SOUNDBITE: FBI keeps eye on Hezbollah inside US

(Picture: Mueller at the Council for Foreign Relations. -MENW)

WASHINGTON: FBI Director Robert Mueller III said his bureau was keeping an eye on Hezbollah inside the United States.

“Hezbollah is a terrorist group and has proven itself over the years,” said Mueller. “Hezbollah has capabilities around the world, and we keep an eye on it inside the United States,” he added.

Mueller’s comments came during a discussion at the Council for Foreign Relations yesterday.

Presiding over the discussion was Terence Moran, Nightline anchor of ABC News. Terence asked Mueller to share information on whether the Lebanese group has had past activities in the US. Mueller responded: “Yes and no.”

Read the Arabic version on FBI’s Robert Mueller and Hezbollah here

PRESS CUT: Indyk on Hezbollah, Israel and Syria

Israel Prefers Hezbollah Win in Lebanese Elections, says Former Diplomat

WASHINGTON: Former US Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk told a crowd at Brookings Institute Thursday that the new Israel government does not believe a Hezbollah win in Lebanon's parliamentary elections, scheduled for June, "is bad."
He added that Israel believes "deterring a government” controlled by Hezbollah “is easier than deterring a group.”

The former diplomat said President Barack Obama and his team will put pressure on Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu and his cabinet to make peace with the Palestinians, but Netanyahu knows that concessions are not in his interest.

“When he gave up 13.1 percent to Arafat, his coalition collapsed,” said Indyk. “Bibi (Netanyahu), will try to deflect the Obama-Clinton-Pressure on him by making peace with Syia.”

Indyk, who came back from a tour to the region where he met with Advisor to Syrian President Buthayna Shaaban and her assistant Lebanese Aounist journalist Jean Aziz in Doha, said the new Israeli cabinet will probably find a backchannel with the Syrians, from behind American back, like it did in the late 1990s.

Will the new US administration close Alhurra?

Hussain Abdul-Hussain, Special to NOW Lebanon

The days of Alhurra, the United States-based and government-funded Arabic satellite TV channel, might be numbered. The first major sign of terminal decline came when US President Barak Obama chose the rival Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya to give his first interview to the Arab world.
“I am curious whether the choice of Al-Arabiya signals the administration’s abandonment of the US-funded Alhurra satellite channel,” according to Middle East expert Michael Rubin in his post on National Review Online.
Meanwhile, Marc Lynch, a George Washington University professor, wrote on Foreign Policy’s blog: “Obama’s choice… is as clear a statement as it is possible to make of Alhurra’s failure.” He argued: “It’s time to face the facts and clean house to recoup some of that investment.”
Since its inception in February 2004, Alhurra has cost the US Congress more than $500 million and has ranked low in almost all viewership charts, according to surveys by the Washington-based Intermedia.
In Egypt, the most populous Arab nation with 75 million residents, the channel did not feature among the top 20 satellite stations. In fact, in Egypt, Alhurra scored a statistically insignificant weekly reach of 1.19% in a survey with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2%.
Read full story here

At what cost will President Obama’s team pursue peace in the region?

US President Barack Obama (C) sits between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell in the Cabinet Room of the White House on January 26 prior to Mitchell's debut trip to the region. (AFP/ Saul Loeb)

Hussain Abdul-Hussain, Special to NOW Lebanon

Middle Eastern leaders have been holding their breath in anticipation of a new US foreign policy under President Barak Obama, who in turn has been gauging to what extent he should break with the procedure of his predecessor. As it stands, America and regional players are all testing the waters and employing backdoor channels to learn where to position themselves once everyone is in the room and the game starts.

From the Bush era, Obama has inherited strong alliances with regional players such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan as well as sub-allies in the shape of Lebanon's March 14 alliance and the Palestinian Authority. America's opponents include Iran and Syria and their satellite proxies, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the besieged Gaza Strip. Turkey and Qatar, both friends of Washington, have been playing both sides. Meanwhile, France, an erstwhile ally of the US, has abandoned the role of semi-superpower it cultivated under President Jacques Chirac, with Nicholas Sarkozy showing little or no success in influencing events in the region since this election in late 2007.

It is on this political map that the Obama administration is currently defining its priorities.

Read Full Article