إذا كان المواطن يعتبر هذا التيار هو الطريق الصحيح للنهوض بالوطن وتلبية مطالب الشعب وطموحاته، فله حق الانضمام إليه أو إنتخابه بحكم الدستور الديمقراطي

ولا أقصد هنا النظام الانتخابي الحالي في لبنان، انما فقط ملكية القرار عند المواطن، التي لا بد من أن تتناسق مع نظام إنتخابي يمكن للمواطن من خلاله إختيار من يمثله وذلك بعيداً عن الجغرافيا الطبيعية-السياسية

الطائفية في لبنان هي التي تملك هذا القرار، قرار المواطن، الذي لا يملك حتى الأن بديلاً عن الطائفية للتعبير عن ما يريد

وهي في نفس الوقت نتيجة القرار، قرار المواطن، الذي يا يملك حتى الأن بديلاً عن الطائفية للوصول إلى ما يريد

لماذا؟

منذ إستقلال لبنان (وهذا إذا اردنا البدء من مكان ما وكي لا نغوص في بحور الماضي البعيد) كان تقسيم الحصص في الحكم موزع ليمثل جميع الطوائف. ولكي يتمتل “أيضاً” المواطن اللبناني، تم وضع نظام إنتخابي يفرز وينظم جميع المواطنين في خانات طائفية مرتكزة على الإنتماء الديني للمواطن

وللأسف، كانت حينها فرحة المواطن عارمة جداً إلى حد الثقة العمياء بمواطنيتهم الطائفية وزوعماؤها الأبرار بعد خروجهم خروج الأبطال من قلعة الإستقلال وغيرها

ويا لها من كذبة في الوطنية عندما كان اساتذة التاريخ يلقنوننا إن “ترابط الطوائف وووقوفها جنباً إلى جنب أدى إلى إستقلال لبنان”. لقد كان حرياً بهم تلقيننا إن لبنان هو الذي أدى إلى ترابط ابنائه وطوائفه وليس العكس

أتت النكبة فتغير الموقف، فأصبح لبنان في خطر

بمعنى أخر أصبحت الطائفة في خطر! وهنا لا أقصد طائفة معينة

وبعد عشرات السنين من الانقسام الداخلي أصبحت الطائفة هي لبنان ولا وجود له دونها. حتى إن لبنان في بعض الأحيان كاد يشكل خطراً على الطائفة

خرجت الزعامات لترعى الطوائف فكانت الحامي (ولا بد هنا من التذكير إن ليس جميع الزعامات السياسية في هذه الحقبة كانت زعامات طائفية، وذلك كي لا نظلم فكراً أو عقيدة حزبية غير طائفية وكي نكون أهلاً للموضوعية في هذا المقال)

ولكننا يمكننا الجزم إن هذه الزعامات الغير طائفية أشخاصاً كانت أم عقيدة قد فشلت في معركة محاربة الطائفية وعلمنة المجتمع

(وكانت نتيجة السنين المشحونة بالخوف حرباً أهلية دفع تمنها الجميع دون إستثناء (وماذا أقصد هنا بالجميع؟! ولماذا أقول الجميع؟! ألا يكفي أن أقول لبنان؟!! وهل أنا أردد ما ارادوا مني أن أكون

.وها نحن الأن بعد 21 سنة على إنتهاء الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية لا نزال نعيش في جو مشحون بالطائفية السياسية

حتى اننا غذيناها لتصبح طائفية إجتماعية. فلم تعد تتمثل فقط بمقعد سياسي انما تعدته لتحديد انتماؤنا الحضاري والتاريخي. وأصبحت مراعاة الحالة الطائفية والحفاظ عليها واجب وطني وشرط أساسي للحفاظ على لبنان. وكم نسمعهم يرددون إن “لبنان لا يحكم إلا بالتوافق”

