couldn't resist the chance to show how it's "bad" if Israel goes after him, but it's noble if we do...(And yes, somebody has to do it)
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