Kwtia

Bush is urging the UN to deal with what he calls a 'deeply disturbing' UN report... Rice calls the Mehlis report 'deeply troubling'(who's been looking through the thesaurus?) and Shimon Peres is singing the regime change song...ah the triple punch that signals the knock knock knock of intervention...the timing for distraction is perfect considering the dirty laundry hanging out Stateside...there are already reports of US troops and Syrians fighting... we wait and we shall see..

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Kuwait's Ahmed Al-Rubei's opinion in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat---Al-Arabiya's Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid's opinion in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat
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Full text of the 'censored paragraphs' of Mehlis report into Hariri assassination

Accusations in Mehlis's report shock Syrians Syria's Champress

Bashar in the eye of the storm Ha'aretz

Russia Opposes Politicization of UN Debates on Hariri's Murder

Hariri's son wants int'l court to try father's killers

'We do not seek revenge. We seek justice"

The Politics of Hariri's Assassination Naseer Aruri:

"There is no shortage of potential perpetrators, considering that numerous actors, including Syria, Israel, the United States, Libya and Palestinian militias have all tried their hands at political assassinations in Lebanon through the use of bombing. Although the identity of the assassins may never be known and indeed may prove less important than the consequences, the important questions are, what the crime will lead to in geo-political terms, and who the greatest beneficiaries are? What is the likely impact of this heinous crime on the Lebanese political landscape and the regional map? We might even add the global dimension."

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Things to consider from the transcript of the UN Report at Ya Libnan:

205. The Commission considers that the investigation must continue for some time to come. In the short time period of four months more than 400 persons have been interviewed, 60 000 documents reviewed, several suspects identified, and some main leads established. Yet, the investigation is not complete.

210. As a result of the Commission's investigation to date, a number of people have been arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder and related crimes in connection with the assassination of Mr. Hariri and twenty-two others. The Commission is of course of the view that all people, including those charged with serious crimes should be considered innocent until proven guilty following a fair trial.

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Since we're in the mood to solve assassinations..a very good thing...there's a backlog that the ever so conscientious international community might want to look into..in the spirit of fairness and cleaning house that is...

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"can India put in a side-request for the extradition of Warren Anderson of the USA? He was the chairman of Union Carbide, responsible for the 1984 Bhopal gas leak that killed 16,000 people. We have collated the necessary evidence. It's all in the files. Could we have him, please? Arundhati Roy

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Homework:

• MERIP's Inside Syria and Lebanon Fall 2005
• Asad of Syria: The Struggle for the Middle East-Patrick Seale
• Pity The Nation: Lebanon at War- Robert Fisk