ShuFiMaFi News Feb 27, 1998
Ibrahim Bitar
Date: Fri, 27 Feb 1998 09:52:13 +0000
From: idrel <id...@dm.net.lb>
Reply-To: id...@idrel.com.lb
Organization: IDREL
To: subs4 <id...@idrel.com.lb>
Subject: ShuFiMaFi - Feb. 27, 1998
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S H U F I M A F I
A weekly news report on Lebanon and the Lebanese
February 27, 1998
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NATIONAL AFFAIRS
- Hariri reinstates Ghaith as "Sheikh ‘Akl"
- Gouttičres killer freed from prison hospital
- Hezbollah calls for Hebrew-language satellite TV station
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
- Comments by US Senate staff member cause uproar
- Foreign visitors
LEBANESE ABROAD
- Lebanese scholars targeted in "Middle East Studies Scam"
- Rony Seikaly transferred to New Jersey Nets
- Ibrahim Fadlallah receives Chucri-Cardahi prize
EDUCATION
- Schoolteachers stage two-day strike
ARTS AND CULTURE
- Photo exhibition on 19th century Lebanon
- New Books on Lebanon (and the Middle East)
- New Books in Arabic
INTERNET NEWS
- New Internet sites
PEOPLE
- Fakhoury elected president of AOAD
- Births
- Marriages
- Obituaries
FROM THE EDITORIALS IN THE BEIRUT PRESS
- The Daily Star (Feb. 23, 1998)
FROM THE "CONFIDENTIAL" SECTIONS OF THE BEIRUT PRESS
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NATIONAL AFFAIRS
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======= Hariri reinstates Ghaith as "Sheikh ‘Akl"
Prime minister RAFIC HARIRI last Friday
issued a decree reinstating Sheikh BAHJAT GHAITH
as the spiritual head of the Druze community
("Sheikh ‘Akl"), effectively annulling a 1995 decree
that had relieved Sheikh Ghaith from his duties and
appointed Sheikh SALMAN ABDELKHALEQ as
acting "Sheikh ‘Akl".
The decision is a sign that the ongoing feud
between Mr. Hariri and Minister for the Displaced
WALID JOUMBLATT has reached a point of no-
return, as Sheikh Ghaith is a staunch opponent of
Mr. Joumblatt.
In a press interview this week, Mr. Joumblatt
described Mr. Hariri as "the symbol of savage,
liberal economy"; he said that the Chouf region was
facing "the threat of settlement from the Gulf", in
reference to a $500 million real estate project
financed by Gulf investors and backed by Mr.
Hariri.
======= Gouttičres killer freed from prison hospital
A former army corporal convicted of murdering
the French military attaché Christian Gouttičres in
Beirut in 1986 and detonating six car bombs in East
Beirut during the civil war was freed from the
Bhannes prison hospital last Tuesday by gunmen
posing as security agents.
HUSSEIN MUSTAFA TLEISS, 37, was due
to appear before an investigating magistrate on
Wednesday for his alleged involvement in the 1987
assassination attempt against former president
Camille Chamoun, in which fugitive Sheikh SOBHI
TOUFAYLI is also being sought.
Press reports said that Mr. Tleiss was
enjoying privileged treatment in prison because he
had "protectors in high places". The day before his
escape, he had been visited by his brother
MOHAMMAD TLEISS, who is also wanted in
connection with the Chamoun case.
======= Hezbollah calls for Hebrew-language satellite
TV station
The head of the Hezbollah central press office
NAYEF KRAYEM last Monday called for the
creation of a Lebanese satellite television station with
programs broadcast in Hebrew to address the Israeli
public. Mr. Krayem said opposition to the Israeli
occupation of South Lebanon would grow as the
Israeli public learns more of the realities of Israeli
presence in Lebanon instead of what it is allowed to
hear through the strict Israeli censorship laws.
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FOREIGN AFFAIRS
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======= Comments by US Senate staff member cause uproar
DANIELLE PLETKA, a visiting staff member
of the US Senate's foreign relations committee,
caused a public uproar after she declared that the
Lebanese government was "a toy in Syrian hands"
and claimed that Israel was justified in demanding
security guarantees before pulling out of South
Lebanon. President ELIAS HRAWI canceled a
planned meeting with her, and press reports said that
US ambassador RICHARD JONES had to visit
Prime minister RAFIC HARIRI and Foreign
minister FARES BOUEIZ to "apologize for Pletka's
behavior".
======= Foreign visitors
= CHRISTIAN CHARPY, general director of
Radio France Internationale (RFI)
= Professor MANUEL HASSASSIAN, rector
of Bethlehem University
=========================================
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=========================================
======= Lebanese scholars targeted in "Middle East
Studies Scam"
A number of Lebanese scholars have informed
"ShuFiMaFi" that they had been subjected to an elaborate
international scam. Someone impersonating Dr. OMAR EL-HAFEZ,
head of training and research at the Islamic Development
Bank has been targeting Middle East experts and asking
them to wire money to a stranded colleague. Details of
the "Middle East Studies Scam", as explained in
the alert posted by the Middle East Studies Association
of North America (MESA) can be found at:
http://www.idrel.com.lb/idrel/shufimafi/archives/docs/mesa.htm
======= Rony Seikaly transferred to New Jersey Nets
The Orlando Magic basketball team last week
traded NBA center RONY SEIKALY to the New Jersey
Nets. A previous trade with the Utah Jazz was voided
when Mr. Seikaly failed to report to his new team
because of a leg injury. "I'm finally happy", he said.