ومن قال إن الطائفية هي الطريق الوحيد إلى التوافق؟! وهل هذا ما أثبته السنين؟

لماذا لا نبحث عن بديل؟

وهل فعلاً علينا أن نبحث؟! أحقاً اننا لا نعلم ما هو البديل؟! هل نحن فعلاً نعيش هذا الواقع المريض؟ من المستفيد؟

وكلما سئمنا واقعنا ترانا نرمي اللوم بالدرجة  الأولى على دولاً وحكومات أخرى، على كل العالم! على كل الدنيا! ونتذكر عندها إن بلدنا صغير ونلعب أسخف أدوار الضحية

ما هو المطلوب؟

-تأسيس لجنة وطنية لدراسة وتنظيم المرحلة الانتقالية الى علمانية الدولة وإعداد نظام إنتخابي يجعل لبنان دائرة إنتخابية واحدة

إعلان إعتماد هذا النظام الانتخابي في الإنتخابات المقبلة -

تأسيس مجلس شيوخ تتمثل به الطوائف ويكون المكان القانون الوحيد التي تدرس به متطلبات التجمعات الطائفية (من تنظيم أحوال شخصية وغيرها) وتحدد صلاحياته وينظم نظام إنتخابي خاص به -

إعادة تنظيم جميع الأحزاب اللبنانية لتتضمن في مبادئها قبولاً شاملاً بعلمانية الدولة والتعهد في مبادئها بعدم معارضتها -

إعداد كتاب تاريخ موحد في المدارس الرسمية والخاصة -

ولا يزال هناك الكتير الكتير

:انما يبقى السؤال

.في هذا الوضع الإقليمي المتوتر في الشرق الأوسط، وفي وسط ثورات الدول العربية على انظمتها الفاسدة، وفي خضم هذه الانقسامات في المجتمع اللبناني نتيجة سلاح من هنا ومحكمة دولية من هناك

هل إن الوقت مناسب فعلاً لرؤية علمنة الدولة كخطوة إيجابية في تاريخ لبنان؟ وهل طرح وبحث هذا الموضوع والتظاهر من أجله لن يكون له عواقب وخيمة على السلم الأهلي؟

نعم

ليش مش عم طل!؟

وينك يا زلمي! على أساس بدك تعملنا زيارة!؟

دخلك فلان شو اخبارو عم تشوفو؟

!!مظبوط إبن فلان وقع كسر حالو؟

سلامتك خبرونا ساخن! نشالله صرت أحسن

ولك نتبه كنت خمشتا! والله خمشتا! يالله روح صحتك بالدني

!!بدك تدفع يعني بدك تدفع

شو خبير!! ما بدا خبير!! مبيني

الوضع ما بطمن أبداً

!خلص روح مش بيناتنا!! ولو

!ولك شو مبروك! الله يهنيك

الحمدلله علسلامة نشالله ما خسك!

!كيف الشباب.. طلوا صوبنا

هيدا عفكرة بيعمل أطيب فلافل بالمنطقة! جربو ما بتندم

!منيح ما تسممت ..

!فبتتعود إنو ما حدا يسألك أو يخبرك شي.. أيا شي ولو سخيف جداً

!وببلدك إرجع لحق على اسئلة!! وبصير كل سؤال بسيط إلو معنى.. ولو ما إلو معنى

!وإرجع لحق على خيبات أمل.. وكل خيبة أمل الها معنى.. وبالنسبة لكتير ناس ما الها معنى

!بصير ما بدك تسمع صوت حدا

الغربة بتعلمك كيف تعيش ببلدك، وبلدك بعلمك كيف تعيش بالغربة.. وشو بيصير بلدك الغربة والغربة بلدك

Left-wing Israeli activists protest against the eviction of Palestinians from their homes in east Jerusalem.

“I think a lot of the criticism is simply not fair,” said Mark Regev, a government spokesman, who described the dispute as a legal one between two private parties over who had title to a property in East Jerusalem.

In the court action, a settler group sued claiming the Palestinians had violated an agreement under which they were allowed to live in the houses.

