CORRECTION

Tuesday, November 30, 2004

In its Monday, Nov. 29 issue, The Daily Star mistakenly quoted Lebanese Deputy Prime minister Issam Fares both in the headline of its article and in the article itself. The statements attributed to Fares were actually part of the speech of another speaker at the event, Bebnine mayor Haytham Masri.
The Daily Star regrets the error.

In the event, which was a rally on Sunday Nov. 28 in the Akkar town of Bebnine marking the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, Fares was represented by general William Mujalli and spoke mainly about Lebanon. He cautioned that there were “serious challenges ahead” including economic, financial and social issues. He said that the most important challenge ahead was the general elections due in a few months. He described the founder of the SSNP, Antoun Saadeh, as a “great man, whose importance and influence continues even after his death”. Nome of the statements originally attributed to Fares in the article were his, The Daily Star regrets the error.


Monday, November 29, 2004

Fares: Syrian Army isn't 'foreign'


By Elie Hourani
Daily Star staff

BEIRUT:Lebanon Deputy Prime Minister Issam Fares insisted Sunday that the Syrian army is not a "foreign" force in Lebanon.
Speaking at a political rally in the Akkar town of Bibnine to mark the 73rd anniversary Syrian Social Nationalist Party's birth, Fares, represented by retired army Colonel William Mujalli, defended Syria's military presence in Lebanon.
Some opposition groups want the Lebanese people "to regard the Syrian Army as a foreign one," Fares said. He added: "We would like to tell them the Syrian Army in Lebanon is a nationalist army, which is at home here."
Lebanon, which he said was"once a country with an Arab face, has now been officially consecrated as an Arabcountry" because of Syria's presence.
He said the Lebanese people believe in "this Arab identity, the same society and the same homeland as in Syria" and that they are prepared to defend these concepts.
Also at the rally, Prime Minister Omar Karami said two different political opinions prevailed in Lebanon, one that calls for undermining the state and another seeking to solidify Lebanon's achievements against Israel.
In a speech delivered on his behalf by Khaldoun al-Sharif Karami said part of the country wants to "preserve the state in its present form and safeguard all that has been achieved since the defeat of Israel in the South."
However, another part want to "pounce on the state."
Karami said the government should respect all regions of the country equally and ensure that corrupt leaders don't channel extra resources to their own causes.
He called for "preserving the respectability of the state through a balanced political performance by the central authority, in order to halt corruption and the waste of national resources."
The rally was attended by several MPs, local SSNP leaders and Hizbullah's official in the North, Mohammed Saleh.
Fares also called UN Resolution 1559 "flagrant interference" in Lebanon's internal affairs.