"This is going to be a great team for years to come.
I hope this is my last stop."
The New Jersey Nets are in second place in the
NBA Atlantic Division. Rony Seikaly, 32, is
averaging 15 points and 7.6 rebounds in 47 games
this season, his 10th in the NBA. The Magic had
acquired him in November 1996.
======= Ibrahim Fadlallah receives Chucri-Cardahi prize
Paris-based law professor IBRAHIM FADLALLAH
received the Chucri-Cardahi prize at a ceremony held
at the "Institut de France" in Paris. The recently
created biennial prize, which rewards outstanding
contributions to international law studies, is named
after the late Chucri Cardahi, who was a
corresponding member of the French "Academie des
Sciences Morales et Politiques".
=========================================
EDUCATION
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=========================================
======= Schoolteachers stage two-day strike
Schoolteachers across the country staged a
two-day strike this week after the government failed
to respond to their ultimatum for the swift
submission to Parliament of a bill increasing end-of-
service payments. The Teachers' Office on Tuesday
warned that the teachers were planning to "escalate
their movement" if the strike "failed to convince the
cabinet to take the bill to Parliament".
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ARTS AND CULTURE
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======= Photo exhibition on 19th century Lebanon
A photo exhibition titled "Le Liban d'Autrefois"
was launched at the "Espace Photographique
de Paris" (Forum des Halles) last week. The
exhibition, which is organized by the Paris City Hall
and the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, features
photographs by 19th century French travelers to the
Orient.
======= New Books on Lebanon (and the Middle East)
= "Beyrouth, Regards Croisés", by Michael Davie, ed. (Urbama)
= "The Dream Palace of the Arabs", by Fouad Ajami and
Adam Phillips (Pantheon Books - ISBN=0375401504)
======= New Books in Arabic
= "’Azamat al-Fikr al-Lubnāni fi Kitābat Tārikh Lubnān
wa fi Tawthīqihi", by Adel Ismail (Beirut: Dar an-Nashr
lis-Siyāssa wat-Tārikh)
= "Hamid Frangieh wa Jumhūriyyat al-Istiklāl", by
George Farshakh (Beirut: Al-Mu’assassa al-‘Arabiyya
lid-Dirāssāt wan-Nashr)
= "As-Sulta wal-Baladiyyāt", by Hisham al-Jurdi
(Beirut: Al-Markaz al-Watani lid-Dirāssāt)
=========================================
INTERNET NEWS
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=========================================
======== New Internet sites
= Center for Lebanese Studies (Oxford)
http://nonuniv.ox.ac.uk/cls
= Rassemblement pour le Liban
http://perso.club-internet.fr/rpl/
= Rony Seikaly (NBA Player File)
http://www.nba.com/playerfile/rony_seikaly.html
= The Maronite Research Council (MRC)
http://plaza.v-wave.com/maronites
= Rotana Hotels
http://www.rotana.com/
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PEOPLE
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======= Fakhoury elected president of AOAD
Agriculture minister SHAWKY FAKHOURY
was elected president of the Cairo-based Arab
Organization for Agricultural Development (AOAD).
Mr. Fakhoury pledged to work for a unified Arab
agricultural strategy to combat "the challenge of
regional and international economic blocs."
======= BIRTHS
- Karina-Maria, daughter of Roland and Hadia Abella
- Ghadi, son of Zeid and Taghrid Khyameh
- Kim, daughter of Bob and Karine Naja
======= MARRIAGES
- Yahya Zakaria Issa and Nawal Mohammad Kabalan
======= OBITUARIES
- Gabriel Brenas
- Martha Mikhael Kadri
- Ghaleb Habib Karam
- Gabriel Khabbaz
- Adib Jeryes Neemeh
- Fouad Habib Rebeiz
- Jamil Milad Salameh
- Simon Elie Sehnaoui (former MP)
- Gerges Boutros Zeidan
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FROM THE EDITORIALS IN THE BEIRUT PRESS
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======= The Daily Star (Feb. 23, 1998)
"The Lebanese may be entertained by the
long-running Joumblatt-Hariri show but it is
doubtful if they are much amused (...). The least the
government could do [for the displaced] is to
establish a long-term program with guaranteed
funding. If the displaced, some of whom lost their
homes more than 20 years ago, knew there was a
definite date set for their resettlement at least they
and their children would have something to look
forward to, however far in the future the date may be
set. Both Joumblatt and Hariri owe them at least that".
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FROM THE "CONFIDENTIAL" SECTIONS OF THE BEIRUT PRESS
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= "A Beirut MP has sold 70 percent of a French-
language economic weekly magazine to a French-
language daily newspaper."
(Al-Kifah al-Arabi, Feb. 25, 1998)
= "President Hrawi summoned a cabinet minister
and accused him, in the presence of a presidential
palace official, of financial wrongdoing,
embezzlement and squandering ministry [funds]."
(An-Nahar, Feb. 25, 1998)
= "Emigrants minister Talal Arslan is undertaking
political and organizational preparations to launch a
political party in the Mount Lebanon region. [The
new party] will be announced soon."
(As-Safir, Feb. 25, 1998)
===END===