“As you know, the Israeli court system is independent and professional,” Regev said, referring to the Supreme Court’s decision that paved the way for the evictions. “Many times it goes on the Palestinian side if they think that’s where the justice is and, in this case, they ruled in favor of the Jewish side.”

After the Palestinians were moved out, two Jewish families moved in.

Regev’s comments came a day after the evictions drew widespread condemnation.

“Israel, the occupying power, once again has shown its commitment to the settler organizations by evicting more than 50 Palestinians, many of them children, from the houses where they have lived for more than 50 years,” chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said in a statement.

“Tonight, while these new settlers from abroad will be accommodating themselves and their belongings in these Palestinian houses, 19 newly homeless children will have nowhere to sleep.”

Regev said he understood the plight of those Palestinian families who slept Sunday night on the streets, but suggested they should have made other plans.

“They chose for this political statement,” he said. “Really, they should have known this was coming and made correct preparations.”

And he denied the suggestion that the evictions were part of any systematic effort to move Palestinians out of East Jerusalem and move in Jewish families.

“There is no such government policy,” he said. “On the contrary, here you see a situation where private people bought private property and that’s what it is, and the court dealt with a land dispute between two private groups of people.”

The United States, the United Nations and the European Union condemned the move.

“We are all, in the international community, very upset,” U.N. Special Envoy Robert Serry said as he surveyed the scene.

None of the new Jewish residents wanted to talk with CNN.

In the United States, a State Department spokesman urged Israel to refrain from “provocative actions.”

“As Secretary [of State Hillary] Clinton has stated previously, the eviction of families and demolition of homes in East Jerusalem is not in keeping with Israeli obligations under the Roadmap,” said Robert Wood, referring to the 2003 “Roadmap for peace” plan.

“We urge that the government of Israel and municipal officials refrain from provocative actions in East Jerusalem, including home demolitions and evictions. Unilateral actions taken by either party cannot prejudge the outcome of negotiations and will not be recognized by the international community.”

Senior State Department officials told CNN that Acting Assistant Secretary Jeffrey Feltman had conveyed the United States’ concern to the Israeli ambassador in Washington.

Israel has claimed East Jerusalem as part of its sovereign capital since taking the eastern part of the city from Jordan during the Six-Day War in 1967.

Also condemning the evictions were British diplomats.

“We are appalled by the eviction in East Jerusalem this morning,” the British Consulate said. “These actions are incompatible with the Israeli professed desire for peace. We urge Israel not to allow the extremists to set the agenda.”

The evictions happened as Israel and the United States have been increasingly at odds over U.S. President Barack Obama’s insistence that Israel’s government freeze all settlement activity as a necessary step toward advancing negotiations with Palestinians.

Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took strong public exception to American requests that an Israeli building project in the disputed and mostly Arab East Jerusalem be stopped.

The Bush administration had no problem with such projects as long as Israel built within the construction lines of existing settlements in the occupied West Bank.

BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader MP Walid Jumblatt announced on Monday that his party would align itself with President Michel Sleiman in cabinet, a day after the PSP leader said he was reconsidering his membership in the March 14 Forces. In an interview with MTV Monday evening, Jumblatt defended his decision to distance himself from March 14, saying that he was “an exceptional and independent case.”

“I am going to join the president, which is considered as a guarantee when deciding on the big issues,” he said.

“I will examine the conditions when I have to vote in Parliament and the cabinet,” he said, adding that “In the cabinet, we will join the president.”

Asked whether his departure from March 14 would obstruct the cabinet formation, Jumblatt said: “There are enough MPs in the Democratic Gathering to vote with the majority.”

The PSP politburo exerted efforts on Monday to clarify Jumblatt’s stances to long-term ally and Future Movement leader Premier-designate Saad Hariri, after his announcement sparked outrage among March 14 factions and received praise from some opposition parties.

Speaker Nabih Berri, a leading member of the opposition, on Monday said Jumblatt’s remarks were likely to have repercussions on the March 14 Forces.

Jumblatt’s remarks are said to cap a gradual swing in his political stance that could weaken the March 14 Forces’ influence in the cabinet that Hariri is trying to form. Jumblatt’s departure from the coalition would strip the alliance of the majority it won in the June parliamentary elections and weaken its position in the coalition cabinet which Hariri aims to forge.

Speaking on Sunday at the opening of the PSP general assembly, Jumblatt questioned his alliance with March 14, saying “it was driven by necessity and must end” and stressed the need to consider forming a new alliance “free of bias.”

He also slammed the March 14 Forces’ electoral campaign, saying it was “driven by the rejection of the opposition on sectarian, tribal and political levels rather than being based on a political platform.”

Opposition parties, including the Syrian Social Nationalist Party and the Lebanese Communist Party, welcomed Jumblatt’s shift in stance.

Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel, a March 14 member, said Jumblatt’s shift in position was “not surprising.”

“Some have forgotten March 14’s sacrifices for Lebanon,” he told reporters following a meeting with Tourism Minister Elie Marouni on Monday.

Gemayel added that while certain goals can be achieved through political repositioning, “this should not be at the expense of other parties, which were honest and transparent.”

Meanwhile, March 14’s General Secretariat said the coalition and Jumblatt “have diverging views on numerous issues.”

The Secretariat’s general coordinator, former MP Fares Souaid, said the March 14 Forces were “keen to preserve Walid Jumblatt’s weight and position inside the coalition.”

“We refuse, however, to engage in a dispute with him,” Souaid said on Monday.

Souaid said overnight contacts with PSP officials confirmed that Jumblatt was still part of March 14 Forces.

Souaid said that the March14 Forces and Jumblatt were at odds “mainly concerning the Special Tribunal for Lebanon,” to try the Hariri assassins. He added that Jumblatt considered “civil peace as more important than justice.”

Souaid claimed Jumblatt’s remarks were made under pressure from Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

On Monday, PSP caretaker Public Works and Transport Minister Ghazi Aridi and MP Wael Abu Faour, both members of the Future Movement, led contacts to clarify Jumblatt’s remarks to Hariri and other members of their party.

Hariri’s “Lebanon First” parliamentary bloc is expected to hold a meeting on Tuesday to discuss Jumblatt’s latest stances.

The Future Movement issued a statement late Sunday night underlying its commitment to the “Cedar Revolution.” It also said each political party has the right to adopt its own stance.

“The Future Movement believes in the right of each political party to adopt the stance and slogans that it wants,” it said in a statement. “However, the interest of the Lebanese citizen comes before any other party or movement.”

Implicitly lashing out at Jumblatt, the Future Movement said some politicians needed to be “reminded of their shameful history, when they fulfilled their own personal interests on top of the nation’s interests.” – with Reuters

اذا الشعب يوما أراد الحياة
فلا بد أن يستجيب القدر
ولا بد لليل أن ينجلي
ولابد للقيد أن ينكسر
ومن لم يعانقه شوق الحياة
تبخر في جوها واندثر
كذلك قالت لي الكائنات
وحدثني روحها المستتر
…

لا شك إن هذا الشعر من أجمل الأشعار في العصر الحديث واكثرها عمقاً وحكمة! فالشاعر بقصيدته هذه قد أضاف على الشعر العربي لمسة فلسفية مفعمة بالتفاؤل من جهة والواقعية من جهة أخرى.
فالتاريخ فعلاً قد سجل إن تطور الشعوب وتحررها، إن كان على مستوى الامم أو المجتمعات الانسانية الضيقة، لم يأتي من الصدفة أو الارادة الالهية، بل كان نتيجة الارادة الجماعية..إرادة الجماهير والرغبة بالتطور.

ولكننا.. وبكل فخر.. كشعبٌ لبناني.. تمكنا حتى الأن من إثبات العكس!

وهذا ليس لأننا شعب لا يريد الحياة، أو لا يعانقه شوقها! بل لأننا نحيا كل على هواه ولا تعنينا الكائنات الاخرى.
فالحياة في لبنان تختلف بمعناها ليس فقط بين قريةٌ وأخرى، أو هذه المدينة وتلك! بل بين كل زاوية وزاوية!

…وهل هي بصدفة أن تكون سميت بالزاوية!؟

انني بإسمي وبإسم كل مواطن لبناني أعلن إن الشاعر أبو القاسم
الشابي قد أخطأ خطأً جسيماً في حق مجتمعنا اللبناني المتنوع!

اني وأدعو رابطة الشعراء التونسيين إلى الاعتذار من جميع اللبنانيين على مختلف زواياهم، العريضة منها والضيقة، وذلك من أجل المحافظة على سلامة الزاوية العربية وما تبقى فيها من أشلاء لم تمنح حتى فرصة العيش، ولو في أضيق زوايا الانسانية!

وسع الله زواياكم

Those past Days beside the TV, watching israeli Politicians talk, there has been kind of Challange between the Watchers! who would get it faster and say it faster!… “a new bloody israeli War is coming”…that was the thing to say! and the person would look in the round and be proud of being the first one to get it and say it!
and everybody would move their Heads and agree with that…
…and a new War came taking innocent Souls with it.

Yesterday I saw Ehud Barak warning lebanese people not to elect Hizbullah in the coming Elections, otherwise they would be making the biggest Failure ever and that would make them a Target of his ‘coming’ War.
I also heared Avigdor Lieberman calling for Arrest of Hassan Nasrallah the Chef of Hizbullah linking this to the report of “Der Spiegel”.

I ask myself, what the Hell those people is thinking of!!!?
Why don’t they wait for the International Community to give its Report, as Hariri Son Himself said, since that would be accepted as a truely one!… even Germany said that!!

..or is it the War, who can’t wait for this!? yes maybe it’s the War of Hatred boiling in some Hearts.

Well i’m no Supporter of Hizbullah but I don’t accept using Hizbullah and Reports with nonsense as a Reason for Israel to start a new War in my Country.. because I know this is not the way to Peace and this won’t make things better and would also not effect Hizbullah… that’s what we learned from the past, and what for sure Mr. Barak anf Mr. Lieberman didn’t learn!

I can see the show upon my Eyes.. Lebanon is burning, Israel is bombing everything and not only attacking Hizbullah… and sure that’s in Name of “Fighting Terrorism”!
…and the whole World waits about 4 Weeks to start claiming that Israel is not “achieving” their Goal!

Eventhough we Lebanese people are ready for not being turned into Monsters.

…yes Israel is planing a new War on Lebanon, because that’s what I saw in the News yesterday..the Source of Knowledge..and I was the first one to get it and say it.

Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah accused Israel on Monday of being behind a report implicating his party in the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and called the claim “very, very dangerous.” “The report in Der Spiegel is very, very, very dangerous,” Nasrallah said in comments transmitted via video link to thousands of supporters massed in Hizbullah’s stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

“I consider the report in Der Spiegel an Israeli accusation that Hizbullah killed the martyr Rafik Hariri and we will deal with this claim as such,” he said.

“Israel has issued its verdict in the Hariri case,” he said in a speech marking the ninth anniversary of the 2000 withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon after 22 years of occupation.

Germany’s Der Spiegel news magazine reported on Saturday that the UN commission probing the Hariri murder had new evidence that Hizbullah special forces “planned and executed” the Beirut car bombing on February 14, 2005.

The attack killed the billionaire former premier and 22 other people.

“Through this report they [the Israelis] are saying that if the international community does not punish Hizbullah then Israel will punish it along with its leader,” he added. Israel has reacted to the report by calling for an international arrest warrant for Nasrallah.

“The report in Der Spiegel on Nasrallah’s direct involvement in the assassination of Hariri should raise concern in the entire international community,” Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday.

“He should have an international arrest warrant issued against him, and if not, he should be arrested by force,” he added.

A spokeswoman for the prosecutor at The Hague-based tribunal said it was unclear where the German magazine had gotten its story.

“The office of the prosecutor doesn’t comment on any issues related to operational aspects of the investigation,” the spokeswoman said.

Der Spiegel’s report comes ahead of a June 7 election pitting Lebanon’s US- and Saudi-backed parliamentary majority against an alliance headed by Hizbullah, supported by Syria and Iran.

Nasrallah said the report was clearly aimed at sowing discord between the country’s Sunnis – most of whom back the majority in Parliament headed by Hariri’s son Saad – and the Shiites, most of whom back Hizbullah and its allies.

“The Israelis and the Americans wondered how to scuttle the election and influence its outcome. Der Spiegel was their answer,” Nasrallah said.

“Spiegel … and the Zionists are saying: ‘Oh Sunnis, those who killed your leader are the Shiites and more specifically Hizbullah,” he said. “As such, your vengeance and your war should be directed at them.”

President Michel Sleiman on Monday described the Der Spiegel report as “suspicious,” saying it harmed the Hariri tribunal’s work.

Sleiman said he was confident the tribunal would not be used for political purposes.

The Hizbullah chief in his hour-long speech, which was met with celebratory gunfire in Beirut, also warned that his troops would be on alert when Israel launches one of its biggest military man oeuvres ever at the end of this month.

“No one will see us, no one will see our weapons, no one will know we’re there,” he said. “If you [the Israelis] are stupid enough to enter our land, we will destroy your troops and your army.”

Hizbullah fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006 that killed more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and more than 160 Israelis, most of them soldiers.

The Sayyed said that his earlier statements, in which he described the May 7, 2008 armed clashes as “a glorious day,” were “taken out of context,” adding, “May 7 was a painful and sad day, because civilians died and property was destroyed.”

Nasrallah urged supporters to “vote massively” for opposition tickets all across Lebanon,” he also praised his ally Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader MP Michel Aoun, describing him as “an honest and patriotic man.”

“This is not a temporary electoral alliance, but a national, responsible and strategic alliance,” Nasrallah said of his party’s alliance with Aoun.

“[Aoun] has a complete and clear vision. The embassies have no influence on this man, and no one can tell him what to do. This man is loyal to Lebanon as a unified nation with a unified people, and he is one of the most reliable leaders for the Christians,” he added.

According to Nasrallah, political differences must be resolved between the March 14 alliance and Aoun “before we reach an understanding with them, or make any kind of contact.”

Nasrallah said his party fights Israel “to protect all of Lebanon and all the Lebanese not only the Shiites.”

“No one can take anything from us through threats or intimidation, but you can take all that you want by just being loyal. We are loyal to those who are loyal to us,” he said. – The Daily Star, with AFP

Embassy: Germany has no information on magazine’s report

BEIRUT: The German Embassy in Beirut said on Monday Germany has no information regarding a report by the weekly Der Spiegel suggesting Hizbullah was behind the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

An embassy statement said Germany supports “independence” of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

Germany’s Der Spiegel reported on Saturday that the UN commission probing the murder had new evidence that Hizbullah special forces “planned and executed” the Beirut car bombing that killed Hariri and 22 other people.

Also on Monday, Syria dismissed as “lies” the German magazine’s report. “I invite the prosecutor to use his prerogatives concerning these lies which undermine the international investigation,” Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem told a news conference.

Syria, a key backer of Hizbullah, has been widely blamed for Hariri’s murder but Damascus has repeatedly denied any involvement.

Two months after the February 14, 2005, attack, Syria pulled its troops from Lebanon under international pressure ending nearly three decades of domination over its small neighbor.

Moallem described the report as “insignificant” and urged Der Spiegel to probe “who wrote the article and who is behind it.” - The Daily Star, with AFP

Jumblatt thankful for Nasrallah’s ‘kind words’

CHOUF: Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat thanked Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday for his “kind words” during the latter’s Monday night speech.

On Sunday, Jumblatt had described a report by German newspaper Der Spiegel, accusing Hizbullah of direct involvement in the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, of aiming to sow the seeds of strife in Lebanon, adding that it was “worse than the Ain al-Rummaneh bus incident.”

The Ain al-Rummaneh bus incident is considered to have flared up Lebanon’s 1975-90 Civil War.

“I salute the courage of Mr. Walid Jumblatt’s latest remarks because his analysis of the situation is correct and I endorse it,” Nasrallah said in his speech

Speaking to Al-Jazeera news television on Tuesday, Jumblatt underlined the “dimension” of Nasrallah’s words.

Jumblatt said the Der Spiegel report was “similar to Israel’s pretext of 1982 when it used the [Palestinian Liberation Organization's assassination attempt on its ambassador to London Shlomo Argov] as an excuse to launch its invasion Lebanon.

Der Spiegel on Saturday carried out a report suggesting Hizbullah plotted and executed the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

“On the other hand, it could be just a report in a newspaper.”

Germany’s Der Spiegel news magazine reported on Saturday that the UN commission probing the Hariri murder had new evidence that Hizbullah special forces “planned and executed” the Beirut car bombing on February 14, 2005. The attack killed the billionaire former premier and 22 other people.

“We don’t know where they are getting the story from,” a spokeswoman for the prosecutor at The Hague-based tribunal said. “The office of the prosecutor doesn’t comment on any issues related to operational aspects of the investigation.”

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said Israel was behind the allegations, which he rejected, late on Monday in a speech marking the ninth anniversary of the Israeli withdrawal in 2000 from southern Lebanon after 22 years.

Der Spiegel’s claims come ahead of a June 7 election pitting Lebanon’s US- and Saudi-backed parliamentary majority against an opposition alliance headed by Hizbullah, supported by Syria and Iran.

Hizbullah called the report “pure fabrication” and a bid to influence the election and deflect attention from a crackdown on alleged Israeli spy networks.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem called the report “lies which undermine the international investigation.”

Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, an expert on Hizbullah, said although the majority in Lebanon has so far refrained from capitalizing on the allegations, the tables could turn at any moment.

“I would say the very dangerous implications it could have had have fizzled out, particularly as no officials of the majority camp have used it,” she said. “But if [the majority] uses the report against Hizbullah, then of course we’re going to see instability in Lebanon, and that’s putting it mildly.”

Last May, clashes between  opposition and pro-government gunmen led to more than 110 deaths and took Lebanon close to another civil war.

Analysts questioned the timing of the Der Spiegel report, saying it was no coincidence it came before the elections and amid the espionage crackdown.

“The nature of the report is provocative, its timing is far from naive and, coupled with the Israeli reaction, it is a clear attempt to incite unrest,” said Fadia Kiwan, head of political science at Beirut’s Saint Joseph University.

“One word could set the streets on fire.”

Israel on Sunday reacted to the report by urging the arrest of Nasrallah.

Der Spiegel said Hizbullah is implicated in Hariri’s murder through the discovery of two linked mobile phone networks belonging to the militant group’s “operational arm.”

It said a secret unit of Lebanese security forces, led by intelligence expert Captain Wissam Eid, filtered out the numbers before Eid was himself murdered in January 2008.

A Hizbullah commando unit is also thought to be behind Eid’s killing, Der Spiegel said.

Saad-Ghorayeb called the reference to Eid and his unit a bid to sow discord between Hizbullah and state security services which have been cooperating on the spy rings.

Since January Lebanon has charged at least 18 suspects, including a retired general, with spying for Israel.

“There are so many powers that would want to implicate Hizbullah in this and tarnish its reputation before the election,” Saad-Ghorayeb said. “But most people don’t buy the report.

“The evidence is way too flimsy.” - AFP